DAI Week nr. 8 July 2021 at PAF (St.Erme).
INTRODUCTION:
DAI returns to St Erme, France, where for the duration of the DAI WEEK #8 (July) we will make use of the spaces and facilities at beautiful PAF - PerformingArtsForum.
Coming together in flesh as a community of practitioners –following our glorious DAI WEEK #7 and by strictly following PAF’s COVID-19 guidelines and DAI’s COVID-19 protocol– students, faculty and crew will embark on another DAI-journey, grouping and re-grouping for three days of live presentations and performances, seven days of COOP study, three days of Factory 2.0 activities (student led & Weaver) and countless communal dinners.
Our gratitude goes to Jan Ritsema, theatre-maker and founder of PAF, and all other members of the collective. Thank you for welcoming us once more, and thank you even more for your vision and stamina to bring this project into the world. Here in St. Erme no juries, no gatekeepers, some conditions but no selection: PAF is one of the very few truly open art residencies on the planet: a political project of love and generosity!
Update on where we are in regard to the virus@DAI on the 21th of July, 2021.
Today, July 21, over the course of the day all students and staff currently present at PAF took a Rapid Covid-test and we are happy to communicate that all, without exception, came out negative.
Tonight we will be welcoming two incoming guest respondents to our Kitchen; Manuela Moscoso and Taylor Le Melle.
What happened last week ?
On the 8th of July one of the students experienced some light Covid related symptoms, took a test and unfortunately tested positive. She had landed at PAF on the 7th. and had been in the (not very close) company of others present at PAF around dinner time, she had also taken part in a session with a choir consisting of DAI-students. After she tested positive it was decided that she as well as 18 DAI-students already present at PAF would self-isolate. In line with the French regulations all of them had to quarantine for 7 days or, as required for positively tested people, for 10 days - at which point one needs to be free of symptons in order to safely end the quarantine.
Together DAI & PAF took great care to facilitate the self-isolation of the,in total 19 people involved. But as a consequence of this operation we had to inform all other students, crew and faculty, including the guest respondents who were invited to contribute to our Kitchens on the 11,12 and 13th of July, that we would be aiming to resume on the 17th of July the DAI Week, but that the first part of July's DAI Week trajectory unfortunately had to be cancelled for now. We thus had to shortcut the planned extensive COOP working period with several precious days, while we also had to push the WEAVER sessions with Amal Alhaag forward to the end of August.
All 19 students have been accomodated in separate rooms at PAF with, for the negatively tested, scheduled short walks in the garden. Food & other groceries have been provided to them by our invaluable Jacq and Peter, the two DAI crew members present at PAF, brilliantly assisted by 5 students who only arrived when their peers were already in isolation and by alumni-assistants Zachary and Anastasia.
PLEASE SEE HOW BRILLIANTLY SOME STUDENTS HAVE BEEN MAKING USE OF THE TIME SPENT IN ISOLATION
Can we now indeed resume the program ?
On the 13th of July we started to cautiously feel relieved and grateful that the student who had tested positive so far had only experienced some mild symptoms during the first days, possibly because she had already been vaccinated twice, the last time around 22 days before traveling to PAF. We have also been officially informed that this infection did not concern the Delta-variant of the virus.The others have all been frantically self-testing on a daily basis. We are delighted to say that on the 15th of July, ALL (except the student in isolation till the 19th) currently present at PAF (including PAF & DAI crew) have done a PCR test: ALL RESULTS HAVE TURNED OUT NEGATIVE !!! Such great news. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR EFFORT TO FULLY CONTAIN THE ONE POSITIVE CASE. We have managed it - no further spreading.
We have carefully resumed the shortened program from the 16th of July onward till our departure on the 24th.
What do we do to minimize the risk of further infections and the isolation that comes with that ?
