Fwd: Don't miss Improviso! by Dell'Arte's first year students

Directed by Stephanie Thompson Thursday - Saturday, February 5-7 at 8 p.m Dell'Arte's Carlo Theatre in Blue Lake. $8 general and $5 for students/seniors (click here). The Thursday, Feb. 5 performance is Pay What You Can. For mature audiences. For reservations, call 707-668-5663 Ext. 5. Visit www.dellarte.com for more information. A physical celebration of rhythm, attitude and improvisational madness, Commedia dell'Arte pushes passions to the extreme. The characters, defined by the mask, require a level of play from the performer where the body is fully engaged, alive and always playful. True to Commedia, a simple storyline is the structure that allows the actors to create and play all'improvviso - a style that is constantly nourished by improvisation and virtuoso developments of comic themes (lazzi). Just Announced! Summer Workshop 2009 Schedule COMING UP AT DELL'ARTE MFA Adaptations Directed by Ronlin Foreman Presented by Second-year MFA students Thursday - Sunday, Feb. 19-22 8pm, Carlo Theatre Click here to buy tickets. Join the second-year students of the Dell'Arte International MFA program as they translate the written word into dynamic worlds rich with poetic imagery, music and storytelling. Although working independently, the groups have found tales that explore personal transformation, a search for peace and survival despite life's adversaries. Join these dynamic ensembles as they explore artwork, poetry, character study and improvisation to bring these lively and moving stories of humanity and redemption to life. For mature audiences only. ABOUT DELL'ARTE Dell'Arte is located at 131 H Street in Blue Lake California. Just five minutes from Arcata, east on Highway 299. Call 707-668-5663 ext. 5 for more information or to reserve tickets. The DELL'ARTE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL THEATRE is the North American center for the training and performance of the actor-creator. This year we celebrate 32 years in Blue Lake, where students from around the world study amidst the majestic redwoods and rugged beauty of California's North Coast. We are the only institution in the U.S. offering a full-time professional actor training program in physical theatre, through a one-year certificate program, and an accredited three-year MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre. We also offer summer workshops, open training sessions, and Study Abroad programs in Bali and Denmark. Dell'Arte international is an extraordinary community of artists. The combination of our training programs, research, the original touring productions of the Dell'Arte Company, our summer festival, our youth education programs in public schools, and our work in economic/community development makes us a destination unlike any other on the American theatre map. http://www.dellarte.com/

Dell'arte Goes to Bali 2009 Feb 9-March 12, 2009

FEBRUARY 9 - MARCH 12, 2009
Check out the Bali Blog 2007
by School Director Joan Schirle

Since 1996, Dell'Arte International has invited students, teachers, designers, directors, and artists to immerse themselves in the traditional arts of Bali and encounter the profound spirit of the Balinese people. In this unique and wonderfully successful program participants study traditional Balinese performing arts and crafts with village masters, as well as Dell'Arte mask and movement techniques led by Dell'Arte's Founding Artistic Director Joan Schirle and Dell'Arte faculty.

Bali is an extraordinary island where creativity is ordinary. In Bali, art serves the community, the religious practices, the economy and everyday living. This trip introduces students to Balinese performing arts in a way that allows them to experience how the Balinese live and create, and how family life and religious customs are woven into the creation of art. Unlike programs designed for art tourism, this program is designed for those who want to participate in the family life of outstanding Balinese master teachers as they teach.

Due to the sacred nature of most Balinese arts and the complete intertwining of daily life with ritual, this trip can be an opportunity to deepen our internal connection to our own artistic practice, as well as to take inspiration for creative projects.

THE PROGRAM
The program begins with a relaxing traditional Balinese buffet dinner, followed by three days of orientation to the language, customs, and ceremonies of Bali, as well as informal meetings with Balinese teachers to observe their work. Orientation will include a symposium on masks with famous carver I. B. Anom, visits to the studios of several mask carvers and puppet makers, and attendance at the famous kecak, or monkey-chant dance by firelight.
During the three and a half weeks of formal study, classes meet five days a week. Sometimes our study will take place in a classroom setting, sometimes outdoors, and most often in its traditional setting at village and temple ceremonies.

