Citywide Performance
Series
Report 2009
Citywide Performance Series
Report 2009
Launched in 2009, this Citywide Performance Series
brought the best of Jerusalem’s dance, theater and music
to venues located in different neighborhoods throughout the city. Using a tried and
proven model, the Jerusalem Foundation designed the artistic program in
collaboration with community leaders. Taking place on Tuesday nights throughout
the months of November and December, the Series enlarged the cultural web in
Jerusalem and created a citywide buzz. This year 30 different shows were presented
at 10 different community centers, reaching an audience of over 6000 people.
Culture is an important commodity that should be accessible to all. It is the essence
of a vibrant city, an outlet for creativity, a traverse of boundaries and a stimulant for
economic and social vitality. Inspired by this belief, The Jerusalem Foundation has
been a leader in bringing cultural initiatives to Jerusalem for over 40 years. The
Foundation is aware of the need to respond to new economic and demographic
challenges and so seeks to further energize the art scene to expand target audiences
and rejuvenate the city’s image as a dynamic, cosmopolitan cultural center.
The Citywide Performance Series is one of a collection of series initiated by the
Foundation. Each one builds on existing cultural activities taking place in the city and
provides them with the necessary exposure, accelerating the professional activities of
artistic groups and offering new opportunities for established as well as up-andcoming artists; and Jerusalem’s residents, making culture more accessible to them.
This takes cultural accessibility to a whole other level, bringing culture right to the
door-step of Jerusalem's residents.
Artistic Groups
The groups involved in Citywide Performance Series make a significant contribution
to the Jerusalem cultural scene and are of the highest quality. This series gave the
selected groups an opportunity to significantly increase their exposure to new
audiences and to establish connections with community centers. The feedback from
performers was overwhelmingly positive. Some have even felt immediate benefits in
the form of an increase in ticket sales in unrelated follow up performances in other
venues, and some have been invited to perform in other communities, achieving
exactly what the program set out to do: accelerating the cultural activity of our artists
and widening the target audience of “cultural consumers”.
Groups involved in this year’s events included:
The Psik Theater Company - established in 1997 by graduates of the prestigious
Nisan Nativ Acting Studio with a vision to form a theater troupe creating original
Israeli works for audiences at home and abroad.
The Incubator - this project aims to help
graduates launch a career in Jerusalem, to help
artists showcase their skills and abilities, to
fortify creative production in Jerusalem and to
attract a young crowd to theater.
The Jerusalem Theatre Company – One
of Israel's oldest alternative theatre
companies. It has created a distinctive
theatrical language that combines
modern performance technique with the
study of ancient texts, thereby bringing Judaism and
Israeli culture closer together.
Hazira Performance Art Company - an alternative performance art
group working on the fringe with experimental concepts, producing new plays,
dance productions, contemporary music performances, video art installations and art
exhibitions.
Mikro Theater - a unique repertory theater integrating classical theater, Jewish
sources and biblical texts to create new and exciting productions.
Tarantula Dance Troupe - a young up and coming dance company committed to
innovative creativity and development in Jerusalem.
Widening Cultural Consumers
The series succeeded in its goal of widening cultural consumers as evidenced by the
large and varied audiences which attended each event. To achieve this goal, ticket
prices were kept low at 25 shekels per show, ensuring that the performances were not
just close-by, but also economically accessible.
Furthermore, an energetic, joint marketing campaign was undertaken by the
communities and The Jerusalem Foundation. The
Foundation provided citywide and national advertising,
placing adverts in the city’s most significant cultural
guide ‘Achbar Ha’ir’ and the national newspaper
‘Ha’Aretz’. This effort was more than matched by the
hosting communities, who were inspired by the
challenge and were given the incentive that all revenue
collected from ticket sells went directly to the center.
The community centers were best placed to reach new
audiences and so they did through bright marketing
campaigns, including fliers, adverts in local
newspapers, posters and much more.
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Below is one of the Foundation's advertisements which displayed the plethora of
activities and venues involved in this exciting series:
Are you happy yet?
The Jerusalem
Theatre Company
Beit Kerem
Neve Yaacov
Bakka
Gilo
The Daily Show
Hazira Performance
Art Company
Enemies. A Love
Story
Mikro Theater
The Tanach Show
The Incubator
Har Homa
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Next year
The sheer numbers of attendees during its first year in action, exposed the hunger for
culture in more accessible platforms that is prominent in Jerusalem. This project
increases cultural accessibility for Jerusalem's residents and accelerates activity for
performers. In addition to the improved cultural opportunities
and economic vitality that this project brings to Jerusalem, it also
allows a community to gather together to enjoy a positive
experience and creates an atmosphere of excitement and pride
within that community.
The reaction of the public was extremely positive, as reflected in
the enthusiastic thank you letters received by the Foundation
from the cultural directors at the community centers, expressing
their great appreciation and inquiring if and when we might run
it again.
Inspired by this, The Foundation seeks to continue and expand
this exciting event which brings a positive cultural buzz to the
entire city. Plans have already been made for a 2010 series
which includes a wider range of groups at more venues, making the event even more
accessible, increasing exposure and filling a need for culture throughout the city.
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