According to the press release of the Ministry of Culture, G. Giedraitytė is the organizer of the annual international contemporary arts festival “PLarTFORMA”, a member of the selection and monitoring board of the European Union program “European Capital of Culture”. 2019-2023 she was the creative producer of the Sheik Dance Theater. Currently chairs the Association of Non-Governmental Performing Arts Organizations, 2021-2023. was the chairwoman of the Council of Professional Performing Arts Institutions.
– How do you feel after winning the Klaipėda State Musical Theater director’s competition? how are you feeling
– The mood is really positive. I feel like I’m at the beginning of a new journey, I’m excited to start work, meet the team and work together for the next five years. Just like Philip Glass’s opera “Journey” that just started in the Klaipėda State Music Theater, so will I, symbolically, start my journey here.
– Which theater do you enter after the former director of the theater Laima Vilimieni finishes her term?
– Unfortunately, I haven’t entered the theater yet, because I just won the competition, so all the official procedures are still pending. But, basically, this theater is one of the leading institutions in Western Lithuania, with very big ambitions and plans, and I really hope that the ideas and visions of the theater presented in my program will be implemented together and we will travel further together.
– Klaipėda State Musical Theater is the largest cultural institution in Northern and Western Lithuania. You have never led such a large institution before. How do you see yourself in this position?
– I have accumulated more than twenty years of experience working in the field of culture. I have been in charge of the cultural department of Kaunas city municipality, so I had to work with almost ten cultural institutions and coordinate their activities. So the fact that it is the largest institution does not scare me. I think that the most important thing is to work in a team – that everyone has a common vision, knowing where the institution wants to go in five years, what goals we have set and to achieve those goals together. Undoubtedly, there will be challenges, but challenges are always opportunities, so I hope to use all those opportunities.
– What are your main goals after becoming the director of the Klaipėda State Musical Theater?
– I said both in the competition and in the program that my vision is related to openness – openness to artists, openness to the coming viewers and openness to sustainability. It seems to me that creative diversity, inclusion and cooperation with various sectors, both creative and social, such as educational institutions, are very important. It is very important that visitors feel that this institution is accessible to them – that everyone can enter, everyone can be reached, discover different tastes, cultural products suitable for themselves. And sustainability, for today, is one of the essential things in the contexts of the European Union, both just politics and cultural politics, so I am drawing this as one of the lines that I would like to implement.
– What fundamental changes would you like to implement in the theater in the next few years?
– Basically, I think that the institution is really on the right, positive track, it really stands out with its diverse creative projects. I would perhaps like to enrich the repertoire so that the theater presents performances that cover different genres and different periods, from early music to the latest modern experiments. I would very much like the music in the performances and the dances to be in touch with today’s current events. I would also like to see creative laboratories where creators can try certain things, experiment, so that there is room for new searches, because there is a lot of this in modern culture.
– What will be the first jobs you plan to complete?
– The first tasks, of course, will be to meet the team, get to know each other, and present your program. To ensure that both the administration, creative or support staff, and people who welcome guests, visitors to the theater and all other employees and specialists know the institution’s vision, mission and which way we want to go. The first steps will be to communicate, exchange different opinions and expectations and work on the goals we have set.
– And finally, do you have a favorite theater performance that you would recommend to others?
– Indeed, there are many works that I like, so it is difficult to choose. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the premiere today, because I was away, but the repertoire has an endless number of works for both children and adults. I really highly recommend seeing jumpy works like Cacti and Dreams. Among the older ones, but which have become classics, is “Eglė zalčiai karalienė”. Therefore, I strongly invite you to attend not only dance productions, but also operas, operettas and be active cultural actors.
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