NEWSLETTER JUNE 2017

Link to full version here.
The newsletter contains:

  1. News from the “Sound of the Audience”
    1. Film about the sound of the audience just finished!
    2. A bit from the performances
    3. Now what?
  2. Since last
    1. News from the Main Experiment “Aesthetics of Death”
    2. Reumert news
  3. Upcoming activities
    1. Viewing – Andreas Dawe
    2. Platform
    3. Summer vacation!
  4. Training and workshops this autumn
  5. Current membership attempts
    1. Helene Kvint
  6. Special for members
    1. Training hours
    2. Membership for the coming season

News from the “Sound of the Audience”

Film about the sound of the audience just finished!
Together with Lotte Faarup, Helle Lyshøj has edited the many hours of footage into a single ‘film’. Here, the project SOUND OF PUBLIC is presented through words and moving images – with subtitles in English for an international audience.

The film has just been presented to an international audience at a seminar in Holstebro hosted by the leader of the EU project Caravan Next; Odin Teatret.

Kasper and Troels – chatting before the show…

A bit from the performances

So LYDEN AF PUBLIKUM has played both here in the old cinema and in Skuespilhuset and it was a great experience for all parties. We got a lot of positive feedback from the ‘real’ audience – and the team was tired but happy afterwards – we gave it everything we had!

It was not least a great experience to play at the Skuespilhuset and see it ‘from the inside’ – hear some anecdotes and learn about the ‘greeting duty’ which was introduced when the King of Diamonds was a boy… and the performance itself got an extra boost in this special setting.

Now what?
Now it’s time to digest and, not least, share the experiences and new insights gained. Øyvind and Lotte were at Odin Teatret in Holstebro on Friday 16 June to present the fourth video and share the process and outcome with several Caravan Next partners and in August the choir has a ‘reunion’ where we will eat together, evaluate and probably can’t resist taking the work again! Then there will be a seminar in November 2017 on the SOUND OF THE PUBLIC: more information on this will follow in September.

So far there are no further plans for the work, but you never know if someone will have another crazy idea and create an opportunity for a reprise or something third with this wonderful and crazy project…

Composer Peter Bruun: “…It’s one of the craziest and funniest things I’ve ever been involved in!”
The third teaser about the choir can be seen here!
The project is also supported by Vesterbro Local Committee and Tuborgfondet.

The Voice of the Audience is part of CaravanNext, a large scale European Social Community Theatre project – www.caravanext.eu
Since last

News from the main experiment “Aesthetics of Death”
The experimental report on the first main experiment of the season “Aesthetics of Death” is now available. “The Aesthetics of Death”, led by Øyvind Kirchhoff, was held in October 2016, as a 5-day development project and an open knowledge sharing seminar. Read more here about the experimental work, the second part of a three-part study on “The Actor and the Über-Puppet”, which began in 2015.

The report is free and can be read and/or obtained at the Experimental Station and on PDF from the website.

The Scenographic Actor

The third and final part, entitled “The Scenographic Actor”, will be carried out in week 43, 2017 – and is a collaborative project between the Danish School of Performing Arts and Forsøgsstationen. It is a study of external technique, as a pathway to a new method for the creative processes of the actor, puppeteer and set designer.

Through concrete physical barriers and obstructions, it explores how external constraints can liberate and open up new possibilities for the actor’s work and expression. Read more about the project here.

Watch a new video about the “Aesthetics of Death” experiment via the link below:
Video from the seminar “Aesthetics of Death”
Video of Poul Storm
Editing by Poul Storm and Øyvind Kirchhoff

Reumert of the year!
Then the excitement was released and the Reumert awards were handed out in connection with this year’s CPH Stage at Skuespilhuset. Our member, actor Maria Rich received the Reumert for best female ensemble actor for her role in Living Dead at Sort/Hvid – and gave a lovely little speech which we are happy to reproduce here (with Maria’s permission):

Living dead was a thrilling production
but we found it together – and I’ll always remember with whom.
It is the dynamics of the ensemble that drive the uniqueness.
When we individually understand but together do,
we will go further with art – than any of us alone dare.
I’m glad to be standing here in front of almost the entire industry.
thank you for all of you lovely people who are so curious and take the chance every day,
we’re going for it,
we take place,
we listen and find
brutal questions and small details – which otherwise disappear…
This is the funniest Reumert – to be given tonight
an ensemble-actor award

Congratulations to everyone honoured this year – and to all the performers who – day in and day out – do their best to ensure that the magic and power of theatre is nurtured with courage and heart. We can’t help but mention Husets Teater, which has had a terrific first season under the leadership of Jens Albinus and Laura Ramberg. Several nominations for great acting – including Lampedusa, which we co-produced – and Best Actress for Marina Bouras. So well deserved.