In addition to their core area of study, all students will study kecak, the rhythmic vocal chant, as well as participate in alternating yoga/Alexander Technique, ensemble voice/chant sessions, plus symposiums on the links between Balinese and western mask performance traditions.

All along there will be time for recreation such as mountain hiking, beaches, scuba, nightlife and shopping, including guidance on how to buy Balinese crafts. Massage and revitalizing body treatments are available at extremely low cost.

CORE AREAS OF STUDY

The core of the program is designed so that each student spends a large percentage of their class time on an area of interest most important to them, and we offer the following options:

            •           Mask Carving
            •           Mask Carving/ Balinese Dance (topeng)
            •           Shadow puppetry (wayang kulit) / Balinese dance

MASK CARVING
Learn from a Balinese master carver how to work with the wood, the traditional tools (axe, chisels, knives), and the paints to create traditional and contemporary masks. You may order and bring home their own complete set of tools for under $40. Students will spend 4 – 6 hours daily in the home of their teacher.
For a lively account of one man's encounter with mask carving, visit this link for interview with design Professor Ron Naverson (S. Illinois U, Carbondale), who was on our '03 trip.

MASK CARVING/BALINESE DANCE
Your morning will include one hour of Balinese dance. Topeng is the name of the masked dance form performed at most Balinese ceremonies. You will work in the studio of a Balinese master teacher, learning the basic walks, postures, arm and head movements in the mask. Topeng is based on stock characters like the king, minister, clown, and you will have the opportunity to see it performed at village ceremonies during your studies. Your carving program is the same as that described above, except that you will have a break after dance, and be carving in the afternoon, spending up to four hours daily with your teacher.

SHADOW PUPPETRY(wayang kulit) & BALINESE DANCE

Wayang kulit is the traditional art of storytelling through shadow puppets, performed by firelight. The puppet master is a combination of priest, storyteller, therapist, actor, and improviser, who manipulates and voices dozens of puppets in one play. 
Your morning will include one hour of Balinese dance (see above). Your afternoon will be spent at the home of a shadow puppet master, or dalang, who will instruct you in the art of leather puppet making: design, using the metal punches, painting and rigging techniques. You will observe how the traditional shadow screen is used and develop a short shadow play. Those who are interested in learning Balinese music may elect to spend some time learning the gamelan instrument, the gender, which accompanies shadow plays.

For students who wish to study more dance, we will arrange for other teachers depending on your interest, at a small additional cost.

 

ACCOMODATIONS

Cost is based on double occupancy in fan-cooled rooms with two beds, private bath, and breakfast included. (Single rooms available for supplemental cost). There is a swimming pool, beautiful gardens, and a covered, open-air studio where some of our classes will be held. Other meals are available in nearby restaurants at very reasonable costs. Vegetarian food is easily available.

 

You may apply for a shortened version of the program, but must be able to begin the course on the start date. Address inquiries to the Bali program director.

All interested participants will receive detailed advance information on what to bring, how to prepare, and much more.

FOR MORE INFO: EMAIL OR CALL   info@dellarte.com      707.668.5663  
or visit  http://www.dellarte.com

Dell'Arte Original Cast Returns to Korbel

The Dell'Arte Company is opening a new production tonight.

The Dell'Arte Company returns with original ensemble members Joan Schirle, Donald Forrest, and Michael Fields reprising their original roles as the Dugan Family

JUNE 26, 27, 28, 29 & JULY 3, 5, 6
(No performance on July 4)
8pm. Rooney Amphitheatre.
$15 general/$12 students & seniors/$5 kids under 12
Click here to buy tickets

A hilarious, farce-filled romp through all things Humboldt County, Dell'Arte's last Korbel production was nearly 10 years ago. But now the Dugans are back! Their little town of Korbel has fallen on economic hard times, and the only way to make a living is to grow medical marijuana. The only other employment option is at St. Mo's Hospital, a for-profit hospital built on the site of an old trailer park now owned by a casino. When a massive traffic accident caused by an out-of-control taco truck filled with machine guns (from the Blue Lake Police Department?) occurs in Korbel, the cast of characters end up at St. Mo's.
More trouble ensues from a massive power outage caused by the high-wattage demand of the marijuana grow houses. There's only enough juice left to keep one person alive on life support at St. Mo's. Who will survive?

