Florida Studio Theatre Announces Workshops For 2009 Sarasota Improv Festival

Florida Studio Theatre announces workshops offered for the 2009 Sarasota Improv Festival. A two-day event, July 10th and 11th, the festival will highlight great improvisation companies from across the United States. The festival will also feature workshops on Saturday, July 11th. Each workshop will be taught by professional groups performing throughout the weekend.

11 am - 1 pm

Longform Improvisation (City Hall) 
Problem Solvers
This is a workshop for intermediate and advanced improvisers. 
Have you been in a scene that is going south and you don’t know what to do?  Have you been in a scene with a partner who seems dead set against working with you?  This is a workshop for you.  This workshop will give improvisers the skills they need to solve problems in a scene.  The first hour will be dedicated to character problems and learning how to find the emotional core of your character and of the scene in which you are involved.  The second hour will be dedicated to using “game” or the rule of three/ heightening to help in the slow point of a scene and/or to help in a slow point of the show.  The third hour will be dedicated to helping the structure of a scene whether it is its beginning, middle, or end.  The final hour will be dedicated to running scenes and getting notes.  The workshop ends with a performance.
Fee: $29.00

Falling in Love with Your Scene Partner (Thy Will Be Done) 
Alison Royer and Will Luera, cast of Thy Will be Done, will focus on Falling in

love with your scene partner and their characters. This workshop will focus on scenes that don't require you to invent but instead discover the subtle choices that your scene partner makes and then fall in love with those choices; unconditionally, flaws and all.  From within these simple choices and blind love will emerge the comedy that comes with real relationships.
Fee: $29.00

Intro to Improvisation (FST Improv) 
Watch the show and think, “I can never do that” Well, Yes, You Can! FST’s Managing Director and Director of Improvisation will show you how. An introduction to improv or your chance to brush up on your improvisation skills
Fee: $29

1 pm - 3 pm

Intro to Musical Improv (Booth & Pat) 
Learn musical improv with one of the hottest up and coming comedy acts in NYC, Booth and Pat.  The two have performed their unique act in comedy clubs across America.  Learn the fundamentals of music improvisation, and create songs incorporating some of improv's best known games and techniques.   You'll augment the improv skills that you have, and find that creating spontaneous music can be a great tool in your arsenal for a skit, a set, or for developing your own act.   Included will be a warm-up, followed by a brief intro to music improv, developmental games to quicken the wit, and finally, ending with group songs. 
Fee: $29.00

Direct Feedback Boot Camp (Available Cupholders)
Are you tired of glad-handing workshops that don't whip you into shape? Well, maybe it's time to get your butt kicked and get to the center of how you can improve your game. This class will consist mainly of scene work that leads to direct and honest feedback about you, the individual performer. Jeremy Lamb has directed improv groups for over 10 years, trained at all the right places, toured the country several times over, and produces the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in Austin.
Fee: $29.00

Master Class - Character Development (Dad's Garage)
Learning to make strong character choices
Have you ever started with a wonderful character and then struggled to keep it wonderful during the scene? This workshop will help you Focus. Learn to better connect with your character, heighten and develop the scene through your strong point of view. With and emphasis being placed on good storytelling, students learn how to tell stories as the characters that they create and embody.
Fee: $39.00

3 pm - 5 pm

Master Class - Del Sarte with Richard Hopkins 
FST’s Artistic Director, Richard Hopkins, will show you how to engage your body in the scene.  Using Del Sarte participants will learn the power of physicalization in comedy. Free yourself from talking heads and learn how your actions really do speak louder than words.
Fee: $39.00

Master Class - Building the Scene (SAK)
Land your scene as soon as you hit the stage.  Make strong choices at the top scene, establish and commit to your character, build strong relationships, and find the rhythm within the scene. This workshop focuses on creating stories with interesting characters and developing the skills of working together with scene partners. Emphasis is on characters with a purpose and stories of substance. 
Fee: $39.00

The Sarasota Improv Festival is a two day event taking place July 10th and 11th at the Goldstein Cabaret. Please see the attached full schedule. Weekend passes are available at $49.00. Friday only and Saturday only passes are available at $39.00. Individual Tickets are $10 per person (Kids Komedy Cabaret are $6.00 and includes lunch and FST’s Vintage Whine are $5.00) and may be purchased from the FST Box Office in person by phone (941) 366-9000 or online www.FloridaStudioTheatre.org.  Advanced purchase of tickets is recommended.

Known as Sarasota’s Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by Jon Spelman.  Starting out as a small touring company, FST traveled to places such as migrant camps and prisons.  The company eventually settled down into a permanent home, acquiring the former Woman’s Club building – now renamed the Keating Theatre.  In the years that followed, Florida Studio Theatre established itself as a major force in American Theatre, presenting contemporary theatre in its three theatre venues: the Keating Theatre, the Goldstein Cabaret and its newest space, the Gompertz Theatre.  

Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience.  Under Richard Hopkins, Artistic Director and CEO, FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving, and dynamically changing world.  As FST grows and expands, it continues to provide audiences with challenging, contemporary drama and innovative programs.

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