What's happening in FiraTàrrega?

Tàrrega, 1^st September 2015- From 10^th to 13^th of September, FiraTàrrega will present this year´s programme for performing arts, consisting of a multi-disciplinary event that will follow two branches: street arts - the majority discipline - and a programme of arts movement and text theatre that will be held at venues with limited capacity. These two explorations form the grounds for a discourse which aims to connect with a broad range of audiences.

This year the city will welcome the participation of 54 theatre and arts companies from eight different countries, whose work will be seen at 25 exhibition venues. The festival will include a total of nearly 250 performances.

An exhibition platform and a driving force of creativity

Once again, FiraTàrrega becomes a driving force of creativity and theatre production, thanks in great part this year to the success of the Supporting Creativity Programme, which has played a part in the production of 14 shows. One of these will be the Opening Show of the Fair on the evening of 10^th September: Compra'm (Buy Me), from the company Insectotròpics. This is a large-format show which was created from the amalgamation of the passions of different languages of art, including painting, performing arts, electronic music and video art.      

The broad theatre programme offers a varied list of shows of different artistic categories targeted to all audiences and ages. There are 28 Catalan, 12 Spanish and 14 international companies, who will all be presenting shows in different urban spaces of the city (48 shows) as well as in theatre venues (10 shows), for which tickets are available. For the past two years the varied programme of the Fair has been divided into five sections: the Official Section (a selection of successful shows of the season and international shows premiered that year), the Plataforma (shows from the Supporting Creativity Programme and other co-production projects), the Open Programme (from collaboration between the private sector and FiraTàrrega), the Ondara Park (focused on the most entertaining and fun productions of the Festival), and the Training Programme (showing the results of educational and training placements linked to street art). In order to make learning more accessible to audiences, as well as to portray its broad artistic offering, the Fair has decided to repeat last year´s initiative of proposing Artistic Itineraries, 12 in total, and of covering different art genres. These itineraries will make browsing the different shows offered by the Fair´s Programme much easier.       

Surprises and highlights

FiraTàrrega is a place to discover new formats and performing arts values of the moment, unique artistic proposals and new Catalan writers. The Fair´s programme is packed with shows that stand out due to the singular character and writing of the author, in particular: the company Vaca 35, with Cuando todos pensaban que habíamos desaparecido; the company Compañía Sharon Fridman, showing Caída libre; the company [Los números imaginarios] Ensamble del pastor bobo, with La cena del rey Baltasar; the company Marcel et ses drôles de femmes, with Miss Dolly; the artist Marga Socias in collaboration with Kristofer Krarup showing The Hole & Corner Travel Agency; the company Abast Elàstic showing A.U.R.A.; the company Nacho Vilar Producciones with Crudo Ingente; Vero Cendoya showing La partida; the company Companyia Ignífuga with A House is not a home; the company Els Íntims Produccions showing Wasted; the company Compañía La Rueda with Camargate 1.1; as well as the dance shows from the North American group Dorrance Dance, ETM: the Initial Approach and the Argentinian duet Cortez-Fontán, with Los cuerpos. And the Fair will of course feature its usual selection of the latest urban dance shows to break onto the scene in the section URBAN NATION.

For audiences with more eclectic tastes there is a selection of fun and popular shows. The main players in this year's Fair are the companies En diciembre, Teatro Necessario & Mattatoio Sospeso, Los Excéntricos, Leandre,  Théâtre de la Toupine, Serena Vione, Brincadeira, Acrojou, Associacione Eccentrici Dadarò - Compagnia Ifratellicaproni, Itinerània, Los Herrerita and Circ Bover.

FRESH STREET #1 and professional activities

FiraTàrrega is more than a platform for performing arts, it has become a first-class professional hub which brings producers and audiences together, and contributes to improving the market and structuring, strengthening and positioning the performing arts sector. The Fair's professional office has already surpassed last year´s number of final participants, enlisting close to 800 professionals from 450 companies in the Spanish and international markets.

