The Arshinagar Project presents Dramatic Space - Theatre as Transformation
The Arshinagar Project
presents
Dramatic Space - Theatre as Transformation
Worlds Within and Without
April 14th and 15th, 2012
Theatre : What, Whose, Why?
There are as many different kinds of theatre as there are people. As Augusto Boal said, "We are all actors: Being a citizen is not living in society, it is changing it” . For some of us it's a profession, for some, a tool. For some, entertainment, for some others, a spiritual experience. For some, it is about mirth and having fun, games and icebreakers, while for others, it is about dedication, discipline, rigorous exercises of body and mind, and an absolute, monastic submission to craft. It is process, and it is product. It is an intellectual exercise, requiring written scripts, lights, sets, props, video projectors and more, and it is the dance of the Baul and the whirl of the Sufi, the deadly grace of the Kalari master, the drum-beat of the primal ritual, the excitement of the hunt, the detachment of Zen meditation, only breathing, only being, Buddhist chants resonating across high plateaus, Upanishadic hymns resounding in the forests, and the simple beauty of folk songs and dances - all this is theatre. It is the Way of the Warrior, and it is the Way of Love. Theatre is only beauty, only aesthetics, but by its very nature, theatre is an act of protest. Theatre is living in the world and transcending it.
Theatre is thus a place of paradoxes - a place of meeting. It is a place of conflict, and hence a place of change, of transformation. It is a liminal space where the human consciousness looks at the universe within and the world without.
Workshop context:
This workshop is meant as a safe space for people from different vocations to come together to collectively engage with their own selves, with others, and with their professions. While it is open to actors and dancers, it is not restricted to them alone. It is also open to musicians, painters, writers, to teachers, facilitators, activists, and to young people - essentially to anybody above the age of 18 with a reasonably fit body and mind. It is not meant to teach any specific methods or techniques of acting, movement or performance. Rather, through an intense engagement with body and spirit, and through a process of ensemble based creation, it is designed to take us to a free, natural, creative state of being where we break free from our inhibitions and engage deeply with our selves, in the process questioning our identities and our relationship with the world.
Methodology:
The workshop is firmly rooted and grounded in the principles of equality, connectedness and harmony. Of being present, wholly and organically, at a given space, of listening and and watching with one's whole organism, to be focussed on the other person, to be open and responsive, to explore the body - social, political, gendered, sexual, ecological, performative, primal, ancestral, spiritual, communal. Exploring the Otherness of Self and thus confronting one's own fears, biases, prejudices, inhibitions.
Approach:
The workshop will be based on a principle of un-learning. While it draws upon traditions of spiritual and ritual performance, community theatre, music, art and more, there will be no attempt to teach a bag of tricks, or communication/presentation/presentation/leadership skills in a superficial sense. It is rather about removing layers of social conditioning which inhibit us and re-discovering a lost body, existing in a shared space where we go forward to 'meet' the other without fear or shame. We'll work with breath, movement, voice, song and silence.
Venue:
A.S.O.T. - All Sorts of Things 5G JUNGI HOUSE LANE, SHAHPUR JAT, NEAR SIRI FORT, New Delhi, India 110049
Workshop Timings :
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, both days
Fees:
2,200/- (Partial bursaries are available - we try our best to accommodate everyone irrespective of financial ability. We are also grateful for contributions greater than the stipulated amount from those who are able, as this can support the participation of others who need assistance. The Arshinagar Project is not funded in any way at this point of time and all our programmes are self-sustaining)
Contact:
For registrations, write to: thearshinagarproject@gmail.com. Please state why you want to join the workshop, and whether you need a waiver, with clear reasons for the same. Do let us know if you'd be able to make a contribution over and above the programme fees.
facebook.com/thearshinagarproject The Arshinagar Project is envisioned as a collective of artists and cultural practitioners from different traditional and contemporary disciplines, as well as practitioners from other disciplines such as anthropology, education and ecology, for research into performance as transformational action. 'Arshinagar' means 'the city of mirrors', and the name is derived from a song by Lalon Phokir, one of the greatest masters among the Bauls of Bengal - wandering mystical musician-performers who through embodied practice attempt to touch the unbodied.The logo represents the 'ektara' (literally 'one-stringed') - a drone-like instrument used in different forms and names in different Asian cultures, which has come to symbolize the Bauls. The Arshinagar Project aims to foster a spirit of freedom, respect for human diversity, ecological harmony and love, among young adults, youth in colleges and universities, educators and others, through performances, immersive workshops in urban and natural settings based on traditions of mystical performance and practice as well as contemporary performance-craft, through lecture-demonstrations, seminars, and journeys through inner and outer spaces.
presents
Dramatic Space - Theatre as Transformation
Worlds Within and Without
April 14th and 15th, 2012
Theatre : What, Whose, Why?
