Body-Motion-Gesture
February 7 - March 28
Tuesday Nights
7pm - 10pm
$500
Starting from the roots of classical pantomime, we progress to a fast-paced style of physical theater using gestural language. Working in ensemble to build micro and macro images that essentialize storytelling, this form of shared creation gets to grips with raw components of expression through the primacy of movement and action.
It all happens on a small playing area, or trestle. First introduced in the early 1900’s by Jacques Copeau, the trèteau nu or naked stage was used to develop simplicity and vital physicality. Reducing the space promotes clarity and cultivates imagination.
This is strong ensemble training and a lot of fun. The possibilities are limitless!
Open to all levels. Click to register for Body-Motion-Gesture
Clown Weekend
February 11 & 12
Saturday & Sunday
10am – 5pm
$250
In Clown, we embark on the wondrous journey to rediscover innocence and uncover the
pleasure of play. It is a daring adventure, in which we open our fragile hearts in search of fun.
The little red nose (the smallest mask) is a great liberator. It requires generosity and summons
transparency, revealing our wonderful and complicated simplicity.
A riotous inquiry . . . a playful encounter . . . a look at our laughable & loveable selves.
We love clowns because they make us laugh while revealing the range of mythical and
emotional archetypes within each one of us.
To find your clown is to tap into your own, personal source of spontaneous
expressiveness and to experience the pleasure of play.
The honesty and openness we find in clown will follow us everywhere we go.
Open to all levels. Click to register for Clown Weekend!
SUMMER INTENSIVES
5-day trainings
10am – 5pm daily
$650/1 session; $1200/2 sessions; $1700/all 3 sessions
June 15-19 BOUFFON (Thursday-Monday)
June 21-25 NEUTRAL MASK (Wednesday-Sunday)
June 28-July 2 DYNAMIC STUDIES in space, gesture & structure (Wednesday-Sunday)
Class Descriptions below.
Open to all levels.
June 15-19 BOUFFON (Thursday-Monday)
what is bouffon?
Bouffon is a rich dramatic territory evolved by Jacques Lecoq in his enduring pursuit to train the
actor-creator. During the social upheaval in the 60’s, he sensed the collective need to translate
the cruelty of human sociality. Reaching back to Medieval times when people were exiled for
being ‘different’, Lecoq asked his students to deform their bodies, join in clans and mock the
ways of normalized culture and society through the folly of games, lunacy, madness,
distraction, dementia. A bouffon is a creature of mystery, the grotesque and the fantastic.
how does it relate to clown?
A clown is alone, while the bouffon is part of a group.
We make fun of clowns, while the bouffons make fun of us.
what is it about?
Buffoons come from somewhere else.
They belong to the folly necessary for rescuing the truth.
Bouffons are connected to the verticality of mystery. They are part of the relationship between
heaven and earth and live in a perfect society without conflict, where each person finds their
exact place. They exhibit before us, in an anomalous manner, close to a parade, our proper
folly. They play our society – the themes of power, science, religion, politics – all organized
according to precise rules, where the most feeble may be in charge of everyone. The buffoons
denounce and at the same time propose a tragic space.
what will we do?
Bouffon comes from the Latin “buffare” to puff or to swell to provoke laughter.
Bouffon work involves developing enlarged forms/bodies (using foam, fiberfill, etc.) that are
resonant with the mysterious, the grotesque and the fantastic. The workshop will include
revisiting the stages of childhood, producing games and rituals out of normalcy, endless
ensemble play, and making mockery.
instruments of percussion beat the time
the rhythm and the dance hammer the floor
where ritual reveals mystery
DYNAMIC STUDIES in space, gesture, and structure
June 28 - July 2
Wednesday – Sunday
10am – 5pm
Tuition: $650; Deposit: of $100 due with registration
This is a class in creativity approaching the dynamic properties of space and rhythm through
structure and movement. The course immerses the student in both plastic and physical
representation.
Each day is divided between hands-on construction projects using basic materials such as
charcoal, paper, string, wood, clay, paint, etc., and explorations in a movement studio relying
on the body to research complimentary themes being investigated with materials.
Work in the movement studio begins from the premise that the body, as microcosm, recognizes
and can represent everything that moves. In the materials studio, concurrent themes and
projects engage a dialogue on the organization of things both inside and outside the body.
In dynamic studies, we enter an abstract dimension, working with universal experiences and
sensations that are common to us all – such as color, light, sound, poetry, and substances.
Through the recognition and identification of these territories, we discover the subtlety of
gestural nuance and encounter how nature informs art.
Open to all levels. It is not necessary to be an artist or an actor.