ASSITEJ ITALIA was born thanks to 22 founders, which are being joined by many new members.

These are individuals and companies that share objectives and commitment with Assitej Italia. All of them are active in the field of theatre for young audiences.

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BACHECA | Attending Assitej In-Forma / Report by Vika Mia Dahlberg-Hansen

Riportiamo il report inviatoci da Vika Mia Dahlberg-Hansen, Vice Presidente di Assitej Denmark, che ha partecipato alle giornate di IN-FORMA 2019 a Milano.

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From October the 25th to the 26th I had the privilege to attend Assitej In-Forma held in Milan created by a co-operation of thirteen companies local to the area.

The background – Why did I come?

In these days the field of making theatre for young audiences is undergoing a lot of changes I Denmark. In order to respond to those changes in a constructive and creative way, the members of Assitej Denmark have expressed a wish and need to come together for a seminar, or longer format that what is currently the annual general assembly. A format much like Assitej In-Forma.
Louis Valente who is the General Secretary of Assitej International as well as the Secretary of Assitej Denmark had attended Assitej In-Forma 2018 held in Lecce. Since he was very inspired by the format, he proposed that a member of the board of Assitej Denmark would possibly attend the 2019th edition in order to get some more inspiration to start the process of creating a new Danish format to meet the wish of our members. I personally found this very interesting, and as I speak a fair amount of Italian I was the lucky one to be sent. Fortunately, the request for my attendance was met and welcomed by the organizers of Assitej In-Forma.

My experience – What was I looking for?

Overall, I was interested in looking at both the structure and the content of In-Forma, but I also wanted to understand the background and evocation that had led to create it. The plan was for me to attend In-Forma as if I was “normal” member of Assitej Italy, just to get a sense of it all. So I did, and I took part in many different sessions during the days with much pleasure, I experienced the variety of the content and the different formats: talks, workshops, debate, lectures, best practise, all led be people within the association or experts from outside the field. During the lunch and dinner breaks I was able to talk to several members and organisers of In-Forma itself, which deepened my understanding of the background and structure of the format.

In short – What did I find?

First of all, the organisation of my attendance and stay was very well planned and taken care of by the staff, I felt very welcome. Of course, it would take up a lot of space to write about everything I learned, but in short, I found out that In-Forma came out of a sort of rebirth of Assitej Italy, and also was responding to general national changes in the field of making theatre for young audiences. I learned how each edition of In-Forma is a proposal and is chosen by the national members. I learned about the structure and finances, and the overall thoughts behind the format. I spoke to many different members and found that the overall purpose is to meet, engage and develop. – I also learned that the bell that signals the end of the sessions is absolutely crucial!

The future – What is next?

I have concluded that a format inspired by In-Forma would be very relevant in Denmark. Of course, it would have to fit the Danish situation, but I felt the background of In-Forma resonates with the situation we are facing in Denmark now. The next thing is that we have formed a small team of board members and associates who will be responsible for developing a first version of this new format, and we have our first meeting in November. I will do a small presentation of In-forma at this meeting, and from that we will start the process of creating of a Danish format planned to be held in September 2020. Therefor I would once again like to thank the team and crew of Assitej In-Forma for this generous and inspirational opportunity.

With love
Vika Mia Dahlberg-Hansen
Vice Chairman of Assitej Denmark