*info letter* *history

In September 2011, INCA UK organized the training course “Youth & Theater: a residential meeting for diversity” in London, where around 20 people working in the field of theater came together. At the end of the project, they decided to meet again to discuss and plan future actions connected to their fields of interest. They met in Ireland in April 2012 in the Firestarter* project organized by Makeshift Ensemble, where they decided to create the FIRESTARTER* network.

For getting a taste of how the training course in London, you can watch the video report here:

https://vimeo.com/28931900

For more information on the Firestarter* meeting in Ireland, please visit the blog of the project:

http://firestarter.makeshiftensemble.com/

FIRESTARTER* is an informal network of organizations & informal groups connected to theater & performance that work in the social field. The organizations involved in the meeting were Makeshift Ensemble (Ireland), INCA UK, Teatro Instabile (Germany), Small House Productions/Olde Vechte Foundation (the Netherlands), Dramability Bulgaria, Sunshine Cabaret (Czech Republic) and CUTE (Hungary).

During the meeting, a lot of future actions were planned and implemented. We managed to submit, during and after the project, 5 applications for training courses, residencies, study visits etc. to different funding institutes like Youth in Action, European Cultural Foundation etc. Unfortunately, some of them were not approved, but others got implemented. One of these projects is also the Firestarter: Sparks* which will be held in Ommen the Netherlands between the 12th to 16th of December 2012.

*Firestarter: Sparks*: what is this all about?

Firestarter: Sparks* is a continuation of the Firestarter* meeting in Ireland. It is a Partnership Building Activity, which means that organizations around Europe are coming together to network, localize their talents and needs, brainstorm, create and produce new projects according to their desires and priorities.

The meeting has 3 working days that will include an update of the network’s actions, round table discussions for current issues, workshops, networking sessions, working groups and implementation rounds.

The partner organization of this project are the same as the Firestarter* meeting in Irelands with the addition of Orma Fluens (Italy).

NOTICE: This type of meeting is open to suggestions & improvements. We strongly invite you to bring in your own contribution and input. The partner organizations have the opportunity to brainstorm ideas, establish partnerships & connections for future projects or even work on a funding application. The organizers are there to facilitate and support where needed.

*what to prepare:

Update

As a starting point of the meeting we will take the time to update each other on the status of the organizations’ actions connected to the Firestarter network. For this reason we kindly ask you to prepare documentation, videos, photos or anything else you will need for your presentation. It’s important to mention here that there will be no official presentation time for the organizations, but we invite you to bring materials and information that can be accessible during the meeting for anyone who is interested. There will only be the introduction of the people present in the meeting. For more information about the organizations please visit the blog of the Firestarter meeting in Ireland here: http://firestarter.makeshiftensemble.com/category/partners/

Inspirational materials & input

We would like to create an inspirational environment for the meeting. Please bring with you books, magazines, DVDs, flyers or anything else that you personally find inspiring and you would like to share with others. This kind of materials, out of which we will create a small inspiration corner, can potentially be a starting point of an idea or a project. In addition, if you would like to bring materials connected to best practices of your work (exercises, workshops, methods, articles etc) please feel free to do so, since the program is framed in a flexible way.

Agenda

If you have any subject or issue connected to the Firestarter* network that you would like to address during the meeting, please come prepared. As organizers, we composed an agenda with subjects that could be discussed or worked during the meeting, based on our experience from the Irish meeting. This agenda is a suggestion and we strongly invite you to add, comment or feedback on it. You can find it attached with this info letter. Please send us back your comments or additions by email and we will distribute the final agenda to everyone before the start of the meeting.

*We highly suggest you to come up with plans that you would like to realize in the future. The meeting will be attended by people who can work as potential partners and resources for your ideas & projects.*

*program

Day 0 12/12

Day 1 13/12

Day 2 14/12

Day 3 15/12

Day 4 16/12

Morning session

10:00-13:00

Arrival Who is who

Update & Evaluation of former activities of the network

Working groups

Implementation round #1

Movement Workshop

Working groups

Departure

LUNCH

Afternoon session

14:30-19:00

Arrival & Registration

Round table Discussion / Clarifying agenda

Proposal Fair

Implementation round #2

Plenary Update

Movement Workshop

Communication plan - Agreemnets

Follow up

Evaluation

Departure

DINNER

Evening session

Informal Introduction & Welcoming

Working groups

Plenary Update

Informal Evening

Closing celebration

*Please notice that Breakfast is from 8:30-10:00, Lunch 13:00-14:30 & Dinner 19:00-20:30. The times & duration of the meals are not set and will be adjusted according to the group.

*Small Coffee breaks will happen according to the work flow. Coffee, tea & cookies will be always available during the day.

*The Movement Workshops will last 2hours each and will be facilitated by the invited choreographer, dancer & filmmaker Jasmine Ellis (http://badpostureproductions.com/artists/jasmine-ellis)

*practical information

*

Please read the following information carefully, as it concerns practical aspects of your

arrival and staying in the Netherlands.

