Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Modern Commedia Workshop & Performance

The Internationalists is proud to welcome Teatro Punto (Carlos Garcia Estevez and Katrien van Beurden) to New York to host a Modern Commedia dell’ Arte workshop and performance on August 5th and 6th, 2009.

Contemporary Commedia Workshop

Dates: August 5th, 2009 from 3:30-9:30pm; August 6th, 2009 from 3:30-6:30pm

Fee: $150 (includes the ‘Solo dell’Arte’ performance on August 6th at 8pm)

Experience Level: Appropriate for all levels

Location: LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, 31-10 Thompson Ave, LIC (7,E,V,R,G trains nearby)

Tickets for the workshop may be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/71880 or 1-800-838-3006.

Teatro Punto makes theater where the actor is the author of the story. As the actor on stage is stripped of supports such as extended settings and a fixed script, he can become the author of a tragicomic show. He does this through movement, text, techniques and imagination. Carlos and Katrien’s main source of inspiration is Commedia dell'Arte. Employing their training, imagination, intellect and a great deal of hard work and experimentation they have taken Commedia to new heights. Their storytelling takes the masks into new territory. They have discovered ways to make the life within each mask not only amuse and engage the audience, but take them to the dark side. A theater form full of acting possibilities; it is precise and vulnerable, yet above all else it is alive. Previous U.S. workshops have been given at: Brown University, NYU, Wagner College, Sarah Lawrence, UMass, Trinity College, Tufts, and Williams & Mary.

The Workshop consists of:

• Movement analysis
• Physical transformation/metamorphoses
• From Tragedy to Comedy
• Musicality and timing
• Mask and archetypical characters
• Improvisation and scene composition - Canovaccio
• Study of interaction between actor and audience


‘Solo dell’Arte’ Performance

Date: August 6th, 2009 at 8:00pm

Admission: $15

‘Solo dell’Arte’ is an introduction to the audience of one of the most ancient types of theatre, Commedia dell’Arte, and the presence of this Art into our days. In this show/conference there is only an empty space, masks, an actor without costumes and the audience. Carlos Garcia Estevez will perform a collection of stories under the theme of love (tragic love, infidel love, casual love). He will be aided by his own techniques, movements, gestures, texts, imagination and the spirit of performing for and with an audience. During the performance, the actor will present the historical and contemporary context of this type of theatre and he will explain to the audience some of the mechanisms of how this theatre is made (the metamorphosis of the actor, the use of the mask and the grommellot).

For more information, visit www.theinternationalists.org/commedia or email info@theinternationalists.org

Monday, July 27, 2009

International Physical Theatre Lab in Austria

International Physical Theatre Laboratory

October 25-31, 2009
Retzhof Castle, Leitring bei Leibnitz
Austria

PARTICIPANTS:
Actors of physical, dramatic, dance and musical theatres, dancers, choreographers, circus performers, directors.

PROGRAM:
The programme includes intensive training, lectures and discussions. The Lab is open to performers from different creative genres and techniques inspired by Physical Theatre as a bold, vibrant and multidimensional approach to contemporary theatre performance. Practical physical training is the core of the Lab programme. Participants will explore physicality as the key to form, style, atmosphere and emotional palette in contemporary performance. Practical sessions develop in the form of various exercises which progress from simple to compound. Gradually the group is proceeding to group improvisations and structures. Every day is setting advanced creative tasks, developing the preceding steps. Through the system of consecutive exercises the group is growing common language and trust, ability to collaborate and create together.

STRUCTURE OF THE DAY:
Each day begins with morning warm-up which combines breathing, movement and imagination. It will help participants to wake up and to prepare for the intensive practical process during the day.

Practical training. Part I. Training by method of improvisation.

Practical training. Part II. Structural Improvisation. From exercises to performance.

Practical training. Part III. Principles of Biomechanics. Meyerhold's etudes.

Lectures & Discussions: Performer's Physicality in the methods of Meyerhold, M.Chekhov and Stanislavsky.

VENUE:
The Lab will take place in Leitring bei Leibnitz, the beautiful town located within 30 min from Graz Thalerhof Airport, 2.5h from Vienna by car, 40 min from Graz by car, and 20 minutes from the Slovenian border. The public transportation to the venue is easy. The programme will take place in the historic castle of the 16th century. Accommodation and meals are organized for the group.