Part of this year´s success is due to FiraTàrrega hosting FRESH STREET #1, the first European seminar for the Development of Street Art. It is jointly organised by FiraTàrrega and the Circostrada network, and is supported by the Department of Culture of the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya), the Ramon Llull Institute and Spanish Cultural Action. The event will take place at the French Lycée in Barcelona on 9^th and 10^th September, and on the evenings of 10^th and 11^th it will move to FiraTàrrega. Over 200 cultural agents from across Spain and beyond have already registered for the seminar, which is organised into seven sections: two plenary sessions and four working sessions which aim to develop and debate topics such as identity, mobility, training and broadcasting, as well as the circuits for Street Art. And on the last day, the conclusions of the work sessions will be announced to the public at a closing manifesto delivered by Àlex Navarro. On the two days that the seminar is based in Tàrrega, its participants will also have the opportunity to enjoy the programme of theatre events, which has notably boosted the promotional potential of this year's Fair.        

FiraTàrrega not only promotes public services and the professional market; its main objective is the internationalisation of Catalan companies. Evidence of this is clear in the range of projects with which it is closely involved, such as the Circus Arts and Street Arts Circuit (CASA), and the Euro-regional project CARRER launched last year (as well as participating organisations and festivals from the Balearic Islands, Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées). This year, two productions from the companies 1Watt (from France) and AuMents (from the Balearic Islands) will also be presented.  FiraTàrrega also maintains a presence in international and national networks such as Circostrada, FACE, COFAE and the recently launched Platform for Street Art, as well as participating in international delegations at La Llotja (this year with representation from Finland, Chile and Korea). The Fair has also broadened its programme alliances this year by incorporating the CULT network, with Italian companies Associazione Eccentri Dadaró-Compagnia Ifratellicaproni and Teatro Necessario & Mattatoio Sospeso; as well as two projects from the Summer Stage of New York that will be part of the Urban Nation programme. The choreographer from Senegal Ousmane Omari Wiles will present a show that unites traditional dance with house dance and vogue and the dancer Ephrat Asheri who specialises in break, hip hop and dance. Within the country's borders, FiraTàrrega has also just closed a collaboration deal with Barcelona theatre Antic Teatre to work together in the Supporting Creativity Programme, and the shows from Abast Elàstic and Carla Rovira will soon première in Barcelona.-

Among the activities organised and hosted by FiraTàrrega, highlights will be the Culture Department Lunch, organised by the Markets Area of the ICEC. The event is an informal gathering of international professionals and national companies who are presenting projects at this year's Fair. La Llotja will also have 1000m² of space for close to 60 fair exhibitors, where many professional activities will be on display, and the Professionals' Club will propose working spaces that go beyond the performance.  

Theatre, the city and participation

This year's Fair once again focuses on the participation of its audiences in the fair´s events, and the organisers hope that audiences and the public will participate in all the stages of the Fair, before, during and after the event, via digital media as well as through direct participation and individual experience.

As an example, the following theatre projects shown at the Fair welcome the participation of the local community: Insectotròpics, Vero Cendoya, Carla Rovira, Quim  Moya and Leire Mesa, all encourage the audience to become a part of the performance space and the preparation for the show. 

Audiences can also participate through an exchange of opinions and ideas in the new section, Scenic and performing vermouth, every day at 1pm at which people can join the digital critique platforms Recomana.cat and #tuiteatreros to begin a joint evaluation of the shows they have seen or hope to see. To make additional use of digital media, the Fair presents a selection of influencers, the #FiraTàrrega Voices, five people with a solid cultural background and a highly active social media profile, who will offer their views on FiraTàrrega as it goes on.

FiraTàrrega also maintains a strong virtual presence on social networks, and its official profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram help to keep digital audiences in touch with what's happening, and promote collaboration before, during and after the Fair.  

Due to reasons beyond our control, the show Sifonòfor from Animal Religion will be replaced by Caída Libre by Sharon Fridman. The show will be performed at the same times and venue. The shows Durango 66 from Teatro Línia de Sombra, and Cadàver Exquisit from Vol de Ment, have been cancelled.