INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR THEATRICAL FORMATION RESEARCH AND CREATION
via Casciani 3 - 50025 Montespertoli - Italy . tel +39 - 0571.608891 - fax +39 - 0571.609580
WORKSHOPS
After training at Etienne Decroux’s School of Corporeal Mime between 1964 and 1969, Yves Lebreton has always continued his teaching activity by directing theatrical workshops during his international tours. In particular, he has taught at the National Academies of Dramatic Arts in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Reykjavik, Strasbourg and Geneva; at the Dramatisches Zentrum in Vienna; at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Berlin; Vittorio Gassman’s Bottega Teatrale in Florence and within the framework of various manifestations of contemporary dance : Rencontres de Danse Contemporaine in Paris, Sommer Tanzwerkstatt in Bonn, Rencontres Internationales de Danse in Bern, and Été de la Danse in Montpellier.

 

SUBJECTS OF THE WORKSHOPS

Corporeal Mime
Etienne Decroux was the creator of “Corporeal Mime”. Under the influence of the great reformers of modern theatre, E. G. Craig, A. Appia and J. Copeau, Decroux worked on creating a new theatrical language, based on the actor’s art and the supremacy of the body. His technique puts the body under the control of mental concentration, so that physical movement is the exact formalisation of the actor’s active will. Programme: “mobile statuary”, or the three-dimensional analysis of the body’s articulatory possibilities in space and time; “dynamo-rhythm”, or the study of the dynamic and rhythmic loads/charges of movement.
Energetic Body
The technique of the “energetic body”, created by Yves Lebreton, develops the vitality of the four fundamental energies of being within the actor’s expressive process. Programme: mineral energy / earth / presence – vegetal energy / water / pre-action – animal energy / fire / action – mental energy / air / conscience.
Vocal Body
The technique of the “vocal body”, created by Yves Lebreton, develops the interaction between vocal vibration and the organic material of the body. The voice becomes the sonorous extension of corporeal movement. It explores the expressiveness of sounds outside every semiological convention, and makes it possible to disclose the “primordial” language. Programme: breathing (physiological and biological) – the sound column and vocal tone – the shout and vocal gesture – sound and articulation (the language of vowels and consonants) – the living word (the symbiosis of phonetic and semantic significances).
Verbal Body
The study of the “verbal body”, created by Yves Lebreton, deals with the problems of interpreting the dramatic text, starting from the physical reality of the actor in motion. It reintegrates verbalisation in corporeal support. The silence of the thinking body becomes the source of the spoken word. Programme: thinking the text in the silence of the body in motion – awakening the word by means of the thinking body – interaction between the verbalised thought and the thinking body – extension of the verbal body in space/time. Each participant is invited to memorise 4 texts of his/her choice: a poem, prose, a monologue, a dialogue, which will be used as a work basis.




PARTICIPATION

Priority for admission to the Laboratories is given to actors, dancers and singers (professional, amateur, or in the process of being trained) who wish to extend their artistic resources; however, all those persons interested in learning more about body and vocal language outside of the theatre may also be admitted.