New research shows that most fanatics of live art performances such as youths are put off by the formal concert formats that are embraced by most of the performing arts companies. The ideas leave correspondents questioning whether the immersive experience that is characterized by the theatrical nature is the way to go for the future of the live performance and art industry. Over the last few years, alternative musical experience has been adopted. Alternative experiences in art performances have been found to be popular across the world. Live performance companies such as the OperaUpClose’s production at the Cock Tavern pub is an example of a show that has proved to be so successful while adopting the alternative performance space strategy. Many music festivals to have depicted prosperity in their continued quest to embrace the tactic. This paper presents the profile of a performing arts company. It will present a vivid analysis on the creative practices of the firm with reference to relevant independent research and readings. The performing arts company that is covered is the famous Change Performing Arts Company that is based in Italy.
Change Performing Arts is a production company that is quite independent and is based in Milan, Italy. It is a very active firm in the art industry and performs live in worldwide events. The live performances that they show include dance, theatre, contemporary and classical music, traditional performing arts, opera, visual arts, including cultural events, exhibitions and installations. The founders, Yasunori Gunji and Franco Laera each contributes more than twenty five years of experience. They established the production company in the year 1989.
Today, the company has an elaborate leadership structure under the robust leadership and instructions of the Elisabetta di Mambro and Franco Laera. Franco Gabualdi is the acting director of the operations of the firm. The production firm has a permanent personnel who does the work of designing and producing live performances. The leadership is competent and as a team. it manages to complete every step of the artistic project work as required from the point of conception to the presentation stage and to the level of international production. The company’s major secret for success is the idea of establishing and maintaining contacts with the established and energetic young artists. The relationships serve a great deal as they play the role of making the company’s performances be constantly liked by the fans. Keeping the young youths that are established and who are trending in the art industry is quite beneficial for a production firm (Lazzari, 2002). Lazzari notes that the youthful artists keep the performance space rejuvenated and exciting.
The company also has a better strategy as they are always on the lookout for the trending artists in all the genres that they handle. The production company also encourages and explores the way the various forms of art can be fused together. An initiative to combine the pieces of art into one form, serves to facilitate the creation of a piece that is original and new. Maintaining originality in the arena is a key to achieving the vision of adopting an alternative experience in the performance spaces (Kloetzel and Pavlik, 2009). The firm has, hence been able to achieve a lot as the combination brings up a new way of realizing a provocative piece of art that bears high quality. The fans, therefore, get the opportunity to enjoy their performances as they carry along surprising and theatrical features that are different from the monotony that other competing firms offer.
The company has an ongoing commitment to retaining and collaborating with artists in the art production firm. They are committed in partnering with most of the finest performers in the world in the field of art. Artists such as Philip Glass, Shirin Neshat, Peter Greenaway, Robert Wilson, Peter Stein, Tim Yip and Lev Dodin and many others are kept close to the affairs of the company. An initiative to keep the artists close is a plus to the strategy of the company of coming up with alternative pieces of art and different performance spaces. Having the best artists in a live performance production company has the advantage of ensuring that creativity is maintained and that the company remains in a glorious path (Wilson, 2011). The journey towards achieving unique art performances through creation of alternative experience and spaces can be achieved through acquiring and retaining top artists. Through the top world artists, the company has formulated a new strategy of producing theater production, international events and artworks. They have established an institution of art and have keenly selected corporate partners. The strategy has seen the firm to a stable position where they are able to design alternative art performance spaces.
Since the period of production and commissioning of the installation Loss/Memory by Wilson Robert winning the Venice Biennale’s Golden in the year 1993, the company has concentrated in the process of combining performances and visual art. Change Performance Art has also embarked on the production and designing of art events and exhibitions related to art such as Imaging Prometheus and Rooms and Secrets; various projects in the Biennial of Valencia of the year 2001; the 2005 official daily shows of the world Aichi Expo in Japan; the exhibition done in collaboration with Guggenheim Museum called Giorgio Armani and the media installation by peter Greenaway of 2008 in Milan called Leonardo's Last. Supper. The Change Production firm also presented successfully in 2009 at Melbourne and in Park Avenue at New York in the year 2010. As part of the revisited monumental work of the Nine Paintings, the company also produced a renowned piece of art called the Wedding at Cana played by Paolo Veronese on the island of san Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.
