“Self-With-Others”
Ensemble Physical Improvisation.
May 16th -21st, 2010.
We work through our body to see the structures of our habits and thoughts.
We alter our habits and thoughts, and so transform our bodies.
The body and mind are a single, interdependent entity.
Blockages become visible, then dissolve. Impulses flow more easily – inside us and between us.
Action. Reaction. Concentration. Change. There’s nothing miraculous – it’s disciplined, focussed rigorous work. The work does not change who we are, it makes us more truly ourselves.
In this workshop you will engage in a process of psychophysical training and see how that training can translate into
ensemble improvisation.
The Workshop Leader
John Britton has been developing his approach to psychophysical training of performers for the last 20 years. It is drawn from his own experience as performer, improviser and director and brings together influences from the European
Laboratory Tradition (Grotowksi, Meyerhold, Barba, Staniewski) and improvisational methods that emerged from the American Dance Scene in the 1950s and 60s (especially as developed by Al Wunder).
John Britton has taught at ESMAE (Portugal), CPR (UK), Legs On The Wall (Australia), ADA Studios (Berlin), Dartington College (UK), National Institute of Circus Arts (Australia), National University of Mexico (Mexico City), National Student Drama Festival (Ensemble Leader 2005), IUGTE Conference (Slovenia), Central School of Speech and Drama (UK), The Swedish Ballet Academy (Stockholm) as well as at numerous Universities and
Conservatoria in the UK, Europe and Australia. In 2010 he will be teaching in the UK, China, Australia and Greece before reaching Au Brana.
Since 2004 he has been Senior Lecturer in Performance at Huddersfield University where he is Course Leader and Chief Trainer on the MA Ensemble Physical Theatre, Training & Performance. You can find more information at http://www.ensemblephysicaltheatre.com
The Workshop
Each morning there will be training - intensive, personal, physical challenges, explored within the supportive context of a developing ensemble. We will push beyond what is easy towards what frightens us. We will learn to stop resisting ourselves. We will drive ourselves, not from fear, but by pursuing our pleasure. We are here to find pleasure – the
deep joy that comes from transcending what we thought we could do and finding we are much more than we dared believe.
The training will combine fixed and improvised structures to develop our capacity as individual physical performers and as contributors to an emerging ensemble, a training of self-withothers.
We will explore core principles which will help us know ourselves better, break down the blockages that stand between us and our spontaneity.
It will involve laughter, revelation, struggle, self-doubt, realisation, moments of triumph.
You will discover things about yourself-as-artist that you never knew, or perhaps things you allowed yourself to forget.
It will provoke reflection and conversation and periods of time when you just want to sit and watch the clouds skitter by.
You will discover that you don’t have to be more than you are, simply more who you are.
None of this will happen by accident, it will happen because through our skill and concentration we will make it happen.
Each afternoon will be spent translating the principles of training into spontaneous performance. The strength of an Ensemble is the individuals who are part of it, so we will focus on solo and duet work alongside small and whole-group improvisation. We’ll get through a lot of performing; to each other, to the whole group, to our hosts at Au Brana.
Ensemble Improvisation is about knowing when to act, when to dance, when to sing, when to do them all at the same time. Most importantly, it is about knowing when to do none of them, when to be silent and still and to allow the performance to develop around you. It’s about being selfish in pursuing your performance material and being selfless in
allowing others to develop theirs.
The workshop will develop strategies for generating, maintaining and transforming material, all together, all at the same time. It will pay particular attention to opening up spontaneous performance to the audience, so they can share the excitement of discovering meaning, possibility and laughter, at the same time as does the performer.
If the weather permits, we’ll work outside as well as in the studio, seeing how the environment, the sun, birdsong, alter what we discover in and communicate through our performance.
The Venue
Au Brana is between Toulouse and Bordeaux in the rural South of France.
The centre of the work is the converted barn at Au Brana, an inspirational rough walled, wooden floored training studio that will provoke your best work from you.
Attached to the studio, the old stables have been
converted into comfortable sleeping accommodation for workshop participants. The accommodation is dormitory
style, but with partitions between each of the sleeping areas, allowing for personal space and privacy. Au Brana
is situated in open country, quite a long way from anywhere and, if the French early-summer weather is
nice to us, we will take over the garden, fields and forests of the area during our stay there.
All food and accommodation will be provided and is included in the cost of the workshop.
You can find more details about Au Brana at
http://www.aubrana.com
More Information
If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me:
johnbritton@ensemblephysicaltheatre.com
You can find out more (including some links to videos of improvised performances and training work) at my websites: http://www.ensemblephysicaltheatre.com and http://www.quidditytheatre.com
Details & Arrangements
Dates
Arrive before 6pm on Saturday 15th May 2010. Food and an introduction to the workshop will be provided that night.
We will start work on the morning of Sunday 16th May and work until Friday 21st (6 days). Leave Au Brana on Saturday 22nd May.
Cost
The cost of the workshop is ₡450 (450 Euros). This covers 7 nights accommodation and food, 6 days of studio work (6-8 hours per day).
This works out as ₡175 for food and accommodation and ₡275 for the hire of the studio and the workshop.
Participants will be responsible for making their own travel arrangements (though it will be possible to pick people up from local bus stop).
Applications
It is extremely important to me that this workshop delivers a rich and challenging experience to all
participants. To ensure this I ask you, if you are interested in applying for one of the 12 available places, to send me a brief outline of your career/ training to date (a CV will do) and a short statement of what you would like to gain from attending this workshop. This process helps me ensure that no one attends the workshop who is really looking for
something else, and that there is a range and depth of experiences within the workshop that will contribute to the overall experience of all participants.
If you are someone I’ve worked with before, could you remind me where (and possibly even send a photograph!)
I will not ask for any payment from you until I have confirmed that I am able to offer you a place on your chosen workshop(s).
Please send applications by email to johnbritton@ensemblephysicaltheatre.com or by mail to:
543 Titanic Mills
Low Westwood Lane
Huddersfield
West Yorkshire
HD7 5UN
UK
