French Embassy & FIAF to Host TILT KIDS FESTIVAL in Spring 2016

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) today announced programming for the inaugural Tilt Kids Festival. The new cultural festival for families will feature multidisciplinary international work paired with commissions from New York artists, including five premieres. Tilt Kids Festival runs from March 4 through April 3. Tickets will go on sale December 23 at www.tiltkidsfestival.org.

Philosophy and music, circus and magic, design, dance, and gastronomy come together in a month of ambitious and playful events specially curated for the audiences of today and tomorrow. For this year's edition of Tilt, several of the artists will be creating their first-ever works for children.

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and FIAF are thrilled to embark on this new adventure with a network of leading cultural institutions: The Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, Museum of Food and Drink, and The Invisible Dog Art Center.

The inaugural edition of the festival will present the world premiere of The Total People, a commission from the Obie-award winning New York theater company 600 Highwaymen and their first work for young audiences; the US premieres of Cabaret de Magie Nouvelle from Parisian new magic artists Cie 14:20; circus-theater spectacle L'Immédiat from French dancer and acrobat Camille Boitel, a founder of James Thierée's Junebug Symphony Company; Carnival of the Animals from Australian circus-theater group Circa; and the New York premiere of Orchestra for Life from DUO1804, featuring New York-based Haitian-American composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain and Afro-Electronica musician DJ Val-Inc.

The festival will also present Carousel of Ideas, a special day of events for kids and families featuring a forum of ideas elaborated by New York based philosopher Simon Critchley, interactive performances led by contemporary choreographers Miguel Gutierrez and Bouchra Ouizguen, and a performance from Jérôme Bel; a reading of Catherine Verlaguet's adaptation of the hit play Oh Boy!, directed by celebrated French artist Olivier Letellier; as well as a flavor workshop led by New York restaurateur Wylie Dufresne, his first program specially designed for children.

Additionally, the festival will present the art installations Le bestiaire, conceived by French artist and designer Ionna Vautrin; and Anima, New York-based French artist Prune Nourry's first exhibit created for children and their families; as well as two Art de Vivre talks about health and well-being curated by journalist Erica Lumière, specially designed for parents.

"With Tilt Kids Festival we challenged ourselves to position art for young audiences in the context of the most uncompromising productions for any age group. We commissioned and sought out projects on par with our aesthetic ideals, brimming with both intellectual integrity and playfulness. Our goal is to spark children's creativity and encourage them to love the arts through unique, transformative experiences."-Lili Chopra and Violaine Huisman, co-curators of Tilt Kids Festival

"The demand for high-level children's programming is greater than ever, and at both the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and FIAF we're thrilled to put a greater emphasis on young audiences."-Bénédicte de Montlaur, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy and Marie-Monique Steckel, President of the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)

Merci!

Special thanks to all our partners in New York and Paris who helped us make Tilt happen: Institut français, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, FACE Foundation, Florence Gould Foundation, Air France, and SACD (Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques).

Festival Schedule

IONNA VAUTRIN: Le bestiaire
Saturday, January 16 through Saturday, April 2
FIAF Gallery, 22 East 60th Street (between Park and Madison Avenue)
Tuesday through Friday, 11am-6pm; Saturday, 11am-5pm
Free & open to the public
Ages 3 and up

The FIAF Gallery is transformed into an imaginary zoo where children have the chance to become all kinds of animals, from the most gentle to the very wild. The brainchild of artist Ionna Vautrin, this exhibit features the whimsical illustrations of 14 artists and invites kids to play and make their own creature costumes.

About Ionna Vautrin

Industry meets poetry in the work of designer and artist Ionna Vautrin. With everyday objects that are simple and obvious, yet never cease to surprise, her work embodies a gentle and generous presence, organic and geometric shapes, a cheerful and colorful spirit, and an intuitive and functional usage. After working for such brands as Camper, George J. Sowden, and Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Vautrin won the Grand Prize for Creation in the city of Paris in 2010. She opened her own studio the following year. Today, Vautrin works with brands including Foscarini, Moustache, Kvadrat, Christian Dior, Sancal, Super-ette, Lexon, Serralunga, and more.

