Orit is an artistic director, facilitator and creative thinker. Her experience combines devising and directing large scale performances and events; creating new contexts for collaborations between artists and communities; and facilitating creative enquiry and artform development.
Orit first met NoFit State in 1996. At that time, she was interested in creating immersive promenade experiences for audiences in unusual spaces, contexts and communities; and weaving together different artforms and media into a new language of theatre. The two found lots in common and have worked together ever since, in a variety of relationships. As creative collaborator, Orit was director of the Stepping Stones trilogy (1997 – 2002); and artistic director of a new phase of large scale outdoor work (2009 – 2015) including Parklife, Barricade, Taking the Air and Open House. In terms of company strategy and vision, Orit was part of the company development team 1998 – 2002, served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 2004 and Chair between 2006 and 2008 and has also supported creative development and evaluation processes.
In parallel, Orit has worked on a range of other projects, large and small, including: creative director of Portrait of a Nation, for Liverpool Culture Company and Heritage Lottery Fund, as the culmination of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008; director of Window Dressing with the Windows Collective; director of The Clock Strikes 20 for Pifpaf; and, most recently, artistic director of Something Good as part of Birmingham Cathedral’s 300th anniversary celebrations in 2015.
Orit Azaz is an advocate for the circus and outdoor arts community in the UK, facilitating creative conversations, laboratories and conferences, including for Circus Futures, Independent Street Arts Network (ISAN UK), Arts Connect West Midlands, mac Birmingham and Creative Shift.