Collectif Masque Trans Mission: women, men and gender in mask Presents
Directed by: Mariana ARAOZ mariana.araoz@collectifmasque.com
Come and join us in this two-level workshop to experience moments of rare theater intensity. Behind the mask and thanks to it you will reveal your own personality and bring to life extraordinary characters and unforgettable adventures. Level 1: July 4 - 7 Time 10h to 17h Registration fee: 2.800 kr
Level 2*: July 29 - 31 and August 1st Registration fee: 2.800 kr *Level 1 or mask experience
Level 1 and 2: 4.600 kr Address: Ravlunda, Sweden | Black jogging required. | RSVP by June 27 to mariana.araoz@collectifmasque.com
The Mask
The mask techniques
Ancestral and related to sacred and profane elements, the mask allows us to reveal what is hidden in us. Revealing our fears, our fantasies and our joys, mask unmasks. The body is designed and stylized, near the dance and ritual mask the vehicle of trance and transformation. Actresses and actors will wear masks created and inspired by their obsessive body. The mask requires a particular script, where the action, emotion and gesture predominate over words; this is why actresses and actors will express themselves through movement and choreography.
We will use different mask techniques and the Chorus Game by Mario Gonzalez professor at national conservatory of paris (cnsad) Handmade wooden masks by Etienne Champion creator of the “empty mask� and co-director Japanese Noh masks by Marta Cicionesi theatrical designer
of collectif masque
The work is divided in three parts:
1. Neutral Mask and Chorus game The Neutral Mask or “empty mask� and the Chorus game will allow us to find The Balance: the study of the architecture of our body and our space. We will relearn to breath, to move, to look, to listen and to accept our own mistakes. We will work on our relationship towards others; essentially the chorus, the group and the constitution of a troupe. The quality of the look we will give to others is what we will get in return. We will practice rules, with Neutral Masks, so we can play together the same game. The Neutral Mask leaves visible only eyes. It is the look that becomes essential strength of acting. With the look, you can evaluate distances. It is the look that weaves the link with the space and partners. The goal is to remove all external expressions and find one’s neutral point, humility and openness. This exercise helps the actor to master the space, the timing, the eye contact, the listening, the concentration, the break down of movements, the use of errors (mistake is part of the play) and the control of the audience.
2. Birth of the Characters
3. Improvisations
The actor will use expressive mask to build characters starting from completely neutral point. This birth opens a whole new ways of creation. The characters live intensely the present moment. They appear, they shine, and then they disappear.
With the rules and the characters we are now ready to play together and speak the same theatrical language, to develop and to participate in the same story.
Character Mask Finally, we will bring to life a Character. We will go from The Balance to the Unbalance, to create somebody different. The mask will unveil what is hidden in us, revealing our fears, our fantasies and our joys; mask unmasks. The body is sculpted and stylized as in dance.
Collective Movement Once we have created a character we will improvise in a collective way. We will focus on modern and classic stories from the Japanese Noh tradition. The Music will be an essential dramaturgical element.
All pictures are from Stefan Ridel, taken in Teater Halland for a workshop in june 2006. This was the beginning of a project called Transmission, an European project. This workshop is a part of this project.
Mariana ARAOZ trans-mission’s project designer and co-director of the venus museum Born in Buenos Aires and based in Paris, director and actor Mariana Araoz is co-founder of Collectif Masque, where her productions and co-productions as a director include Antigone, Mother Courage and Her Children, Twelfth Night : Galaxy 4.2, and Venus Machina. Other directing work in France includes Fear and Misery in the Third Reich, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Rosa de la Boca, and the performance art of Nadia Roz. She has directed extensively in Sweden, where her productions include The Maids, The Threepenny Opera, Antigone, Eye of the Wolf, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Mariana’s work in the United States includes the ongoing collaboration between Collectif Masque and The Bricklayers in Chicago (Twelfth Night : Galaxy 4.2 and Mother Courage), and her work at St. Olaf College, directing Scapin in 2005 and co-directing, with Gary Gisselman, The Imaginary Invalid in 2012. She is, since 2007, the driving force behind TRANSMission, a research into women, gender and mask. Passionate about mask theater, Mariana has acted, since 1990, with the mask under Christophe Patty, Kamel Basli, and Mario Gonzalez, whose collaboration resulted in longrunning productions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1996), Don Juan (2002), Georges Dandin 2007), and Tartuffe (2012). She also played under the direction of Jean Luc Paliés, Yamina Hashemi, Alicia Bustamante, Kergourlay François, Gérard Audax, Yves Javault ...
Mariana teaches at « Ecole de Jeu » in Paris, as well as on contracts with Conservatoire Nationale Superieure d’Arte Dramatique and Ecole Superieure d’Art Dramatique de la Ville de Paris, Columbia University, Carlton College and the Institute Boris Schoukin in Moscow. She is an invited professor and schollar at St.Olaf College since 2002. She has a degree in Biology from the University of Rennes II, and trained at the Conservatoire Nationale de Rennes and Drama school Theatre en Actes, before earning a degree in Theatre Studies from the Sorbonne (Paris III). Her teachers include Mario Gonzalez, Christophe Patty, Christian Rist, and Elisabeth Chailloux. She works since 1993 with Etienne Champion a mask maker , and has created the company Collectif Masque with him and Christophe Patty since 2004. www.collectifmasque.com