IMPORTANT: ALL newly arriving people, entering PAF on the 16th or beyond, have handed over ( or will have to hand over in case they arrive later on) the negative outcome of a very recent and valid PCR or antigen test - even if they are already fully vaccinated. The certified outcome of the test had /has to be sent to p.sattler@artez.nl on the day of arrival
Since test results do not account for the potential exposure from the most recent contacts, we request everybody to minimize any exposure risk in advance of your participation in the DAI Week.
During the days at PAF DAI will provide enough materials for frequent self-testing.
DAI will distribute one FFP2 mask per person per day. Wearing face masks in all communal spaces, social distancing from others (2 meter), and the use of hand sanitiser are all obligatory.
Essential communal areas like PAF's kitchen, bathrooms, dining rooms must be disinfected daily in a collective endeavour. Cleaning products are provided.
In close conversation with the students of the COUNCIL we have decided to work and live in so-called "COOP bubbles": the students and tutors in one COOP will minimize contacts with any other COOP group. This implies working, sleeping and eating in designated parts of the building - as far as this is possible to organize within the given spatial conditions of PAF's premises.
Concerning criteria for deciding who is a "contact person" and needs to (self)isolate :
Even within the COOP bubbles it is very important to always keep 2 metres distance from each other and to wear a face mask if you must get closer than that.
Our new protocol's criterium for "a person at risk because of having been in contact with someone in our company who just tested positive for Covid" is: that you have been closer than 1.5 meters distance with that person without wearing a face mask, both inside the building as well as outdoors. Should this be the case you will have to self-isolate for 7 days ( according to French regulations).
It is paramount to take great care of minimizing your own risk of having to isolate even without symptoms and with negative testing by following the protocol as strict as you can. This implies that we will not be asking an entire COOP bubble to self-isolate - but only those who have been in close proximity of each other without wearing a face mask. The groups can decide themselves wether they want to take this risk collectively or not.
What happens after the COOP bubbles / how are we organizing the audience for the Kitchens:
The Kitchen presentations are only scheduled to begin on the 5th day after the beginning of our re-scheduled DAI week on the 16th. We will conclude the COOPs with self-testing for ALL. If this turns out well we can conclude that the 5 days constituted a long enough period to 'incubate' and that we can assume to be on the safe side. We will then collectively decide how many people will be allowed to come together in the large spaces such as the chapel and the dancefloor, in order for us all to feel safe. If necessary the audience will be seated in alternating shifts.
DAI's FULLY UPDATED COVID-PROTOCOL (INCLUDING A NEW, BY NOW EXPERIENCE BASED EMERGENCY PLAN IN THE CASE OF SOMEONE TESTING POSITIVE DURING A DAI-WEEK) IS TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE COMING DAYS. KEEP CHECKING THE BULLETIN ON A DAILY BASIS.
DAI WEEK 8 ~ from 16 to 24 July, 2021 at PAF (St. Erme)
The tutors and guests on board this month to contribute to the defining components of our program are as follows:
How to do Things with Theory:
Planetary Campus:
Giulia Crispiani, Nikos Doulos, Taylor Le Melle, Manuela Moscoso Gabriëlle Schleijpen
COOP study groups:
(in partnership with Bulegoa/zb, Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, If I Can't Dance I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution, SAVVY Contemporary, State of Concept.)
Julia Morandeira Arrizabalaga, Marwa Arsanios, Teresa Borasino, Clementine Edwards, Leon Filter, Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock, Kamila Metwaly, Ying Que, Francesc Ruiz, Leire Vergara, Nikos Doulos and with remote contributions by Katherine MacBride, iLiana Fokianaki, Snejanka Mihaylova, Amy Pekal, Rory Pilgrim and Zoe Scoglio.
To read more about how the curriculum components structure our program you can consult our syllabus.
PROGRAM:
The detailed day-to-day program for the entire week at PAF is to be found below.
