Chasing Fireflies
A European Festival and Podcast Production Tour during the Summer of 2024 as part of the Producer Networks + New Works Research Project, a collaboration between Fanny Martin (Arts of Festivals) and William Ruiz Morales (Ouow Studio).
The European Festival Tour was a time-intensive action-research tour of festivals and artistic creation spaces dedicated to producing and circulating new performing artworks and fostering thriving professional networks. For one month, we engaged with performing arts professionals, using these interactions as the basis for producing editorial content, including voice interviews that will be compiled in a podcast reflecting on the experience and offering a hub of insightful ideas on the region’s production practices.
Chasing Fireflies is a CIPA – Creative & Independent Producer Alliance project co-produced by Ouow Studio and Art of Festivals, with travel support from the Motus Mori Institute.
About Fanny Martin
Fanny Martin (FR/CAN) is an international creative producer specializing in festivals, networks, interdisciplinary projects, and public space. She developed an eclectic freelance project portfolio in the UK and Canada before founding Art of Festivals, a producer-led creative company that brings more life into the arts and more art into everyday life.
Currently based in Zagreb, Croatia, she serves as the Executive Director of Music Biennale Zagreb. She is also the International Producer for Motus Mori, an archive of human movement by Netherlands-based choreographer Katja Heitmann, and Research Co-Lead with CIPA – Creative and Independent Producers’ Alliance. Fanny is a member of IETM’s Advisory Committee and an alumna of Festival Atelier (BE/FR), Producer Farm (UK), TRAVERS (DK) and The Ethics Centre (AUS).
About William Ruiz Morales
William is a dramaturge, creative producer, and independent researcher based in Los Angeles, a land originally and still inhabited and cared for by the Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh, and Chumash Peoples.
William advocates for innovation in creative practices and institutional strategies. He is passionate about creating fertile soil for community engagement by centering partners’ well-being and producing sustainable working platforms. Originally from Cuba, his approach to work is informed by the ingenuity and collaborative tactics he inherited.
William has created platforms to foster and present the work of artists with less access to resources. from 2017 to 2020, William created and ran Living Away, an organization to support and present the work of artists from his community (Cubans, Immigrants, and the Caribbean diaspora). Some crucial milestones were two international Festivals, one in person in 2019 and another online in 2020.
William is a Programs Associate at Los Angeles Performance Practice and a Research Leader with CIPA.
Why this tour
The tour sought to creatively document the values and principles at the heart of the production of contemporary live artworks, using the European market as a case study. This project helped create an updated map of production practices in a region known for cultural innovation and groundbreaking cultural initiatives.
The Creative and Independent Producer Alliance (CIPA) is a US-based network that prioritizes advocacy, mentorship, and community for producers creating new live performances worldwide. Established in 2020 by 8 producers, CIPA now has a membership of nearly 300 producers who operate outside institutional spaces and create live works beyond traditional frameworks. The organization valued and continuously worked to elevate the essential role of producers in the development of new works. CIPA hosted a variety of programs, including a fellowship program focused on creative producing, training workshops in Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI), CIPAConnect convenings for exchanging knowledge on relevant industry topics, and direct support for producers attending conferences.
For more information or to join the free membership, please visit CIPA.
Calendar_
| ITALY | |
| Santarcangelo | 12-15 July |
| Kilowatt | 16-20 July |
| SPAIN | |
| Grec Festival | 21-26 July |
| FRANCE | |
| Marseille / Port St Louis | 26-31 July |
| AUSTRIA | |
| La Strada | 1-4 Aug |
| Impulstanz | 5-7 Aug |
| GERMANY | |
| Submerge + Tanz im August | 7-17 Aug |
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