Workshops

We offer workshops based on a unique approach to the teaching methods of Jacques Lecoq on a regular basis.

Coming up:

Intro To Lecoq Training

with Adam Paolozza

Curious about the Lecoq School? Ever wondered how their training works?

This unique, three-day workshop offers students an intensive introduction to Lecoq training.

During each session we will focus on the following areas:

The Moving Body: Using physical exercises and exploring Mime-based technique students will improve rhythm, balance and develop powerful tools for gestural expression.

The Body in Play: Student’s will develop their acting muscles through various games, improvisations and mask work drawn from Commedia dell’arte, Clown, Tragedy and Melodrama. We will also explore the Neutral Mask, using leather masks made by Amleto Sartori

The Lecoq pedagogy explores the powerful link between emotion, expression and movement.

“Tout bouge” – Jacques Lecoq.

This is a unique opportunity for performers, directors, writers or choreographers of all skill levels, who are interested discovering the underlying laws of theatre and how the body, gesture and the theatrical space express passion.

WHEN: May 18, 19, 20 from 11am-3pm
WHERE: Pia Bouman’s Studio
6 Noble St. Toronto, ON
(in Parkdale, one street West of Dufferin on the North side)

FEE: $200
20% discount for all union members
OR
if you sign up on or before April 29, 2011

Contact Adam Paolozza for more details:
theatrerun.ensemble@gmail.com

PAST WORKSHOPS…

International Workshop with Marcello Magni

march 26-31, 2011 Toronto, ON

Presented in Partnership with Why Not Theatre and the Canada Council for the Arts

Marcello Magni is one of the founders of Complicite and is a world class physical performer who regularly collaborates with Simon McBurney and Peter Brook. This intensive workshop will explore the world of Commedia Dell’arte, using authentic leather masks made by Amleto Sartori. Stretch your physical language beyond its limits and search for richness in expressivity, creativity and imagination of your physical gestuality. As part of the workshop we will explore the pedegogy of Jacques Lecoq, as well as creation methods used by world famous UK physical theatre company, Complicite.

Silent Film/Slapstick

• Sault Ste. Marie Youth Theatre, 2009

Using silent films and comedy classics of the 20s and 30s as inspiration, students will apply learned skills towards creating and staging their own comedic and characters.

CLOWN

Being Funny Series

• February 2009, May 2009, Toronto
  

• July 2009, Sault Ste. Marie

“The clown doesn’t exist aside from the actor performing him. We are all clowns, we all think we are beautiful, clever, strong, whereas we all have weaknesses, our ridiculous side, which can make people laugh when we allow it to express itself. “
-Jacques Lecoq

Why do we laugh? What makes us? How does it happen?

Over the two days we’re going to play around with these tough questions. Using games, exercises and improvisation we will explore:

* le jeu (comic play)
* playing with your vulnerability to find your own clown
* comic rhythm and timing
* comic acrobatics (prat-falls, hat tricks, working with funny objects etc.)
* finding the comic in the everyday situation

The clown allows us to look at ourselves, with all our strengths and weaknesses, and laugh!
It is an invaluable technique for performers of all disciplines who wish to improve their presence, timing, balance and to find the pleasure of being onstage.
It is for those who wish to take a risk, be vulnerable and open themselves up to the moment.

Photos from the Being Funny workshop February 2009

(photos by Elison Zasko)

Mime and Movement

MIME: Creative Theatre Through Movement

A two-day intensive introduction to Mime

• January & November 2008, Toronto

“For me mime is an integral part of theatre, not a separate art form. The Mime which I love involves an identification with things in order to make them live, even when words are used.”
-Jacques Lecoq

What does it mean to mime? To mime is not just to put on white face paint and black tights. Mime is the most basic tool of the actor. The Mime imitates the world around them to better understand it.
Inspired by the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq this workshop focuses on developing mime skills to enrich the creative imagination and physical expression of the actor.

Through games, exercises and improvisations we will focus on the following:

THE BODY: an approach to building character that begins with the actor’s body. Students will begin to express strong emotional and psychological states through precise gestures, rhythms and clear physical choices.

THE SPACE: an awareness of how the moving body creates a theatrical space around it and how to put this space into play

SILENT PLAY: a series of improvisations that explore the dramatic potential for play in situations before speech becomes necessary.

Mask

Being In The Moment

Neutral Mask

• Sault Ste. Marie, July 2008

Mime and Neutral Mask

With Ravi Jain from Why Not Theatre

• May 2008, Toronto

The neutral mask is a means to discover, to recognize and to assume the “neutral state” that exists before action, a state of receptivity to all around us, a state of balance from which it will be easier to understand and express imbalances and conflicts that lead to building characters. It is a basic mask to support all mask work. It is a foundation and point of reference for building all character.

Through a series of improvisational exercises based on techniques created by Jacques Lecoq, the Neutral Mask allow actors to:

* Discover a large, theatrical presence that is balanced, centred and focused while expressing powerful, authentic emotions on stage.
* Heighten spatial awareness
* Become aware of personal physical habits that block the creative process
* Support and develop physical expression
* Discover the power of stillness

Introduction to Commedia Dell’Arte

Masks, Stock Characters and Improvisation

• Branksome Hall Public School, Toronto 2008

• Theatre Orangeville, 2008
  

• Monarch Park Public School, Toronto 2007

This workshop is designed to introduce students to the history and fundamental skills required to play in the manner of the Italian commedia.

Students discover:

• how to move and improvise while wearing the mask
• the individual movement, gestures and place in the social hierarchy of the stock characters
• how to create comic scenes through improvisation