Platform
On Thursday 15 June from 17-20 there was a Platform at the Experimental Station.

It was, as always, a generator of ideas and energy – with the experimental teams generously sharing their work and creating space for reflection, thinking and new perspectives.

Øyvind Kirchhoff marked the release of the report on the main experiment (mentioned earlier in the newsletter) – with a presentation of his process of writing about such a physically based process! How, in this process in particular, he has experienced that language/text has a particular potential to open up spaces of reflection and experience. At a time when we are bombarded by visual stimuli. And how special it is to share the insights of the experiments with each other also in written form, however it ‘lands’. Because the very act of writing and then reading the text stimulates the imagination and allows us to become wiser together, by making our thoughts available in writing. Cheers for the trial leaders thinking of this part as an integral part of the trial work – as central as being on the floor!

This was the last item before we sat down to enjoy a communal meal of soup. The conversation was going and the mood was high. Not least when cold beer was served!

The experiments presented were:

Julie Kunz
Darkness – the study of darkness; creating the opportunity to enter into total darkness and connect to an untamed energy, to a non-committal community, to the silence, the emptiness, the peace.

Lotte Faarup and Øyvind Kirchhoff / Forsøgsstationen
The Voice of the audience – investigating the aural identity of the audience in theatre through 2 composed aural works based solely on audience sounds. Main experiment at the Experimental Station 2016/2017

Julie Schmidt Andreasen and Signe Bach Errboe
Cell – explore how physical states and visuals can illustrate the inter-relation between inner and outer worlds.

Ellen Kilsgaard and Anu Rajala-Erkut
Total dance (3) – study of interactive choreographic format for children from 1st to 3rd grade.

Maria Rich, Nicolai Dahl Hamilton and Rune David Grue
The power of the lie – an examination of how lying can create a different reality – a new normal.

Helene Kvint
SLAG: On going in and out of the brain – developing theatrical forms (verbal, physical and with video projections) that can tell about loss of control of the mind.

Rita Sebestyen and Minni Katina Mertens
BIRTH/BREATH – a study of how breathing works as a reflex and as a conscious act of strong presence.

Øyvind Kirchhoff / Research station
The Aesthetics of Death – a study exploring and challenging the boundaries of actor and puppet theatre. Main experiment at the Experimental Station 2016/2017
Current membership attempts
It is always possible to read about ongoing or previous trials on the website, where you can also download trial reports and read the trial intention reports – the trial team’s presentation of the trial itself. Members can apply for time and sparring on trials – see how here. It’s not always possible to get views into the newsletter, so keep an eye on our facebook page and the website if you are particularly interested in experiencing the artistic research processes up close…

Membership attempts in the calendar…

JUNE

SLAG
Manipulation of the body via video.
The study is led by Helene Kvint and focuses on how changes following a brain injury can alter relationships with the world and the immediate. The experiment itself explores how magical alliances between action on video and reaction on the floor can emerge. The idea comes from a music video Helle Lyshøj made back in 2005 which fits the topic of brain damaged people perfectly. In the film, a hand enters behind the musicians and destroys the instruments behind them. It is this double layer that is being investigated.

The team includes Helene Kvint, Rolf Heim, Jacob Stage, Helle Lyshøj and Erik Christoffersen. The experiment will take place in June 2017 at the Experimental Station. Read more about the trial here.

Upcoming activities

Invitation to the screening of “The Winter of Our Discouragement”
Andreas Dawe and Dan Zahle have been working on a development project here at Forsøgsstationen in recent weeks and would like to invite the public to viewings next week.

