The OBIE Award-winning Pi g Iron Theatre Company wants to change world theatre-or at least, they want to train the next generation of theatre artists to do so. Signing a lease as the flagship tenant in the pre-renovated Crane Old School, 1425 N. Second St, the veteran company is preparing to launch the Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training: a two year, post graduate program designed to be every bit as unique and disciplined as the company itself.
"Pig Iron's School is ideal for the adventurous artist looking to explore new ways of making performance concepts. We believe that recent college grads and working artists alike will find an educational atmosphere intended to engage both the artistic and practical concerns of being a theatre artist in the 21st century, " says Pig Iron Co-Artistic Director and School Director Quinn Bauriedel.
Joining Bauriedel is an impressive faculty of decorated teaching artists, including Co-Artistic Directors Dan Rothenberg and Dito van Reigersberg company members
Sarah Sanford and
Geoff Sobelle, and longtime Pig Iron collaborator Emmanuelle Delpech-Ramey. They will be joined by virtuoso vocal artist Jean-Rene Toussaint as well as several internationally renowned leaders in physical and ensemble theatre.
"We couldn't be more excited to house this ambitious addition to Philadelphia's cultural landscape, that will undoubtedly attract a constructive mass of artistic professionals in our city," says Crane Arts' David Gleeson.
And although Pig Iron has been teaching master workshops and master classes at universities like Swarthmore, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania for nearly a decade, the company considers its strongest teaching credentials are codified in its process of theatre making. "In many ways, Pig Iron has always been a school. We collaborate in a way that challenges us, teaches us, and strives for us to learn more about ourselves as human beings and the artistic process simultaneously" says Bauriedel.
The School is an alternative to a traditional MFA program, designed specifically to teach young artists to actualize their craft. The curriculum will focus on Lecoq pedagogy-known as physical theatre-but will retain Pig Iron's characteristic do-it-yourself feel. "We will of course focus on the physical discipline of the voice and body, as well as the values of ensemble theatre making, but we are equally interested in teaching young artists how to own their work from top to bottom, and ultimately how to start their companies and run successful businesses. The Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training is about being an entrepreneur as much as it is about being an artist."
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