Thirty-eight of these dance, theatre and circus talents were part of the third cohort of young artists to benefit from bursaries awarded by the Foundation's Artists in the Community programme. Ten further participants came from seven countries around the world (Bolivia, South Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland and Taiwan), while the final three had recently graduated from an immersive training programme led by Mathilde Monnier.
In Avignon, video artist Patric Chiha, author and playwright Stéphane Bouquet and writer and choreographer Cristina Garcia Morales joined Mathilde Monnier. They accompanied participants as they questioned the formats and processes of transmission on show at the festival, sharpened their sense of contemporary artistic forms and deepened their knowledge of the professional field of the performing arts, a collective undertaking by their very nature.
Following a preparatory phase at La Garance - Scène Nationale de Cavaillon that brought together all the young artists of Transmission Impossible, participants split into two groups, each of which in turn experienced the intensity of the festival over the course of a week. They took part in extended research workshops and artistic experiments, whilst benefitting from privileged access to shows, rehearsals and meetings with the artists whose works made up the festival’s programme.
At the end of each week, two public events took place at the Eglise des Célestins, where – through a collective and hybrid format – the participants shared the impressions they had recorded during their time embedded in the festival. In a critical and sensitive synthesis, these moments brought together debates and performances in order to respond to the challenge proffered by Transmission Impossible.
Following Panorama in 2022 at the Théâtre de la Cité Internationale in Paris, and Sweat, Glitter and Moolah in 2023 at Les SUBS in Lyon, the post-graduation project Transmission Impossible offered a rich immersion in the heart of the world’s largest theatre festival. At the end of this unique adventure, the participating young professionals felt even readier still to embark upon their artistic careers.
