During the International Children’s Day will be also celebrated the biggest festival for children and young people, which will be held in Poland. Since 23th to 31st of May in Warsaw will take place the biggest theatrical event for children – Festival of Theatres for Children and Young People KORCZAK 2014. The event will deliver not only cultural development but also entertainment and a lot of fun for everyone – the young and the old!
The biggest theatrical event for children and youth in 2014 – Festival of Theatres for Children and Young People KORCZAK 2014 that accompanies ASSITEJ 18th World Congress – knocks at the door!
For children and adults waits 120 performances and 76 meetings theatre workshop and seminar – for all volunteers prepared almost 20,000 seats for all the events . „Special Edition of 18th KORCZAK Festival together with Congress ASSITEJ is an event on a global scale – this year the number of phenomena theatrical delights and at the same time allows you to go beyond the patterns of traditional theatrical performance.
This KORCZAK Festival contains performances, workshops, seminars, happenings, special Children’s Zone in front of the Palace of Culture, numerous guests from Polish and foreign countries. The festival is already eighteen years old and still shapes sensitivity to art. This year all viewers will have the chance to feel the magic of theater from around the world – among others Warsaw will host countries such as Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Hungary or Zimbabwe. This is a unique opportunity to experience the culture of distant lands just on the doorstep” – said Grażyna Karwowska-Winiarek, Director of the Congress and Festival KORCZAK.
The KORCZAK Festival promotes carefully selected the most interesting and unique theatrical events of the Polish and the world culture. Since 1996 the organizer of the Festival has been Polish Centre of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Youth ASSITEJ.
As part of the Festival will be held dozens of artistic events: performances, happenings, exhibitions, workshops, installations performances, meetings with artists of the theater, seminars … all the activities are dedicated to children, youth and their caregivers – parents, educators and teachers.
The annual Sunflowers for the Good Doctor
As part of the KORCZAK Festival always takes place a special event dedicated to the memory of Janusz Korczak, called the Good Doctor. Young audience after the performance at the Theatre Lalka (the place of the former orphanage, where Janusz Korczak looked after children) will take with them sunflowers and will move to a nearby park to thank the Good Doctor . At the end of the procession of children overlay monument to Janusz Korczak hundreds of sunflowers – a symbol of the Festival. This year’s meeting will be held on May 23 (Friday) at 11:00 am.
The whole family at the theater!
Once again during the KORCZAK Festival Theatre „Ab ovo” infants and babies with their caregivers will have the opportunity to begin exploring the mysteries of the world and the arts. Theatre made especially for the youngest present:
„Apple tree” – Theatre Atofri / Poznań Foundation of Art (Poznan) – „Apple tree” is a unique combination of theater for the youngest and Polish folklore. The inspiration for the spectacle was the text of „Yesterday’s evening” recorded in the collection of Oskar Kolberg. A simple story about an apple tree , which blooms red-green apple. Rooster crows, the wind blew. Who will pick the apple from the apple tree? The show filled with singing, dancing and folk games.
„Sleep tight” – Baj Theatre (Warsaw) – „Sleep” was designed for the youngest audience of theatre – children aged from a few months to three years of age. One of the main goals of the performance is to stimulate and develop the child’s imagination and creativity. „Sleep tight ” is a representation of an open interaction and spontaneity of the audience, in which artists want to creatively process and not limit the expression of children.
„Floorville” – LALE. Teatr (Wroclaw) – Interactive performance for the youngest, in which the set design and music are created in the eyes of the children and with their active participation. In the hands of actors and the small audience the film becomes water, spots – ratchets content, flour – powder and paper – material which is absolutely universal.
Education and Fun
ASSITEJ Congress and the accompanying Special Edition of KORCZAK Festival is not only an opportunity for fun. It is primarily a lesson, which in the best shape flows to the children and their caregivers. Dozens of minutes spent in the theater can affect the young man much more than a couple of hours in the school bench. Theatre teaches sensitivity, gives a different look at the world, and creates the feeling of culture and higher values. In an accessible manner can talk about difficult issues. This year’s edition offers a multitude workshops for people of all ages. We recommend:
– Workshops for young kids „We want to fly!” – kids, 6–9 years of age – The workshop will provide an opportunity to admire the wonder of a bird’s flight – the motion of wings and body structure. We will try to recreate this by animating the created forms – birds. While working together, we will build an autonomic world of birds, where everyone can tell his/her own story.