PLEASE RETURN TO THE BULLETIN ON A DAILY BASIS AS THE SCHEDULE MAY BE UPDATED
Thursday 14th & 15th ~ student led screening program
Friday 16th ~ Arrival
Saturday 17th ~ COOP - Program to be resumed with changes
Sunday 18th ~ COOP - Program to be resumed with changes
Monday 19th ~ COOP - Program to be resumed with changes
Tuesday 20th ~ COOP- Program to be resumed with changes
Wednesday 21st ~ HTDTW & Factory 2.0 to be resumed with changes
Thursday 22nd ~Kitchen to be resumed with changes
Friday 23rd ~ Kitchen to be resumed with changes
Saturday 24th ~ Departure
PREVIOUS SCHEDULE:
Saturday 10 ~ Arrival - POSTPONED TILL THE 16th
Sunday 11 ~ Planetary Campus: - Program cancelled
Monday 12 ~ Planetary Campus: - Program cancelled
Tuesday 13 ~ Planetary Campus: - Program cancelled
Wednesday 14 ~ COOP - Program cancelled
Thursday 15 ~ COOP - Program cancelled
DAI Week #8 Crew (making it all possible), present in St. Erme:
*senior program co-ordinator hospitality & care | emergency response certificate holder | location scout: Jacq van der Spek, assisted by Zachary Schoenhut (DAI, 2020), Anastasia McCammon (DAI, 2020), Dayna Casey (DAI 2020), Alejandro Cerón (DAI, 2018) and Flavia Palladino (DAI, 2020).
*senior program co-ordinator work spaces | technical support: Peter Sattler (DAI, 2016), assisted by Risa Horn (DAI, 2020) and remotely by Ricardo Liong-a-Kong
*culinary input by Axe & Porridge (chef Veniamin, assisted by Daniël and Vera) & Pick Up Catering (chef Karin, assisted by her daughter)
Remotely:
*co-ordinator travel arrangements Vinita Gatne (DAI, 2019) with our travel agent Hemminkways and our bookkeeper & financial assistant Corine van der Wal.
PERFORMING ARTS FORUM (PAF)
15, Rue Haute
02820 St Erme Outre et Ramecourt
France
The complete mission statement issued by PAF
By joining DAI to PAF, you commit yourself to complying to the houserules as stipulated by PAF and DAI:
MOST IMPORTANT RULES AT PAF:
PAF is not a hotel or a facility serving you. It is informal. There is no staff. It’s well functioning, maintenance and cleaning is dependent on every resident.
The general principles of PAF are:
– Don’t leave traces
– Make things possible for each other.
– The doer decides.
- Mind asymmetries.
Learn more about these principles here.
More specific guidelines for the DAI circus at PAF:
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY !!!!
- The building is a bewildering maze of hidden corridors, halls, rooms, libraries, cellars, attics and courtyards. As you can imagine it is impossible to keep the cold outside. In order to keep, at least, our work and living spaces warm it is conditional to ALWAYS carefully close all the doors that you have opened behind you. Of course ‘classrooms’ should be aired frequently.
- During the DAI-Week we are the only guests and we are welcome to make use of all the spaces that are not occupied by the regulars who live here. Our classrooms, tutor's rooms and several communal spaces have been marked. Jacq made a ground plan where you can find the most important spaces.
– MUSIC PAUSES AT 23:00. We are to continue conversations in small groups and in low volume till 00:00 and always in respect to the PAF team and our community (tutors, staff and students) who reside in the rooms facing the country yard and the garden.
- The elevator is exclusively in use for transport of food and equipment by staff. Never use it by yourself !
- All cups, plates, cutlery taken out of the kitchens or dining rooms always need to be returned and put away in the dishwashers - remember there is no staff to collect stuff and the building is immense).
- Departure day: a careful final cleaning round of all spaces that you have been using, including hallways, stair and all communal spaces is paramount !
– NO SMOKING ALLOWED INSIDE THE BUILDING - THERE ARE PLENTY OF COVERED AREAS IN THE COURTYARD AND THE GARDEN ~ BUT DO NOT STAND TO CLOSE TO OPEN WINDOWS WHERE PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE THEIR CHERISHED SMOKE-FREE BEDROOMS. Smoking in the garden OK, but here again: do not leaves traces (luckily there are also plenty of ashtrays).