Workshops and lectures
Poetry in motion, 3 days
»So it´s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which we find something to say … only then there is a chance of framing the rare, and even rarer thing that might be worth saying.« Gilles Deleuze
Moments of beauty, laughter and tragedy. Wonderland. Fragile moments. Played with the honesty and vulnerability of a clown, poetry is set in motion. To comfort, to laugh together, to share.
To work on this specific poetic quality we use Larval masks and combine them with the playfulness and spontaneity of a clown. We focus on simplicity, clarity and intuition to reach a state of being that allows an actor to free himself on stage, creating these unique magic intersections where everything can happen. Moments that capture the audience and open the door to humaneness.
Some impressions https://teatermasker.dk/?page_id=1032&preview=true
Performing the mask, 3 to 5 days
Working with social and cultural codes and specific communication structures of masks
Archaic masks – »The social within«, incorporated social archetypes, visualising power relations in a social space, changing the structure, social sculptures, heroic rises, tragic falls, tragicomic transitions
Larval masks – from a funtionalized perception to an emphatic recognition of the other, sensitisation for the human quality of the moment
Commedia dell´ Arte and the grotesque – dealing with the fringes of society, the function of the grotesque in the transformation of social and cultural codes, relativisation of the norm, validation of the void
Some impressions https://teatermasker.dk/performing-the-mask-impressions/
Origins of the Commedia dell´Arte, 3 to 5 days
The workshop is designed as a study in comic art, putting theories to a test with the whole range of on-the-floor-practice. Combining historical research with performing experience, we work with theatrical translations of the medieval grotesque body and connect its mind set to the characters and techniques of the later Commedia dell´Arte – the Lovers and their quest for the impeccable ideal, the helldriven Zanni, Arlecchino and his infernal, proliferating chaos, Pantalone and Dottore chasing the tantalizing fruits of youth while introducing capitalism and of course the comic clashes of the whole mob in large, needs and deeds, lecherous passions and dire desires bumping up against an everfloating reality.
Some impressions https://teatermasker.dk/commedia-dellarte-some-impressions/
The social history and the body language of the Commedia dell´Arte characters, 4 hours interactive lecture
Introduction to the work with incorporated social and cultural codes, Pierre Bourdieu´s concept of Habitus as a toolkit for physical theatre, Commedia dell´Arte in a contemporary context
The wild and the civilized body, the Zanni in the context of urbanisation, Marsilio Ficino´s philosophy and the Renaissance mind set, comic incongruity and grotesque transformation, the social history of the Commedia dell´Arte characters and its manifestation in their body language, theory and practice including exercises, improvisation and scenic work.
Mask making, 5 days
- Designing a full or half mask with an instant visual impact on stage
- Introduction to the traditional Venetian mask making technique
- Functions and requirements of a theatre mask
- Different mask styles and mask cultures
- Artistic skills, handcrafts and materials in mask making
- Design of a mask, proportions, features, lines, movement
- Working with light and shadow
- Clay model
- Plaster mould and papermasché
- Surface treatment, painting, special finish, fitting
Please contact us for more information and customized workshops and lectures.
And for some motion, snippets, reels and videos please visit https://teatermasker.dk/our-little-moviehouse/