Designed for actors, dancers and directors to introduce them to some of the basics of the theatre training technique developed by Tadashi Suzuki, Anne Bogart, Mary Overlie and the SITI Company. The workshop will focus on collaboration and ensemble, focus and improvisation.

In Viewpoints training we develop awareness of ourselves and those around us on stage. We explore spontaneity and ensemble through structured improvisation. One goal of the Viewpoints is to empower the performer as collaborator/creator. This is possible by sharing a vocabulary to describe attributes of a theatrical event. The vocabulary is drawn from terms associated with non-theatrical disciplines like dance, music and the visual arts. These Viewpoints include: kinesthetic response, spatial relationship, repetition, floor pattern, duration, tempo, shape, gesture, and architecture.

We will touch on Suzuki's training method which is a highly rigorous, series of physical and vocal exercises which develop a powerful and focused performer.

We'll also explore Composition for the theatre with each participant creating a short image based stage work using other participants as their actors.

Like the 4 hour workshop, but with no Composition

A Roundtable discussion and/or presentation of new music by new opera folk ranging from: Philip Glass, John Adams, Laurie Anderson and John Moran to the next generation of Broadway styled creators Adam Geuttel, Jenny Giering, Ricky Ian Gordon and Jason Robert Brown. What divides the worlds of opera and new music theatre and where are things heading?

A lecture/demonstration of sections of Virtual Motion going step by step through the creation process with an explanation of computerized sequencing, sampling, and digital audio in addition to a walk through of the narrative creation and how the two go hand in hand as the movement is created. Different excerpts can be used appropriate for age ranges from K-6, 7-12, and college age and above.

This workshop is a 2-day, 10-hour workshop - 5 hours Saturday and Sunday. The work-shop gives performers, interpreters and creators involved with contemporary performance an opportunity to collaborate in an intensely creative and supportive environment.

The workshop's aim is to both strengthen community as well as provide tools for that community to create new performance through collaboration. The workshop is open to actors, dancers, musicians, writers, composers, directors and designers.

The first day starts with a series of group building exercises. We'll then share possibilities for what makes a collaboration work. We'll create a clearing for trust in this environment and put into practice theories developed and gathered by Ben Krywosz, Artistic Director of the Nautilus New Music Theatre. Ben has dedicated his career to collaborative techniques between playwrights and composers, and has expanded that design for all theatre artists.

Two hours each day are devoted to Viewpoints training based in Anne Bogart's SITI company's exploration of the Viewpoints. In Viewpoints training we develop awareness and spontaneity and explore ensemble through structured improvisation. One goal of the Viewpoints is to empower the performer as collaborator. This is possible by sharing a vocabulary to describe attributes of a theatrical event. The vocabulary is drawn from terms associated with non-theatrical disciplines like dance, music and the visual arts. These Viewpoints include: kinesthetic response, spatial relationship, repetition, floor pattern, duration, tempo, shape, gesture, and architecture. New Viewpoints for sound like dynamics and pitch will also be introduced.

Often during Viewpoints training, when music is used, a recording is played which the entire group must deal with - either conforming to or working against. This can be a very powerful creative force coming from outside of the present community of artists. In this workshop, however, the live musician/participants interact based on the same elements of composition. This creates a more organic interdisciplinary ensemble.

Participants will then create a short piece in small groups. The groups are given a list of requirements of things they must accomplish or include in their pieces such as 10 seconds of silence, or one person moving when no others are moving.

After all groups have shown their work, we hold a conversation using a critique style based on Liz Lerman's technique. In this process, affirmations are elicited, the creators ask ques-tions of the audience, the audience asks questions of the creators and finally if the creators choose, they can receive comments from the audience. If appropriate, we may revisit some of these pieces and experiment with them by concentrating on different Viewpoints.

At the end of the first day, new groups are formed and assignments for the following day are given. Rehearsal takes place between the two sessions with the groups, so this is a serious commitment for all participants.

The second day begins with Viewpoints and then each group presents their 10-15 minute pieces. A critique session follows after all the groups have gone. We end the session with a discussion of the state of contemporary performance in that community and what the participants can do to create a stronger community that supports the work they do.

All workshops are adapted to meet the needs of each particular community and input from the presenting organization directly contributes to the shaping of a workshop that would most benefit their community.