TABS 2022 - The Annual BATS Summit
Nau mai, haere mai ki The Annual BATS Summit (TABS) 2022.
Join us for a week of FREE development opportunities designed to fuel your creative fire and support your professional development as an Aotearoa performing arts practitioner. This year’s programme consists of workshops, presentations and open kōrero, running from 13th - 16th December, at BATS and online.
TABS focuses on areas of professional and personal growth identified by our community as key to sustaining a career in the arts. It also provides the opportunity for established and emerging artmakers to exchange knowledge, and for like-minded people to grow their practice in a supportive and chill environment.
Places are limited. Register now!
Events Schedule
Key: Studio (S), Dome (D), Stage (SG), Livestream (O), Lumen Bar (L)
Tuesday 13th December
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Wellbeing Retreat (S)
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Doing it Digital - Making Theatre Online (S, O) (Cancelled)
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM:How To Make Promo Videos For (Almost) No Money (S)
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM: TABS Sober Launch PartySponsored by AF Drinks (L) - All are welcome!
Wednesday 14th December
10:00 PM - 12:00 PM: Practical Wellbeing for Live Artists and Companies (SG)
10:00 PM - 12:00 PM: What Makes a Good Art Murmur? (S,O)
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Directing in the Intimate Zone (SG)
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM: The Sponsorship Process (O)
Thursday 15th December
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Simply Health and Safety (O)
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Dr Drama Makes A Show With You (S, O)
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Creating Audio Description for Your Show (SG)
Friday 16th December
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Breaking the Ice - Meeting Through Movement (SG)
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Taonga Pūoro 101 (S)
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Emerging Moana Artists Talanoa (SG)
3:00 PM - 4:00PM: The Ins and Outs of Arts Journalism (S,O)
5:00 PM - Late: BATS Whānau Party 2022
Workshops and Events
Wellbeing Retreat
Facilitated by The Well
Tuesday 13th December 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The Stage
It’s been a hell of a year! This retreat session is for you. A nourishing two hours to reflect, relax, express yourself and connect with others through reflective writing and restorative yoga.We invite you to take stock, to check in, slow down, engage and listen with us.
What this workshop gifts you:
- An opportunity for expression through writing and movement.
- Connection to yourself and others through hosted group work
- Prompts and gentle guidance to support self-reflection and inner enquiry
- Restorative yoga to aid relaxation
Hosted by The Well - it is a shame and judgment-free space. We’re not here to critique your writing or check your grammar. You don’t need to touch your toes or do fancy pretzel yoga shapes. There is no right or wrong way to connect to your experiences. Messy handwriting, uncompleted thoughts and creative spelling and any movement ability is welcome here!
You're welcome to arrive however you are! We suggest you wear warm & comfortable clothing. We provide all yoga props, tea, water, a Well notebook and pen/pencils.
This workshop is suitable for all abilities and limited to 20 spaces. Registrations are essential.
Doing it Digital - Making Theatre Online (Cancelled)
Facilitated By Emma Maguire
Tuesday 13th December 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
The Studio + Online
Digital theatre is so much more than taking your traditionally-staged show and slapping it online. Join Emma Maguire and other local theatre practitioners as we explore how to use new digital technologies to take your show way out of the box (in this case, the black box theatre).
How To Make Promo Videos For (Almost) No Money
Facilitated by Joel Strawbridge
Tuesday 13th December 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Studio
Joel Strawbridge presents a short guide on affordably creating marketing materials for your show, using readily available tools. Learn the basics of composition, lighting, and exposure - as well as basic audio recording and interviewing skills.
Practical Wellbeing for Live Artists and Companies
Facilitated by Jean Sergent
Wednesday 14th December 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The Stage
We all want to be better at taking care of ourselves and others, but scarcity mindsets and fear hold us back. Jean Sergent has extensive experience working in the wellbeing space, as well as a 20 year career in theatre. In this workshop, Jean will offer theories and ideas for incorporating wellbeing principles into your work, with a special emphasis on empowering individuals and groups to build wellbeing plans for their projects and companies.
What Makes A Good Art Murmur?
Facilitated by Art Murmurs
Wednesday 14th December 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Thursday 15th December 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Studio + Online
Art Murmurs would like to open an honest conversation with artists to discuss what makes a good art review. We would like to learn what artists have and haven't found useful about past reviews and discuss possible ways a review can support an artists’ journey towards a sustainable arts career. If you would like to have a say on the future of art reviews in Pōneke, then please come along!
