Curricular Research

TECHNÈ

Through awareness training, learning and expanding our ‘listening’ skills, ‘kinetic consciousness’ and ‘space awareness’, the actors first discover their essential presence, the innate ability to be in ‘the room’. We continue working on the concept of simply ‘performing’ presence. Gradually we initiate and apply the preparation and comingling of mind and body, to implement a series of specific physical sensation exercises AND instigated improvisations to prepare for the initiation to the SUPERDRAMA language and principles.

PRAXIS

PART I. The Language

The ‘sensation’ exercises and ‘space awareness’ work prepares the actors physical and emotional body for the essential component of SUPERDRAMA; the Emotional State. The training evolves rapidly by demanding an expanded heightened awareness and physical-emotional output. And through a vigorous process of applying the elemental language, (see below) the actors learn to access and engage the primal, emotional states; terror, rage, joy and despair. In concert with the enormous emotional requirements of the technique is the fundamental necessity for authenticity that serves to ignite the truth of the moment, and hence the action. From this praxis, the actor is activated efficiently and immediately, to disrupt old habits, and to awaken and motivate the actors’ reactive facility, all in order to exploit the actors’ creative impulses, continue to develop character, and prepare for the devising process.

PART II. Research / Laban’s EFFORTS / And The Triangle Of Character

The actor will initiate and engage in a character research, and genesis of a pre-chosen character and Mask. We will assimilate and apply Laban’s EFFORTS to explore the emotional character in the body. We apply these characteristics or actions, as a way to extend an actor’s movement vocabulary, and ability to manifest the emotional state physically. We will then learn a sense memory exercise from Stanislavski, while applying a lucid dream component. The actor will explore a deeper level of their latent consciousness while engaged with their chosen Mask. This, in turn, intensifies the exploration of the persona by triggering the actor to find previously unrevealed truths from their innate imagination. The actor emerges with, and in turn, contemporizes the interrogation and rationalization of the character—integrating research and imagination. This rationalization of the commedia Mask integrated with the actors’ personal interrogation conjures a third character. Hence, the Triangle of Character.

POIESIS

PART III. Creation

We will generate the performance from an established or original text to create a volatile world for the Masks to cohabitate and collide. And the ensemble, now acclimated to the sensation work, and having established fluency with the emotional states, and embodying the Masks, will focus on activating the improvisation and devising process for the lazzi, the scenes and events that will shape and determine the canovaccio, story, or play. To manifest ‘the grand performance’.

PART IV. Performance

The proficiency of the ensemble to master the language and principles of the techniques will determine the time frame and content of the final days of the course. From the point we are poised to build the performance the expectation and execution for commitment of the actors’ time and energy will increase and accelerate.