Exhibition produced by the City of Design as part of the Saint-Etienne International Design Biennial 2015. Presented as part of Oui Design, a program initiated by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

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CIE 14:20: Cabaret de Magie Nouvelle (US Premiere)
Friday, March 4 at 7pm & Saturday, March 5 at 2pm
FIAF, Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, (between Park and Madison Avenue)
$20 General, $15 FIAF Members
Ages 6 and up

Every moment is a surprise in this cabaret of magic that finally makes its US debut! Merging circus, shadow puppetry, and magic tricks, this cabaret of magie nouvelle defies theatrical conventions and audience expectations. Watch as the laws of gravity are lifted, jugglers perform unbelievable feats, and fingers intertwine into intricate shadow puppets. Created from the endless imaginations of Compagnie 14:20, Paris' masterminds of new magic.

About Cie 14:20

Under the leadership of Clément Debailleul and Raphaël Navarro, Cie 14:20 has created nearly 40 works including performances, installations and designs for theater. They've collaborated with designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, choreographer Philippe Découflé, Cirque du Soleil, trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, and artist JR.

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PRUNE NOURRY: Anima
Co-presented with The Invisible Dog Arts Center
Special Reception for Kids & Families Saturday, March 5 from 4-6pm; Opening 6-10pm
Sunday, March 6 through Friday, April 15
The Invisible Dog Art Center, 51 Bergen Street (between Smith and Court Streets) Brooklyn, NYC
Thursday through Saturday, 1-7pm; Sunday, 1-5pm
Free & open to the public
Ages 5 and up

A luscious forest and archaeological dig open up a world of myth and magic in Anima. Kids are invited into the immersive and interactive installation to explore the connection between man, animals, and soul, inspired by Mayan culture. Anima is a collaboration between Prune Nourry and a team of magicians, designers, and anthropologists.

About Prune Nourry

Prune Nourry is a New York-based French multidisciplinary artist who is currently in residence at the Invisible Dog Art Center in Brooklyn. Trained as a sculptor, Nourry now also explores mediums such as photography, film, performance, and design. She draws her inspiration from themes surrounding bioethics, bringing attention to issues that arise from our fast-paced scientific discoveries, in particular, artificial procreation. Nourry was last seen in New York with the much lauded Terracotta Daughters, part of FIAF's Crossing the Line festival in 2014.

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CAMILLE BOITEL: L'Immédiat (US Premiere)
Presented by NYU Skirball Center for the Arts
Wednesday through Saturday, March 9 through 12 at 8pm; Sunday, March 13 at 3pm
NYU Skirball Center (between Thompson Street and LaGuardia Place)
$35-65
Ages 8 and up

In sixty minutes of circus-theater chaos, seven young acrobat-adventurers defy a whirlwind of unstable forces with optimism, dark humor, and breathtaking physical skills. Created for audiences of all ages by the award-winning Camille Boitel, a founding figure from James Thierrée's Junebug Symphony Company.

About Camille Boitel

Camille Boitel develops projects at the intersection of circus, magic, and contortion, creating a theater of objects and movement. After winning the inaugural Jeunes Talents Cirque (Young Circus Performer) Award in 2002, Camille Boitel created the company lamereboitel. He staged their first show, Man of Hus, before changing the company's name to l'immédiat and creating an eponymous show.

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600 HIGHWAYMEN: The Total People (World Premiere)
Saturday, March 12 at 2 & 5pm
FIAF, Le Skyroom, 22 East 60th Street (between Park and Madison Avenue)
$20 General, $15 FIAF Member
Ages 7 and up

600 Highwaymen "want to re-wire your theatergoing DNA" (The New Yorker) and we want them to start young! A new commission by the extraordinary creators of Employee of the Year (presented at FIAF's 2014 Crossing the Line festival) this work-in-progress is about the human capacity to keep going, against all odds, and what comes of group catharsis.

