I am Lattanakone Insisiengmay, Director of Khaoniew Theatre Group from Laos. This is my report on my attandance to the ricca ricca*festa, Okinawa, Japan from 21-31/07/2017.

The activities I have participated in:

• Joining meetings with Asian TYA Network Program members
• Observing the training workshops for performers and artists from many countries to prepare their performances under the world creation series theme
• Attending the Asian TYA Network Meeting
• Seeing the performances from various countries participating in the ricca ricca*festa such as Wind, Adam’s world, One morning I Left, Sticks stone and Broken Bones, Goodbye Mr. Muffin, Three Little Songs, Possessed by love, I on the sky, Children of the Ocean,  Les Miserables, AGAIN. After viewing the performances, we had the chance to discuss and learned from the performers regarding their creation process for young audiences.
• The farewell parties and the discussion with the organizers, performers and all the participants at the event

The achievements from participating the event:

• it's the opportunity to introduce ourselves, build network and learn about the companies with services relating to performances in the region.
• Sharing and Exchanging the TYA challenges in each country. The more experienced countries provide suggestions to the those countries that are struggling to present the portray the idea that the children are valuable. This maybe done by using theatre and turning it into a subject in school system
• Children must take part in the creation of TYA performances because they are highly imaginative and all parties should take part in the process, including the government and related organizations.
• Theatre is very important because it can stories from the past and in the future, it can portray important events and help improve the children’s imagination.

Expectations and hope:

• The general public will value, have more interest and help promote theatre arts
• We are inspired to produce more TYA performances and raise our standards of quality with the aim of being sustainable
• We would like to bring our TYA Creations to participate in festivals in other countries
• I would like to see a workshop focusing on the process of TYA Creation in Laos on a yearly basis

My opinion for the event:

The festival is such a good event. It's a venue for Asian and European participants to be exposed to each other challenges and share ideas and suggestions of what can be done to tackle those challenges to encourage more TYA creations within each nation. The participants have the opportunity to talk and network to craft possible future collaboration. This is very useful for the performers in their quest to create performances that can cross over borders.

www.khaoniew.com