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led by Matteo Destro

SAN MINIATO - Italy

10-day intensive

27 August to 5 September

The chorus and the clown are two masks. 

The first is the mask of the collectivity and the second is the mask of the uniqueness of the individual.

The chorus and the clown leads us on a delicate and poetic journey, from sharing what we have in common as human beings to the unconditional acceptance of our limits, and the disarming and touching comedy of putting it all into play. 

Starting from very different almost opposite forms they complement and nourish each other in the actors research and training.

 

This intensive course is an opportunity to explore theatre pedagogy based on the ATELIER Mask Movement Theatre and the research of Matteo Destro. 

It is open to actors, directors, playwrights, theater teachers and anyone wishing to deepen their knowledge of Mask and Physical, Movement Based Theatre.

 

Read more about the Pedagogy

 

 

THE PROGRAM OF THE COURSE

 

  • Presence and neutral space

  • The breath and the collective body

  • Structure, dynamic architecture, flow and the choral gesture

  • From the chorus space comes the appearance of the clown

  • The clown state as an expressive source for the actor

  • From the clown state to the clown mask

 

 

WORK THEMES

The universal space of the chorus

To be part of this mask means to become part of the others, and to allow others to become part of us.  Choral awareness helps us become conscious of our movement patterns, offering us the possibility to transform them in service of the movement of the group. It guides us towards symbiosis with directions in space and time.  It allows us to experience becoming these directions themselves, and through movement to transcend them.

Choral work puts us back in touch with our connection to society, to the cosmos and to the "senso tragico"

It is a return to the roots of theater.

 

The appearance of the different

It is in the breaking points of this sense of universal belonging, between the folds of it's movements,  and rhythmic cracks of it's flow. It is there that the fragility of the elements that compose it are revealed.  If we pause to observe, we begin to persive glimpses of the small nuances created by the individual totally immersed in the collective flow. 

 

The red nose

At this point on the path of research comes the help of the red nose.  Jacques Lecoq called it the smallest mask in the world.  This simple and basic theatrical instrument allows us to highlight everything that plays out of tune.  It permits the manifestation and gives authority to a totally honest world that appears to be inadequate and which is supposed to not exist.

 

The Clown

The conscious exploration of this world shifts its boundaries beyond the deepest uniqueness of the individual, to the point of making him embrace the poetics of the fragility of the humane being in the relation to everything that surrounds him. An individual world extremely sensitive and comic a the same time, which happens in the instant, which exists only in sharing everything and always. An elementary world that does not define itself but that mirrors who is defining it as idiotic, ridiculous, stupid, and childish.   The clown appears to be inadequate in the eyes of the observing public, but in itself is the pure reason of existence that brings us back with tenderness, entering from the other side, and giving meaning to the universal greatness of the collective body.

 

 

 

LANGUAGE

The workshop will be taught in English. Work sessions can be translated in  French, Italian and Spanish.

 

SCHEDULE

10-day intensive

27 August to 5 September

10am - 5pm

 

LOCATION 

Class will be held in the

Atelier Studio

San Miniato (Tuscany - Italy)

 

TUITION

750 € 

A non-refundable deposit of €200 is due upon acceptance, to confirm your intention to participate, with the balance of €550 due the first day  before starting.

For those who also partecipates in "The Theater Mask" the total cost of the two workshops is 1100 € .

If the course does not start for any reason due to the organization, such as the non-reaching of the minimum number of participants, the advance will be returned

NUMBER OF PARTECIPANTS

min 8 - max 10

 

APPLICATIONS

for all information and for enrolment please contact

info@ateliermatteodestro.com

The registration deadline is 30th of June.

 

ACCOMODATION

The price of tuition does not include housing. Students are responsible for their own accommodations, but Atelier can refer students to nearby available housing. 

 

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