Orit Azaz

Orit in Norwich 2008
Role
  • Director
  • Producer
  • Show Director
With company
1997 - 2015
Nationality

Biography

I am an artistic director, facilitator and creative thinker. My experience combines devising and directing large scale performances and events; creating new contexts for collaborations between artists and communities; and facilitating creative enquiry and artform development.

I first met Nofit State in 1996. At that time, I was interested in creating immersive promenade experiences for audiences in unusual spaces, contexts and communities; and weaving together different artforms and media into a new language of theatre. We found lots in common and have worked together ever since, in a variety of relationships. As creative collaborator, I was director of the Stepping Stones trilogy (1997 – 2002); and artistic director of a new phase of large scale outdoor work (2009 – 2015) including Parklife, Barricade, Taking the Air and Open House. In terms of company strategy and vision, I was part of the company development team 1998 – 2002, served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 2004 and Chair between 2006 and 2008 and have supported creative development and evaluation processes.

In parallel, I have worked on a range of other projects, large and small, including: creative director of Portrait of a Nation, for Liverpool Culture Company and Heritage Lottery Fund, as the culmination of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008; director of Window Dressing with the Windows Collective; director of The Clock Strikes 20 for Pifpaf; and, most recently, artistic director of Something Good as part of Birmingham Cathedral’s 300th anniversary celebrations in 2015.

I am an advocate for the circus and outdoor arts community in the UK, facilitating creative conversations, laboratories and conferences, including for Circus Futures, Independent Street Arts Network (ISAN UK), Arts Connect West Midlands, mac Birmingham and Creative Shift.