*

*When?

The meeting takes place from the 12th until the 16th of

December 2012 (including travelling days)

12th of December 2012 Arrival day (afternoon)

13th of December 2012 Working day 1

14th of December 2012 Working day 2

15th of December 2012 Working day 3

16th of December 2012 Departure day (morning)

As announced upfront, some of the participants will arrive earlier and will leave later. If

you have decided that you also want to stay longer but you haven’t announced us yet,

please do it as soon as possible, so we can arrange the accommodation for you. However,

please note that we cannot cover food expenses out of the days of the project.

*where?

Olde Vechte Foundation, Ommen, the Netherlands

The meeting will take place in the Olde Vechte group

accommodation. Hosting and catering are provided in the

same accommodation. Breakfast and lunch are the same in

the Netherlands (cold dishes) and in the evening we will have

a cook that will prepare warm dinner.

About the house: there is a wireless internet connection in the house and an office with

computers that you can use. The rooms can be occupied by 1 to 6 people and the showers

and toilets are common on each floor. There is a washing machine and a dryer that you can

use. We have the whole ground floor to use for our meeting (a big training room, a spacious

cosy area, a big kitchen, a meeting room). The house is located within a walking distance

from the city centre (approx. 500 m).

For more details, please have a look on the website: www.oldevechte.nl

Please notice that Olde Vechte is a group accommodation, not a hotel, which means we take

care of the house by ourselves (including some of the practical aspects and light household

duties). The house will be our home for the entire meeting.

*travelling and how to get here

The address of the accommodation is Zeesserweg 12, 7731 BG, Ommen, the

Netherlands

Travelling by train:

1. Go by train to Zwolle (There are direct trains from Schiphol Airport, Utrecht Centraal &

Nijmegen);

2. From Zwolle take the train that goes direction Emmen and get off at station Ommen

(approximately 19 minutes);

3. From the train station in Ommen to Olde Vechte it takes about 15 minutes to walk. Once

you exit the train station you go right and when you reach the crossroad you turn left on

Stationsweg (the main street) and you follow it until you reach the bridge (that crosses the

river Vecht)

4. Just before the bridge you turn right on Zeesserweg;

5. Follow this street and after a short while you will see on the left the big yellow sign from

the main entrance of Olde Vechte.

6. You’re here!

For a visual representation, please see the map below!

*more ways to Ommen

There are more (maybe cheaper) possibilities to come to the Netherlands. You can also

look for other Airports in the Netherlands (like Eindhoven), airports in Germany

(Frankfurt, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn and Düsseldorf/Weeze) and Belgium (Brussels and

Brussels Charleroi). Also, look for buses that travel to the Netherlands.

For more information about train schedules, prices and platforms you can check the

website of the Dutch national railway company: www.ns.nl or the one for international

trains coming in and leaving from the Netherlands: www.nshispeed.nl

For those who are traveling in Germany please check www.bahn.de and for those who are

traveling in Belgium, please check www.b-rail.b .

All websites have an English version.

If you are travelling by car, please check www.maps.google.com .

*travel expenses and reimbursement

Please find in the table below the maximum amount that can be reimbursed for travelling,

depending on the country. According to Youth in Action regulations tickets will be 70 %

reimbursed, within the fixed amount. Please keep all your tickets, invoices and boarding

passes. They are all necessary for reimbursement and we cannot give back your money

otherwise. Note that the reimbursement will be done at the end of the meeting based on

the travelling documents you provide.

Organization Country Maximum cost / person

Maximum reimbursed/pers

on

Small House Productions

The

Netherlands

38 €

26,6 €

LMN - Liminale Raeume

Germany

250 €

175 €

Culture Use Theater Education

Hungary

250 €

175 €

Sunshine Cabaret

Czech Republic

240 €

168 €

Dramability Bulgaria

Bulgaria

310 €

217 €

Orma Fluens

Italy

190 €

133 €

International Network for Culture and Arts

United

Kingdom

210 €

147 €

Makeshift Ensemble

Ireland

250 €

175 €

If you haven’t booked your tickets yet, we strongly recommend that you do it as soon as

possible!

*IMPORTANT*

When you book your tickets, please let us know when you will be arriving and when you

will be departing, so that we can take care of practical aspects concerning your attendance.

*what to bring

Because we are functioning as a non-profit informal group and we run

on limited funding, we kindly ask you to bring a few personal items with

you:

Towels and bed sheets (we provide blankets and pillows)

Medicine or any other treatment you might need during the training and cannot be

released without a medical prescription (we provide basic medicine for common

cold, headaches, superficial injuries)

Passport or other valid official identification document

Health insurance valid in the Netherlands

Warm clothes and warm shoes (it’s quite cold in winter in the Netherlands and the

humidity is high); clothes in which you can move freely during movement sessions

and comfortable shoes.

For any questions or remarks please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Small House Productions

Edammerstraat 9, 1023 VA

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Tel. +31626646354

Email: smallhousepro@gmail.com