Between the Seas Festival of Mediterranean performing arts announces the performance schedule of its inaugurate edition that will run at the Wild Project (195 East 3rd str) from August 29th to September 4th 2011. With the goal to encourage artistic exchange and promote understanding of contemporary Mediterranean culture and identity, the first Between the Seas Festival will showcase emerging and established artists and scholars from the Mediterranean and Mediterranean diaspora in the fields of dance, theater and music, along with lectures, panels and educational programs.
 

For its first year, the festival brings for the first time in NYC international artists such as Elias Aguirre and Alvaro Esteban from Spain with their multiple awards winning work Entomo; Sabeel for the Arts from Egypt with their timely work Solitaire that explores Arab identity in the context of 9/11 and the Arab Spring; and Balletto Teatro di Sardegna from Italy which blends contemporary and traditional performance forms exploring local history in a political background.

Other program highlights include singer Malika Zarra, “Morocco's jazz jewel” (CNN), New York based choreographer Tami Stronach and works by young international contemporary Israeli choreographers.

To download the full program, click here

Between the Seas Festival was conceived in the spring of 2010 by founder and Artistic Director Aktina Stathaki with the vision of creating a common platform for Mediterranean artists to share their work, promoting the region's contemporary artistic production, and exploring the Mediterranean's intricate intercultural history. Between the Seas Festival participated at the 1st Euro-Mediterranean Forum for Cultural Diplomacy in May 2010 and organized its first event in NYC, Between the Seas Staged Readings in October 2010, presenting the work of young US-based playwrights. Between the Seas operates under the auspices of Paralleli Euro-Mediterranean Institute of the North-West (Turin) and Anna Lindh Foundation, the biggest intercultural network operating in the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is produced by Les Manouches Theater Company under the fiscal sponsorship of The Field.