2016 Risk/Reward Festival of New Performance

Watch the video teaser

The Risk/Reward Festival showcases five new works by indie performing artists from across the region. Come celebrate our 9th year blurring the boundaries of theater, music, dance, and performance art in new and surprising ways.

The 2016 festival lineup features:

ANTHONY HUDSON / CARLA ROSSI – Looking for Tiger Lily – Theatre/Drag/Music/Multimedia (Portland, OR)

ILVS STRAUSS – Doin it Right – Dance/Theater/Performance Art (Seattle, WA)

MILTON LIM / HONG KONG EXILE – okay.odd – Multimedia/Theater (Vancouver, BC)

SNKR – Sound/Video/Movement/Performance Art (Portland, OR)

VANESSA GOODMAN / ACTION AT A DISTANCE – Container – Dance (Vancouver, BC)

LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE ARTISTS ON OUR BLOG

What is the Risk/Reward Festival?

We solicit proposals from regional artists for new works that can be performed in less than 20-minutes. A panel of local artists and tastemakers select a lineup and we challenge the artists to run wild – encouraging creative risks, experimentation and bold investigation. No one really knows what to expect until opening night. Several performances are staged back-to-back nightly in a festive environment. Audiences come to sample a variety of artistic voices and art forms in what the Willamette Week calls, “speed dating for contemporary performance.”

Thanks to our festival sponsors!

The 2016 festival was curated in collaboration with a panel of regional artists and administrators including:

Amo Reyes | Composer, Performer, Videographer, Intervention Artist

Charles Smith | Director of Program Management & Audience Services [On the Boards]

Jerry Tischleder | Producing Artistic Director [Risk/Reward ]

Joyce Rosario | Associate Curator [PuSh International Performing Arts Festival]

Katie Watkins | Theatre Artist, Associate Producer [Risk/Reward ]

Linda Austin | Choreographer, Performer, Founder [Performance Works Northwest ]

Luan Schooler | Director of New Play Development & Dramaturgy [Artists Rep ]

Markeith Wiley | Teacher, Performer, Choreographer, Artistic Director [the NOgoodDoers]

Pat Moran | Actor, Director, Playwright, Managing Director [Action/Adventure ]

Takahiro Yamamoto | Choreographer, Performer, Sculptor, Photographer

Tim Smith-Stewart | Theatre Artist, Writer, Director

The Risk/Reward Festival is dedicated to the presentation of new performance and preference is given to works that are currently in development or that have not been produced fully in the past. Risk/Reward addresses some of the most pressing needs of local artists and audiences by providing a platform for artists to present new work while introducing Portland audiences to artists from across the west coast.

The festival’s major goals are:

To provide a supportive environment for artists to present new work with full technical, administrative and marketing assistance.
To introduce audiences to new artists and forms.
To provide a place for artists and audiences to mingle and connect over a shared artistic experience.
To promote creative experimentation in the performing arts

Want to participate in the Risk/Reward Festival?

We typically accept applications between December-February annually. To stay up-to-date on our next call for submissions, sign up for our mailing list!