Magdalena Perth THEATRE WORKSHOP FESTIVAL

Magdalena Perth Theatre Workshop Festival Tuesday 9th - Saturday 13th February 2010 The 2010 Magdalena Perth Theatre Workshop Festival is a celebration and professional development opportunity for women working in contemporary theatre. The event has been initiated by a group of artists in Western Australia who have created a local chapter of the wider international Magdalena Project network: www.themagdalenaproject.org. The idea of a workshop festival was driven by the need to overcome the tyranny of distance and isolation when developing theatre craft, and the desire to promote greater collegiality and conversation between local and interstate women at various stages of their arts practice. Magdalena Perth is proud to host five remarkable Australian practitioners to headline this inaugural event. As well as extending skills and networks throughout the five-day intensive workshop program, the week of activities also includes evening forums, work-in-progress showings and performances for workshop participants to enjoy. ~~~~~~ Workshop ONE: Topographies of Performance Practice with Margaret Cameron (Victoria) Internationally renowned poet, philosopher and performance maker Margaret Cameron guides participants in developing short, original performances based on the ‘perceptual practices’ she has refined over many years as a writer, director and performer. Her processes traverse a range of contemporary performance practices and place a strong emphasis on the questions artists use. This workshop explores how artist’s questions can act as powerful levers for opening up and deepening an exploration of text, image, shape and movement. Cameron also reveals how notions of paradox, hypothesis and congruence can energize choreography and the making of instructional texts, and how accepting hunches, feelings and desires can usefully direct a new work. Workshop TWO: Visceral Philosophy – the Touch of Breath with Helen Sharp (Victoria) Facilitated by one of Australia’s leading breath and bodyvoice practitioners, this workshop offers a deep and highly sensory exploration of breath as the genesis for expression and cross-sensory perceptual encounter. Working with qualities of ease and physical pleasure, participants will experience meeting the breath through full-bodied movement, touch, the sensing of presence and gestural form. Discover the inextricable interweaving of body, breath and voice, and how physical gesture can be used to develop different qualities of breath. This is a unique opportunity for individual immersion in a process that begins with the perceptual breath and leads to physical and vocal improvisation and experimentation. Workshop THREE: Embodiment of the Actor with Leisa Shelton (Victoria) Train with one of Australia’s highly respected movement directors and teachers in this workshop designed for actors, performers, directors, teachers and anyone interested in developing their understanding and use of physical language in a performance context. In creating heightened theatrical language, participants will focus on the amplification of gestures, personas and situations of life around us, the slowing down and accelerating of time, and the metaphoric and literal relationships to objects and space. Leisa’s practice integrates the spirit of the methodology developed by French master Etienne Decroux (Mime Corporeal), along-side physical, spatial and generative training in which the physical language of the performer is preeminent. Workshop FOUR: Moving Words and Memory with Nikki Heywood (New South Wales) Acclaimed performance maker Nikki Heywood offers an exploration of the connection between movement and writing. Designed for those interested in developing both a body and text-based performance practice, this workshop is about coming to your senses, loosening your edges and letting language come to the surface. Heywood will lead participants through authentic movement practices, observation and sensation based exercises towards structured improvisation. This work draws on personal memory and deep perceptual awareness, exposing new internal landscapes as rich material for writing and the creation of original performance material, as well as introducing participants to a useful model for peer feedback. Workshop FIVE: Puppetry Poetics with Karen Hethey (Western Australia) An ordinary object, when animated, becomes a life. Such is the magic, pathos, illusion and authenticity of puppetry, yet what makes this so? Established artist Karen Hethey takes participants on a journey into puppetry and its principles through an introduction to object manipulation, improvisation, puppet making, ensemble complicite, the significance of breath and the physical and emotional dynamic between animator and animated. Designed to deepen purposeful understanding of the relationship of performer to puppet, the workshop enhances the ability to creatively explore and devise puppet and animated performance works, whether a solo performance maker or an ensemble collectively animating a single puppet. Forums and Performances: Evening events will be held each night of the workshop festival, starting at 7.30pm at The Blue Room, Perth Cultural Centre, 53 James St, Northbridge. NB: EACH PARTICIPANT CAN ONLY ATTEND ONE WORKSHOP. Each workshop runs from Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30am- 5.30pm. All workshops will be held within the Perth metro area. Book early to ensure your first choice, as places are limited.Registration includes lunch and entry to all evening forums. Bookings: Early Bird (before 1st January) - full $370/conc. $330 Full Price (after 1st January) - full $420/conc. $380 Send cheque, money order or non-refundable deposit to Magdalena Perth Workshop Festival and send to PO Box 848 Inglewood, 6932, Western Australia. For electronic payment details or further enquiries email magdalenaperth@gmail.com or phone +61 (0)417187668. Payment in installments can be negotiated.