There are as many different kinds of theatre as there are people. As Augusto Boal said, "We are all actors: Being a citizen is not living in society, it is changing it” . For some of us it's a profession, for some, a tool. For some, entertainment, for some others, a spiritual experience. For some, it is about mirth and having fun, games and icebreakers, while for others, it is about dedication, discipline, rigorous exercises of body and mind, and an absolute, monastic submission to craft. It is process, and it is product. It is an intellectual exercise, requiring written scripts, lights, sets, props, video projectors and more, and it is the dance of the Baul and the whirl of the Sufi, the deadly grace of the Kalari master, the drum-beat of the primal ritual, the excitement of the hunt, the detachment of Zen meditation, only breathing, only being, Buddhist chants resonating across high plateaus, Upanishadic hymns resounding in the forests, and the simple beauty of folk songs and dances - all this is theatre. It is the Way of the Warrior, and it is the Way of Love. Theatre is only beauty, only aesthetics, but by its very nature, theatre is an act of protest. Theatre is living in the world and transcending it.
Theatre is thus a place of paradoxes - a place of meeting. It is a place of conflict, and hence a place of change, of transformation. It is a liminal space where the human consciousness looks at the universe within and the world without.
Workshop context:
This workshop is meant as a safe space for people from different vocations to come together to collectively engage with their own selves, with others, and with their professions. While it is open to actors and dancers, it is not restricted to them alone. It is also open to musicians, painters, writers, to teachers, facilitators, activists, and to young people - essentially to anybody above the age of 18 with a reasonably fit body and mind. It is not meant to teach any specific methods or techniques of acting, movement or performance. Rather, through an intense engagement with body and spirit, and through a process of ensemble based creation, it is designed to take us to a free, natural, creative state of being where we break free from our inhibitions and engage deeply with our selves, in the process questioning our identities and our relationship with the world.
Methodology:
The workshop is firmly rooted and grounded in the principles of equality, connectedness and harmony. Of being present, wholly and organically, at a given space, of listening and and watching with one's whole organism, to be focussed on the other person, to be open and responsive, to explore the body - social, political, gendered, sexual, ecological, performative, primal, ancestral, spiritual, communal. Exploring the Otherness of Self and thus confronting one's own fears, biases, prejudices, inhibitions.
Approach:
The workshop will be based on a principle of un-learning. While it draws upon traditions of spiritual and ritual performance, community theatre, music, art and more, there will be no attempt to teach a bag of tricks, or communication/presentation/presentation/leadership skills in a superficial sense. It is rather about removing layers of social conditioning which inhibit us and re-discovering a lost body, existing in a shared space where we go forward to 'meet' the other without fear or shame. We'll work with breath, movement, voice, song and silence.
Venue:
A.S.O.T. - All Sorts of Things 5G JUNGI HOUSE LANE, SHAHPUR JAT, NEAR SIRI FORT, New Delhi, India 110049
Workshop Timings :
10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, both days
Fees:
2,200/- (Partial bursaries are available - we try our best to accommodate everyone irrespective of financial ability. We are also grateful for contributions greater than the stipulated amount from those who are able, as this can support the participation of others who need assistance. The Arshinagar Project is not funded in any way at this point of time and all our programmes are self-sustaining)
Contact:
For registrations, write to: thearshinagarproject@gmail.com. Please state why you want to join the workshop, and whether you need a waiver, with clear reasons for the same. Do let us know if you'd be able to make a contribution over and above the programme fees.
facebook.com/thearshinagarproject The Arshinagar Project is envisioned as a collective of artists and cultural practitioners from different traditional and contemporary disciplines, as well as practitioners from other disciplines such as anthropology, education and ecology, for research into performance as transformational action. 'Arshinagar' means 'the city of mirrors', and the name is derived from a song by Lalon Phokir, one of the greatest masters among the Bauls of Bengal - wandering mystical musician-performers who through embodied practice attempt to touch the unbodied.The logo represents the 'ektara' (literally 'one-stringed') - a drone-like instrument used in different forms and names in different Asian cultures, which has come to symbolize the Bauls. The Arshinagar Project aims to foster a spirit of freedom, respect for human diversity, ecological harmony and love, among young adults, youth in colleges and universities, educators and others, through performances, immersive workshops in urban and natural settings based on traditions of mystical performance and practice as well as contemporary performance-craft, through lecture-demonstrations, seminars, and journeys through inner and outer spaces.
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