On September 26 in Bogota, Colombia, the fast and physical La Gata will be hosting a mini international festival with Nadine Antler from Germany and Shawn Kinley from Canada.  For 10 days we will play and perform in a slightly different kind of a get together.

What we usually expect from an improvisation festival is a partyfest of shows, groups and get togethers, with a smattering of workshops.  I don’t mind these things but I always leave feeling like I didn’t meet everyone I wanted to, nor did I get enough time with the people I met.  On top of that, where some festivals program so many shows on top of each other, you rarely get to see everyone work… especially when groups perform only once or twice.

LaGata’s get together will be focussed a little more on the mixing and sharing of ideas, concentrating on the relationship of fewer people. 

In 2010, the Loose Moose hosted a similar event at “The Summit”.  It was a two week event with La Gata and Teatre Isenkram from Oslo, Norway.  It was great.

The focus was on exploration and workshops.  Keith Johnstone was in for a couple of days and we all hosted days of workshops with each other.

The thing I like about these gatherings is that you  get to play with each other.  You learn some skills and you get to work with each other multiple times on stage.

In a reality of increasing costs for flights and accommodation, this might be a reasonable alternative to the multi-group events that see each group perform only once or twice per visit.