Lerna Babikyan & Regina Picker: Istanbul & Vienna

This performance* will be made possible with the support by the Turkish Cultural Foundation.* Lerna and Regina will be collaborating with the Fishbon community & SonneBlauma Danscz Theatre to create a vital element within the Emerging Genre Mixed Media Installation - a Fishbon Benefit.  We take our hats off and give a standing ovation to this entity for being of such tremendous support to this Festival by helping bring this company to Santa Barbara.

Artist Statement/Philosophy/Mission Statement:

Honey & Mood Productions established on September 2010. The company’s aim is to prepare performances/dance pieces which feeding by Turkey & Austuria’s cultural heritage, their today’s political statements, pluralistic cultures, majority & minority perceptions, their common minds and reactive frames both in the public and personal vise .

The company creates ironic-burlesque pieces through their observations or exposed experiences by using unlimited possibilities of performing arts scene without falling apart from their honesty & sincerity. Beside they make side specific works, video installations.

Short Artist/Company Bio:

Lerna Babikyan-TR and Regina Picker-A are 2 dancers/performers who have experience & education about dance, theater, music and performance. They meet on August 2009, created and performed the piece called “Unbearable Lightness of The Beeing” at the end of their residency process in Budapest, on September 2010 they were invited to Turin for an other residency and there they created and performed “Lost in Translation”.

Describe some of your achievements over the course of the last five years:

First of all after our first meeting we wish and gain to come together again as artists who are living in two different countries. Each time we meet we were full of new ideas and transform our ideas, feelings, observations to a stage piece. Last months we decide to establish our company for the continuity of our collaborations in a professional level.

What do you hope to gain from the experience of participating in this festival?

To meet with other emerging artists, watch different dance pieces from our colleagues, exchange and enrich our experiences, knowledge, experience an international dance festival ambiance, join to master classes, make new networks for further collaborations

Have you participated in other festivals or showcases?

We have applications to some festivals around Europe but we did not get the answers yet. But about past you can see the list below;

August 2009 we created and performed “Unbearable Lightness of The Beeing” Budapest-Hungary

September 2010 we created and performed “Lost in Translation” Turin-Italy

December 2010 we will work and perform “Lost in Politics “ Vienna-Austria

If so – what were elements you enjoyed and what areas do you think could have been improved on?

We enjoyed the lightness that occurs being together with other artists. Often in Festivals there is not enough time or room for exchange – when there are many different people I think it needs some form of organization, to not only make private contacts but also create a bigger platform of exchange.

It is enriching to play in front of different and new audience.

I enjoy in Festivals not to have the responsibility for organizational questions like advertising, timetable, coordination, but to be there and only concentrate on being an artist and having exchange with other artists.