You can read more on the website here – but in short, they are engaged in the project “Winter of our Discouragement” – a monologue with and about Adolf Hitler and is an attempt to uncover and see behind the mask of this strange, cruel, absurd and complex man – and thus let him reflect in our own time, where we must note that Hitler may be dead and gone, but his thoughts and ideologies are not.

There are screenings on Thursday 22/6 at 17:00 and Friday 23/6 at 14:00. Both days in Boulevarden.

Registration is not necessary, and the screening will last about 80 minutes – afterwards there will be an opportunity for questions, comments, praise, etc., if anyone has anything to say.

The development project is supported by the Danish Arts Council’s Project Support Committee for Performing Arts, which has given money for the development of the script + for a four-week workshop on the floor.

New training offers and workshops
From September there will be new training offers, while we continue the popular voice training with Angelina Watson on Wednesdays at 9-11, Rikke Liljenberg’s ShakespeareLab on the fourth Sunday of the month, and mask work on Fridays at 9-11 (the latter until the autumn holidays). The MHS training will be scheduled as weekend trainings throughout the season. Keep an eye on the website!

Basic modern dance training

Monday 18-19:30 ‘Basic’ and 19:30-21 ‘Flow and technique’
We have reached an agreement with Stands&Dans for the coming season. They will have two classes here every Monday between 6pm and 9pm in Boulevarden. It will be possible for 2 members to join the training for free, you sign up for 4 weeks at a time. Read more about the teams on their website here. Stands&Dans is responsible for the talent development of young dance talents through Dansebryggeriet and all teachers are professional performing artists. Stands&Dans is a member of Forsøgsstationen, and we look forward to exciting development projects and experiments from their ‘edge’!

Gaga technique
Thursday 9-10:30 (after the autumn holidays)

There will be training and workshops this autumn Gaga technique with Siri Wolthoorn. She graduated from Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Amsterdam. After graduation, she danced for three years with Batsheva Dance Company, Ensemble. In 2010 she moved to Copenhagen, where she has worked with Dansk Danseteater, Mute Dance Company, Yossi and Oded Dance Theatre and Recoil Performance Group. Siri teaches, as the only one in Denmark, Gaga People and Gaga Dancers.

About Gaga:
Gaga is a movement language developed by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of Batsheva Dance Company. With Gaga, we strengthen self-awareness through physicality. We get to know our body and increase flexibility, endurance, motor skills and strength. In Gaga, we never stop. We dance to all kinds of music and our own ‘groove’. Through inner images we find our ‘passion to move’, feel our ‘explosive power’. We explore and discover the power of our imagination when we move like ‘spaghetti in boiling water’ and sense ‘tikkeling stuff’. The Gaga class runs continuously from start to finish, providing ongoing information and guidance, with each new piece of information building on the previous ones. We get an experience of freedom when we move, each person engaged with himself and others.

Siri starts with a workshop on 14. – 15 October 2017 and 13 January 2018. Both will be free for members. After the autumn holidays she will also teach Gaga on Thursday mornings at 9-10:30.
In short, the training offer looks like this after the summer holidays, starting in September:

Monday 18 & 19:30 – dance technique (Stands&Dans)**
Wednesday 9-11: Voice training*
Thursday 9-10:30: Gaga***
Friday 9-10:30: Mask work***
*) Registration required by 21:00 the evening before by SMS to 20150949.
**) Read more about the teams on their website here. There are places for two members on each team – you sign up 4 weeks at a time.
***) Until the autumn holidays there will be ‘masque’ on Fridays, and after the autumn holidays there will be Gaga on Thursdays.

In addition, Rikke Liljenberg offers ShakespeareSundayLab on selected Sundays 10:30-13:00. The first time will be on September 3, 2017 in Boulevarden. Register at least the day before by email rikkeliljenberg@gmail.com / 31 46 40 10. Read more here. This training is also free for members, but is also open to non-members for a participation fee of DKK 100 per session.

Renewal of membership

It is now possible to renew your membership for the coming 2017/18 season, but only until Friday 28 June – after that the office is closed until 1 August.

For detailed information on registration and prices follow this link.

Become a member of Forsøgsstationen or renew your membership for the coming season by filling in this form and sending it to mail(at)forsoegsstationen.dk. If you have not been a member before, please include a short CV. Payment information will be sent to you after approval.