VENUES AND AUDIENCE

Due to the three organising partners on two continents, Mma Courage addresses a broad but very diverse audience.

The Market Theatre / Johannesburg is a place with a fine tradition, setting new artistic and political standards during the Apartheid era and gaining world wide reputation as the “voice of the struggle for freedom”. Even today the Market Theatre leads the way, combining the cultural and ethnic diversity of the country with international Theatre trends and representing the modern, urban South Africa. The structure of the audience reflects the explicitly multicultural schedule: Along with the prevailing Black core audience, the number of Indian, Coloured and Asian spectators rises continuously.

The South African State Theatre Pretoria / Tshwane emphasises on investments for the future. New audiences are targeted by specific collaborations with universities, local cultural initiatives and township communities. The state-aided “Development Programme” is considered as South Africa’s talent factory, from which many internationally renowned artists have emanated, such as Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom himself or Academy Award Winner Presley Chweneyagae (“Tsotsi”).

In their respective audience segment, both theatres are the most important companies in Southern Africa.

Vienna’s ImPulsTanz is one of the biggest dance & performance festivals worldwide. The festival focuses on a loyal core audience aged 18+ with a good income and a lively interest in new forms of performing arts. Furthermore, it attracts thousands of performance enthusiasts and dance professionals from Europe and Overseas. In 2008, almost 100,000 people attended the festival. danceWEB, an international dance platform in the context of ImPulsTanz, networks between students, choreographers and companies and supports young artists from all over the world by scholarships.

All three organising partners are best-positioned in their respective surroundings, appreciated by opinion leaders and internationally well connected. The international project will be supported by the diplomatic representations of the respective countries and therefore attended by embassy officials.