The quest to produce alternative live genre and performance spaces through combination is a long journey that has been adopted by the firm. The many events and exhibitions mentioned above that are produced by the firm are just but a small collection that deserve mentioning. The production of the alternative performance spaces must also be timely and appropriate for the fans. The location and the environment of production cannot go without commendation. For the successful production and adoption of alternative live performances, the issue of location and timing is of great essence (Lazzari, 2002). The audience greatly associate themselves with a piece of artwork that have the surprise of time and location or setting. Rather than strictly sticking to conducting performances in the obvious places, production firms that desire to walk in a successful path of embracing alternative live art space should ensure that they provide new settings that can impress their audiences. The firm has, therefore, successfully inculcated the idea of creating uniqueness in their live performances by creating attractive scenery of acting alongside combining of the genres and other pieces of artwork.
The company also produces documentaries and films. An example of the films that have been produced are The Marriage that was directed by Greenway Peter. The film was presented in the 66th international film festival at Venice in the month of September in the year 2009. Alongside film production, the company has launched a process of development and research to enable it acquire new technologies. The technologies in question are the ones similar to the ones that are utilized by firms in Italy for the multimedia work. The availability of robust technology is essential to the realization of the dream of adopting an alternative perspective to the production of quality artwork in enticing performance spaces (Broadhurst and Machon, 2006).
Other firms such as CRT Artificio are some of the firms that have seen the benefit of embracing new media technologies while producing the pieces of artwork in alternative spaces. Change Performing Arts has, therefore, continued with the exploration of better and new media technologies as it proceeds with the consistent distribution and production of theatre work that is produced in collaboration with leading film directors in the international platform.
Currently, there is still controversy as to whether to perform artwork that would be found in concerts in an alternative space. Many people are still enthusiastic about the idea of making such performances on stage. The alternative musical experiences are regarded as unusual and surprising. The concerts are often kept alive by the element of uncertainty and spontaneity. The unconventional performing space keeps the excitement relevant and exciting. The twists that the production companies and artists introduce in the performances places the audience at the point of being in charge of the location of performance. The performer also gets to be challenged into making a more immersive performance. The idea of changing of light in the venue of performance gives the audience more energy to enjoy the ongoing performance that in a conventional concert. The idea of boosting the psyche of the audience has been a major priority to the live performance production firms such as Change Performing Art Company. The idea of making the fans enjoy the performance in alternative performance spaces is key to the success of the production firm. Art production companies must, therefore, work harder to ensure that the realization of the dream of achieving alternative art performance spaces.
The dream of Change Performing Art Company can be realized effectively if they consistently stay in line with the strategy of establishing alternative art performance spaces that are different from the conventional concerts of the old times. The dream can be realized through continuous exploration new media technologies, creating effective relationships with the top world artists in the industry and changing the performance spaces to suit the demands of the fans. Effective execution of the above recommendation will see to the emergence of enthusiasm and new energy in the field of art and live performances. With a permanent personnel body of designers and producers, the company can manage to achieve every bit of the project from the instance of creation of the art performance to the staging and to the final stage of local and international distribution of the pieces of performances.
References
Broadhurst, S., & Machon, J 2006, Performance and technology: practices of virtual embodiment and interactivity, Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan.
Kloetzel, M., & Pavlik, C 2009, Site dance: choreographers and the lure of alternative spaces, Gainesville, University Press of Florida.
LAzzari, M. R 2002, A practical handbook for the emerging artist (2nd Ed.), Cary, North Carolina, Thomson Learning.
Wilson, M 2011, Martha Wilson sourcebook: 40 years of reconsidering performance, feminism, alternative spaces, New York, Independent Curators International.