Directing in the Intimate Zone
Facilitated by Carrie Thiel
Wednesday 14th December 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Stage
Learn professional best practices in this introduction to directing staged intimacy. The session will start with discussion, real world examples and demonstrations. Selected directors will practise working with actors on developing intimate scenes in a safe, supportive and creative space, while other participants observe. You will learn how these processes ensure that the work is consensual, engaging and best serves the story, what information directors and producers should provide early on, plus the importance of your stage manager in the process.
The Sponsorship Process
Facilitated by Craig Ireson (IresonCo) & Lyndee Jane Rutherford
Wednesday 14th December 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Online Only
In this interactive workshop, Craig and LJ will break down the process of creating a sponsorship strategy for a hypothetical theatre company. The process will describe the company’s case for investment, audiences, sponsorship assets and benefits, and sponsorship targets. It’s ‘sponsorship improv’ where you help LJ and Craig create a bespoke sponsorship strategy for this hypothetical hybrid company, and they pull back the curtain on the process as they go.
Dr Drama Makes A Show With You
Facilitated by Theatre of Love
Thursday 15th December 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The Stage
Dr Drama Makes a Show With You is an interactive performance/workshop which explores the origins of drama and how we connect through theatre. Dr Drama (James Wenley, VUW theatre lecturer) wants to know: Why do we do theatre? Drama games and exercises invite participants to offer stories about their relationship to performance. The show becomes a live devising session as we work together to create our own show-within-a-show. Both a love letter celebrating live theatre, as well as a critique of how theatre can fall short, Dr Drama Makes A Show With You aims to creatively invigorate and inspire participants.
Simply Health and Safety
Facilitated by Cathy Knowsley
Thursday 15th December 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The Studio + Online
Ever wondered who's responsible for health and safety in the theatre? Actually it's you. Theatre-technician-turned-health-and-safety-consultant, Cathy Knowsley will unpick all the whys and wherefores of health and safety for performing arts. This session is for all practitioners and will include practical tips on how to meet your legal responsibilities with minimum stress and anxiety.
Creating Audio Description for Your Show
Facilitated by Susan Williams
Thursday 15th December 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Stage
Audio Description provides access to theatre for blind and low vision audience members. Find out what options are available, from a commentary via earpiece, to epic world-building the whole audience can enjoy, through to soundscapes and radio plays. Thinking about access creates a rich new layer to your storytelling. Learn the basics, practice creating your own audio description, and discover where to find more information. Susan Williams is a functionally blind theatre maker who includes audio description in their projects, uses audio description to watch shows and movies, and is passionate about increasing the number of audio described shows in Wellington. This workshop was first developed with support from Barbarian Productions.
Breaking the Ice - Meeting through Movement
Facilitated by Java Dance Company
Friday 16th December 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
The Stage
This workshop will get your blood moving without judgement since all bodies are made to move. Actors, dancers and musicians will meet through movement as a way to connect, communicate, share ideas and feel safe to risk. We will look at different ways to become comfortable and connected when working with new people and collaborating. Explore how to 'put your foot in it' and enjoy it while creating a safe inclusive space. With live music by Tristan Carter.
Taonga Pūoro 101
Facilitated by Karen Leef
Friday 16th December 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The Studio
Nau mai, piki mai ki tēnei kaupapa whakaora i te āo puoro. Come along and experience the magic of taonga pūoro for yourself.
Emerging Moana Artists Talanoa
Facilitated by Sarai Perenise-Ropeti
Friday 16th December 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Stage
Emerging Moana artists around Pōneke are invited to come along and talanoa with each other. It's time we create a community for ourselves where we have the chance to hear each other’s voices and find ways to better support each other in our work. I would like to open a space for us to talanoa about future plans, burgeoning companies, and creative aspirations. Kai will be provided.
The Ins and Outs of Arts Journalism
Facilitated by Sam Brooks
Friday 16th December 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The Studio + Online
Sam Brooks (The Spinoff) hosts a workshop discussing the fundamentals of arts journalism in New Zealand, and how artists can better understand the media, and how to connect with them to more effectively promote themselves and their work. This will be a short lecture with a Q&A.
BATS Whānau Party 2022
Friday 16th December 5:00 PM - Late
Lumen Bar
Haere mai, nau mai, piki mai e te whānau. Before we all head off on our summer adventures, join us in Lumen Bar to celebrate the end of the theatre year with a bang. Kai is on us, happy hour is all night, and we’ve got live music from WYNONA. See you there!
