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ABOUT:
A place to learn and share the work and findings of artists whose current practice takes place within the umbrella term of Theatre Arts. Practical research, debate and learning both for the participants and the practitioners.
The Unschool of Performance starts off this Autumn with the participation of the following artists: Yael Karavan, Kate Hilder, Miriam King, Steve Lambert, Emily Ayres, Rachel Ellis, Anna Helena McLean, Eva Recacha and Ania Psenitsikova. They will be offering workshops on Physical Theatre, Action Theatre, Dance, Butoh and an intensive 9-day series of events on Grotowski (Grotowski in Practice). The Unschool of Performance activities are suitable for anyone with an interest in Theatre Arts at all levels in their careers, actors, dancers, performers, students, teachers and trainee teachers. Most workshops include a sharing with an invited audience.
Please note that places are limited. A non-refundable £50 deposit is required. For booking Grotowski in Practice workshops please email sofi.coachwerks{at}gmail.com. For all other bookings ana.coachwerks{at}gmail.com.
if you live outside Brighton, would like to do the workshops and need a place to stay please contact us.
GROTOWSKI IN PRACTICE: A SERIES OF EVENTS AROUND GROTOWSKI’S IMPACT ON CURRENT THEATRE PRACTITIONERS
Workshops and talks by renowned practitioners with diverse takes on the impact of Grotowski’s theories in their own practice. Includes an exhibition of boards from Grotowski: Theatre and Beyond, an exhibition (lent by University of Kent-British Grotowski Project). Special deals apply for participants taking two or more workshops (please enquire for your particular case as you can save up to £90)
20th to 29th Nov on display throughout THE EXHIBITION Display boards from Grotowski: Theatre and Beyond: An Exhibition – lent by University of Kent - British Grotowski Institute. FREE (Donations welcome)
Paul Allain and the University of Kent- the British Grotowski Project, are lending us the display boards from the Grotowski Theatre and Beyond exhibition that has been recently touring the UK, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Laboratory Theatre. The exhibition Grotowski: Theatre and Beyond aims to recall the spirit which animated the performances of Jerzy Grotowski’s company from its beginning in the 1950s until the 1980s, covering the period of its productions and its subsequent development during the ‘Paratheatre’ phase (in the 1970s) and beyond, including a focus on the ‘Theatre of Sources’ and further developments.
G1. STEVE LAMBERT Theatre of Violence
20th Nov 10am to 5pm- £50
'Since the formation of Badac in 1999 Steve and the actors involved within the company have striven to explore the creation of theatre through the philosophies of both Grotowski and Antonin Artaud. Through this exploration the company has developed a process of work that we call 'Theatre of Violence'. This process aims to explore violence on physical, emotional and psychological levels and to focus the energy, drive and pain created through this exploration into new pieces of work that are based around human rights abuses. We are interested in insanity not normal life. We see no place for normality within theatre. We want to explore the extreme, not in a way that is gratuitous, but in a way that is honest and true to the subject matter we explore. During the workshop we will look at Artaud's treatise 'The Theatre and the Plague' from his 'The Theatre and it's Double' book on theatre and acting and focus on how, coupled with the philosophies of Grotowski, this treatise can be used in both the formulation of theatre pieces and, specifically, within the work of individual actors.'
