Forsøgsstationen – NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2017 (Link to full version here)
The newsletter contains:

  1. Main experiment with the Danish School of Performing Arts
    1. Video documentation
  2. Since last
    1. Open laboratory
  3. Upcoming activities
    1. Lampedusa at Husets Teater
    2. King Lear in the mood for Advent
    3. Platform 15 December
    4. Nadine George workshop 2018
  4. Should you be a member?
  5. Current membership attempts
    1. Daily dance
    2. Fair Phone
    3. The meeting of poetic narrative and expressionist physical theatre
    4. Shakespeare in two languages
    5. Imprints after the body in motion – a study
    6. Story Play
    7. Slowing down
    8. Breath
  6. Special for members
    1. Use the network!
    2. Training
    3. Remember to register for the Christmas party
    4. Renewal of membership

Main experiment with the Danish School of Performing Arts

The third part of the main experiment “THE ACTOR AND THE OVER-MARION” – entitled ‘The Scenographic Actor (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/hovedforsoeg-den-scenografiske-skuespiller/) ‘ – took place in October. It was a collaborative project between the Danish School of Performing Arts and Forsøgsstationen and an investigation of external technique as a pathway to a new method for the creative processes of the actor, puppeteer and set designer. It was also an exploration of what an ‘encounter’ across institutional and professional boundaries with practice-based pilot projects might look like.

Documentation

There will be a report later in the season where the work will be documented and analysed in writing, in the same way as the report for ‘The Aesthetics of the Door’. Link to this is here%C3%.

Inspired by the video documentation of last season’s main experiment, THE SOUND OF THE PUBLIC (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/2017/06/05/videoteaser-nr-3-er-nu-udgivet/) , we have been experimenting with making small low-tech videos about the work. Rikke Jeppesen Rod has compiled interviews, video footage and stills into small vignettes about the process and ideas behind the work. The latest video is with the experiment’s scenographer, Rolf Søborg and can be seen below.

**
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The experiment was led by Charlotte Munksø (https://ddsks.dk/da/ansatte/charlotte-munksoe) from the Danish School of Performing Arts (DDSKS) Copenhagen, Rolf Søborg and Øyvind Kirchhoff from Forsøgsstationen. It is supported by DDSKS and through a framework agreement with the Danish Arts Foundation.

SIDEN SIDST…
Open laboratory
On Friday 27 October we ‘opened the workshop’ and let an audience in on our study of the ‘scenographic actor’. It was an exciting afternoon with lots of good questions and reflections on the work. One of our audience members made this observation which nicely describes what this kind of exploration can create for performing artists:

“You seem to me as an audience to be fantastically comfortable in the examination room – it’s like a loss of control, with a common ground of ‘quack space’ where you’re together – I like to feel this examination room – it’s hugely stimulating”

And a participating actor describes what this particular approach – ‘outside-in’ and with various obstructions – has meant for the experience as a player:

“It creates a kind of space – when it’s not your text and it’s not your movement, there’s a kind of space between movement and thought or between text and movement – thought and movement which is a kind of space. It’s been really exciting to see these movements – usually there’s a lot of intention behind movement – and then these movements are kind of unintentional and imposed from outside – they get a whole other – I don’t know if you can say authenticity, but they get a purity as movement – and the obstructions help to create that.”

There was also talk about how the students experienced work of this type – how this particular format and theme of ‘the scenographic actor’ contributed to their training and future work as professional performing artists and this will be developed further in the project report itself where the experimental format as a learning space is a key element.

**
Auditions on tour-ready LAMPEDUSA
The critically acclaimed Lampedusa, directed by ‘our’ Andreas Dawe, was touring this autumn and held a couple of performances for audiences here in the old cinema on 17th and 18 November 2017. One audience member commented afterwards “it was great and sensory. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to experience it – THANK YOU!”

We would also like to point out that the play’s creator, playwright Anders Lustgarden, was interviewed by Jens Albinus in connection with the original production last year at Husets Teater, where they discuss the background to the play. Highly recommended. Click on still below to watch the video.

**
Upcoming activities

Lampedusa back at Husets Teater
…and if you haven’t seen it yet, you have the chance this weekend, Friday and Saturday.
The performance is a co-production between AKUT360, Kulturkontoret, Husets Teater and Forsøgsstationen.

King Lear in the mood for Advent…
The Shakespeare (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/shakespeare-paa-to-sprog/) experiment led by Rikke Liljenberg is holding an open lab this Sunday, December 3, 10-11:30 a.m. in Boulevarden. It is free and requires pre-registration. See invitation and details here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/2017/11/28/kom-til-aabent-shakespearelab-paa-soendag/) .

All participants work with text from Shakespeare’s King Lear in both English and Danish in Niels Brunse’s brand new translation.

Platform on 15 December
Friday d. 15 December from 17-21 the Experiment Station holds the biannual Platform Event for members who have conducted experiments in the last six months.

Platform is an artistic exchange of experience in word and practice between experimental projects, where we both exchange in small groups to get to the core of the individual experimental work, but subsequently in a common plenary also seek to talk about trends and larger lines. After the experiments have shared their experiences, there will be a presentation by our intern Anna Margrét Ásbjarnardóttir, where she will talk about the project she has done during her internship.