About 600 Highwaymen

600 Highwaymen, under the direction of Abigail Browde & Michael Silverstone, makes performances that focus on the inherent poignancy and theatricality of people together. The Obie-award winning company explore a radical approach to making live art, constructing events that create intimacy among a group of strangers. Hilton Als in The New Yorker writes, "I wish to hear anything that 600 Highwaymen has to say ... the company's guilelessness is central to its beautiful art." Since 2009, they've made six works that have toured throughout Europe and in the U.S.

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Carousel of Ideas
Saturday, March 19; times to be announced
Albertine Books, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, 972 Fifth Avenue (at 79th Street)
Free & open to the public
Ages 4 and up

Albertine Books, within French Embassy's iconic fifth avenue mansion, will be transformed for one day into an inventive and creative space where young audiences will be encouraged to exercise both mind and body. Philosopher Simon Critchley will orchestrate a forum of ideas for budding intellectuals while several world-renowned contemporary choreographers and dancers will lead interactive performances for families and children of all ages. Participants include Jérôme Bel, who will present a performance of his Ballet (a Performa Commission for Performa 15); Miguel Gutierrez will lead a Deep Aerobics workshop for kids; and Bouchra Ouizguen will present her first interactive performance for kids.

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Reading of Catherine Verlaguet's adaptation of Oh Boy!
Based on the children's novel by Marie-Aude Murail
Directed by Olivier Letellier
Friday, April 1 & Saturday, April 2 (subject to change; times to be announced)
Hosted by The New Victory Theater at the New 42nd Street Studios
In English
Ages 10 and up

Oh Boy! is the honest and heartrending story of a group of siblings that unexpectedly land in the lap of an unqualified, unprepared young man. With tenderness and humor, this modern tale examines some of life's most devastating events, such as illness and the loss of a loved one, and challenges society's definitions of normalcy and family.

About Olivier Letellier

Trained at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, Olivier Letellier discovered storytelling through Gigi Bigot, and subsequently worked under Abbi Patrix, Pépito Matéo, and Muriel Block. In 2004, he acted in his first play, L'Homme de fer, a work for young audiences based on a Grimm fairytale, performed with his company, Théâtre du Phare. In 2007 he created and performed in La Mort du roi Tsongor, based on the novel by Laurent Gaudé. In 2009, Letellier staged Oh Boy!, adapted from the novel by Marie-Aude Murail, which won a Young Audiences Molière award in 2010. In 2014, he initiated the Playwriting for Young Audiences project in collaboration with the authors Sylvain Levey, Magali Mougel and Catherine Verlaguet, which led to three new plays in the 2015-2016 season: Maintenant que je sais (Now that I know), Je ne veux plus (I No Longer Want To), Me taire (Be Silent). Olivier Letellier is an Associated Artist with Théâtre National de Chaillot, Paris.

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CIRCA: Carnival of the Animals (US Premiere)
Presented by BAMkids
A production by Circa and QPAC's Out of the Box Festival
Created by Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa Ensemble
Saturday, April 2 & Sunday, April 3 at 11am & 2pm
BAM Fisher, 321 Ashland Place (between Lafayette Avenue and Hanson Place), Brooklyn, NYC
$24
Ages 3 and up

A menagerie of Australia's most talented acrobats transforms into elephants, kangaroos, swans, and other creatures. Circa, the premier circus-theater ensemble from down under, perform a fantastical afternoon set to the infamous strains of Camille Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals.

About Circa

From Brisbane, Australia comes a bold new vision of contemporary circus. A blending of bodies, light, sound, and skills. A place where acrobatics and movement meld into a seamless whole. A celebration of the expressive possibilities of the human body at its extremes. Since 2006 Circa has toured to 32 countries across six continents. Critics have raved about its shows calling the work "stunning...exquisite... heart-stopping" and "electrically charged."

