International summer workshop in Italy 2010
Commedia dell´ arte and the Grotesque
A study in comic art, exploring the routes of grotesque realism and its relation to the Commedia dell´arte.
“Because laughing is proper to the man”
F. Rabelais
As the grotesque often marked the fringes of social order, it had its mocking and provoking function in the swings and roundabouts of social exclusion and the transformation of social and cultural codes. Combining historical research with performing experience, we try to find the “fringes” of today.
Taking Rabelais´ Gargantua and Pantagruel as a sourcebook, we will work with
archetypical grotesque characters, using the skills of Commedia dell´ Arte, physical training, improvisation techniques, mask-making and mask performance. We finish with a public performance.
The workshop is designed as a practical study, putting the theories to a test with the whole range of on-the-floor-practice, gathering a deeper understanding of the social functions of laughter and comedy and get new input for contemporary theatrical practice.
The workshop is situated in Palermo, Sicily, from the 28th of June to the 18th of July 2010.
Workshop fee: 600,- Euros, materials included
Maximum number of participants: 20
Working language is English, translation into Italian, French, German and Danish available
Teachers:
Cristina Coltelli, Italy – Commedia dell´arte, use of the mask, improvisation technique
Finbarr Ryan, Ireland - mask making, performing the mask
Petra Föhrenbach, Germany - mask making, cultural and historical background, research
The workshop is held by Herlaking in cooperation with the Masquerade Studio Berlin- Copenhagen. Fur further information about us, please visit our hompages:
www.herlaking.it
www.teatermasker.dk
or write to:
info@herlaking.com