Foundations of Devised Theatre: The Neutral Body As a Canvas (Workshop/Training Opportunity) at Flying Carpet Theatre Company

WORKSHOP / TRAINING OPPORTUNITY!!!!

The Flying Carpet Theatre’s Upcoming Workshop:

FOUNDATIONS OF DEVISED THEATRE: 

THE NEUTRAL BODY AS A CANVAS

with Karen Anne Light

Imagine a theatre which invites every kind of body, every kind of artist…

The word ‘Neutrality’ does not seem to convey the profound experience of neutrality. Neutrality is the moment of infinite possibility . . . the potent, pregnant, seeing stillness which births a play and its myths, tales, and characters. Neutrality places the actor in a state of limitless expanse, from which they may become aware that every possible character, human, creature, and experience already exists within them, and can be called into the physical space to be seen and to play!

How can ‘Neutrality’ help actors to create characters and to be stronger artists? 

Clown, bouffon, drama, comedy, mask, creatures, and personas – all theatrical forms and ideas – emerge from a foundation in Neutrality: the Neutral Body, Neutral State, and Neutral Movement. Contact with and embodiment of Neutrality is a taste of freedom, and a source of power which can imbue any performer with an unnameable and unmistakable “something else”.

If you wish to learn the art of devised, movement-based work, created with a wonderful muse (your body!), then this workshop is an invitation to begin! You will discover in yourself a source of endless, fresh inspiration, from which your own archetypal theatre forms will eventually emerge. 

You will develop an accessible, somatic understanding of core elements of theatre and all performance – ensemble creation, musicality and rhythm, and the power of your body and movement to create states, images, themes; to draw from and create poetic space. 

You will leave with the groundwork for impactful stage technique, performance creation, and a flow of inspiration for the development of characters and stories which have the power to connect with audiences of all kinds. 

This workshop is a crucial first step in the cultivation and training necessary to create a physical theatre practice. While spontaneous moments of theatre will emerge abundantly through learning activities and improvisation, this workshop is an initial experience intended for a long period of training, and will not culminate in public performance creation at the end of our weekend together.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• Neutral Body and the Neutral State
• Poetic Space
• Relationship between the body and the space
• Ensemble Dynamics
• Animal Forms & Mimodynamic Movement
• Rhythm and Musicality of movement
• The beginnings of devising from improvisation
• Connection and Flow
• A non-hierarchical approach to theatre making, placing actors on even footing as theatre makers, alongside playwrights, directors, producers, and designers

This class is for performers at any level of experience. 

Seasoned professionals and beginners will receive an initiation into the artistic and pedagogic theatre traditions of internationally celebrated artists and teachers: 

• the NeoClassical Mime Theatre of James Donlon
• Lecoq Physical Theatre as taught by Giovanni Fusetti & Elizabeth Baron of Helikos Scuola Internazionale and John Flax of Theater Grottesco

Non-performing theatre professionals, dancers and movers, artists of other mediums, bodyworkers, and anyone who wishes to apply principles of physical theatre in non-artistic capacities, are also welcome.

Saturday, May 13th – Sunday, May 14th

12:00 p.m. – 7 p.m. (includes a one hour break)

at New Georges’ “The Room”!

ART/New York’s Spaces at 520

520 Eighth Avenue, 3rd Floor

New York, NY 10018

Cost: $300 due via PayPal by May 13th. 

This workshop is intended for 10-20 students. 

*$50 discount to those who pay full tuition by May 1st.

*Reduced rate available to individuals of marginalized/global majority populations. If this applies to you, please request the reduced rate in your Google Form (see below). It’s a trust-based system–no questions asked.
To enroll, please pay the $75 deposit via PayPal (here) by May 1st and fill out this Google Form

COVID PRECAUTION:

The workshop venue requires that everyone wear masks in common areas such as hallways, bathrooms, and anywhere else outside the studio.

Additionally, participants will be asked to present a negative Covid test result (obtained within the past 24 hours before our start time) when they arrive on the first day.