About Steve Lambert:
'Steve trained at The East 15 Acting School for three years and then worked as an actor, in both theatre and television, during the early 1990's before giving up acting in 1995. Only a chance meeting with a group of Polish actors in Warsaw in 1998 and the opportunity to go and watch them train within a Polish drama school re-ignited his passion for theatre. This was where he was first introduced to the ideas of Grotowski and Artaud and was the inspiration behind the forming of Badac in 1999. Since the company began Steve has written and directed all eight pieces of work that the company has produced, including their latest piece, The Devoured, a one-man show that focused on aspects of the Holocaust. Steve also acts within the pieces.' http://www.badactheatre.com/
TALK BY JONATHAN GRIEVE Title and content to be announced
21st Nov 7pm £Donations
Jonathan Grieve studied Theatre at The University of Birmingham. In 1988 he founded the industrial experimental band Contrastate with SR Meixner. In 1994 he co-founded Para Active Theatre and from 1996 to 2007 ran the company with PJ Maravala. He has followed the work of Grotowski obsessively for over 20 years. He currently works freelance as a director and teacher most recently at Rose Bruford College. “The basis of my work with Para Active theatre was a process orientated approach and a search for an organic transformative way of creating theatre. I was heavily influenced by Grotowski, Roy Hart Theatre, Eugenio Barba & Odin Teatret as well as by the martial arts and experimental art, literature & music. Para Active were a culturally mixed company and our work explored the myriad issues surrounding cultural conflict. Our concerns led us to the work of Guillermo Gomez-Pena the Mexican performance artist. I decided to attempt to combine the vertical and structured approach of Grotowski with the horizontal and anarchist approach of Gomez-Pena. The aim was to find a way of creating theatre that was technically & ‘spiritually’ deep while also experimental & politically challenging. So in 2004 we created the project The Zoo-oid Corporation, a kind of rebellious sister of Para Active”.
G2. EMILY AYRES Intention, Opposition, Surprise
21s to 23rd Nov 10am to 5pm.
Sharing 23rd Nov 7pm
£120 (£100 Concs)
Emily’s training incorporates physical and vocal actions of precise intention with voice and song in an approach that builds a coherency between the meaning of the actor’s movement and how the body translates this for the audience. "My training comes from a mixture of disciplines that encompass performance, theatre, dance, poetry, art and music. Any media can be an inspiration if the approach is one of wanting to bring a challenge to you as a performer (and as a collective) and to challenge and surprise the audience by presenting the ‘extra-daily’, that which they cannot get from anywhere else but the theatre. We do this by being one step ahead of the audience’s expectations; by engaging the ‘I-I’, as Grotowski called ‘the part of us which looks on.’
The work over three days will focus on:
Exercises that create an understanding of opposition in the body and the actor’s presence
The creation of physical scores upon which to layer text and song
Building individual dances from physical actions and improvisation
Vocal work with resonators, and dancing with the voice
Unstructured dance and play
Working together to create something unusual
Please bring with you to the workshop: A piece of text that you know by heart (no more than 30 lines), a song to share with the group, a joke, an object that is special to you (but that you do not mind sharing), and an item of costume.
About Emily Ayres:
Emily has trained with original Grotowski actors Rena Mirecka and Zygmunt Molik on the Body Plastiques and Body Alphabet. She has also worked with Odin Teatret actress Roberta Carreri on her practice ‘The Dance of Intentions'. "My work as a co-founder of UK-based Kindle Theatre is one of constant surprise, adaption and experimentation. We create performance worlds that fully immerse the audience using song, image and text as well as the use of food and drink in site specific pieces ranging from caves, cinemas, churches, glass factories and car parks."
http://www.kindletheatre.co.uk/
G3. RACHEL ELLIS Theatre Beyond Words
24th to 26th Nov 10am to 5pm.
Sharing 26th Nov 7pm
£120 (£100 Concs)
Rachel’s actor training is purely physical without text. It relies heavily on symbolism and expression. The focus is on the creation of a physical language that embodies the big questions of the now, at times poking fun at the symbols and ceremonies of officialdom whilst delving into that which is held personal and sacred.
The overall aim of the workshop is:
§ To understand the key elements of a Polish theatre approach to movement and its influence on actors training and performance.
The workshop’s elements are:
§ Exploring the body to convey language, character, emotion and symbolism.§ Examining the difference between behavioural, expressive and contradictory gestures .§ Development of an awareness of impulse, kinesthetic response, tempo and duration.§ Responding to other performers with a physical intention.§ Developing a physical focus and complicity in the ensemble.