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DUO1804 FEATURING DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN (DBR) & DJ VAL-INC: Orchestra for Life (US Premiere)
Saturday, April 2 at 7pm
FIAF, Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street, (between Park and Madison Avenue)
$20 General, $15 FIAF Members
Ages 5 and up

Versed in hip hop, rock, electronic and classical music, "about as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets" (New York Times), composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) and Afro-Electronica musician DJ Val-Inc, together known as DUO1804, create an immersive and interactive experience with the audience in the celebratory, exclamatory Orchestra for Life. Created together with a public of all ages, this concert-performance redefines the audience experience with electrifying energy, inviting kids and parents to move and sing along with the music.

Orchestra for Life will be preceded by an interactive workshop at FIAF in the morning prior to the event. Find out more at tiltkidsfestival.org.

About Daniel Bernard Roumain

Daniel Bernard Roumain's acclaimed work, as a composer and performer, spans more than two decades and has been commissioned by venerable artists and institutions worldwide. "About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets" (The New York Times), Roumain is perhaps the only composer whose collaborations traverse the worlds of Philip Glass, Bill T. Jones, Savion Glover and Lady Gaga. Known for his signature violin sounds infused with a myriad of electronic and urban music influences, Roumain takes his genre-bending music beyond the proscenium. Roumain made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 with the American Composers Orchestra performing his Harlem Essay for Orchestra, a Whitaker commission. He went on to compose works for the Boston Pops Orchestra; Carnegie Hall; the Library of Congress; the Stuttgart Symphony, and myriad others.

About DJ Val-Inc

DJ Val-Inc (Val Jeanty) is a Haitian-born composer, percussionist and turntablist, who uses technology to lead listeners into her dream-like expressionism of Afro-Creole and "Afro-Electronica" compositions. Her works invite the World of the unseen as she incorporates her African Haitian Musical traditions into the present and beyond, combining acoustics with electronics, and the archaic with the post-modern.

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WYLIE DUFRESNE: Workshop
Saturday, April 2 at 11am
Museum of Food + Drink Lab, 62 Bayard Street (between Lorimer and Leonard Street), Brooklyn, NYC
$15 General, $10 FIAF Members
Ages 5 and up

One of New York's most innovative chefs leads a fun hands-on workshop. What is flavor and how can you make it? Kids will find out in an interactive workshop led by award-winning restauranteur Wylie Dufresne at the new Museum of Food + Drink!

About Wylie Dufresne

After studying philosophy in college, Wylie enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in New York and was employed at Jo Jo's from 1994 to 1997. He was hired to work on the opening of Restaurant Jean Georges, eventually becoming the sous chef. In 1998 Dufresne was hired as Chef de Cuisine at Vongerichten's Prime in The Bellagio, Las Vegas. In 1999 he became the first chef at 71 Clinton Fresh Food, a 30-seat restaurant on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Dufresne opened wd~50 (named for the chef's initials and the street address) in April of 2003, on Clinton Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side. His partners in the venture are Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and restaurateur Phil Suarez.

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Art de Vivre
Details to be announced

A special edition of FIAF's Art de Vivre series is presented just in time for the Tilt Kids Festival. Hear experts discuss the best ways to broach health and well-being in two talks designed for parents. Curated by journalist Erica Lumière.

About Erica Lumière

Erica Lumière is a veteran of women's magazines. She was a senior editor at Marie Claire and has held staff positions at Parenting, Family Circle, and Ladies' Home Journal. Lumière is now a freelance writer and editor, specializing in health, sex, and lifestyles. Her work has been published in a variety of publications, including Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Self, Woman's Day, Harper's Bazaar, In Touch Weekly, Gotham, Hamptons, and Time Out New York. Lumière is also on the Alumni Board of the Lycée Français de New York. For the past three years, Lumière has curated FIAF's popular series The Art of Sex & Seduction.

About FIAF

The leading French language and cultural center in the United States, the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is dedicated to innovative and unique programming in education and the arts, all exploring the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. www.fiaf.org

About the Cultural Services of the French Embassy

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy promotes the best of French arts and education across the US and builds partnerships between artists, institutions and universities on both sides of the Atlantic. In New York, through its bookshop Albertine, it fosters French-American exchange around literature and the arts. www.frenchculture.org