The Arshinagar Project is happy to present another exciting workshop in Bangalore: Fools and Princes – Celebrating Shakespeare through Breath, Rhythm, Song and Physicality. The workshop will be led by Arka Mukhopadhyay, founder – The Arshinagar Project, who will once again team up with Anna Olkinuora, physical theatre and Yoga practitioner
The workshop is open to professional and amateur actors, dancers, musicians and movement artists. We will explore the relation between energy, breath, rhythm, flow, space and the performer’s organic presence.
The starting point of the work will be an awareness of the breath, through which we will look for stillness, grounding and centring. With this as the foundation, we will then use the performer’s own body, voice and sub-conscious as the material for exploration, working through structured as well as free improvisation; alone, in relation to others and in relation to the space. A significant part of the exploration will be devoted to investigating the connection between rhythm, breath and psycho-physical expression.
The work will be based on “Sahrudaya”, an approach to performance where the performer is open, receptive, responsive, in deep inner silence and ‘of one heart’ with him/herself, the others and with space.
More about Sahrudaya:
Sahrudaya refers to a performer who is in a state of grace, resonant with her/ his interior awareness, with the co-creators and with the space. The basis of the work is the simple, everyday act of breathing, but looked at as a bridge between the inner and the outer world, and the foundation of the rhythmic, awakened body, a body alive to its own creative potential. The work draws upon elements from Kalaripayattu and other forms, but ultimately focuses on the human body, the organic being, as the source of creation. It challenges the body and the imagination, improving our focus, attention, precision and presence, opening up a rich, dynamic language of the body and voice, full of a deep, inner life.
Celebrating Shakespeare:
Shakespeare created some of the most profoundly human characters, full of nobility and wisdom as well as flaws and contradictions.
In this workshop, we will celebrate him in the month of his birth by exploring the archetypes of the “Prince” and the “Fool” with fragments from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, The Tempest and other plays. We will work on monologues as well as scenes; alone with a partner and with the whole ensemble
The work will include:
The Way of the Warrior – The Awakened Body
Exercises of the eye and breath
Body conditioning and tuning drawn from Kalaripayattu and other forms
Working on the unity of breath, gaze, movement and gesture
Awakening the rhythmic body through movement in space
How to be the River, the Wind – Impulse and Improvisation
Working on improvisations both through spontaneity and structure; using contact, basic acrobatics and more
Opening up the organic voice by delving deep into the body and the sub-conscious
Experiencing the rasaas in our bodies through breath, rhythm and singing, finding expression
Finding intention, precision and flow through movement and song – finding connections with oneself, the partners and the space.
Dancing Shakespeare, Being of One Heart
We will come together as an ensemble that breathes, sings and speaks together, sharing a common rhythm. We will experience this sense of togetherness where personal boundaries and limitations dissolve and we are able to reach places we cannot by ourselves, and through this togetherness unleash the energies of Shakespeare’s magic words.
The workshop will end with a public sharing
About Anna:
Anna Olkinuora started acting at the age of ten with a local theatre school aimed at children and young people in her native Finland.
An urge to find new and challenging ways of creating narratives on stage, she found herself moving to London to study Physical Theatre. During her studies she was fortunate enough to be able to learn from members of Complicite, a famous Physical Theatre group based in UK.
After graduation Anna led dance workshops all over London and around England until deciding to deepen her yoga studies here in India.
About Arka:
Arka is a performer, researcher and teacher and the founder of The Arshinagar Project, a performance research collective. He is a Junior Artist Fellow of the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, and a past grantee of the Inlaks India Theatre Awards, and past winner, TFA Award for Creative Writing. He is the initiator of the Sahrudaya approach to performance, which he researches with his collaborators
IMPORTANT DETAILS:
Dates and Timings:
April 12th, 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM
April 13th and 14th, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
April 16th, 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Public Showcase: April 16th, 8:00 PM
Venue: Paradigm Shift, Koramangala
Fees: On a sliding scale of 2,500 to 4,000
Deadline for registration: April 10th (NO ON-SPOT REGISTRATIONS)
How to register: By bank transfer. Details will be shared over e-mail
Contact: For more information or for bank details, call: +919831731422 or e-mail: thearshinagarproject@gmail.com with “Fools and Princes” as the subject line.
PLEASE NOTE: Kindly mark “going” only if you are sure of attending. Otherwise, please mark “maybe”. This helps with the logistics of organizing the session
Culture Monks 