Theatre Research Program in Auroville, India 2 November – 22 December
Headed by
Jay Emmanuel
Masters in theatre and creation, Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris
Bachelors (with high distinction), Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Perth
Participating actors and performance artists: Clara Henry, Sunniva Styrvold, Jay Emmanuel
and actors/dancers of Adishakti, New creation studio and Centre for Research in the Performing Arts, Auroville.
What:
Theatre and Creation Research Centre (Paris) is conducting a month long research program in movement and theatre creation.
The group is researching Indian texts and poesies, their meaning and translation into movement.The major work of the team is focused on the writings of Indian author Arundhati Roy, proses from the Mahabharata as well as poems of Jalaluddin Rumi, Ted hughes, T.S. Eliot and Samuel Beckett.
To find a way to translate the essence of space and time through the movement of the actors.
The program will consist of 4 hours of daily exercises in dancetheatre and 4 hours of research activities, concluding with a discussion at the end.
Seminars and practical workshops in movement and theatre creation will be conducted for the artists from the Indian theatre and dance sector.
More importantly series of discussion called “ArtsLink” will be conducted by the company director and committee of invited producers. The focus will be on the subject of theatre links between France and India and how to develop a stronger artistic and economic relationship.
Why:
We are interested in the process of “contamination”, through addition of knowledge of the culture, especially that of the experimental village of Auroville, and ancient art forms particularlyKathakali. The ethos of the small collaborative town matches radically with the ethos of the group “to create collaborative theatre”.
It is our first collaboration with the city of Auroville and its artistic association/s who with varying levels of support are associated to the project and its planning.
The group:
The group is formed of multicultural artists, each taking on varying roles. They all met during their studies at L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and found a mutual curiosity in breaking the current forms of theatre, moving towards finding the future of theatre and where it is going.
Established in 2013, the group have been continuously researching, conducting several experiment, sometimes including audience, playing with the notion of intimacy quite regularly in their recent works.
Their third creation Sonnets and Proses is due to premier at the Delhi International Arts Festival at the prestigious National Museum of India.
Who:
Jay Emmanuel
Born in India and bred in Australia, Jay is kathakali and contemporary dancer, actor, director and producer. His passion lies in creating varied theatrical experiences for the audience as well as research in interactive theatre practice.
He has directed Love, love, love and MILK (2014) by Izzy RobertsOrr for House of Cult festival in Paris , MOHOn the Concept of Love (2013)and UNKNOWN (2012)in Perth.
He was recently appointed the artistic director of Young Arts Paris for whom he has curated international theatre festival House of Cult and Petrichor.
He works as a principal dancer for Parisbased contemporary dance company, Compagnie Soi which premiered at Pantheon in April 2015. He has worked with DV8 Physical theatre company (London), Jan Fabre (Belgium), Complicite (London), Zen Zen Zo (Brisbane), Ankoku Buyo Collective (Perth) in roles of dancer, director and actor.
Jay has been nominated for the West Australian best emerging artist award for his directing and performance in UNKNOWN.
Clara, Henry
Clara is an actor and dancer from France. Her career is filled with foreign experiences, and always is a constant learning process. During her five years in Paris, she took part in the realisation of dance videos, performances, and short films (ENSAD Paris) as dancer, choreographer, performer and assistant. She work in different dance companies (Myriam Gourfink, Loldanse, Willi Dorner, T.E.C.K., Maztek, Brice Kapel, Cie Micantis…) and also as a comedian. Beside her dancing career, she studied at Ecole Jacques Lecoq and is now carrying on her research within the Academie Royale des Beaux Arts de bruxelles, in the sculpture and choreographic interpretations (ISAC) while taking part in a professional part of creation internationally.
Clara has been also a collaborator with the group on the last two creations Purgatorio 1.0 and Purgatorio 1.1.
Sunniva Styrvold
Sunniva is an actor and firebreather hailing from Norway, having graduated from Ecole Jacques Lecoq and Estudis Escuela Internationale de Theatro Berty Trovias. She recently acted in a onewoman show MILK directed by Jay Emmanuel. Prior to that she toured around Norway with a street theatre company Stella Polaris and Stokke Kulturskole Drama Og teater. As an actress, she has played in De Munnfull and Folkenteatret among others. Additional notable workshops
and studies include the national program in performance, pedagogy and history from the University of Stavagne, Norway.
