"Reminds me a bit of Clarese and Dr. Lector. The eery stage for a sinister plot. The reflection is crisp and clear. The red light with the orange stripe adds color and a magnificent feel of an angelic being in white, but still the fire of hell…"
"The perspective of this still is very artisically frozen. It is an energy of motion, yet does not move. The face and her eyes follow and penetrate the gently wrinkled flow of the large but light fabric. The overall whites of the piece add to the…"
Theater Mitu is a permanent group of collaborators that methodically experiments with theatrical form. We investigate the spiritual core of world performance traditions to create original work and re-envision classics. This is the foundation of our teaching and training methodology.
Founded in 1997, Theater Mitu has earned a wide reputation as an adventuresome and dynamic ensemble of artists. Under the leadership of artistic director Rubén Polendo, the Company is dedicated to transliterating a wide variety of performance traditions, exploring theatrical form, and supporting the creative growth of its members, who are at the creative core of each piece the Company produces. Its considerable body of work has taken on a variety of forms: developmental work with some of the world's leading theatrical innovators, productions in conjunction with universities and conservatories, outreach to non-theatrical communities, and research and training with its members.
Mitu's work has been developed and presented at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, the McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, The Alliance Theater in Atlanta, GA, The Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati, Patravadi Theater in Bangkok, Thailand, UNAM/CUT in Mexico City, The Perseverance Theater in Alaska, The Public Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, INTAR, Blue Light, The Juilliard School, New York University, NAATCO, The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts and New York Theatre Workshop.
Mitu maintains a dynamic education program in which company members teach Mitu's Training Methodology called Whole Theater at several institutions including NYU, Juilliard, Bard College, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, National University of Mexico and CUNY Graduate Program. The company also runs a yearly summer intensive in Bangkok, Thailand and will begin a similar program in Bangalore, India. Mitu also has a commitment to community outreach and has developed yearly programs and/or relationships with the Geneseo Migrant Worker Center in upstate New York, Albuquerque's Working Classroom and Columbia's School of Theology.
Mitu has received several funding, grants, awards and nominations from various foundations including Nancy Quinn, The Katherine Dalglish Foundation, The Watermill Center, The Sundance Institute, The Greenwald Foundation, Naked Angels, The Mental Insight Foundation, The Doris Duke Foundation, Arts International, The Ford Foundation, NYSCA, NEA, The Salzburg Festival, The Eastern European Artist Exchange, The Envision Development Grant and The Herb Alpert Foundation. Theater Mitu is a member of the Alliance of Resident Theaters in New York, and is Company-in-Residence at New York Theatre Workshop.
Places I Would Like To Visit
Tatsumi Hijikata, one of the founders of Japanese Butoh said "As long as time exists, and people exist, Theater will exist" As a company we are constantly in search of performance traditions we've never heard of or seen before. We, as artists, believe it to be essential to thus access the entire world as our source for research and discovery. We have, and continue, to extend our travel and training to every corner of the globe. Where there is a type of food, there is a type of theater. We'd like to taste and see it all.