Zirkus ONwork: Stage Presentations and Feedback

 

From the outset, the ATOLL Festival in Karlsruhe was keen to present the Zirkus ON projects to its experienced audience. The Zirkus ON stage presentations are of particular importance as a result of the early presentation format within the creation process, following on from the opening presentations and the mentoring and residency programme. The presentation format at the ATOLL Festival corresponds to the creative progress of the projects and takes place as a work-in-progress presentation on the festival stages. Of course, it's a great challenge for the artists as well as for the professional and local audience.

The focus for the stage presentations therefore lies on feedback.
The artists have the opportunity to explore certain developments of their creations in a specific setting, for example testing the impact on the audience, coherently presenting processes, trying out important set-ups with technicians, involving the audience, communicating content and much more.

In order to create and protect this feedback space, Zirkus ON uses formats that support both the audience and the artists before and after the performance. The needs and requirements of the artists are assessed by the Artistic Director of the ATOLL Festival at length and integrated into the festival programme.

The mentors too play an important role in the preparation phase, discussing the objectives and challenges of the respective creations and developing suitable formats for the performances which can be developed in the preceding residencies. The audience is made aware of the special nature of the presentations and is briefed before the performances. As part of the purpose is targeted feedback, the interaction between artists and audience is guided and moderated. After the stage presentations, a methodical feedback format takes place the following day attended by an expert audience and artists.

Based on the DasArts feedback workshop and other tools from dramaturgy and feedback methodology, the projects are discussed individually by experts and constructive suggestions for further creation are collected. The stage presentations are therefore not only a unique opportunity to show a creation within a festival format, but also represent a methodical tool within the Zirkus ON creation programme.