14-15 June - Embodied Voice and Musicality
Embodied Voice and Musicality
with
Rafał HABEL (Poland) a Julianna BLOODGOOD (USA)
Friday evening 14 - Saturday 15 July 2019
An in-depth exploration of voice as experienced through the body and ensemble. The body is our gateway to all creative sources, and from the body we will begin our investigation of voice, sounding, song, spoken words and musicality through a dynamic exploration of the origins of sound. The ensemble is our foundation for the work and our experience will be reflected and magnified through the ensemble. We will deepen the body-voice connection and explore how we physically experience sound, that through a flow of movement and breath we can awaken sound vibrations within the body -resonating the bones and tissues- creating a visceral understanding of the voice and enlivening new possibilities for song, speaking and vocal improvisation.
We seek to create a voice that is open and free, expressive and capable of communicating emotional truth while awakening a deep sense of listening and responsiveness to the feelings that arise within one’s own body and from the collective ensemble. This awareness is brought into musicality through the integration of sound, song, rhythm, relationships and imagination.
During this workshop we will explore fundamental exercises designed to bring awareness of the process of creating sound in an open, visceral and completely embodied way. Our whole bodies may vibrate with sound. We will open many possibilities of sounding so that each participant may begin to discover the “many voices” we have inside and begin the process of creating with these voices. We will explore words as music, solo improvisation, group improvisation and basic polyphonic singing.
Each participant is asked to prepare a small text, just a few words from a poem, song, book or play that is close to their heart, and also a piece of a song with a personal connection, it doesn’t have to be the whole song. Traditional songs are encouraged.
Rafał Habel
Foto Mateusz Bral.
Rafał Habel from Poland, is an actor, teacher and musician, and was a member of the internationally renowned Polish theatre company, Song of the Goat Theatre, from its inception in 1996 to 2018. Rafał has been a key collaborator in the devising process of almost all of Song of the Goat’s performances which have won numerous awards and critical acclaim throughout the world. Performances include – Dithyramb; Chronicles- A Lamentation; Lacrimosa; Macbeth; Songs of Lear; Portraits of the Cherry Orchard; Return to the Voice; Umilowanie: Dead Walk Love; Hamlet A Commentary and The Grand Inquisitor. Rafał has performed and taught throughout Europe, North America, South America, Australia and Asia.
Rafał’s work is a culmination of over 20 years of research, practice and performance in this unique genre of ensemble devised, music based, physical theatre through which he has developed a profound understanding of the connection between movement of the body, sound, text and rhythm. Considered to be one of the main musicians of Song of the Goat, Rafał’s intuitive sense of musicianship and rhythm has led him to learn various instruments from around the world with which he has created original soundscapes and compositions for the theatre. He is a former member of the award winning Polish chamber folk music group Lautari, and has collaborated with Bread in the Bone Theatre company in Poland and England. Rafał taught on the MA in Acting course through Manchester Metropolitan University run by Song of the Goat Theatre in Poland from 2004-2012, and the London School of Performance Practices in conjunction with Rose Bruford College in 2014, andl was a teacher for Bral School of Acting from 2015-2018. Rafał teaches workshops and masterclasses regularly throughout Europe.
Julianna Bloodgood
Foto Mateusz Bral
Julianna Bloodgood, originally from California, USA, worked with award winning and critically acclaimed Polish theatre company Song of the Goat Theatre from 2009-2018. With this company she developed, premiered and performed: Songs of Lear; Portraits of the Cherry Orchard; Return to the Voice; Dead Walk Love; Crazy God, Island and Hamlet: A Commentary and has performed throughout Europe, Asia, South America and North America.
Julianna is a resident artist with Theater MITU, a company that investigates global performance as a source for their methodologies. With Theater Mitu, Julianna has performed Indra’s Daughter in A Dream Play; Linda in Death of A Salesman and was involved in the initial research and development of JUAREZ: A Documentary Mythology. She has researched and collaborated with the company internationally including both the Bangkok Artist Intensive and the South Indian Artist Intensive, studying various forms of traditional performance practices.
One important aspect of Julianna’s professional life is community based projects and artistic outreach, using art as a vehicle for healing and change. Julianna is the co-founder of The Dadaab Theater Project, a youth based theater project in the Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya, and is a founding member and co-artistic director of The Great Globe Foundation, a non-profit organization utilizing the power of creativity to inspire and empower the individual voice and to help build bridges between people and communities.
Julianna holds an MA from Manchester Metropolitan University in conjunction with Song of the Goat Theatre of Poland; a BFA in Acting from the College Conservatory of Music, Department of Acting, University of Cincinnati; and is a graduate of the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, California. Julianna’s work includes anthropological performance research and she has traveled extensively in search of different cultural perspectives on the body, voice and the ritual of performance.
Organizing information
- WHEN: Friday June 14 / 18.00–21.00 a Saturday June 15. 10.00–13.00 a 14.30–18.00
- WHERE: Prostor Itaka, Korunní 35, Praha 2
- FEE: 1600,- / for students, seniors, parents on maternity leave, 1400,-
- APPLICATION
Supported by the city of Prague and Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
