Devised Physical Creation Workshop:
Juxtaposing classical commedia dell'arte stock characters and clowning with contemporary character creation and aesthetics our faculty help devisers to create characters and situations that are outrageous,
playful and virtuosic while remaining believable and accessible to a modern
audience.
Instructors: Terry Brennan, Peter Andrew Danzig
Juxtaposing classical commedia dell'arte stock characters and clowning with contemporary character creation and aesthetics our faculty help devisers to create characters and situations that are outrageous,
playful and virtuosic while remaining believable and accessible to a modern
audience.
Instructors: Terry Brennan, Peter Andrew Danzig
Fight Choreography Workshops:
Fights in Flow *
An exploration on the stimuli of combat, the give and take, and the instinct of the actor in a supervised self-defense simulation. This workshop, under safe guidance and suggestion, challenges
students to generate and respond to combat aimed at giving students a taste of both the roles of an actor combatant as well as choreographer. In pairs, students will learn to gauge intensities of offensive attacks and defensive maneuvers. They will be challenged to play “Yes And” with a scene partner to create a fight that flows safely with one another’s instincts. The goal is to not only instill basic actor combatant instincts, but to encourage an actor to become a safe, confident and flexible combatant or contributor to a fight director’s choreography.
Post Apocalypse Survival *
A look at fight choreography in a setting of urban decay and make-shift weaponry. A gritty, tooth and nail exploration of combat that incorporates found crafted items and scrappy, back alley fighting.
Students are challenged with given choreography to remain specific with moves and intention while adding elements of amateur technique. In other words, appearing inexperienced in combat whilst remaining safe and specific. A class where the brutality gets creative, and the only the fittest live another day.
Instructors: Arlen Hancock, Peter Andrew Danzig
*Each workshop is provided with a complimentary session with your cast of actors to explain conditioning and personal training that is needed in combination with fight choreography.
Fights in Flow *
An exploration on the stimuli of combat, the give and take, and the instinct of the actor in a supervised self-defense simulation. This workshop, under safe guidance and suggestion, challenges
students to generate and respond to combat aimed at giving students a taste of both the roles of an actor combatant as well as choreographer. In pairs, students will learn to gauge intensities of offensive attacks and defensive maneuvers. They will be challenged to play “Yes And” with a scene partner to create a fight that flows safely with one another’s instincts. The goal is to not only instill basic actor combatant instincts, but to encourage an actor to become a safe, confident and flexible combatant or contributor to a fight director’s choreography.
Post Apocalypse Survival *
A look at fight choreography in a setting of urban decay and make-shift weaponry. A gritty, tooth and nail exploration of combat that incorporates found crafted items and scrappy, back alley fighting.
Students are challenged with given choreography to remain specific with moves and intention while adding elements of amateur technique. In other words, appearing inexperienced in combat whilst remaining safe and specific. A class where the brutality gets creative, and the only the fittest live another day.
Instructors: Arlen Hancock, Peter Andrew Danzig
*Each workshop is provided with a complimentary session with your cast of actors to explain conditioning and personal training that is needed in combination with fight choreography.
Where Does IT Live?
The body is the actor’s instrument. And to bring
this instrument to its fullest potential requires an in-depth examination of the body - how it works on its own, how it negotiates with other bodies in the space, and where certain emotions and intentions live within the body. This course will utilize modern dance techniques, basic stage combat methods, and actor collaboration to answer the question, “Where does it -- the character’s emotions and intentions -- live?”
If a character’s sense of determination lives in her chest, but her apprehension lives in her knees, how would that manifest in her gait as she approaches something that she wants? Conversely, if
determination's antithesis, anxiety, lives in another character’s chest, what part of the body, then, might push him forward in curiosity and fight his anxiety? If your scene partner’s vulnerability lives in his hands, what does it mean when you grasp those hands tightly? Surely, this becomes more than just hands clasping, once the actor-athlete comes to fully understand the power of his / her own body. This course seeks to uncover the harmony and dissonance within one’s own body and the deeper connections between the physical interactions with other characters.