About Rachel Ellis:
Rachel is a performer and theatre maker. She studied performing arts at Middlesex University, and also trained and performed under Polish director Mila Stolarska in the company they set up together, Spit and Polish. The company combined artists and performers from different art forms, origins and languages and created a highly visual theatre style that toured across Europe. Mila was a member of Blik theatre in Poland who were part of the theatre movement in Poland in the 1980s that was socially and politically engaged.
Rachel is now a permanent member of Apocryphal Theatre, a theatre laboratory set up to explore further techniques in the creation of experimental theatre. She also has her own theatre company, Faculty of Wonder, creating work that follows choreography/structure that is precise and compelling in its execution but also that invites the audience to be part of something that contains the fragility of the moment and to witness something unrepeatable.
The current performance, 'In case I forget', was created and performed with Argentine dancer Melina Seldes and explores the fine line between conscious and unconscious performance.
TALK BY ANDREW NISBET Jerzy Grotowski's Writing: applications to the practice of scenography
25th Nov 7pm £Doantions
Grotowski is an unlikely practitioner to focus on for his contribution to the practice of theatre design. On the one hand, Grotowski's writing and practice as a director in theatre and performance almost dispenses with a role for design and the designer. On the other hand, this work opens a door for re-examining the role of design and designer in theatre and performance and contributes to an emerging appreciation of scenography. This brief talk looks at applications for Grotowski's writing to methods and approaches to the practice of scenography. Andrew Nisbet is lecturer in design and performance, and course leader of BA Theatre Arts at Northbrook College, Sussex. He trained at Wimbledon School of Art in Theatre Design and later took an MA in Visual Theory at University of East London.
G4. ANNA-HELENA MCLEAN Actor-Chorus-Text: a workshop in Musicality, Movement and Shakespeare
27th to 29th Nov 10am to 5pm.
Sharing 29th Nov 7pm-
£120 (£100 Concs)
Photo by Julia Bauer
A dynamic, physical and musical theatre training that aims for the heart, awakens the spirit and opens the mind’s eye. With Indian Harmonium & ‘cello, this work draws on elements of Gardzienice’s training, acrobatic partner exercises, the art of gesture, indigenous folk & gypsy songs and original music. Participants will work on a scene from a Shakespeare play with chorus. The workshop aims to ignite a spark of inspiration in each individual, opening the body, thought and emotion through the group experience. The practice will be conducted in English but texts can be worked in the participant’s first language. 3 days will culminate in a sharing with local and invited guests. This workshop is suitable for professionals and students of music, dance and theatre as well as practitioners interested in a psycho-physical approach to performance and text.
About Anna-Helena McLean:
BA Hons in Music & Drama, trained as a classical cellist. On graduating in 2000 became a principal member of the Gardzienice Centre in Poland. Played Electra with the company and toured in Metamorphoses until 2007 (Barbican: BITE in 2006, LaMama NYC 2006). Directed & composed The Lear based on Shakespeare’s original, 2006. Leads a module on “Ensemble and Classical Text” for 2nd year and MA actors at the R.S.A.M.D in Glasgow since 2004. Devised and runs her own theatre training, Actor - Chorus – Text internationally (National School of Delhi, India; Uni. of Thessaloniki, Greece; Yale School of Drama, NYC). Played & sung for bands Tarankhan (Italy), Le Trio Perdu (Belgium) & Luminescent Orchestrii (NYC). Composed original music for Gardzienice, The Lear, Company Collisions Nothing Left To Lose (LIMF 2007) & Periplum’s Arquiem (RNT 2006 & 2007). Principal member of the international project Awake led by Christopher Sivertsen and Artistic Director and founder of Moon Fool premiering first show in February 2010.
