International Masterclasses for Directors and Trainers 2009-10

The Art of Dialogue
an intercultural theatre research project (2008 – 2010)

artistic director: Prof. Dr. Jurij Alschitz

The year of intercultural dialogue 2008 invited us to give a thought on the very nature of the Dialogue itself – to look at its different forms and various meanings.The Art of Dialogue is an inter-cultural theatre research project with work¬shops, master classes, colloquia, laboratories, and performances. Research, teaching and production form one insepa¬rable unity. EATC initiated a collaboration of 15 organisations from 11 European countries, who will look at ONE theme from different points of view, under different aspects by using various forms of realisation. In this frame EATC offers Academies, Teachers and Directors to participate in the

International Masterclasses for Directors and Trainers 2009-10

The Line “Train the Trainers” mediates new teaching and rehearsal methods. It is a theatre research in dialog with directors and teachers, which leads to a long-term further develop¬ment of the subject, which can directly be applied in the collaborating institutions.

Three masterclasses will cover three themes, which build upon each other – how to lead and how to teach the Art of Dialog:

I. The training for dialogue
The themes for the lectures and discussions are:
What does it mean Dialogue? Dialogue for the ears? Dialogue for the eyes? Dialogue for the brain? Dialogue for the heart? What makes the different between a conversation and the dramatic dialogue? In which relationship are dialogue and dispute? What is the nature of the dialogue in silence? We want to look at the landscape for dialogue, and the Humane in the field of dialogue.
Practically we will look at the general technique, of the strategy of the dialogue: defense, attack, initiative, lie, paradox etc. Training and exercises for the education of the actor in the art of dialogue.

II. Different kind of the dialogue and ways of analysis
Looking at the history of theatre – the main principles of dialogue vary for the different kinds of dialogue and periods of theatre: the pure dialogue (exchange between two individuals to open knowledge)

the dialogue of I + I (2 monologues exchanging replica)
the dialogue of the “upper I”(2 positions for one unknown truth; Plato)
the dialogue of agreement (the way to find agreement through the labyrinth; Molière, Shakespeare)
the dialogue as duel (fencing with words; Oscar Wilde)
the dialogue of gentlemen (the other position comes first)
the dialogue of the deaf (Chekhov, Pinter, Beckett)
The main material for practice in this course could be Plato: Ion and Pinter: Landscape

III. The rehearsal practice. Dialogue between director and actor
The Art of Rehearsal of the dialog will put the different types discussed in Module

II into practice. Rehearsing itself will be looked at as a form of dialogue between the director and actors The main material for practice in this course will be Chekhov: Three Sisters, and Pushkin: Mozart and Salieri.

The Masterclasses (each 2 weeks, full-time) will be held at three academies:
1. VSMU - Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Bratislava, 16 – 28 November 2009

2. DAMU – Academy for Performing Arts Prag, 2 – 14 February 2010

3. AKT-ZENT - research centre of iti/unesco theatre training committee
Berlin – June 2010

The participants will be selected by their academies for the whole line. In the time between the sessions, they have already the possibility to try out and experiment in their daily practice, coming back with results of their research and with enough new questions.

All results of the masterclasses and laboratories will be published in a handbook for actors, directors, and teachers.

programme director : Christine Schmalor

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.

Christine Schmalor

press release :

Christijan Laljak

AKT-ZENT e.V.
Internationales Theaterzentrum Berlin
research centre of iti/unesco theatre training committee
Künstlerische Leitung: Dr. Jurij Alschitz
Skalitzerstr. 97, D-10997 Berlin,
T/F +49 - 30 – 612 87 274
e-mail: akt.zent@berlin.de
www.theatreculture.org

This release was published on openPR.