This course will also combine basic stage combat techniques with dance training to safely develop the large, aggressive movements that are required of the physical actor. When directed to throw oneself to the floor or launch oneself at another actor, the actor-athlete must approach training for his / her career as a marathon, not a sprint. Carelessly throwing the actor’s instrument into these movements will ensure a short career, whereas proper technique, training, and spacial awareness will allow actors to develop these movements without injuring themselves or others. This class is designed for actors with varying levels of prior movement training. Movement techniques and exercises will cater to novice physical actors and will be adapted for intermediate / advanced movers. Using modern dance as a method of connecting actors with their instruments will help actors to identify neutrality in their bodies, utilize their centers within their movements, and find where it -- what drives us to advance or retreat -- lives within the body.
Instructors: Lauren Fanslau, Peter Andrew Danzig, Arlen Hancock
The body is the actor’s instrument. And to bring
this instrument to its fullest potential requires an in-depth examination of the body - how it works on its own, how it negotiates with other bodies in the space, and where certain emotions and intentions live within the body. This course will utilize modern dance techniques, basic stage combat methods, and actor collaboration to answer the question, “Where does it -- the character’s emotions and intentions -- live?”
If a character’s sense of determination lives in her chest, but her apprehension lives in her knees, how would that manifest in her gait as she approaches something that she wants? Conversely, if
determination's antithesis, anxiety, lives in another character’s chest, what part of the body, then, might push him forward in curiosity and fight his anxiety? If your scene partner’s vulnerability lives in his hands, what does it mean when you grasp those hands tightly? Surely, this becomes more than just hands clasping, once the actor-athlete comes to fully understand the power of his / her own body. This course seeks to uncover the harmony and dissonance within one’s own body and the deeper connections between the physical interactions with other characters.
This course will also combine basic stage combat techniques with dance training to safely develop the large, aggressive movements that are required of the physical actor. When directed to throw oneself to the floor or launch oneself at another actor, the actor-athlete must approach training for his / her career as a marathon, not a sprint. Carelessly throwing the actor’s instrument into these movements will ensure a short career, whereas proper technique, training, and spacial awareness will allow actors to develop these movements without injuring themselves or others. This class is designed for actors with varying levels of prior movement training. Movement techniques and exercises will cater to novice physical actors and will be adapted for intermediate / advanced movers. Using modern dance as a method of connecting actors with their instruments will help actors to identify neutrality in their bodies, utilize their centers within their movements, and find where it -- what drives us to advance or retreat -- lives within the body.
Instructors: Lauren Fanslau, Peter Andrew Danzig, Arlen Hancock
VIEWPOINTS Workshop:
Using The Viewpoints can push students physically to a point where they are no longer able to contemplate their choices, and must begin following their own instincts. The class begins with a brief physical warm up led by the students themselves. Nine total minutes of individual practice, starting with static stretching in the first three, slightly heightened movement for the second and cardio work for the third. After completing this the class begins at a run, becoming aware of the space and of each other, diving through any holes that they see in the group.
After this warm up, the class work begins. For a one day workshop, the lesson would likely focus on the Viewpoints involving Time. Those are the first concepts that allow students to become aware of their own personal movement and its effect on surroundings. In an 8 week course, the first four weeks consist of exploring The Viewpoints of Time and the second four explore Space, expanding their perspective and opening up possibilities, now that there is a clearer awareness. In a second term class, or a more advanced workshop, Composition is introduced, and students are able to see how the technique is directly applied to a piece of theater, either by using preexisting text or creating a new story all
together.
LABAN Workshop:
The Laban technique introduces students to a new way of communicating with their bodies. Classes/workshops begin with a “Wordless Emotion Movement Circle”: The students stand in circle and take turns stepping the middle to physically express their current state. They are encouraged to push their own limits, as the rest of the group mimics their expressions physically and vocally. Following the exercise, the class begins to dissect the outside-in technique of Laban and the Effort Shapes: A technique that allows the actors the move through physical opposites, Mobility/Stability, Inner/Outer, Function/Expression and Exertion/Recuperation. Building each Effort Shape within their own instrument, they are introduced to terms that notate the seemingly un-notateable expressions of the human body. This allows the students to recall these shapes, then to utilize them when developing a character or devising a new piece. Once moving past the beginning stages of the technique, they will be challenged to experience more than one effort shape at a time, as they begin to understand the possibilities that are opened with a new found physical freedom, developed through structure.
