BackFang Mae Khong
FMK11
International Dance Festival in LAO PDR
From OCTOBER 8th to 23rd 2011
2nd edition
Organizers: FANG MAE KHONG association (work in progress
Initiated by: Art Corps et Danse Association / A'Corps cie (France) Lao Bang Fai Association (Lao PDR)
Project: Support young artists from the Mekong River neighboring countries, by meeting other professional artists and supporting South East Asian young artists professionalization.
Target audience: Families / professionals
Contacts:
Artistic direction: Olé Khamchanla / okhamchanla@hotmail.com Tél. : +856 (0) 20 7788 41 05 (Lao)
Production: Anouza Photisane / Tél: +856 (0) 20 7770 44 45
Administrator: Caroline Cochet / cochet.caroline@gmail.com
Tél: +856 (0) 20 7715 75 14 (Laos)
Introduction
In January 2010 took place the first édition of FANG MAE KHONG international dance festival in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. We would like to thank again Laotian and French authorities, institutions, sponsors, honor members, the organization staff and the volunteers who contribute to this big success and with whom we will collaborate again for FANG MAE KHONG 2011, second edition.
4O international professional and amateur artists will be gathered in 3 lao provinces. A rich and culturally wide program is being set up to participate in social and cultural development of the country through the Arts.
Since 2008, LAO BANG FAI association and A’CORPS company have been working closely and have managed to mobilize young dancers to structure their activities into real and active dance groups in Vientiane, Savannakhet, Luang Prabang, Pakse and Thakhek. Today, these dance groups stage their shows in many cultural events in Lao, as well as during FANG MAE KHONG festival. The festival is the main event allowing them to meet international professional dancers and exchange on their dance techniques.
FANG MAE KHONG 2011 will take place all over Lao, from Thakhek to Luang Prabang and also Vientiane, pursuing the goal for it to be close to people. Intimate shows, funny performances in solo, duet or trio; many performances on tour to travel and mind travel.
FANG MAE KHONG festival 2011
When ? : From October 2011 the 8th to the 23rd
Where ? : Thakhek – Vientiane – Luang Prabang
Professional artists coming from : Laos – Vietnam – Thaïiand - Cambodia – Myanmar - France
Amateur artists : 30 people from Thakhek, Vientiane, and Luang Prabang. International artists: from 20 to 30 persons (work in progress).
Companies invited : LAO BANG FAI (Laos), A’CORPS (France), DEFAKTO (France), HDN (Viet Nam), and others... (work in progress)
October 2011 - program
Saturday 8th: IN VIENTIANE
9AM to 5PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 7PM to 8.30PM: pro and amateur shows (lao artists) / OPENING NIGHT
Sunday 9th: IN VIENTIANE
9AM to 5PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 7PM to 8.30PM: pro and amateur shows (lao artists)
From Monday the 10th to Friday the 14th: IN LAO VILLAGES
1-week tour in villages (rural areas) around Vientiane, bringing shows and workshops in the countryside, in partnership with Belgium Handicap International in Vientiane.
Friday 14th: International artists arrival Saturday 15th: IN THAKHEK
9AM to 6PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 3PM to 4PM: Outdoors shows 7PM to 9PM: Pro and amateur shows (International professional artists)
Sunday 16th: IN THAKHEK
9AM to 6PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 3PM to 4PM: Outdoors shows 7PM to 9PM: Pro and amateur shows (International professional artists)
Monday 17th: TRIP TO VIENTIANE
Moving the festival staff to Vientiane
Tuesday 18th: IN VIENTIANE
9AM to 3PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 3 PM to 7PM: Outdoor Hip-Hop Battle
Wednesday 19th: IN VIENTIANE
9AM to 6PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 3PM to 4PM: Outdoor shows 7PM to 9PM: Pro and amateur shows (International professional artists)Thursday 20th : IN VIENTIANE
9AM to 6PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 3PM to 4PM: Outdoors shows 7PM to 9PM: Pro and amateur shows (International professional artists)
Friday 21st: TRIP TO LUANG PARABANG
Moving the festival staff to Luang Prabang
Saturday 22nd: IN LUANG PRABANG
9AM to 6PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 3PM to 4PM: Outdoors shows 7PM to 9PM: Pro and amateur shows (International professional artists)
Sunday 23rd: IN LUANG PRABANG
9AM to 6PM: traditional, contemporary and hip-hop dance workshops 3PM to 4PM: Outdoor shows 7PM to 9PM: Pro and amateur shows (International professional artists) / LAST NIGHT PARTY
Communication plan
A wide communication plan through several media will be launched to promote the festival.
TV
- LAO STAR Channel (Main TV Channel in Lao) will be asked to be the major TV Partner. Trailers are to be broadcasted every day during 2 weeks prior to the event. They will also be asked to broadcast the shows after the festival. The partnership is in working process.
- First National Lao TV Channel will announce the event in the daily news program.
PRESS
Main partners: - Vientiane Times: During FMK 2010, the festival has been highlighted every day during a week. A partnership based on the same deal is in working progress. - Le Rénovateur / Le petit Journal (French speaking press for foreign expatriates in Lao) : Through our many contacts in the French community living in Lao, these 2 newspapers will be asked to publish the program and a daily cover about the festival.
- Meuang Lao Foreign embassies will kindly relay the info to their contacts.
RADIO
On local radios, focused on young people, regular announcement will be made throughout the duration of the festival.
WEBSITE
http://www.fmkfestival.com/(website set up and used for FMK2010) will be updated early 2011 to announce the festival. Regular newsletters (every month) will be sent to the mailing list already made up.