– Workshops for young people conducted by Klancyk! Improv Theatre – teenagers, 12–16 years of age – The improvisation workshops combine exercises typical for theatre trainers and games stimulating creativity and the imagination. In effect, workshops which allow various skills to be developed in a relaxed atmosphere (such as self-confidence, cooperation and communication skills) are created and this is, first and foremost, a lot of fun. Through varied exercises Klancyk! develops creativity, builds cooperation, practices expressing intentions. Learning takes place through exercises in storytelling, talking about conventions, scene acting and other forms of fiction improvisation.
– Improvisation workshops for kids and children conducted by the Ad Hoc Group – kids, 6-10 years of age and teenagers, 12-15 years of age – The improvisation workshop for young people comprises numerous integration exercises, which develop the child’s creativity through play. The workshop helps overcome shyness and build relations within a group. During the workshop, the children will learn basic stage improvisation techniques and how to perform in front of an audience. The workshop will close with the participants’ performing their newly acquired skills in front of an audience.
– Workshops for young kids „Big or small?” – kids, 4–6 years of age (with parents)- How small is the smallest person in the world? Is a whale bigger than dad? During the workshop, we will talk about sizes, read the adventures of Mister Maluśkiewicz and work hard to recreate the characters from Tuwim’s poem. Each participant will leave the workshop with own set of puppets for the performance to be presented at home. Who will play? It’s obvious – a little man and a big whale. Parents are also welcome to take part in the workshop for the youngest children (4–6 years of age). Every moment of playing with your child brings a precious experience and helps build parent-child relations.
Media patronage over this year’s event were: monthly GAGA, magazine Dziecko, newspaper Co jest Grane, daily Metro, Radio Bajka, Radio WAWA, ABC TVP, TVP Kultura , monthly Teatr, iCity, Dziecko w Warszawie, miastodzieci.pl and qlturka.pl.
18 ASSITEJ World Congress and Festival Special Edition KORCZAK are under the auspices of Mrs. Anna Komorowska – the wife of the President of the Polish Republic. The project is implemented with the financial resources of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Warsaw. The co-organizer of the project is the Theatre Institute of Zbigniew Raszewski in Warsaw.
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18 ASSITEJ World Congress of Theatre for Children and Youth and the Special Edition of the Festival KORCZAK 2014
18 ASSITEJ World Congress and Festival Special Edition KORCZAK took over the patronage of the First Lady of the Republic of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski, the wife of the President of the Polish Republic. The project is implemented with the financial resources of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Warsaw. The co-organizer of the project is the Theatre Institute of Zbigniew Raszewski in Warsaw.
Since 1996 the organizator of the International Festival of Theatre for Children and Youth KORCZAK has continued to be Polish Centre of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Youth ASSITEJ. The main initiator is Halina Machulska – educator , actress , director, promoter of drama in Poland. Honorary Festival Director is Professor Maciej Wojtyszko – theater and film director , playwright , author of popular science books and fiction for children, Dean of the Faculty of Film Theatre Academy in Warsaw. – For several years festival is run by Karwowska – Winiarek – author of projects in the fields of culture, a manager, a graduate of the Faculty of Management at Warsaw University . Artistic Director Wojciech Stefaniak – pseudonym Faruga – graduated from the Directing Department of Theatre Academy in Warsaw, director, author of the concept and implementer of many international theatre projects.
ASSITEJ World Congress is the most important meeting of all members of the Association of Theatre for Children and Youth ASSITEJ, held every three years. It is a reflection on the accomplished activities and work of ASSITEJ during 2011-2013 and the vision of the future. The global Association of ASSITEJ includes 75 countries all around the world. Congress will include a series of discussions, seminars, plenary meetings devoted to theatre for young audiences.
More information about the Festival KORCZAK and Congress ASSITEJ on the new website :
www.korczak – festival.pl
www.assitej2014.pl
www.facebook.com / FestiwalTeatralnyKorczak
YOU ARE WELCOME TO POLAND!!!
