METHODIKA 2007 - IV. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL FOR THEATRE TRAINING METHODS - Venice 5th to 11th of November 2007

METHODIKA is a unique international festival exploring various methods of theatrical training. The festival for theatre artists, pedagogues, directors, students and scholars of performing arts will take place in the form of an intensive working meeting.

METHODIKA opens up new directions in the development of theatre training and the evolution of methodological approaches; spreads knowledge to theatre professionals and scientists; and finally creates a discussion about pedagogy in theatre schools, and in the theatre itself.

The European Association for Theatre Culture and Fondazione di Venezia invite specialists from all over the world to attend the IV. METHODIKA from November 5-11 2007 in Venice, providing 80-100 theatre practitioners with a chance to exchange and develop ideas about contemporary theatre-training.
The artistic director of the festival, Prof. Jurij Alschitz, was first able to realise his idea of holding “METHODIKA“ in 1999, concentrating on the theme of “Personality and Ensemble”, in Milan. The two consecutive METHODIKAs, “Energy and Theatre“ in 2001 and “The Face and the Mask of the Actor“ in 2003 were held in Stockholm. Following an interlude, 2007 marks the return of this event.

A diverse group of acting instructors, pedagogues, stage directors, artistic directors of theatres, and actors will spend a week concentrating on intensive practical and theoretical work. Four recognised masters in their fields as directors and teachers of theatre, Cesar Brie (Bolivia), Prof. Maria S. Horne (USA), Prof. Adolf Schapiro (Russia), and Prof. Rimus Tuminas (Lithuania) have been invited to conduct workshops to share ideas, approaches, and insights into the theme of this event “The Theatre of Centaur”.

The need for a forum in which ideas are exchanged lies partly in the fact that directors’ attentions are increasingly focused less on the art of acting and more on the realisation of visual or conceptual ideas. Institutions devoted to teaching acting are increasingly under pressure to cope in a changed market and to provide students with a means of survival. One frequently hears instructors articulate that they are forced to neglect research and artistic experimentation, which leads, through renewal and provocation to continuous development in theatre. Schools are in danger of becoming the most conservative component in the theatre ‘system’. All concerned are aware of this.
It is, then, no wonder that all METHODIKA-Festivals held so far have been received with great enthusiasm. The desire to develop new ideas and techniques while striving to develop a modern kind of theatre-education in a professional manner is immense. Many directors and educators are aware that the art of acting is still stuck in the 19th or early 20th century: a leap into the 21st century has not yet occurred.
The notion of making this leap is a far-reaching one, as never-ending as potential for development in the arts in general. Yet each METHODIKA is a small but significant step in that direction. The fact that those striving for progress meet on an international level has led to the most interesting projects over the last few years.
This year’s theme, “The Theatre of Centaur”, has been described thusly by Jurij Alschitz: “In spite of the fact, that the actor's art exists far more than one millennium, professionals still face a collection of numerous questions of this unique and in many respects mysterious art. I have asked myself: what amazes me most of all in the art of acting? And I answered myself: it is the abundance of paradoxes, the non-connectable connections, the incongruous combinations. How, for example, is it possible to combine various categories such as "actor", "persona", "personnage", "role"? Do they exclude each other, belonging to various substances, or do they supplement each other? How do the models “actor-role" and "character-as real person" co-exist executed in parallel activity by the same subject? How are the given models created on-stage? What prospects of realisation has the ideal model? In our opinion, the contemporary theory of theatre, is not capable to answer the given questions adequately, simply because they are very little studied today. Therefor the necessity arises to search for answers, based on philosophical and artistic principles, to these questions concerning the actor's art. This leads to the wish to carry out the 4th edition of the international festival METHODIKA."

Four masters of their craft, Cesar Brie, Prof. Maria S. Horne, Prof. Adolf Schapiro and Prof. Rimus Tuminas will endeavour to answer these questions each in their own way. Prof. Anatoly Vasiliev, has also been invited as a special guest of the festival to respond to this issue in the form of a ‘carte blanche’. Enquiring-minded theatre artists are cordially invited to come to Venice in November 2007.

European Association for Theatre Culture

The European Association for Theatre Culture (EATC) links together the international theatre centres AKT-ZENT (Germany), KOINE (France), PROTEI (Italy), and SCUT (Scandinavia). It was founded in 1995, under the artistic direction of Jurij Alschitz, to provide a framework for continuous learning, experiment, and research.
In 2006, AKT-ZENT was designated Research Centre of the Theatre Education & Training Committee ITI/UNESCO (International Theatre Institute).
The EATC is an unusual network - namely a network of ideas - with the shared objective of acquiring, accumulating, and disseminating knowledge and theatre expertise. Over the last years the “Team Teaching” model that has been developed is unique in Europe. Thanks to the European ensemble of teachers, EATC can teach a self-enclosed pedagogic system in a fully multi-lingual environment; thus putting the theoretical quest for a European theatrical language into real practice specifically bringing together Russian and various western European theatre cultures.
In various European countries master classes and seminars are held with the objective of exploring and imparting methodological principles. This learning process develops into research work on specific themes and laboratories where actors and pedagogues are free to experiment in peace. This research work in turn develops into performances, publications, and work modules to bring new insight into acting methods. With ARS INCOGNITA, the association has its own series of publications, printing teaching and research results.



Fondazione di Venezia

Starting from 2005, Fondazione di Venezia has launched a specific program dedicated to theatre and music called "Performing Arts Program".

Over the years, a series of projects characterized by marked intersectoriality have been developed, some of which have been managed directly by the Foundation, while others are run in partnership with institutions and organizations that can provide a solid experience in this field.

One of the objectives of the program is to stimulate, particularly in young people, the education, fruition and promotion of performing arts, but also the determination to support, through innovative and experimental activities, the training and the specialization of artists and professionals working in the field of theatre. Moreover, the Foundation is particularly interested in sustaining projects aimed at nurturing talent and promoting research.
This is the driving concept behind training projects that will involve professional artists and young people working beside master teachers of proven professionalism and competence. The Methodika Festival represents an anticipation of the quality level that the Foundation intends to obtain in the organization of future training and specialization activities within the "Performing Arts Program".

Presscontact

AKT-ZENT e.V.
Internationales Theater Zentrum
Skalitzerstraße 97
D-10997 Berlin (Germany)
Tel. +49 30 612 87 274
e-mail: akt.zent@berlin.de
http://www.theatreculture.org/

Natalie Driemeyer, Christijan Laljak
Public Relation Officer


Information

Methodika Venezia
Euterpe Venezia Srl
Dorsoduro 3488/U
30123 Venezia (Italy)
Tel. +39-041-2753232
Fax +39-041-2753231
e-mail: info@methodikavenezia.org
www.methodikavenezia.org

This release was published on openPR.