Eight young adults were selected for the European project “People Power Partnership” after the auditions that were held during 12-14 February in Sibiu

19-Feb-2021

The auditions for the project “People Power Partnership” (PPP), a Creative Europe project in which “Radu Stanca” National Theatre is one of the partners, took place between 12-14 February 2021 at the Studio Hall of TNRS. The preselection process had national visibility, so that for this phase, registrations were received not only from young people in Sibiu, but also from Bucharest, Cluj and Târgu-Mureș. At the end of several audition series, 8 young adults aged between 18 and 23 joined the project, as a result of the selection decisions made by the representatives of the project leader, Theater Pan.Optikum from Freiburg (Germany).

 “People Power Partnership” (PPP) will be active for four years (2020-2024), and the 8 people selected in Sibiu will take part in the creation of performances designed for the public space, along with other youngsters in the partner cities, and under the direction of the artistic team of the project. Following a tough selection process, on account of the participants being talented and well-prepared, Sigrun Fritsch (director), Luka Fritsch (choreographer) and Matthias Rettner (project coordinator) selected 5 young people from Sibiu and 3 from the other cities: Alexandru Stângu, Diana Dragu, Enya Mușoaie, Flavia Perșa, Florian Gavarici, George Hădărig, Isabela Haiduc, Luiza Petra.

With this project, TNRS managed to bring together talented highschool and university students, even if for some of them dancing is just a passion, and for others the career they want to pursue. Alexandru is a student at ULBS, at the Faculty of Sciences, Isabela is studying Performing Arts – Choreography, Florian lives in Sibiu and studies at the Faculty of Business in Cluj-Napoca, Enya is a student at the “Octavian Goga” National College, and Luiza at the “Andrei Șaguna” National Pedagogical College. Diana studies in Bucharest, at UNATC – Choreography, Flavia is doing a Masters of Performing Arts and Film, at the Faculty of Theatre and Film Cluj-Napoca, and George is a student at the University of Arts from Târgu-Mureș. They are already a team, seeing as the work for the new project already started, just after the auditions were over.

Hope for the young artists in the current context of the pandemic

Although in 2021 things seem to evolve in a good way despite the pandemics, some restrictions will continue to be applied, in our daily life, as well as in the artistic world. However, we learned how to be responsible and how we can bring the activities out of the online and closer to the audience – a need that is experienced on both sides of the stage.  

Matthias Rettner, coordinator of the PPP project and general manager of the Pan.Optikum theatre company, stated that “It was a good start for the project, and TNRS is a partner that we have been working with since a long time, for more than 14 years. Coming back to Sibiu and meeting you again was like coming to old friends.

It connects really well, actually, with the theme of the Festival – Building hope together! These auditions could be a seed for our hope – the fact that we met each other, we held the auditions live, and we saw that the youngsters liked this very much. Of course, we followed all the regulations, but we were not sitting depressed at home. Instead, we were looking forward and planning.

We were very surprised that the call for the auditions in Sibiu was distributed all over Romania. From all the applicants, 25% were not from Sibiu, but they came from Bucharest, Cluj and Târgu-Mureș. In addition to this, we are glad that in June, during FITS, we will resume our collaboration, within the technical team, with a young student from Timișoara, who was part of the previous project, Power of Diversity. For me, this shows the value of FITS and of the theatre in Sibiu. It’s a compliment for all of you, to reach young people all over Romania – chapeau! This is all I can say.”

By holding the auditions live and attracting a high number of participants, PPP is proof that professionalism, constant efforts and good organisation can overcome even the obstacles presented by the current pandemic.

Full of optimism, Matthias Rettner, project coordinator, added that: „We already started the work online with the 8 finalists, as we are including them in developing the performance that we will present during FITS 2021, in the interior courtyard of the Teutsch Haus. If you want to get to know them, their portraits and their stories are already on our website, www.people-power-partnership.eu, and each week we will post new updates on our social media channels, as the project develops.”

The partners of the project People Power Partnership are: Action theatre PAN.OPTIKUM, Freiburg (Germany); Teaterforeningen for Helsingør Kommune (Denmark); “Radu Stanca” National Theatre in Sibiu (Romania); Varazdin Tourist Board (Croatia); Kulturos centras Loftas, Vilnius (Lithuania); Foundation INITIUM, Riga (Latvia); Fundacion Pública Teatre de la Llotja, Lleida (Spain); Município de Loulé (Portugal); Camara Municipal de Lisboa, (Portugal); Magna Vitae, Lincolnshire (UK); Alytaus miesto teatras, Alytus, (Lithuania); SE.S.TA - Centre for Choreographic Development, Prague (Czech Republic); Fondazione Via Maestra in Venaria (Italy); University of Education Freiburg (Germany).