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JANUARY 10, 2006
QuestFest 2006 is underway! We've already had some exciting
events take
place, and much more to come.
 On Tuesday, Mara Neimanis conducted the first part of her
two session workshop on Aerial Theatre at Towson. Mara is in her
third year of the MFA
program, and her thesis work has been entirely focused on
aerial theatre.
Monique Holt reported back her experience of the class:
Mara is very articulate. She made it safe and fun for everyone.
She discussed the fear and the storytelling involved in doing
the trapeze
work. It is not about swinging. Whatever a person does with
a trapeze tells a
story.
We worked with three different kinds of trapeze. One was a
classic trapeze
with two ropes attached to the ceiling, one had two ropes
but hung in a
triangle. One had one cable hanging a circular metal loop,
which looks like a
hoopla hoop. The bars are made of hickory and the ropes are
the same used in
sailing. In a way, knowing these things reduces the stress
about the trapeze,
and helps participants with the fears they may have about
working in the air.
We worked some with Viewpoints, learning to pay attention
to each other and
our own movement rhythm, and becoming aware of our weight.
It was funny for me, my toes cramped up, when I sat up on
the trapeze. For
others, based on my observation ˆ some did the exercise
effortlessly as if
they were born to do it. Some were natural. Some were brave
and dealt with
their fear. Mara always made us feel safe.
At the end with ten minutes left, Mara had asked Tami Lee
Santimyer and me to
do a 3-minute improvisation with one hand on the trapeze and
our eyes closed.
She added music for ambiance. It was interesting for me ˆ there
were a few
things on my mind, like whether I should worry about momentum
or not, then
finally I told myself to let it go and go with the flow. The
participants-
audience said it was interesting to see us doing our piece
in our own world,
and doing the work with very different styles.
I asked one participant what she thought of the workshop:
I found it is challenging for me. It was not comfortable,
but I did enjoy
the workshop.
--
Anica Zlotescu, a sophomore in the
Deaf Studies Program at TU.
Mara's one woman show, AIR HEART, premieres at Creative
Alliance in February.
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Wheeeee!! |
Monique entangled |
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Group
instructions |
See
more photos from the Aerial Workshop
Corrie Pond reports on a workshop done in a local high school:
Ramesh Meyyappan gave a workshop this morning with a group
of about 14 10th
grade theatre students at the Baltimore School for the Arts.
The
students were so excited to work with Ramesh, and they really
responded
well. They worked with the concepts of mime and sign-mime.
Through the
workshop, they each created their own stories using both techniques.
I was
impressed with Ramesh's openness and sensitivity to the students'
ideas and
creativity. His teaching style allowed them to learn the concepts
quickly and
start to incorporate the styles into their own work. The teachers
in the
theater department were so thankful that Ramesh was able to
present his
workshop. It was a great and very successful event!
Ramesh will present his interpretations of Edgar Allen Poe's
Masque of the
Red Death and The Tell Tale Heart this Friday and Saturday
at Creative
Alliance.
Today, Matt Kent and Rebecca Darling of Pilobolus Too conducted
an all day
master class with ten students at Towson. In between rubbing
her sore
muscles, Carolynne Wilcox shared her impressions of the experience.
Working
with a variety of structured exercises that involved weight-sharing,
movement
improv, and impulse work, the class broke into small groups
and created
pieces together, exploring the concept of „point of
focus‰ as a storytelling
tool. Carolynne called the pieces developed "wildly
divergent," even though
they were all inspired by the same exercises. The work was
intense and
physical. "Anytime something reinforces something I've
already learned, then
builds on it or echoes it in a new way is a good thing," said
Carolynne. "It
makes me feel like, at some deep level, it doesn't matter
if artists are
coming from different backgrounds, because the basis for any
kind of art is
all about play and risk."
PTOO will perform this week on the Mainstage at the Center
for the Arts at
Towson University.
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Members of Pilobolus Too demonstrate visual theatre techniques |
Pilobolus Too Workshop |
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Students give newly learned skills a try |
See additional photos from this workshop
This afternoon a lively panel discussion was held at The Theatre
Project with
the local critics Brad Hathaway, Trey Graham, and Mike P.
Guiliano, on the
task of the critic when trying to describe visual theatre.
An audience of
about twenty people shared thoughts and questions with the
critics on the
role of the reviewer and how to describe a primarily visual
event that may
not rely on a linear narrative structure. They also discussed
the subjective
journalism of reviewing, and the reviewer's responsibility
to describe the
event accurately, while still providing his opinion, or perception
of the
experience.
A forum to discuss the viability of visual theatre will be
held at Towson
University, Wednesday, January 18th, at one p.m. Several local
artistic
directors, including Michael Kahn of the Shakespeare Theatre
in Washington,
D.C. will sit on the panel.
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Critics participate
in forum on the role of the critic in visual theatre |
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Audience
members shared thoughts and opinions |
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