Dear ASSITEJ members, theater practitioners, theater lovers, and all of you who are interested in theater for young audiences world wide.

ASSITEJ International is a World Theatre Network of theatre for children and young people. It was established in 1965 by a global alliance of professional theatre for children and young people. Today, ASSITEJ is an international network that links thousands of theatres, organizations and individuals through national centers in 78 countries.

I am proud to announce that the new web site of ASSITEJ International: www.assitej-international.org is on line, although it is not finished yet. There are so many features that have to be added, corrected and/or modified. Nevertheless, I decided to open it for you despite all defects. I want to hear your opinion, your comments, critic but also proposals how to enhance the quality of the site.

Go and visit ASSITEJ International web site. There you will be able to find different information about the rich world of theater for young audiences, look for the festivals in The Festival Guide, browse the theaters in different countries and look for the plays for your company in The Catalogue of Plays. The web site will be open for all national centers of ASSITEJ and they will be enabled to edit their own pages, fill in the web site with different information themselves and actively participate in building up data base and share the information.

This is the first eNewsletter sent from the new web site of ASSITEJ International. In the future, it will be the main tool for communication between Secretariat in Zagreb, Croatia and all the members around the world. In this first issue you will find:

The announcement of the ASSITEJ International Forum on Theatre for Early Years to be held in Bologna, March 4-5

The Call for papers for the AICT-IATC (International Association of Theatre Critic) Colloquium ‘Forced to tour - or tour de force?’ on the topic: The effects of globalization and migration on theatre criticism.

I hope the information will be useful for you. Enjoy the reading, and send us your comments.

Ivica Simic

Secretary General of ASSITEJ International.

sec.gen@assitej.org

ASSITEJ International, ITYARN - the International Theatre for Young Audiences Research Network,
and La Baracca - Testoni Ragazzi Theatre
are announcing

the ASSITEJ Forum Theatre for the Very Young

that will be held on March 4 and 5, 2009 in Bologna, Italy.

The conference is part of Visions of future, visions of theatre…International festival of theatre and culture for the early years that takes place in Bologna February 28-March 8, 2009.

The conference aims to bring researchers and practitioners together in a series of forums to foster communication and discuss the role of theory in practice and practice in theory. The conference will include plenary sessions, seminars, and discussion, as well as play attendance.

Highlights of the conference include:

• Babydrama, by Unga Klara - Stockholm City Theatre, Stockholm - Sweden presented by Ann-Sofie Bárány (psychoanalyst and playwright)

• Plenary papers by selected ITYARN researchers

• Moderated discussions between practitioners, researchers, and anyone interested in the future of Theatre for the Very Young

• Keynotes by well-known international artistic visionaries in Theatre for the Very Young

• Theatre performances for the very young

This forum is held to offer an opportunity for artists and researchers to gather and share experiences and research, to explore possibilities, and to take stock of this growing phenomenon and its future perspectives. We invite you to take part in the discussions and investigate the aesthetic, cultural, and research opportunities Theatre for the Very Young has to offer.

The program of the Forum

Registration Form for the Forum

Registration fee is € 30 (free for the participants in A Possible Theatre and Small size workshop).
Forum will be held in English language.
It is possible to book lunch for March 4th and 5th at the cost of € 9.

Forum shows

Please choose a maximum of two shows for each evening. We’ll try to meet your requests. If not possible due to the limited number of seats, we grant you two shows anyhow.

Reservations

can be done by phone, fax or e-mail.

Festival office
Mon-Fri h 11 a.m. -1 p.m. and 2-5 p.m.
Antonella Dalla Rosa tel. +39 051 4153713
Carlotta Zini tel. +39 051 4153723
fax +39 051 4153777
e-mail carlotta@testoniragazzi.it

Once received your reservation, the Festival Office will check the availability for the chosen activities and give you the confirm. The payment should be done within five days from the confirm date. In order to avoid mistakes, please send us a copy of your payment receipt via fax (+39 051 4153777). Festival Office will then confirm you the received payment.

Payments can be made:
• In our Festival Office at your arrival in Bologna;
• by bank transfer headed to La Baracca s.c.r.l
Unicredit Banca S.p.a. - Agenzia Matteotti - via Matteotti 36, Bologna - c/c n° 000001327807; CIN: T; ABI: 02008; CAB: 02464;
IBAN IT81T0200802464000001327807;
• by credit card calling +39 051 4153728.

A meeting organised by the Holland Festival, the International Association of Theatre Critics / Association Internationale des Critiques de théâtre (IATC / AICT) and its Dutch branch de Kring voor Nederlandse Theatercritici (KNT)

Amsterdam, 17 — 21 June 2009.

Topic: the effects of globalization and migration on theatre criticism

‘A society transformed — transformations in theatre’

The colloquium, which will consist of 6 sessions on June 18 and 19 with an introduction by a key note speaker, will provide a forum for discussion of questions related to these developments, both in the abstract and in relation to particular national, regional or urban situations ...

Read more on http://www.aict-iatc.org/documents/AmsterdamSymposium.pdf

Call for Papers

Interested colleagues are invited to send the title and an abstract (up to 500 words) of the proposed paper (in English or French) by email to IATC@hollandfestival.nl <mailto:IATC@hollandfestival.nl> by 8 February 2009.

Notification of acceptance for a presentation will be sent by 20 February 2009. The complete text of your paper (3500 words maximum) should be sent by 20 April 2009. Participants will be expected to speak briefly about their paper (max 20 minutes), not to read it out in its entirety. Abstracts will be made available in advance on the IATC website.

As in the case of previous symposia, the papers will be published in English and French by the organisation at a later date.

The Holland Festival will fund the cost of accommodation, theatre tickets and other activities, including lunches and a festive dinner on the final evening, as well as transportation to and from point of arrival (airport or train station) to hotels. The arrival is on June 17, departure on June 21.