The IETM (Informal European Theater Meeting) convenes two plenary meetings each year. The fall 2008 meeting took place in Zurich, Switzerland from 6-9 November. The theme of this meeting was “Misunderstanding”, which was investigated from three perspectives: Art, Economy and Policy. For the next four-five years, IETM will focus on six priorities: learning, international collaboration, intercultural competence, creativity and innovation, advocacy and mobility. This meeting’s topic was chosen to establish a foundation from which these priorities could be addressed. Switzerland was an appropriate location for these discussions as it is a multilingual countryand is ruled primarily at the local (canton) level rather than federally.IETM meetings can be exhausting. Anywhere from 500-600 people come together for an intensive four-day period of meeting, listening, talking, and seeing contemporary dance and theater performances. This meeting’s central venue was the Gessnerallee, a former army stables that now incorporates two theaters, as well as several restaurants and lounges.

The highlight of this IETM meeting was, for me, two Artistic City Trips (there were eight to choose from). These were led by artists and gave you a chance to get outdoors and see more of the city than the theaters and bars you normally spend your time in. Marisa Godoy and Michael Ruegg of OONA Project, led its group down the bank of the canal, ending up in a rehearsal studio where we saw a showing of their work in progress, Everywhere is Everywhere and Nowhere. Company Drift’s Peter Schelling led its group backwards in time from the contemporary Zurich through the medieval section of town and up to the Roman wall high above the River Limmat where they popped a batch of popcorn over a sterno candle! This tour also ended with a short performance in an incredibly beautiful cellar space.

In addition, I saw new and reprised works by the companies of choreographers Gilles Jobin, Anna Huber, 7273 (Nicolas Cantillon and Laurence Yadi), Nicole Seiler, Simone Aughterlony plus a 12 min.max. showcase performance and a very quirky music/theater piece by a group called Velma. After the closing brunch, I headed to Lausanne to see the premiere of Philippe Saire’s new work, Il faut que je m’absente (I must go). This work is the second part in the trilogy that began with Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life?, seen at the Pavilion Theatre during the 2008 Dublin Dance Festival. Again, the codes of entertainment are explored, this time with the “disappearing act” as the basis. The work is very funny yet simultaneously quite sad, much like the face of a good clown.

Just a week later, I traveled to Budapest for DunaPart, the first platform of Contemporary Hungarian Performing Arts. I’d visited Budapest fairly frequently between 1992-2002 (as Danspace Project worked alongside Dance Theater Workshop on East-West projects) but hadn’t been back for six years. It was truly a pleasure to return to this darkly beautiful city and its people. György Szabó, Director of Trafó House of Contemporary Arts and Máté Gaspar, Managing Director of the Krétakör Theater Company (which performed The Seagull and BLACKland during the 2007 Dublin Theatre Festival), organized and curated the platform. Sixty international programmers attended the five-day event, including three from Ireland (Loughlin Deegan, Dublin Theatre Festival, Fiona ni Chinneide, Irish Theatre Magazine, and me). As contemporary dance was illegal during the Soviet era, choreographers and dancers who emerged in 1989-90 came from ballet, folk dance, or gymnastics. Many artists traveled abroad for shorter and longer periods of time, and many have returned (though not all - Josef Nadj has remained — and is highly renowned — in France).

Not unlike in Ireland, there is a strong theatrical thread in much of the contemporary dance. Réka Szabó’s latest work, Alibi, incorporates a very ironic and existential text as the characters play versions of themselves. Márta Ladjánszki stands out among the more abstract choreographers. Her solo, Silence is okay! combines fragments of earlier works, all of which demonstrate her singular strength and power. Unfortunately, the works shown by a few of the male choreographers objectified women to a degree that made many of us uncomfortable. Not in that category, Ferenc Feher, a new voice in Budapest, created a solo, Book of Man that skillfully drew upon a street dance vocabulary. Calling themselves, Co.ffein (caffeine) Projects, a group of recent graduates from the Hungarian Dance Academy (a conservatory that now incorporates contemporary dance in its program), took to the street in Dance Mob, an improvisation on the tracks, the platform, and in the trains at a busy tram stop. These kids have great technique (one has already been hired by Cirque du Soleil) and it was a great energy boost to see them in such a public space and witness their dedication to reaching a new audience.

The sheer density of performances seen in these situations often leaves one reeling but the very best (and very worst as well) tend to stand out and remain in the memory. One of the greatest benefits of these gatherings is the chance to meet and/or re-connect with peers from around the world and discuss the works you’re seeing, as well as the issues facing the field. And, there was a homey Festival club in Budapest, AKKU, that accommodated us till late every night. Nonetheless, each morning we gathered for Q&A sessions with the artists (for which both Laughlin and I were recruited as moderators). Some of these sessions seemed mis-used, however, as a format for criticizing rather than dialoguing about the work. When Liz Lerman came to Dublin just a few weeks later, I was struck by how useful her presence might have been in Budapest!