• during the first week, “Walking Backwards into the Future” featured 14 cyberformances from past UpStage festivals. it was a real delight to see how relevant and fresh these shows still are and in some cases to see interesting developments and reworking of the original shows.

• the marathon of new shows, “Testing 1 2, 1 2, 1 2” presented 28 shows in UpStage and other online platforms over 27 hours; the diversity was huge, the quality of work impressive, and the balancing act of pushing the technology to its limits without tipping over the edge was nothing short of extraordinary!

• real-life access nodes were held at 14 locations around the world, in galleries, gardens, workshops and other spaces. it was great to meet some of the nodes through the “DELTAP” nodes welcome sessions and learn about how the festival was received in different locations.
  (NODE HOSTS – please let us know how many people came to your node, the hours you operated, & send any photos or other documentation you have from your venue to info@upstage.org.nz)
• we would love to hear your feedback about the festival – please email info@upstage.org.nz.

now we must rest before we begin the task of compiling the documentation and sorting out the budget; we are still well short of meeting our costs, so if you appreciated the festival please consider making a donation: https://upstage.org.nz/blog/?page_id=278

Huge thanks and congratulations to the people who made 121212 a wonderful, fun, success!

THE FABULOUS ARTISTS (in order of appearance):
Avatar Body Collision (Vicki Smith, Helen Varley Jamieson, Karla Ptacek, Leena Saarinen), Katarina Djordjević Urosević, Jelena Lalić, Miljana Perić, Jelena Milosavljević Rubil, Julijana Protić, Valentina Tibaldi, Suzon Fuks, James Cunningham, Rebekah Wild, ActiveLayers (Suzon Fuks, James Cunningham, Liz Bryce, Cherry Truluck),  Mali and Chad Duckitt, Louise Phillips, Tara Rebele, Petyr Veenstra, Floris Sirag, Gabriella Sacco, students from Kaingaroa School (Chatham Islands), Stefan Riebel, students from South Westland Area School (NZ), Karen Keifer-Boyd, Aaron Knochel, Christine Liao, Ryan Shin, Wanda B. Knight, Ryan Patton, Mary Elizabeth Meier, Bob Sweeny, Jennifer Motter, Martina Paatela-Nieminen, Claudio Rivera-Seguel, Frederick Cummings, Jaime Dames, Felix Lazo, Alonso Fernandes, Monica Barros, students from Paparoa School (NZ), Pegi Marshall-Amundsen, Ian Whalley, Ivan Zavada, Rebecca Cernec, Play the Moment Shakti (Victoria Gibson, Sonia Paço-Rocchia, Jude Abrams, Christina deRoos), Ethernet Orchestra (Roger Mills, Bukhu Ganburged, Aref Toloei, Martin Slawig, Elke Utomollen, Chris Vine, Hervé Perez, Graziano Milano, Michael Szpakowski), Liz Swift, VOID, Isabel Valverde, Todd Cochrane, Jun Makime, Yumi Sagara, Kae Ishimoto, Keiji Mitsubuchi, Hidenori Watanave, Yukihiko Yoshida, Ana Moura Santos, Clara Gomes, ARTICA, Nick Rothwell, Sca Shilova, APO33 (Jenny Pickett, Julien Ottavi), Carlotta Brunetti, Alberto Vazquez, Augustín Pecchia, Bernardo Pineyro, Natalia Pajariño, Alejandro Cronopio, Formantis, Christina Papagiannouli, Ann Cross, Tom Mangan, Nathalie Fougeras, Daniel Nillson,  Annie Abrahams, Derek Piotr, Ursula Enslicher, Bérénice Belpaire, Laurie Bellanca, Philippe Boisnard, Gretta Louw,  Antye Greie, Martina Ruhsam, Sébastien Zaegel, Christophe Alix, Simona Polvani, Pascale Barret, Julie Châteauvert, Ienke Kastelein, Gaetan Rusquet, Igor Stromajer, and Dan Untitled.

FESTIVAL HOSTS: Miljana Peric (mem), Valentina Tibaldi, Sheila Bishop & Karla Ptacek with Helen & Vicki

TECHNICIANS: Scott Riddell & Gavin Chan (with support from Martin Eisenbarth and Paul Rohrlach)

DOCUMENTERS: Christina Papagiannouli (coordinator), Alberto Vazquez & Augustín Pecchia (RECICLARTE), Scott Riddell, Martin Eisenbarth, Gavin Chan, James Cunningham

SECOND LIFE STREAMERS: Lynne Heller, Sca Shilova, Christine Liao, Simon Lindauer

NODE HOSTS: Melanie Oliver & Toshi at Physics Room (Christchurch, NZ); Daniel James at MoMA (Wellington, NZ); Alberto Vazquez at RECICLARTE (Buenos Aires, Argentina); Sverre Host, Tobias Messenbrink & Torhild Skatun at Norsk Telemuseum (Oslo, Norway); Horst Konietzny at Signalraum (Munich, Germany); Alexandre Lemos at Marionet Teatro (Coimbra, Portugal); Snezana Curuvija at Galerija Elektrika (Pancevo, Serbia); David Lavaysse at Kawenga (Montpelier, France); René Paré at MAD Emergent Art Centre (Eindhoven, Netherlands); Jenny Pickett at APO33 (Nantes, France); Valentina Tibaldi at Odin Teatret (Holstebro, Denmark); Suzon Fuks & James Cunningham at Amherst College (Massechussetts, USA); Aileen Dierig at Wertkstatt am Hauptplatz (Linz, Austria); and Paula Crutchlow at Bikeshed Theatre (Exeter, UK).

SPONSORS/DONORS: Creative New Zealand; CityLink; Auckland University of Technology; Vicki Allpress-Hill and our anonymous donors.

and a big thank you to our AUDIENCE, online and at nodes, all over the world; as in any live performance, it is YOU who make the shows complete!

we wish you all a peaceful, restful festive season!

helen & vicki : )