"Korbel IV: The Accident" features live music and the hilarious physical performance style of the Dell'Arte ensemble. Back-up singers for Dell'Arte's house band directed by Tim Gray include Lila Nelson, Joyce Hough and Jaese Lecuyer. Also featuring Dell'Arte Company members David Ferney and Jacqueline Dandeneau. Come see Dell'Arte's "theatre of place" in action, as comic expertise satirizes and celebrates our local community. Dell'Arte creates theatre that is about this place and for this place - but speaks to the world.

Fundraiser for Finelli movie

There will be a fundraising party for the work-in-progress film about the life of Judy Finelli (founder of SF Circus Center) on June 3 in San Francisco...details as well as info on how to contribute to the project:


http://www.denkerfilmworks.com/Denker_Filmworks/Fund-Raising_Party.html

Job Posting at Dell'arte

Dell'Arte job posted May 8, 2008 Pedagogical Research Assistant: Assist Director of Pedagogical Research with instruction; evaluate student studio work; conduct training; Direct performance; Perform research as directed. Min req: Relevant Undergraduate Degree & Master Fine Arts in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre. Send resumes to Bobbi Ricca, PO Box 816, Blue Lake, Ca. 95525. No phone calls or email applications accepted.

Summer Workshops 2008 in Denmark

Summer Workshops 2008
in Denmark


in Aasen, Denmark
Mask of Melodrama: August 10-15
The Craft of Comedy: August 17-22
The Tragic Gesture: August 24-29
For information on how to apply: info@dellarte.com or call 707-668-5663 

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DELL'ARTE ABROAD: DENMARK 2008
Residential training intensives at Aasen, Denmark
Presented by Dell'Arte, Movenact (Arhus) and Aasen
With Master Teachers Michael Fields & Joan Schirle

Aasen is a rustic center for popular theatre in North Jutland, Denmark. Tucked amid a landscape of North Sea beaches, coastal hamlets, fishing harbors and wild heaths, Aasen is a true retreat for actor training found in a peaceful pastoral setting.

Mask of Melodrama: August 10-15
$750 includes tuition, housing and meals
"Melodrama is the naturalism of our dreams." (Eric Bentley)
A powerful, physical "popular theatre" form, Melodrama is one of the core territories of the Dell'Arte training. Explore the language of gesture, the heightened expression of emotion, and the interplay of the melodramatic archetypical characters of villains, victims and heroes that are at the center of the melodramatic form. Heightened, vivid and reflective of human behavior in ways that could be ripped from contemporary headlines, this workshop will be an exciting immersion into this powerful theatrical form.

The Craft of Comedy: August 17-22
$750 includes tuition, housing and meals
The comic spirit manifests through the craft of the performer. Explore rhythm, timing, focus, partnership, use of the space, the rule of three's, entrance/exit, dynamics, and much more.

The Tragic Gesture: August 24-29
$750 includes tuition, housing and meals
The tragic spirit communicates through the craft of the performer: rhythm, use of space, dynamics and gesture. This workshop examines the poetic dimension of the protagonist or tragic hero(ine). For actors, dancers, directors and teachers.

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Classes meet 6 hours daily, Monday-Friday.  Courses begin with Sunday night dinner. Fees include tuition, housing and meals.  Enrollment limited.

Summer Workshops 2008 in Blue Lake

Summer Workshops 2008
in Blue Lake 

in Blue lake , California
Grand Guignol: June 16 - 20
Maskmaking and Performance: June 17 - 28
The Physical Theatre Intensive:  July 1 - 26
Rasaboxes Training Intensive: August 5 - 16


For information on how to apply: info@dellarte.com or call 707-668-5663 

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in Blue Lake, California:
Nestled among the majestic Redwoods and rugged beauty of California's North Coast, Blue Lake is a small town located approximately 280 miles north of San Francisco on Highway 101. Humboldt County is an outdoor enthusiast's ideal setting - home to wild rivers, untouched beaches and ancient forests unlike anywhere else in the world.Most Blue Lake Workshops run in conjunction with the Dell'Arte Mad River Festival featuring  an explosive month of theatre and music from around the world and down the block. This year's festival runs June 21-July 26, 2008


