Studio Kokyu's Research Programme
An intensive 3-months long educational programme of Studio Kokyu. Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022.
Studio Kokyu’s research programme in the 2021/2022 season will focus on the multi-pronged role of the performer’s physical and vocal training. The area of investigation will continue to stretch between physical theatre tools and vocal techniques (with an emphasis on the Kristin Linklater method) on the one hand and classic Birankai aikido on the other. Exploring these practices, the Studio will attempt a creative synthesis which may open a new work perspective. The programme is intended to be a continuation of the research undertaken by Przemysław Błaszczak as part of Body Constitution, first with the Two Paths Studio, and then, together with Joanna Kurzyńska, with Kokyu Studio.
The primary goals of the training include: deep back-to-the-source exploration of aikido practice, research in the field of voice (freeing and strengthening the voice) and attentive laboratory work inspired by these experiences. In order to explore the possibilities of practicing oneself in action using tools derived from the domains mentioned above, we will practically interrogate the work of the performer on her/himself. The work will inhabit a space between precise form and improvisation, tradition and creation.
In the upcoming season the Studio will run 2 three-month-long courses, each comprising work sessions. Each work session will span 12 days and will run from 9am and 4pm, Monday to Saturday (Sundays will be free). The final session will include a work demonstration at the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław.
- Kokyu training – training which allows for concentration on movement and the breath in its unity, it serves in building concentration and strengthening the body while preparing it for the voicework.
- The Herd – contact run – this is used to build the group, the basic level of this practice is called tuneing, it awakens the global listening of the whole body, requires attentiveness and being present in the moment.
- Partner training – working both with acrobatics in partnering and builduing subtle relationships connected to following/leading, communcating through touch and other physcial communication channels.
- Group training intended to develop global listening, spatial awareness in relation to others, attentiveness and presence, all of which will provide a basis for building scenes and working with a song/monologue.
- Aikido elements – Japanese martial art based on the idea of using and redirecting the energy which is received from the opponent. The work will include both, elements of physcial training and the weapons: bokkenem and jō – japanese wooden sword and stick.
- Freeing your voice by Kristin Linklater – passing through first steps of the method in order to rebuild the primal relationship with the voice and create the base for further exploration of the voice in speech and singing.
- Resonators/vibrations – introducing the voice into the resonating spaces of the body, vibrating it in its individual and mutual sound.
- Harmony of Common Singing – a practice of meeting in a polyphonic song as an opening of the channel of individual expression for improvisation but also experiencing a group existing together in polyphony, a mutual telling of a story, disappearing in harmonic unity.
- Voice‒text‒song‒story, a unique way of working with material through daily body and voice training; using words/song to deepen the freedom of voice and imagination, listening intently to a story which is being created spontaneously rather than conceived, through the harmonic combination of the performer’s presence in a space among partners; bringing a text/song to life, moving it towards a structure.
- Improvisation and creation of the physical and vocal structures which could serve as a material to stage work.
As a part of the course each participant is entitled to one individual voicework session with Joanna Kurzyńska.
Training sessions will be led by Joanna Kurzyńska and Przemysław Błaszczak along with the actress of Studio Kokyu, Marie Walker.
SCHEDULE
Autumn edition 2021
I session: 18–23, 25–30 October, 9:00–16:00
II session: 8–13, 15–20 November, 9:00–16:00
III session: 29 November – 4 December, 6–11 December, 9:00–16:00
Spring edition 2022
I session: 9–14, 16-21 May, 9:00–16:00
II session: 30 May – 4 June, 6–11 June, 9:00–16:00
III session: 20–25 June, 27 June – 2 July, 9:00–16:00
FEE & APPLICATION
900 EUR when paid at once or 1100 EUR when paid in three instalments (of 275 EUR each).
The fee covers participation in the whole programme and does not change when the participant is not present during a session.
Please email your completed application form to p.blaszczak@grotowski-institute.pl (or to fund.zarzewie@gmail.com) by the end of 17 September 2021 (Autumn edition) or 18 March 2022 (Spring Edition). Contact number: +48 661 927 323.
LEADERS
Joanna Kurzyńska lives in Wrocław. She graduated in violin from the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music, Wrocław, and now works as an actress, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and passionate teacher.
Przemysław Błaszczak is an actor with a degree in philosophy who has been associated with the Grotowski Institute since 1995.
Marie Walker is a British actress and a graduate from Rose Bruford College in London