Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to American choreographer and world-famous Frankfurt-er, William Forsythe, about diet and exercise – both physical and mental. (We enjoyed this conversation so much that we took a coffee break and came back for more. Be sure to join us next time for Pt. 2!)

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to Martine Dennewald, former curator of the Salzburg Festival’s Young Directors Project, now programmer and interim co-Artistic Director of the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt, about navigating the different contexts and constituencies in which art is presented and represented.  We also try to talk about the work of our mutual friend, Niels Ewerbeck (Director of Mousonturm), who tragically died just a few weeks ago.

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to performance and video artists Mette van der Sijs and Liesbeth Gritter (who together make up the Dutch company Kassys) about unbalancing acts and comfort zones.  What does Kassys hope to learn by taking a one year sabbatical from theater where they make no work, but instead develop new and different talents, such as farming olives in Portugal (Liesbeth) and undertaking in Holland (Mette)?

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to internationally respected choreographer, dancer and theater-maker Faustin Linyekula, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, about local and global, national and international.  When we travel, how much of our local context and content do we inadvertently carry along with us?  Can we ever really check all our baggage at the airport?

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to French choreographer and conceptual artist Jérôme Bel about virtuosity, disability, pleasure, and permission.  

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to New York avant-garde writer and director Richard Foreman about film, television, theater, radio and – above all – resistance. 

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to French director/playwright Pascal Rambert (also artistic director of Théâtre de Gennevilliers in Paris) about the aversion most theater people have to talk after a show.  Why are we so averse to the social situation we have created with our performances?  Do we cheat ourselves of an actual exchange of ideas?  Or does the society we live in today so completely surround us with commentary (facebook, twitter, et. al.) that we retreat instinctually in search of the increasingly rare space for contemplation? 

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to artist/director Michael Laub about his ongoing work on the Portrait Series, a project which has taken him from the Vienna Burgtheater to Istanbul, and most recently landed him in Cambodia.  We discuss the intersections of performance and person – exhibitionism and narcissism, vulnerability and testimony.  What are the motivations of “real” people (and even actors) to take the stage?

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to performing arts curator Matthieu Goeury from Vooruit (Ghent) about hugging, participation, social practice, and idealism.  Once you identify idealism as an artistic and humanitarian goal, how do you feed it – in the face of failure, inertia, real financial limtiation, etc.?  We talk in particular about the current centennial re-imagining of the art center Vooruit, which was created 100 years ago by the Socialist party, and was devoted to the betterment and education of workers and their families.  What kind of possible future do we imagine for this space today, and can we reconnect in any way with the original ambition and idealism of its mission?

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to American dancer/choreographer Eleanor Bauer about dance, theater, tanztheater, performance art, Broadway show and all the many contexts and categories in between - up to and including her recent nomination for a Bessie award in the complicated and controversial category of “Outstanding Production of a work not technically considered dance but happening in and influencing dance in New York”