Course Description

Performance artist and teacher Marilyn Arsem proposes an exercise that asks performers to stop imposing their own, pre-fabricated ideas onto materials and instead start asking materials for their points of view so as to hear what they have to to say about us. This concept implies a reversion of the traditional practice of performance art creation, which historically goes from idea to action, using the body as creative tool. 'Let's get Physical!' invites students to follow Arsem's proposal and make a shift in their creating process, taking bodily movement as a starting point from which to discover and bring to life those ideas that are buried within their bodies. Exploring the role of physical action in performance art in dialogue with movement-based performing techniques, the course approaches the body not only as a material, but also as a creator of ideas. The course combines an analysis of case studies and an immersion into movement-based techniques with a number of creative tasks designed to provide an overview - both felt and informed - about the philosophical principles, the processual forms, and the techniques needed to work with you own body as the starting point of the process of creating performance art. In 'Let's Get Physical!' you will explore your unique body language, feeling the pleasure of moving through a physical practice able to activate your imagination. You will listen to the sensations and creative impulses coming from inside of your body, and you will explore other possibilities of being and behaving as an artist, obtaining reliable tools to move towards your creative goals. 

Syllabus

Nicoletta Cappello is a performing artist, educator, and doctoral researcher at UdG and UniCT currently visiting the Artistic Doctorate in Performing Arts at UniArts Helsink. In her work, she is interested in studying processual forms and exploring the common ground between Performing Arts, Performance Art, and Embodied Learning. Her pieces experiment with participatory, intermedia, and immersive formats and invite the audience to collaborate as another performer by actively moving their bodies. As an author, she has presented her work in prestigious venues such as Teatro de la Abadia de Madrid, Matadero Madrid, and Teatro Libero Palermo. She has also won several awards such as the 'Extraordinary Award to Creation at the Distance' by Theatre Lluire Barcelona, the Residency Award Citofonare PimOFF, and the Residency Award of Fabra I Coats Barcelona-Centre for Contemporary Creation. As a teacher, she has collaborated with the Master in Performing Arts program of UCM Madrid, the School of Dramatic Arts Paolo Grassi in Milan, the Department of Theatre and Interculturality of UniBo, and the Institute of Teaching Innovation of UFV, among others. She leads 'El Público', as a member of Planea - Network of Art and School, a project that implements the performing arts as tools of embodied learning and feminist pedagogy inside general education. For more information visit www.elpublico.org