The platform event is primarily dedicated to the trial actors involved, but interested parties are welcome to register. Registration to Lotte Faarup at lotte@forsoegsstationen.dk no later than 11 December 2017.
Here is the list of all the experiments presented this time:

Ellen Kilsgaard
Totaldans (3) – study of interactive choreographic format TOTAL-DANS, the essence of the foundation as well as the encounter between the free stage form, participating children and their seated adult audience.

Peter Kunz and Sofie Alhøj/Den danske scenekunstskole, Odense.
Manual for the Actor 2 – development of manual for actors focusing on new aspects of acting technique in terms of definitions and applications of the concept of impression.

The Olske Orchestra/ Lotte Faarup
“The conversation between the dramatic text and the physical expression” Research into a scenic language based on the performance of the Olske Orkester: “Dengang vi blev væk” (2013).

Jesper la Cour/ The Narrative Theatre.
“Story Play 3” A continued study of the Story Play model and the development of narratives with artistic potential in groups of children, young people and adults.

Rikke Liljenberg
“Shakespeare-Lab – an experiment with 2 languages” Vocal and content study of the advantages of working with Shakespeare’s original English texts first, before working with the text in Danish translation.

Katrine Stewart
“What does the imprint of the autonomous body in motion look like”? Study of the graphic language created by the autonomous body in its encounter with paper.

Tora Balslev
“Fair Phone” How can I create a sensory connection with my phone? Exploring a sensory connection to the mobile phone, to achieve greater presence in its use.

Forsøgsstationen/Den Danske Scenekunstskole – Øyvind Kirchhoff, Charlotte Munksø & Rolf Søborg
“The Scenographic Actor” – collaborative project with the Danish School of Performing Arts – The Actor and the Übermarionette Part 3. Study of the actor as puppeteer using costumes and set design as stimulation.

Ellen Kilsgaard
Daily dance – an embodied think tank – research space for dancers to spar, share knowledge and learn from each other, without the goal of creating a production.

Vera Mäder/Hello Earth
Dreaming is something we do while we sleep – research towards the creation of a participatory artwork: the night-visioning a post capitalist society while we sleep. Third part of experiment at the Experimental Station.

Nadine George workshop 2018
As already announced, this year’s workshop with internationally renowned voice teacher Nadine George will take place just after Pentecost, from Tuesday 22 May to Sunday 27 May 2018.

This year it costs 3.600 DKK to participate. There is a great demand for places and the advertising to members means that it is already almost fully booked. Registration by email to rikke@forsoegsstationen.dk

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE…
…about Nadine George’s work and its significance, we recommend reading the 2013 publication “Growing Voices” (http://www.voicestudiointernational.com/files/6114/2601/9234/Growing_Voices_online_version.pdf), edited by Professor Ros Steen, Director of the Centre for Voice in Performance, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. And if you are a member, you can get to know her technique at the weekly voice training (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/stemmetraening/) where Angelina Watson teaches the technique.

More information about the workshop will be available as we get closer – where you will also be able to register as an audience member for the open audition on 27 May.

Who can become a member?
All professional performing artists, dramaturges and theatre scientists, graduates or trainees, can become members of the Experimental Station.

From October onwards, membership costs DKK 125 per month and is paid for a whole season at a time. This means that the price in December is 875 DKK, January 750 DKK, etc.

If you live outside Copenhagen it is cheaper to become a member – it costs only 355 DKK for the season. And for foreign members the price is only 255 DKK.

Friends of the Research Station
If you just want to support the activities of the experimental station – you can sign up as a SUPPORT MEMBER for only 200 DKK per season – and you will be invited to our wonderful Christmas party!

Become a member of Forsøgsstationen or renew your membership for the 17/18 season by filling in this form (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Medlemskab_FS.doc) and sending it to mail(at)forsoegsstationen.dk (http://mail@forsoegsstationen.dk) . If you have not been a member before, please include a short CV. Payment information will be sent to you after approval.

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 (http://forsoegsstationen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7e4ab507ee0681aacca9cd6c7&id=ee294188b7&e=7b9b825c44) . Views may not always make it into the newsletter, so keep an eye on our facebook page (http://forsoegsstationen.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7e4ab507ee0681aacca9cd6c7&id=3ce7a29bec&e=7b9b825c44) and the website if you are particularly interested in experiencing the artistic research processes up close…

Membership attempts in the calendar…
NOVEMBER

** Daily Dance – an embodied think tank
Membership trial led by Ellen Kilsgaard which will run as a continuous study room. The experiment is a re-activation of an experimental work in the years 2012 to 2014, where a group of dancers worked once a week on a continuous basis here at the Experimental Station. Ellen is now resuming the experimental work with a training group consisting of old and new participants who will together find a common basis and working framework. The initiative stems from a need to spar, share knowledge and learn from each other, through regular training and study, without the goal of creating a production. In addition to Ellen Kilsgaard, the group consists of Camilla Stage, Anu Rajala-Erkut, Rosa Meyer and Lars Dahl Pedersen. Read more about the trial here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/daily-dance-an-embodied-think-tank/) .

