ISH Institute opened in India

July 2007 -

ISH is a theatre group that combines skate, breakdance, hiphop and dance into a new type of expressive art. At the end of June 2007 the first overseas ISH Institute was opened in Bangalore (India), under the name of W-ISH. This opening was the result of an exchange project last year that brought ISH into contact with young people in India. The participants in the workshop were so enthusiastic about what was for them a totally new art form that they took the initiative to start a training programme. The institute in India receives support from ISH Amsterdam and the children's charity, Stichting Kinderpostzegels.

The W-ISH Institute employs ten teachers aged between 18 and 25 who are currently assured of a salary for a year. What happens afterwards remains to be seen. The programme is run on a small scale but is very popular. Skate, breakdance and hiphop are not yet well-known in India but there is no lack of curiosity. ISH is a dynamic group that was set up in Amsterdam in 1999 by Marco Gerris, a Philippine who grew up in Belgium. It has since worked with famous dance companies including the National Ballet.

ISH is developing many educational programmes worldwide. Only recently, it was in Bucharest (Romania), running workshops for street children. The ISH educational projects vary from one-day workshops to complete longer-term school projects where students stage a theatre performance under the guidance of ISH players.