The Completely Ridiculous Winter Curriculum
The Fun of Failure
with Gabriel Levey
Through games, original song writing, improvisation and a couple of fundamental clown exercises, Completely Ridiculous students will strengthen their ability to listen; to play without shame; to be generous with others and themselves; to be courageous and vulnerable enough to fail, fail again and then fail better. We're also going to have fun, like a lot of fun, maybe too much and then a little more. And laughter, lots and lots of laughter - all in pursuit of unfettered joy, radical acceptance and Empathic Vulnerability: the willingness to fully see an other and be fully seen by an other, all while staying open to the possibility of being changed.
Improv
with Ralf Jean-Pierre
Discover an approach to improv comedy that will fill your pants with giddiness and your heart with wonder! Eliminate that pesky, stinky pressure to be a genius, and instead find freedom in your magnificent dumbness! Unlock a playfulness and collaboration so honest, so personal, so beautifully stupid, that it inspires cascades of real, snorting, quivering, gut-busting, belly laughs! You will make people laugh til they snort! And you will tell them, “I heard you snort!”
Alexander Technique
with Tracy Einstein
In this class we will start by settling and organizing the body. Then, in pursuit of our inherent support through alignment, we will look to let go of unnecessary tension, thus opening ourselves to greater flexibility, vulnerability, spontaneity and PLAY.
Embodying Circumstances
with Devin Shacket
In this non-traditional scene study class, students will have the opportunity to dive fully into a practical and immediately applicable script analysis technique. Largely innovated by Academy Award winning actress, Olympia Dukakis, during her 50+ years both teaching and acting, the 5-step process we will work with in this class teaches actors to viscerally engage with the thoughts on the page. Punctuation marks become keys to character, and each phrase becomes an opportunity for a new physical and emotional experience. ‘Where does the text take you?’ will be our baseline question, and the foundation on which all other work in class stands. *This class will utilize the same scenes and scene partner groupings as Thursday’s Acting as Play.
Character and Energetics
with Ato Blankson-Wood
In this class we will focus in on the physical and energetic body of each actor as a means of exploring and building character. Through the practice of mindful meditation, exploration of the 7 chakra centers, and use of the physical forms of the Grotowski technique, students will be given the means to make unexpected and innovative choices when building character and in collaborative spaces.
Russian Études
with Annelise Lawson
Études are a rehearsal tool developed from Stanislavski’s final experiments. This course seeks to foster a dynamic interaction between actor and text. Through a series of exploratory improvisations called études, actors unpack and personalize the given circumstances — following their own impulses to achieve profound and thrillingly original interpretations. The course focuses on how to activate “bookwork” through imagination, awareness, and sense of spontaneous play. The method gives students practical tools to pull even the most intimidating texts off their pedestals and make them their own. Students will gain confidence in the legitimacy of their own impulses, having followed their interpretations of text and character to the furthest possible point.
Acting as Play
with Gabriel Levey
A Clown-based Scene Study class?? You got that right bucko!!
Harness your beautiful little idiot's relentless pursuit of fun in order to take big risks before feeling “ready”; put logic aside to make way for a highly imaginative physical appetite/objective; embrace the precarious pleasure of not needing to know what’s coming next; find fun in whatever given circumstances the character has no choice but to endure; and always lead with hope, regardless of the inevitable disasters laid out in the text. Picking up where the Fun of Failure left off, in this class students will continue to explore their capacity for Empathic Vulnerability - this time with text. *This class will utilize the same scenes and scene partner groupings as Tuesday’s The Five Steps.
Harness your beautiful little idiot's relentless pursuit of fun in order to take big risks before feeling “ready”; put logic aside to make way for a highly imaginative physical appetite/objective; embrace the precarious pleasure of not needing to know what’s coming next; find fun in whatever given circumstances the character has no choice but to endure; and always lead with hope, regardless of the inevitable disasters laid out in the text. Picking up where the Fun of Failure left off, in this class students will continue to explore their capacity for Empathic Vulnerability - this time with text. *This class will utilize the same scenes and scene partner groupings as Tuesday’s The Five Steps.
Monologues from BIPOC Playwrights
with Zenzi Williams
In this class, you will learn about the BIPOC playwrights who have paved the way, as well as those who are currently making their mark in our community. We will explore this work with a sense play, and openness and most importantly gratitude. You will leave this course with monologues for your repertoire, techniques in pursuing your objective as well as tips on self-taping in order to prepare you for the future of our industry.
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