ABOUT THE TEACHER

Karen Anne Light is an actress, teacher, and consultant who creates devised physical theatre. She seeks a theatre – and a world – which invites the dazzling multitude of forms, archetypes, and worlds which live and move within each of us… to come out, to be seen, and to play….!

Her work in Shakespearean and contemporary theatre from an early age inspired her to seek the origins of the art form through movement theatre and dance. Delighted by the surprising, profound, and hilarious creative play that resulted, she began developing solo and ensemble productions, and incorporating principles of movement theatre into all of her performances – and everything else, too! 

Since 2014, Karen has continued ongoing work and training in Elizabeth Baron’s Formwork, Red Nose Theatre Clown, performance creation, pedagogical research, Reichian breathwork, Wu Tao, Giovanni Fusetti’s Polarities, and Vocal Pedagogy for Physical Theatre with her mentor and teacher, Elizabeth Baron, and recently in Bouffon with Giovanni Fusetti, all within the lineage of Jacques Lecoq.

Past training includes devised physical theatre, Mime, Clown, and Mask with James Donlon & Leonard Pitt through the Flying Actor Studio Conservatory, Théâtre du Soleil (Paris), Theater Grottesco, John Gilkey, and John O’Keefe; International Dance with Lorna Zilba of Life Dance Theater, and Butoh with Hiroko Tamano. At San Francisco State University she earned a degree in Theatre Arts and trained in Suzuki Method and Meisner Technique, as well as Shakespearean Theatre through the British American Drama Academy (UK).

Devised original solo and ensemble productions in NYC  include Prowling the Abyss (Theaterlab, Dixon Place, NYFA CAC grant), Unblinking Eye (Guardian Angel Church, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, LMCC grant), Sisters of Rapture (Alchemical Studios); in San Francisco, Portals (Flying Actor Studio), and Alice Down the Rwong Wrabbit Whole (Emerald Tablet). Karen was recently part of the ensemble which created and performed Different with Theater Grottesco (Santa Fe, NM).

Karen appears as Nancy 3 in The Fae, a queer web series (PrideFLIX, Philedelphia Independent, OUTstream, and Big Apple Film Festivals), served as an acting consultant for the short film Carma With A C, and can also be seen in The Fury of Frau Frankenstein by beloved underground queer filmmaker, George Kuchar.

www.karenannelight.com

TESTIMONIALS:

“I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Karen, whose unique approach to teaching allowed me to finally feel the deeper connection with my body I had been seeking in my performance work.

Her work with me involved a gradual and subtle form of bodywork that enabled me to connect to deeper levels of emotion, while remaining completely safe and embodied. She also integrated physical theatre

technique and devised character work in a way that felt responsive and tailored to my needs.

In addition to working with me on general movement practice, Karen has also helped me develop characters for two separate projects, one on film (Carma With a C) and the other live performance (The Lulo Style Group Shark Attack ). In both processes, Karen’s eye for the natural needs of the scene, and comedic truth of the character, helped take the work to the next level. I cannot recommend her more strongly as a teacher, coach, and all-around clown-whisperer!”

Cecilia Corrigan, 

poet, writer, comedian and actor

“Working with Karen was very special for me. She created an atmosphere right from the start that invited me to let go of all my holdings. She led me with care and curiosity. It was a unique experience of releasing everything I had brought from the day and then once I was a puddle we found a playful dynamic together and we began to play and create from there. It was transformative.” 

Christopher Tramantana

actor, educator, creator

“I am a musician and I struggle with stage fright. Just by exploring improvisational work with Karen in a few sessions, I’ve been able to connect to a sense of flow again, which has greatly helped me as an artist. “

Amos A,

musician, visual artist

“You have great insight and your prompts were spot on! I found working with you to be a true joy. You’re communicative and straightforward, and your insights were useful and aided in the completion of our piece (The Lulo Style Group Shark Attack). You are a theater doula and a process goddess! “

Rose Luardo,

artist, performer, comedian, dancer

***Photo Credit: From “Different” by Theater Grottesco,  2019. Pictured L to R: Susie Perkins, Danielle Louise Reddick, Susan Skeele,  Karen Anne Light, Myriah Duda, Robin Duda. Direction: John Flax. Photo by Paul Trachtman.