05-07/07/2019 ∙ Music and Physicality

Actor Training Workshop based on the Method of W. Staniewski

The dramatic text as a partner – physicality and the use of text on stage

The aim of the three-day workshop is to encounter a technique by which the actor can approach and work with a chosen dramatic text in a unique way. During the work, we are experimenting with different interpretations of the text, the visualization of it on stage as well as discovering the different dimensions and possibilities hidden between the lines.
We are looking for those primary impulses that are an integral part of music and speech. We build on these until we arrive at speaking the dramatic text, by using movement based improvisation techniques, musical, rhythm and team-building exercises. Our goal is to explore the potentials of the dramatic texts through our body and voice.

Principles

Movement improvisation with stick: We use the stick as a possible extension of the body, the voice and the psyche: it is used to determine the relationship between the actor and the space, as well as inspiring the other performers to open up to physical responses and reactions. The usage and manipulation of the stick(s) thus becomes a tool for developing body consciousness and stage presence.
Language and music: Our goal is to go beyond the rather familiar, everyday interpretation of a text and to explore its internal rhythm in relation to the psyche of a given character. We are looking for a deeper understanding of musical abstraction, thus eliminating the need for a logical narrative. We will look at the text as a musical score.
Imagination (Relation Between Emotions and Physical Expression): Through different physical exercises based on movement, the actor develops a sense of openness and sensitivity to express their creative emotional impulses throughout their body. The goal is to make our body and our movement become the primary means of our emotions and their manifestation. In this way, we can convey thoughts and emotions and form characters and explore the relationships between them.
Exercises based on Rhythm: During the exercises, we focus on how the rhythm of our inner feelings influences the rhythm of our external activity, and how it affects our movements, speech, and relationships within the group.
Acrobatics: Practices based on acrobatics are primarily used to build intra-group trust. We use complex tasks that require a high level of group concentration. This contributes to the cohesion of the group and the mapping of its common function.
Composition / ensemble construction: After we manage to build up trust within the group, we work on group composition, where we focus on the shared dynamics. We look for a deeper sense of creating contours, dialogues, movements, shapes and colors within the text and characters.

The structure of 3 days

Day 1.: getting to know each other, team building, introduction to acrobatic exercises
Day 2.: Music, Imagination, Movement Improvisation Practices
Day 3.: Creating Scenes and Etudes

Coach: Esztella Levko

When?
07. 5. 2019., 10-13 and 14:30-17:30
07. 6. 2019., 10-13 and 14:30-17:30
07. 7. 2019., 10-13 and 14:30-17:30

Application fee: 75 euro

Where? Tünet Együttes Studio, Hungary, 1027 Budapest, Jurányi u. 1-3 I. floor

Application: To apply, please send us a short letter of interest and some information about your precious theatre/training experience to the ladderartcompany.workshops@gmail.com adress. Professional background is not required for the participation.

– Bestiarium Budapestiensis 2019 – Actor training with masks – 11-12 May, coach: Balázs Simon
– Workshop on Suzuki and Viewpoints – 14-16 June, coach: Gábor Viktor Kozma
– Workshop on Chekhov-technique – 21-23 June, coach: Gretchen Egolf

The workshops are supported by Nemzeti Kulturális Alap.

Bios

At the workshop you will hear Ádám Munkácsi (flute)
He graduated in 2011 at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pécs, with a degree in Flute. He has played and is currently playing in contemporary classical and improvisational light music genres (Anyswing, Innergarden, Song-Watch Essentials) from 2014 until 2016, working with members of the Zéró Ballet Company and, as a musician, he has been looking for creative works with collaborative art. opportunities. Currently, he is a member of the Seven Seconds in the Future and the Ziggurat Project Art Society.

Esztella Levko received a BA degree in European Theater Arts from Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance London, where she was trained in methods such as the Meyerhold and Chekhov techniques. She also studied in Moscow at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (ВГИК). She has worked with several European theater companies since 2008, gave performances in Europa, Asia and in Northern Africa.
She has been working with the Polish avant-garde theater company OPT Gardzienice. She has played in the production of William Shakespeare’s Henry the V. directed by Pippo Delbono (Italy), worked with Compagnie Philippe Genty (France), as well as with ViaNegativa (Slovenia.)
In recent years, she has led physical theatre workshops in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Japan and the US, sharing her method and techniques with students from all over the world. The training is based on actor training method formed by one of the defining figures of contemporary Polish theater, Wlodzimierz Staniewski. Besides her professional career she is a PhD student of sociology at Eötvös Loránd University Budapest.

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