TALK BY GIULIANO CAMPO Presentation on his book/DVD Zygmunt Molik’s Voice and Body work – The Legacy of Jerzy Grotowski and The Body Alphabet, to be released by Routledge in Spring 2009
28th Nov 7pm £Donations
Voice and Body elaborates concepts and practices related to Zygmunt Molik’s activity as actor and pedagogue, teaching voice and leading vocal training at Grotowski’s Teatr Laboratorium from its foundation in 1959, as well as being leader of his own Voice and Body laboratories and workshops for professional performers and amateurs developed and delivered all over the world for the last 30 years. Zygmunt Molik is active in Poland, Italy, France, Germany and Britain as well as many other European and extra-European countries and internationally recognized as a theatre Master and Voice teacher. He was co-founder, leading actor and member of Grotowski’s Teatr Laboratorium for 25 years, taking part in all its productions from Cain, Sakuntala and Kordian to The Constant Prince and Apocalypsis cum figuris. His leading performance in Akropolis (the only published film performance of Grotowski’s Teatr Laboratorium) resulted in celebrated iconic images published in Jerzy Grotowski’s book Towards a Poor Theatre. On the whole, the talk aims to reconsider the relationship between theatre practice and theatre theory through a reflection on physical approaches to voice-work and pedagogy. It is enlightened by the work with Molik and his long personal experience in the international artistic scene as a central and highly influential figure of the recent history of the theatre. Moreover it gives practical insight into the techniques (such as the vocal “resonators” and the “Body Alphabet”) created and used by Zygmunt Molik, initially under the leadership of Grotowski, in order to achieve his principal goals: to release creative energy and to search for a unity and connection between the body and the voice, which are the basis of any actor’s process. About: Giuliano (PhD Rome and Paris) is an actor, director, pedagogue and researcher of theatre, founding member of the European Theatre Research Network and the Leverhulme Research Network collaborating with the Moscow Art Theatre. He is formerly founder and director of the company Ypnos Teatro and of the laboratory Towards an Active Culture in Rome. As Research Associate he runs The British Grotowski Project (3 year AHRC project) based at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is the principal collaborator of Zygmunt Molik.
End of Grotowski in Practice
EVA RECACHA Words Movement Montage + Storylines
12th & 13th Dec 10am to 6pm (Break from 1pm to 3pm).
Sharing 13th Dec 7pm
£80 (£60 Concs- £50 Theatre Arts Students)
Photo by Simon Richardson
An improvisation and choreographic workshop focusing on processes of creating, editing, and piecing together in a whole, fragments of movement and text. We will be creating new contexts for our developed movement and text materials, which will allow us to play with meaning, interpretation and expectation. The aim is to free ourselves from preconceived logical processes, and make sense in different ways of known materials.
Eva Recacha will be on a creative residence at Coachwerks in December 09, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. This includes the development and performance of Eva's new piece Story Lines, with dancers Lola Maury and Antonio de la Fe (Coachwerks 18th & 19th Dec at 7.30pm). The workshop will draw on the explorations and findings of the company’s work during this residency. It is an opportunity to access the company’s creative processes and work in a professional setting.
The course is practical and attendants should be willing to improvise with both movement and text, to set materials, perform, and have fun!
About Eva Recacha:
MA (Lecturer in Composition and Choreology at London Contemporary Dance School)
Eva Recacha is a dance artist based in London. She studied at London Contemporary Dance School at the Place, graduating with an MA in Choreography. Before moving to England, she ran Proyecto Babel in Spain (2001-2005), collaborating with artists from different disciplines in the making of dance. Her choreographic work has been shown at Festivals in Spain, (such as Dies de Dansa-El Grec, and Lekuz Leku) and in England and Switzerland. She has received commissions from institutions such us La Caixa or Festival Shakespeare St. Susanna.
Eva has danced with Lost Dog (UK) and inFlux (Switzerland), and since 2005 dances with Frauke Requardt & Company (UK). Eva teaches Composition at LCDS and Choreology at LCDS, Birkbeck College and Conservatorio Superior de Danza de Madrid. She has taught classes and workshops internationally in Sweden, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, England, Colombia and Italy.
Eva is currently working on a new piece “Story Lines”.
ANIA PSENITSNIKOVA Butoh Workshop POSTPONED (due to teacher's spine injury)
14th to 17th Dec 6pm to 10pm
£80 (£60 concs- £50 Theatre Arts students)
Workshop open to actors, dancers and anyone interested in intensive and deep work with the total body. Each participant discovers their own dance, the vibration of life inside the body and develops an appreciation of Butoh not merely as a dance technique, but as a global understanding of human nature.