Instructors: Alex Keiper, Peter Andrew Danzig
Using The Viewpoints can push students physically to a point where they are no longer able to contemplate their choices, and must begin following their own instincts. The class begins with a brief physical warm up led by the students themselves. Nine total minutes of individual practice, starting with static stretching in the first three, slightly heightened movement for the second and cardio work for the third. After completing this the class begins at a run, becoming aware of the space and of each other, diving through any holes that they see in the group.
After this warm up, the class work begins. For a one day workshop, the lesson would likely focus on the Viewpoints involving Time. Those are the first concepts that allow students to become aware of their own personal movement and its effect on surroundings. In an 8 week course, the first four weeks consist of exploring The Viewpoints of Time and the second four explore Space, expanding their perspective and opening up possibilities, now that there is a clearer awareness. In a second term class, or a more advanced workshop, Composition is introduced, and students are able to see how the technique is directly applied to a piece of theater, either by using preexisting text or creating a new story all
together.
LABAN Workshop:
The Laban technique introduces students to a new way of communicating with their bodies. Classes/workshops begin with a “Wordless Emotion Movement Circle”: The students stand in circle and take turns stepping the middle to physically express their current state. They are encouraged to push their own limits, as the rest of the group mimics their expressions physically and vocally. Following the exercise, the class begins to dissect the outside-in technique of Laban and the Effort Shapes: A technique that allows the actors the move through physical opposites, Mobility/Stability, Inner/Outer, Function/Expression and Exertion/Recuperation. Building each Effort Shape within their own instrument, they are introduced to terms that notate the seemingly un-notateable expressions of the human body. This allows the students to recall these shapes, then to utilize them when developing a character or devising a new piece. Once moving past the beginning stages of the technique, they will be challenged to experience more than one effort shape at a time, as they begin to understand the possibilities that are opened with a new found physical freedom, developed through structure.
Instructors: Alex Keiper, Peter Andrew Danzig
PARKOUR for the Actor:
In today’s theatrical landscape, the actor’s body is required to examine and explore movement beyond normal dance and tumbling. Parkour is the art of quickly and efficiently moving through your environment. Learn to climb, jump, vault and even flip through your environment to give your character the appearance of virtuosity and style. Many parkour techniques are relatively simple but provide your audience with a sense of awe and amazement. This workshop will provide an in-depth analysis of the training and conditioning needed to perform in these roles and will give students a basic understanding of Parkour and the safest and most efficient ways to execute various movements. Students will formulate a vocabulary for physical exploration of this form and will understand the kinesiology behind preparing for and training for role that incorporate this practice.
Instructor: Terry Brennan
*Each workshop is provided with a complimentary session with your cast of actors to explain conditioning and personal training with our
in-house Personal Trainer, Peter Andrew Danzig
In today’s theatrical landscape, the actor’s body is required to examine and explore movement beyond normal dance and tumbling. Parkour is the art of quickly and efficiently moving through your environment. Learn to climb, jump, vault and even flip through your environment to give your character the appearance of virtuosity and style. Many parkour techniques are relatively simple but provide your audience with a sense of awe and amazement. This workshop will provide an in-depth analysis of the training and conditioning needed to perform in these roles and will give students a basic understanding of Parkour and the safest and most efficient ways to execute various movements. Students will formulate a vocabulary for physical exploration of this form and will understand the kinesiology behind preparing for and training for role that incorporate this practice.
Instructor: Terry Brennan
*Each workshop is provided with a complimentary session with your cast of actors to explain conditioning and personal training with our
in-house Personal Trainer, Peter Andrew Danzig
Collaborative Theater Making and Ensemble Physicality Workshop:
Theater practice is inevitably collaborative; the process of bodies sharing space and creating is highly personal. This workshop builds a trusting environment amongst any ensemble as they begin to explore their collective body and pulse, finding nuance, and news means of storytelling
through physical exploration. Students will build an original piece through found objects and techniques rooted in contraction work, viewpoints and dance.
Instructors: Peter Andrew Danzig, Lauren Fanslau
Theater practice is inevitably collaborative; the process of bodies sharing space and creating is highly personal. This workshop builds a trusting environment amongst any ensemble as they begin to explore their collective body and pulse, finding nuance, and news means of storytelling
through physical exploration. Students will build an original piece through found objects and techniques rooted in contraction work, viewpoints and dance.
Instructors: Peter Andrew Danzig, Lauren Fanslau