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Current Workshop:

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Being Funny: A Physical Approach to Comic Performance

 

"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

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

During this unique three day workshop we'll play around with these difficult questions, cultivating a spirit of spontaneity & play while developing a sense of confidence and pleasure in pursuit of our own unique sense of what’s funny. 

 

Using games, exercises and improvisations we’ll explore: 

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-Play (le jeu)

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-Physical Comedy

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-Character Development

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-Clown 

 

This is a unique opportunity for artists of all disciplines and skill levels interested in discovering underlying principles of comedy and how the body can be utilized to make us laugh.

 

This workshop is led by award-winning performer, director and creator Adam Paolozza. Adam trained at the Lecoq school in Paris and studied mask with the Sartori family in Italy. With his company Bad New Days he’s developed a uniquely physical approach to creating theatre in Canada, with such works as Spent, The Double, Flashing Lights, Paolozzapedia, Italian Mime Suicide and The Cave.

 

-When: March 21st, 22nd, 23rd 12-4:30pm each day

-Where: The Railpath Arts Centre

-Fee: $250 plus HST OR $200 + HST with Union Discount

 

20% Discount available for all Union members, former students, for those in financial need and if you sign up on or before March 11th

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For information or to sign up message badnewdaysperformance@gmail.com

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Past workshops: 

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The Deviser's Lab with Viktor Lukawski & Adam Paolozza 

>>an intensive three day introduction to devised creation

>Are you a theatre creator?

>Do you crave practical skills to develop your ideas from concept to performance?

>Do you crave collaboration?

>Are you curious about devised creation?

 

This workshop is designed to share some of the strategies and practical exercises we use to develop new work. Our goal is to help expand the artist’s creative palette and provide participants with a multifaceted approach to developing new ideas for the stage.

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Intro To Lecoq

This unique workshop offers students an intensive introduction to Lecoq pedagogy.
The classes are divided into games, physical training, movement technique and improvisations. We also look at a dynamic approach to the voice and text work.

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

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STANISLAVSKY/LECOQ MASH-UP 

All great acting is physical, mental and emotional. Both Lecoq and Stanislavski looked at the Body, the Mind and the Heart. They were both looking deeper towards a holistic technique for the actor. They both asked, What does it mean to Be onstage?

 

FROM THE TRAGIC TO THE GROTESQUE

Tragedy>>Bouffon Mash-up 

 

BEING SPONTANEOUS

A Three Day workshop in cultivating greater freedom and sense of play, in our body and our mind, when we perform.

What exactly does it mean to be spontaneous onstage? How is this connected to being present? To making people laugh? And how do we cultivate a state of spontaneity, in our body and our mind, when we improvise?

 

BEING FUNNY

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

 

“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

 

 

THE ACTOR CREATOR - with Ravi Jain

What does it mean to be an actor/creator? How does one “write on one’s feet”? What does it mean to be part of an ensemble?

…and what the hell is collective creation anyway?

 

 

COMMEDIA dell'ARTE - with Marcello Magni 

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 explored 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. 

 

 

MIME: CREATIVE THEATRE THROUGH MOVEMENT

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. 

 

“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"