Grand Guignol
June 16-20
with Michael Fields and Tyler Olsen
9:30 am-12:30 pm, 2- 4:30 pm daily | $400 | All Levels   
Once the most popular entertainment in Europe, Grand Guignol is an exciting theatre form that begat current thriller and horror films. Rarely taught, this "theatre of laughter and terror" explores our fascination with the macabre, playing with the violation of society's taboos. Grand Guignol is wildly physical, intensely psychological, and filled with gruesome special effects. Explore both the physical performance styles and skills at the heart of the form, as well as the special effects (often closely held secrets) that so terrified the Grand Guignol audiences that a medical doctor was on hand for every performance to treat those who passed out from shock! The workshop will culminate in a late-night presentation of horror. Fee includes materials.

Mask Making and Mask Performance 
June 17 - 28
with Dell'Arte Instructor Bruce Marrs
9:30 am-12:30 pm, 2-5 pm | $700 | All levels

A workshop for teachers, actors and artisans looking to make professional quality theatre performance masks, investigate the craft of bringing those masks to life, and sustain that life in a theatre environment. Participants will make plaster positives resulting in at least two full faced and/or 3/4 faced character masks. Participants will work in hundreds of theatre masks spanning many different styles, and leave with a solid sense of mask performance.  Six hours a day, 10 days, in two studios. Check out Bruce Marrs' masks at www.marzillamask.com. 

The Physical Theatre Intensive: 
Effort, Risk, Momentum, Joy

July 1 – 26
with Ronlin Foreman, Joe Krienke, Laura Munoz, Joan Schirle, Stephanie Thompson 
9:30am – 12:30pm, 2-4pm+ lab / $1500  /all levels 

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: Discount of $100 available if total cost of workshop is paid in full by April 25, 2008.
 

An engaging month-long intensive based on the methodology of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre, a renowned 34-year-old program that trains actors to command the time and space of the stage. The skillful, dynamic and easeful use of a performer's body and voice is at the core of our curriculum. 

The work of the actor-creator arises out of silence, darkness and empty space, moving into ensemble play and the actor's ability to devise original work for the stage. This training aims towards the creation of visceral, actor-centered theatre that crosses stylistic boundaries and informs classic as well as contemporary, original as well as adapted.

The Physical Theatre Intensive is appropriate for actors, dancers, directors, teachers and designers.

The questions for this workshop: what is the powerful presence of the actor in the dimension of the theatre? How does energy become action? How does the creative actor link text, movement, voice and character in a dynamic unity? How does physical training carry into the act of making theatre, in rehearsal and the creation of work?

 

"Action must always precede analysis. The first step predetermines the ones to follow. Having made the first eccentric motion at your birth, you can now look around. Birth is a matter of territory; identity comes later, through action. Self-awareness in space and time equals presence. (Self-consciousness leads to immobility and is the enemy of presence.) From presence, one can develop the ability to represent."                             Carlo Mazzone-Clementi Dell'Arte Founder

Week 1 : The Instinct for Play

 Physical/vocal conditioning work, acrobatics and contact improvisation (no previous acrobatic experience is required; students will be guided to move forward from their own level, whether beginner or advanced movers), movement, exploring of the play of forms and elements in nature.

               Week 2: The Powerful Presence

 The Actor in the Space; movement as observed in the human being and in objects created by humans; ensemble movement, explorations in space, time, rhythms, music and visual forms; FM Alexander Technique.

              Week 3: The Embodied Voice

The moving actor speaks; the speaking actor moves ; vocal power, vocal ease; exploration of vocal and physical dynamics; the study of dynamics as applied to the work of the stage.

             Week 4 :The Dynamic Theatre (or The Actor-Creator)

Devising:The creation of pieces, how to give structure to a work. students explore devising processes in which text, movement and staging are generated by small ensembles of actor-creators; The generation of theatre pieces through a movement base;. the dynamics of the theatrical experience.

