Event
I: Organic Action & Intentional Behavior
The Master Class will explore organic behavior (relationship, contact, impulse, intention, action, reaction) as well as elucidate the difference between simple movements or activities, and actions, truly living doings. Participants of the Master Class will approach the basic principles of practical Workcenter research on performing arts.
Actors will explore impulse and intention as a living foundation of acting, work towards freeing the body and voice of defenses, unnecessary tensions and stereotypes, create and develop "Acting Propositions," as well as work on African and Afro-Caribbean songs of tradition, that have been at the heart of the Workcenter research for 25 years. Seeking what "exceeds the known," the Master Class will investigate the possibilities that can emerge from within the contact between the actor and his or her partner.
Program
Work on "Acting Propositions"
Participants will work on two "Acting Propositions," more or less 3 minutes each, which have been prepared before the start of the Master Class - one based on a song, the other on a short text. The "Acting Propositions" should be repeatable and precise, with a beginning, middle and end, like miniature performances. During the Master Class, according to the creative possibilities of each individual, and under the guidance of the work leaders, participants will either continue to develop the initial "Acting Propositions" or develop other creative material.
Work on Song
Participants will encounter the Workcenter's research on songs from African and Afro-Caribbean traditions, discovering an approach to voice, impulse and action that has been at the heart of the Workcenter research for 25 years. This approach to voice and song explores the potential impact that the rhythmic and melodic qualities of a given song can have on the person who sings.
Readiness to Act and React
Participants will engage in different games and exercises that will lead the participant towards readiness to act and react. One exercise consists of dynamic sequences of improvisation and play, carried by a living flow of associations, intentions and impulses. Another exercise is founded on a precise model of archaic movement. Another consists of a series of stretches, rigorously structured, accomplished in absolute unison, which serves as an exercise for the circulation of attention.
The basic technical aspects of the Master Class will be:
- Relation: precision / organicity.
- Relation: tradition / individual work.
- Relation: ritual / drama.
- Composed movement and rhythm.
- Singing.
- Vibration of the voice.
- Body resonators and spatial resonance.
- Awareness of space and reacting to its constituent elements.
- Improvisation: the impulses / the vigilant mind.
- Improvisation within a structure.
- Montage of physical actions.
- Search for a precise line and logic of impulses and physical actions: the score.
|
|
 |
LocationNew York University (New York, NY)
721 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003
United States
Categories
Contact
|
