Spring Workshops 2013

Your clown is unique and specific to you, he is the regretless and enthusiastic expression of your comic nature, and he cannot be crafted but must be discovered! And once he is discovered he will weasel his way into every performance you give, bringing newfound abandon, specificity and playfulness.

In this class we will begin by strengthening the muscles necessary to prepare the performer to discover this clown. Through physically oriented exercises, games and improvisations we will begin to use the whole body in performance and find a unity of psychological and physical intention. We will encourage the impulse to seek the pleasure and playful spirit of performance and find expression on a grand scale. We will learn how to enter the comic world without tricks or text and in complicity with the audience, find hilarity. Ultimately, there will be the creation of something(s) funny and beautiful that serves the clown rather than forcing the clown to serve a formula that we devise with our big and powerful brains.

This workshop will use the pedagogy developed by Christopher Bayes (Head of Physical Acting at Yale School of Drama) from the work begun by Jacques Lecoq in his Paris School. This technique focuses on helping the performer to become more physically alive, grandly expressive and ferociously honest on the stage; qualities they can translate to theatrical performance of all kinds. It is less focused on developing the skills associated with circus clowns.

This ongoing class is for students who have taken Clown 1 with either Virginia Scott or a Chris Bayes designated teacher and is designed to take the student towards the creation of their own pieces. We'll start with the little red nose and jump into the comic world together working towards further development of your clown as well as creating material and learning to move from improvisation to rehearsed performance (that won't seem rehearsed!). We'll work individually and in groups to create relationships, families, groups, games, tricks, flops, and shows. At the end of it we'll have a little performance! This workshop will build directly upon the work begun in the introductory clown class and so all students must have completed that workshop with Virginia, Chris, or another teacher trained by Chris. Students with different clown experience may apply by interview.

A unique three-day course in contemporary puppet manipulation with renowned War Horse puppeteer and designer Tom Lee. Using principles of traditional Japanese puppet theater as a starting point, this workshop is for puppeteers and movement based actors to study the art of bringing a figure to life through focus, breath and fixed points of intention.

In addition to Bunraku-style puppetry, participants will have an opportunity to construct a puppet head and experience how the act of sculpting a character informs its movement. Ideal for directors and performers interested in devised work and a collaborative approach to theater making this workshop is primarily for new puppeteers to gain a hands-on launch into the genre—and come away with the start of a puppet!

As part of the workshop, students will:

• Study the concepts fixed point, effort, weight and intention
• Explore the basic techniques of 3-person manipulation inspired by the division of labor in traditional Japanese puppet theater: head operator, left hand operator and leg operator
• Create a full, raw style puppet from paper and, through various études, explore its character
• Build a puppet head from basic materials and have the opportunity to manipulate that head using a puppet body provided for the workshop

Creation relies on two things: form and spirit. If "Movement Analysis" is a study of form, the poetry of how our bodies move through space, then "Jeu" is a study of the ineffable sense of life that brings meaning to that form, the poetry of our innate divine madness. This class focuses both collectively and individually on what Jacques Lecoq called "Jeu." It is a word that means both "game" and "joy." It is the focused inspiration that fuels the presence of the actor. Through game-playing and improvisational exercises, students will discover "complicité" (how to work together), "disponibilité" (openness / generosity), and "jeu" (the pleasure of playing). This class focuses on identifying the rules of a given game, a given world, playing within them or against them, and ultimately realizing that "there is always a game afoot!" This class will lead students toward creation with passion and zeal.

Geoff Sobelle is an award-winning actor and creator whose most notable successes include all wear bowlers and Elephant Room. He is also a full-time member of Pig Iron Theater Company in Philadelphia.

The study of Neutral Mask challenges the actor to use their entire body in expressing themselves on stage. Working with the mask enables the performer to discover essential gesture and an economy of movement as well as create a foundation and reference point for character. Through a series of improvisational and technical exercises the actor confronts their physical habits in order to move past the 'daily' body and enter the theatrical realm. The mask has no opinion but is alive and desires to engage, requiring the actor to undo their knowledge and bring their senses to bear in re-discovering the world around them. The study of the Neutral Mask is vital for actors wanting to gain a greater control over their body in movement, develop their imagination and bring a dynamic quality to their presence on stage.

More Information

For more information, please Contact MTS.