Workshop Strucuture
1 Physical Training¬ exercises for strength, flexibility, balance, reaction, concentration and awareness of the body in relation with the space
¬ Work with a problem blocks in the body and common movement stereotypes, to avoid them in the dance
2. Unitencive Movement:¬ these exercises explore the reason for a movement, to reduce compulsory movements and allow spontaneous in our dance.
¬ Exercises to feel and let your body follow its inner impulses, and impulses we are getting from the space.
3. Body Textures:¬ using physical instructions and imaginary inspiration, the participants enter inner states, creating different body textures.
4. Group Improvisations:¬ if the work has been individual so far, eventually we'll practice improvisation in groups, to sharpen our sensations and react spontaneously to whatever happens in the space, making a gift to audience
5. Solos.¬ Each participant will have opportunity to perform his/hers own 5 min solo
¬ practice entering and exit the space.
About Ania Psenitsikova:
Ania Psenitsnikova is a visual and performance artist from Estonia. Ania took part in a workshop with DEREVO in Russia and studied with Butoh dancers Masaki Iwana, Moeno Wakamatsu and Daisuke Yoshimoto. Founder of Dance and Physical Theatre company "SPI", Ania has presented her work at international festivals such as the Vertical and Ruda festivals in ST Petersburg, the International Bienalie "Dialogues" and the International Festival of Experimental Art. 2008 Art, Design & Media course (Farham), Visual & Performance Art course (University of Brighton)
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PREVIOUS PROGRAMME
YAEL KARAVAN The World Reflected in a Drop of Water: (Self)-Portrait in Making Solo Performance (6-day extended workshop)
21st to 26th Sept 11am to 5pm
Sharing 26th Sept 7pm
£180 (£150 Concs- £140 Theatre Arts students)
Due to popular demand this acclaimed Israel/London/Paris based physical theatre artist is back at CW for a intensive 6 day workshop. This will be adapted for new comers as well as for the participants who have expressed an interest in continuing to develop their work with her.
Performer and author, Yael Karavan explores some of the tools developed in her solo performance process. Drawing on elements of Dance, physical theatre, Butoh and mime, she explores some of the key issues for the solo performer such as ‘presence’, and how to relate creatively to material, objects and space, particularly within the challenges of a solo performance. She uses a number of rich approaches to facilitate the imaginative journey for performer and their audience in the creation of ‘self-portrait’ in solo performance. At the end of the workshop the participants will have the possibility to present their work at Coachwerks on Saturday 26th of September.
About Yael Karavan:
In her search for an authentic method of training and a physical language of expression that bridges east and west, dance and theatre,Yael Karavan has studied with master-teachers and performers from all over the world including: Anton Adassinski and Tanya Khabarova from Russian theatre DEREVO with whom she performed for three years, as well as Philippe Gaulier, Philippe Genty, Monica Pagnieux, Jerzy Winnicki from the Grotowski Centre, Nigel Charnock from DV8, and Butoh masters Kazuo Ohno, Tadashi Endo, Carlotta Ikeda, Yumiko Yoshioka and more. She has also worked with Ricardo Puccetti and Naomi Silman from ‘Lume Teatro- Brazil, Sue Morrison, Linda Remahl, Fran Barbe and others.
Yael has created and performed five solo shows, touring worldwide. In 2006 she was awarded the TEATRONETO prize for best actress created with Naomi Silman. She has been member of Tadashi Endo's ‘Mamu Dance-Theatre’ since 2001 and collaborated with various artists, actors and dancers. She is currently making work in France with Ephia from djalma primordial science , working on a new solo performance and performing in 'Admeto' Opera for the 250years commemoration festival for Handel’s death in Goettingen, Germany and in the Edinburgh international festival.
For more info please go to http://www.yaelkaravan.com/
KATE HILDER Action Theatre: Presence, Performance and Play.