A facebook profile is to be created early 2011. Facebook has become really popular for young people living in South East Asia. Dancers use it mainly to relay information about workshops and shows throughout the area.
www.acorps.fr will relay the information in France.
Festival history: roots and encounters
Olé Khamchanla, dancer and choreographer, was born in Laos. He accomplishes his first travel there as an adult in November 2006. Between then and January 2007, he also visits Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). There, he starts learning traditional dances.
Encouraged by Valérie Baran1, artistic director of the Tarmac Theater (Paris), and supported by the French Language Center (CLF, Vientiane), he creates his solo piece “Kham...” out of human and artistic encounters experienced throughout this adventure in Asia. This solo shall be presented fifteen times at the Tarmac Theater in May 2007. This artistic link kept alive until today inspires to Olé a creation illustrating five years of exchanges, “Fang Lao”, a danced piece involving seven French, Thai and Lao artists.
2006 to 2011: Exchanges and creations in South Eastern Asia
December 2006: in Bangkok (Thailand), Master Pinit starts teaching Olé the monkey technique from the “Khon” dance2. In the streets of the capital, he meets Cheno, a very good break-dancer, which has won several battles in South Eastern Asia and is eager to push further his choreographical creation. As of now, he would like to make a living out of dance.
January 2007: in Vientiane (Laos), Mrs. Nu starts teaching Olé the “Jam Pa” dance of the flower, a traditional dance from Laos. Hosted by the French Language Center (CLF), he organizes a workshop where he trains dancers from Lao Bang Fai. Together, they recreate a piece, presented in the National Circus, including an extract of the solo “Kham...».
July 2007: in Vientiane, and again in partnership with the CLF, Olé passes on the play “Écoute” (Listen) to the fourteen dancers of Lao Bang Fai. It had been originally created with dancers in Valence (France) in 2005. It became “Fang” in Lao, and was presented in the National Circus with the entire solo “Kham...»
September 2007: in Rangoon (Myanmar - Burma), the Alliance Française offers Olé to work with eleven local hip-hop dancers, the J-Crew and other young independent selected dancers, to whom he passes “Écoute” (Listen), said “Nasimba” in Burmese.
Febuary 2008: in Vientiane, Olé works with the Lao Bang Fai again to prepare a presentation of their new play in Toulouse (France), in March, welcomed in residency by the festival Hip Hop Ways. Instead of a two weeks residency, the journey was transformed into a two months national tour, thanks to the close partnership with the company A‘Corps. The Lao Bang Fai thus presented their show and met various audiences across France, ending in the Rencontres de la Villette in Paris.
May 2008: in Bangkok, the Alliance Française and the French Embassy welcome Olé for a workshop and he passes on “Écoute” to fourteen young Thai dancers. The show is presented twice with “Kham...” in the Patravadi Theater, during the French-Thai festival “La Fête”.
1 Valérie Baran, artistic director, and Pascal Colrat, visual artist and photograph for the Tarmac Theater, both came from Paris to conceive a booklet and a plastic exhibition to be shown at the Tarmac in May 2007, while Olé gave his “Kham” representations. 2 The “Khon” dance is a kind of theatrical dance where dancers are acting too, according to the rôle the director gave them. Depending on their specialization, each performer personifies one of the main characters: the Prince, the Princess, a God, a Giant, or a Monkey. (The dancer’s morphology is crucial to determine which character he will perform.) In a mask and sparkly dressed, the artists represents different sequences from the Ramayna (ancient myths and legends about the Hindu Gods), backed by musicians and storytellers. Performances last from 2 hours to two days!
November 2008: in Vientiane, choreographical workshops to prepare the creation “Fang Lao” of 2009, and introductive workshops to hip-hop dance in Luang Prabang (Laos), meetings with the audience and presentation of “Kham...”.
January 2009: in Rangoon, choreographical workshop in the Alliance Française, creation residency with two Lao and one Burmese dancers, and presentation of a duo extract from the new creation “Fang Lao”.
March to September 2009: in France, experimentation with two French dancers of Lao parents.
May and June 2009: in Bangkok, French-Thai festival “La Fête” sponsored by the French Embassy, 10 days of choreographical workshops in order to prepare the play “Fang Lao” and presentation of an experimental duo extract from the 2009 creation.
October 2009 to January 2010: in Vientiane and in Bangkok, first creation residency for “Fang Lao” with the French, Lao, and Thai dancers.
January 2010: in Vientiane, “Fang Mae Khong”, the international festival / presentation of the new creation from A’Corps, “Fang Lao” / presentation of the creations resulting from the workshops / presentation of the international programmation.
February to June 2010: Residencies and French tour of « Fang Lao ».
July 2010: Trainer workshops in Vientiane.
October to December 2010: Trainer workshops in Thakhek.
October 2011: second edition of « Fang Mae Khong » festival held in several cities in Lao.
Impact on Mekhong artists community
International and Asian artists all gather in Lao PDR where cultural life is then highlighted. The festival clearly stimulated it by showcasing local and international artists and by bringing contemporary art to people and getting them to discover dance.
Furthermore, artists share their experiences and love of dance. Dancers from the Mekong region are able to get knowhow of dance techniques and professional advice from international dancers. Rich artistic, cultural and personal exchanges occur during and outside the festival.
The festival helps to initiate further creations and local and international cooperation in the area of dance. Artists get to know each other. Bonds are created and collaboration work is pursued way beyond the festival time and location.
The festival aims at being organized in other countries in South East Asia.