 

Classes meet Tuesday through Saturday; 5 hours of daily class work + lab hours

 

RasaBoxes Training Retreat
August 5 – 16
With Paula Murray Cole
9am – 1pm, 3 – 7pm / $550 / All levels

 

What are the RasaBoxes?

Devised by Richard Schechner, the RasaBoxes exercises are based on ideas and practices drawn from several sources: the classical Indian treatise on performance called the Natyasastra, contemporary scientific studies on emotion and Antonin Artaud's challenge that the actor be "an athlete of the emotions".

The RasaBoxes exercises comprise a psychophysical, sensation-based approach that begins with finding form for nine basic emotional-energetic archetypes through the use of body and the breath. The work then leads to sound and movement exercises, relating to objects and others, language and text, music, mask and song exercises.

The exercises train participants to work holistically with mind, body, sensation and emotion to produce work that is viscerally engaging in a wide range of performance contexts: from the subtlety of film acting to the boldness of commedia dell' arte, from the most naturalistic theatre to pure dance, music and movement.

The exercises are based on an improvisational rather than codified approach, but do offer performers specific tools and techniques for finding truthful, present, fully embodied emotional specificity through direct physical engagement. The approach integrates rather than separates acting, movement and voice, engaging the whole performer in one approach.

RasaBoxes Training Retreat

This workshop is an intensive training program in the RasaBoxes work taught by Paula Murray Cole and others. Rigorous daily training includes hatha yoga, extensive breath and voice and movement work. We will work with various somato-sensory techniques and principles including those derived from pranayama exercises, bioenergetics and the work of Richard Schechner, Michael Chekhov, Laban/Bartenieff, Kristen Linklater, Lecoq and others. Participants will develop solo and ensemble generated performance compositions based on the RasaBoxes material.

The workshops are designed to accommodate a range of skill levels and interests of both professionals and students including actors, directors, performance artists, musicians, choreographers, playwrights and drama, movement, and dance teachers and/or therapists.

 

An Evening of Clown April 24-26

LAUGHTER – this is the bottom line, the proof of the pudding, where the rubber meets the road. At Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre, 32 students from around the world have a grave task: To provoke laughter. Within the study of clown, laughter arrives not just through a comedian's timing or a sitcom's turn of events, but through contradiction within the character itself. We laugh at the inescapable dilemmas of one whom, succumbing to the force of gravity, falls but bounces. We laugh at the ones who can dance over the abyss in spite of the pull of the grave. The comic duos and trios of vaudeville, the skills and inventiveness of the "red nose" clown, and the eccentric absurdity of the character clown will all be part of the play as Dell'Arte students dive into characters and situations guaranteed to make you revel in a world gone awry. Over the years alumni from Dell'Arte's world-renowned program have taken clown characters developed during their training and gone on to perform with Cirque du Soleil and the Ringling Brothers Circus, among others. Directed by Ronlin Foreman Runtime: approx. 90 minutes For all ages!

Show Dates Thu, Apr. 24 - 8:00P Call B.O. Fri, Apr. 25 - 8:00P Buy Fri, Apr. 25 - 8:00P Buy Sat, Apr. 26 - 8:00P Buy

Between Two Winters April 17-20

Between Two Winters Catherine Tuttle, the accomplished and commanding mayor of Kalispell, MT, and her daughter, Naomi, travel to the deserts of Kuwait to honor a hero who was instrumental in extinguishing fires after the war in the Persian Gulf. During the course of the tribute, Catherine and this man recognize one another and now must reconcile a past they both have spent their lives running from. Between Two Winters is the culminating performance of the second year masters students in their study of the Tragic form. Tragedy is a form that, at its root, pits the rational and ordered world against the world of terror and chaos. It deals with the human drive to step out of the chorus to stand for and proceed into the hero's journey, unwilling to be passive anymore in a world that defies logic and reason. This sets the tragic hero onto an irreversible collision course with the unrelenting forces of fate that results in a crash of cosmic proportions.  Run time: Approx. 90 minutes  Created by the MFA Ensemble of the Dell'Arte International School of Pyysical Theatre

Show Dates Thu, Apr. 17 - 8:00P Buy Fri, Apr. 18 - 8:00P Buy Sat, Apr. 19 - 8:00P Buy Sun, Apr. 20 - 2:00P Buy