3rd & 4th Oct. 11am to 5pm
£60 (both days) / £30 (Saturday only)
Action Theater™ is a form of improvised movement-based theatre which integrates physical, vocal and emotional expression and encourages spontaneity, creativity and play.In Action Theatre, all action is informed by our experience of our body. Through practicing simple improvisational exercises we will develop awareness of our moment by moment experience, awakening our senses, our feelings and our imagination. We will discover the expressive range of our voices, develop an ear for the musicality of language and explore the sensory experience of speech.This workshop is suitable for performers wanting to expand their performance presence and anyone interested in discovering new forms of self-expression. You can attend both days or just Saturday.
About Kate Hilder:
Kate Hilder is a certified Action Theater™ teacher having trained intensively with Ruth Zaporah, who pioneered this work. She teaches nationwide including weekly classes in London and in Brighton and to Performing Arts students at Chichester University. Kate’s teaching is also influenced by working with Andrew Morrish, with Roy Hart Theatre voice teachers, her training in contact and dance improvisation and her meditation practice. She is currently in her second year of the Feldenkrais teacher training programme.Kate performs with EAT, a European Action Theatre performance collective and with ‘Stranger than Fiction’ a London-based group of improvisers who curate and perform at a monthly cross-art form event.
MIRIAM (MIM) KING
12th to 18th Oct 10am to 5pm. Sharing 18th Sept.
15th Oct - morning only.
£200 (£170 Concs - £160 Theatre Arts students). Single Explorative days at £30
Commencing each day with a gentle yet thorough warm-up we'll use body work to help find a sense of alignment, neutrality and stillness. Creating a strong sense of presence, we'll progress toward moving/dancing/creating with guided imagery. In my own work I attempt to make the "unseen" visible, often using dreams & the invisible as a starting point. Something exists, a feeling, an emotion, idea or concept and I endeavour to bring form and expression to it. My work is often an exploration of the "perceived/felt". In the Unschool we'll work with objects and our relationship to them, we'll work with ideas & images from our anatomy & idiosyncrasies, with shadows, ideas of stillness and waiting, of departures and transience, of markings made and the traces we leave behind. What do we want to show and why? What do we hide? Our exploration will be studio based and some of it will be outdoor. This will be an experimental week...different tasks set, different explorations and discoveries made, with time to reflect and to share our process. Potent yet subtle connection is what I hope we create. Please bring suitable clothing to move in & notebooks and things to write, draw & document with.
About Mim King:
Miriam (Mim) King is an Artist/Choreographer/Dancer/Live Artist/Filmmaker born in London, living in Brighton, working Internationally. With an art school background she commenced her professional performance career in 1984. Moving from theatre through to dance, and in more recent years to live art and film, her most significant training was with Anton Adasinsky & his performance company DEREVO at their former studio in Leningrad, Russia in 1990.Mim's work is influenced by Butoh dance. She's has been creating her own unique performances since 1992, taking her to live art festivals and artist-in-residences around the World. She has researched, lectured and presented work in many countries including Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Iceland, China, Korea, USA, New Zealand and Australia. Her award winning dance film work has been shown at Lincoln Centre/New York, Pompidou Centre/Paris, ICA/London, the Venice Bienale and at the Sydney Opera House, Australia and in every continent (excluding Antarctica). Large scale choreographies include "Sleepwalker" for dance company High Spin performed at Corn Exchange, Brighton, Hackney Empire and Sadlers Wells, London. Artist in Residences include "The Fountain Project", as part of Arts Council Year of the Artist. She has been Artist in Residence at The Firkin Crane, Cork, Ireland, and in 2008 Miriam had an Artist in Residency at The Point, Eastliegh creating her performance instalation "The Reading Room". Miriam currently has an Artist in Residency at La Piscine, Musee d'art et Industrie, Roubaix in Northern France, funded by CCN.
Miriam is on the editorial panel for Total Theatre Magazine, regularly contributing articles and reviews. She's a member of Movement 12 and a visiting lecturer teaching Performance and Choreography at various establishments including University of Brighton.