Anna Goodman opened Abstrakt Publicity in 1999 promoting music and performing arts. For over ten years, the company has worked with a variety of regular clients as well as one-off projects, creating maximum awareness for dance, theatre, arts festivals, tours and all areas of performance.
Prior to Abstrakt Anna worked in London and New York developing PR contacts and skills. Her first job in London was publicising fund-raising events for Laverna House, a charity providing sheltered housing for men, women and children living with AIDS. At this time she was intensively involved in promoting club events, leading to work within the music and fashion industries that ultimately proved indispensable in developing a specialised publicity company.
In 2000 Abstrakt was approached by leading Hip Hop dance/theatre artist Jonzi D to promote Aeroplane Man, the story of a young black man from the East London who travels the world seeking his ideal destination. The idea was to reach beyond regular theatre and dance critics so the show would attract its target audience and have credible coverage. Aeroplane Man toured internationally and sold out at the South Bank, setting a precedent for an explorative way of working - researching new projects with the idea of tapping into quintessential tastemaker audiences and maintaining strong links with generic media contacts.
Abstrakt continues to create a high publicity profile for clients constantly seeking fresh challenges. Projects have continued to be diverse, examples have included Circelation, a pioneering circus training programme, Italian theatre company Teatro Kismet's visually spectacular takes on classic fairy tales, two seasons of BBC Radio 4's poetry series Bespoken Word, children's company Tall Stories at both Chelsea Theatre and 2009's Edinburgh Fringe, and both Jonzi D Productions and Jonzi's annual collaboration with Sadlers Wells: Breakin' Convention - The international festival of Hip Hop dance, now touring nationally.
In 2008, Abstrakt entered the world of Live Art publicising SACRED at Chelsea Theatre; a twelve-day festival incorporating fourteen international artists. For 2009 Chelsea Theatre collaborated with Brut, a leading Viennese performance venue extending SACRED to a four- week programme. Earlier in 2009, the celebrated Queer Up North festival worked with Abstrakt on their annual two weeks of new theatre, cabaret, music, film and debate.
Below is a current clientele roster. Anna Goodman has appeared as a guest lecturer for University Of The Arts in London and Punch, an award-winning arts and music development organisation in Birmingham.
Abstrakt clients:
www.breakinconvention.co.uk- In conjunction with Sadlers Wells press office, Abstrakt covers specialist press on the acclaimed annual Hip Hop dance festival featuring acclaimed international Hip Hop dance. Breakin' Convention is curated by Jonzi D. Now approaching its seventh year, 2009 saw the second national Breakin Convention sell-out tour.
www.chelseatheatre.org.uk - London's only theatre dedicated to live art houses the SACRED season annually. 2009's SACRED was programmed in conjunction with brut, a leading arts venue in Austria. Events include Cezary Tomaszewski's version of The Merry Widow, performed entirely by Polish cleaning ladies, Thomas Desi's Operation Orlac, based on classic 1921 silent horror film Orlac's Hands and British artists such as Stacy Makishi, Helena Hunter, Julia Bardsley, Andrew Poppy, David Hoyle (Who utilises Sigmund Freud's original couch), a new film from Gob Squad, new work from Franko B and more including talks, workshops and cabaret. Full information: http://www.chelseatheatre.org.uk/sacred2009.htm
www.ukarts.com- Abstrakt is to promote the national tour of The Harder They Come in summer 2010 - he highly successful stage show based on Perry Henzell's quintessential tale of 1970s Jamaican youth, more information soon.
www.insanetour.co.uk - Swedish street dance company Bounce present Insane In The Brain, an explosive dance theatre show based on Ken Kesey's classic One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest toured nationally in autumn 2009 courtesy of the Dance Touring Partnership.
www.tallstories.org.uk- Leading company for children's theatre. Tall Stories present old, new and timeless stories in a physical, visual style, always acknowledging the presence of the audience. Abstrakt worked with William's Monster & Something Else at Chelsea Theatre and promoted Room On The Broom at the Edinburgh Fringe.
www.bde2010.co.uk - Abstrakt publicised 2010's British Dance Edition in Birmingham hosted by DanceXchange featuring Arthur Pita, Russell Maliphant, Clod Ensemble and more. An extensive four day programme utilised Birmingham's best known theatres and performance spaces showcasing the best of British dance.
www.queerupnorth.com - The renowned annual festival of new theatre, cabaret, music, film, live art and debate based in Manchester boasted an extensive international line-up for 2009. Artists included Ursula Martinez, Taylor Mac, Chris Goode, underwater opera from Juliana Snapper plus Steven Cohen, David McAlmont amongst other dazzling performers.
www.teatrokismet.org - Founded as a co-operative in 1981, Teatro Kismet has grown to become one of Italy's leading theatre companies, producing innovative work for its own cultural centre in Bari, southern Italy, as well as touring internationally. The company has won many awards for its high quality theatre for young and adult audiences, often working with fairy tales, classic myths and legends and specialising in work which has cross generational appeal.
www.jonzi-d.co.uk - Jonzi D's Hip Hop theatre company raising the profile of Hip Hop culture to inform, inspire and entertain. Jonzi D is one of the best known faces in UK Hip Hop dance and theatre, he is also an acclaimed MC, poet and writer/director. His latest theatre project, Markus The Sadist, toured autumn 2009 featuring Bashy in the title role with original music by Soweto Kinch.
www.stateofemergencyltd.com- Abstrakt promoted Mission Possible, State Of Emergency's dance tour featuring the work of three leading choreographers: Jeanefer Jean Charles, Kwesi Johnson and Colin Paul. Mission Possible explores the male psyche and toured from Feb 2009 and throughout spring and autumn.
For Charlie Dark's Have Box Will Travel visit
http://birmingham-rep.co.uk/event/have-box-will-travel-tour.
www.Madrugada.info - Leo Kay's company combines experimental theatre, physical and text performance. Mr Sole Abode, Madrugada's debut piece, co-created by Leo and Benji Reid was designed by Faulty Optic and opened at Lyric Hammersmith before touring. Leo also recently directed spoken word/theatre shows: Speakers Corner, I Hear Voices and 8sixteen32 with the Decypher grime collective.
www.urbanclassicism.com - Robert Hylton Urban Classicism (RHUC)
Robert Hylton's left of centre approach to Hip Hop, theatre, film and contemporary dance choreography has carved an original and highly respected artist, whose work is ground breaking, accessible and thought provoking.
AND A SPECIAL MENTION GOES TO:
www.internationalworkshopfestival.org - Bringing together performers and performance makers from around the world to the UK, to share skills, create work, and celebrate the very best of world theatre and dance. The International Workshop Festival has recently closed after twenty two years. Recent highlights in London included Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephen's Love Art Lab at Chelsea Theatre and South African theatre from Monde Wani at Soho Theatre. A unique and ground-breaking organisation, more information about their rich and varied annual programmes from past seasons are available on request.
Further previous work information available on request. Back Home
