The first year is the awakening of the poetic potential of the body. It’s a rediscovery of the world and of nature through the study of its movements.
Through the observation and imitation of every day life, the actor/poet reaches the awareness that reality is based on a network of relations and interconnections of actions and reactions. This is the dynamic core of the stories that theatre will tell.
The journey begins with the awareness of the body in space, working with two fundamental masks: the Neutral Mask and the Red Nose. With these two archetypal masks, the artist comes to the understanding of the difference between movement and drama, between neutral and dramatic, and recognizes the story/drama/action that every individual body is carrying. The Red Nose reveals each person’s theatrical comedy and gives the person the physical awareness to move beyond it, towards neutrality. The Neutral Mask allows the actor to work on presence and openness to space, and to reach the silence before the beginning of the storytelling.
Once the neutral space is integrated in the body, the mimo-dynamic journey can begin: an adventure of observation and imitation of nature, in which the actor will discover a variety of rhythms, forms, gestures and dynamics that will enrich her/his poetic language. Nature is the first source of inspiration, and this knowledge through imitation inspires a vision of theatre based in the movements of life. This process prepares the body to the various dynamics that the different theatre genres will require. The last step of the first year is the exploration of human nature, through the study of characters.
Awareness of the body in space
Breath awakening and breath’s relationship with the physical energy
Observation and imitation of every day life
Le Jeu: the non-intentional action
The rules of theatre play: Space, Action/Reaction, Time, Duration, Rhythm and Timing, Crescendo and Fun
Mime of Action: the study of the movement of the human body
The 20 Movements of Jacques Lecoq
Le jeu: play, states of playing and non-ordinary states
The duality of Neutral Mask and Red Nose and the play of the actor with forms
The Actor’s Body: Neutral Space and Dramatic Space
Clown State and Neutral State
The Neutral Mask: calm presence and the neutral body.
The actor in the theatrical space
The Mimo-Dynamic journey: dynamic study of nature (elements, animals, materials...) towards theatre creation.
The journey through states of consciousness: the shapeshifting body
Mimo-dynamic approach to the arts: poetry, painting, music
The dynamic of emotions, human passions and psychological movements (polarities)
Creation of Theatrical Characters
Characters, Masks and dramatic projection
The voice as a mask of space
The play of the double-charaters (Quick Change)
Theatre in Limited Space: les Treteaux