** Fair Phone
Through a sensory unfolding of a smartphone, it is investigated whether it is possible to create a sense of the object as a concrete starting point, a landscape that can perhaps be used to find our footing and direction when we have to navigate in cyberspace on a daily basis. The experiment is led by Tora Balslev and runs from October to December 2017.
Read more about the trial here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/fair-phone/) .

** The meeting between poetic narrative and expressionist physical theatre
In August 2017, the Olske Orkester (http://www.detolskeorkester.dk/forestillinger.html) began a three-year research project at the Forsøgsstationen to explore and develop a theatrical idiom based on a combination of poetic narrative and expressionist physical theatre.

The research project is a further development of the formal language created by the Olske Orkester with the award-winning and much-performed performance “Dengang vi blev væk (http://www.detolskeorkester.dk/dengang.html) ” and forms the artistic basis for the theatre’s upcoming major venture, the trilogy: “En nations selvhad – Danmark mellem skam og selvovervurdering” consisting of the performances: “Sukker” (http://www.detolskeorkester.dk/sukker.html) , “Salt” and “Hvem er det der knock”?

The research project works on a weekly basis and involves a company of 6 actors/dancers and a director. Follow the experiment here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/moedet-mellem-den-poetiske-fortaelling-og-det-ekspressionistiske-fysiske-teater/) .

** An experiment with Shakespeare in two languages
As previously announced, Rikke Liljenberg has this season chosen to intensify and focus her Sunday Labs (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/shakespearesoendagslab/) with Shakespeare in the form of an experiment. The focus of the experiment has been to see if there is anything to be gained by working with the original English text first, and then working with the same text in Danish translation (or other language if Danish is not your mother tongue.) Can working with the text in the two languages inspire and open up new possibilities in terms of. character, interpretation and ownership? Or is it an unnecessary, and perhaps confusing, detour?

Read more about the experiment here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/shakespeare-paa-to-sprog/) and about the upcoming open display – or read about the recurring open Sunday Labs here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/shakespearesoendagslab/) .

** Imprints after the body in motion – a study
The intention is to investigate the graphic language that the autonomous body creates in its encounter with paper. The hypothesis is that the emerging individual compositions together create a graphic expression in which movement and body are recognized. It is also an examination and documentation of the body surface with hair, pores and folds. To let the prints speak separately in detail/texture and together in form/composition. The trial takes place in week 47.

The experimental team consists of Katrine Stewart, illustrator and graphic designer (leader of the experiment), Tora Balslev, dancer and physical performer and Mireia Serra, dancer and psychomotor therapist.
Read more about the trial here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/aftryk-efter-kroppen-i-bevaegelse/) .

** Third Story Play attempt
The Danish Arts Foundation has given support to the Narrative Theatre’s 3rd Story Play experiment at Forsøgsstationen. The experiment will continue to investigate whether the Story Play model (http://storyplay.dk/det-fortaellende-teater/) is a meaningful starting point for developing stories with artistic potential in groups of children, young people, adults and older people. See documentation of 2 previous trials here (http://storyplay.dk/story-play-forsoeg-201516/) .

In the 3rd experiment we will exchange and develop our own stories and explore the artistic qualities of sharing simple stories outside the rehearsal room, in the public space. If we rehearse a story, where will it unfold? The trial will take place over three periods, the first of which will run from 28 to 30 November. The last two periods are in week 5 and week 8, 2018.

Read more about the trial here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/tredje-story-play-forsoeg/) .

DECEMBER

** Slowing down
Stands & Dans – who of course offer dance classes on Monday evenings here at the station – are now on the scene with their first attempt as members. The experiment is led by choreographer My Lindblad and the intention is to “create a ‘time pocket’ where everything can be allowed to slow down and where it’s about presence and presence. It is intended to challenge the spectator but also the practitioner in how long and how slowly something can be allowed to unfold and what happens to our inner pace and breathing when we are losing the perception of time. In addition to My Lindblad, the experimental team includes dancers Nanna Hanfgarn Jensen, Marlene Bonnesen and Katrine Johnsen, choreographer Thomas Eisenhardt (choreographic consultant) and musician Kim Helweg. Read more about the trial here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/slowing-down/) .

JANUARY

** Breath
The experiment “BREATH” is led by Kirstine Lindemann and is a music-dramatic investigation of breath as a musical instrument and dramatic means of expression.
Can the breath make music? Can the gesture of breathing convey emotions and actions? – And what can that experience do to the viewer?

Read more about the trial here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/forsoeg/breath/) .

Special for members
** Use the network!
We would like to encourage members to use this unique network (which many already do – not least via the facebook group “Forsøgsstationen intern” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/944010352410912/) ) – both in the form of invitations to screenings of trials or rehearsals, but of course also when it is time to play a performance.

** Christmas holiday closed
The office has its last day on Wednesday 20 December and will be back on 3 January. Our training is on holiday during the same period. Gaga has just had her last run before Christmas and vocal training ends on Wednesday 13 December.

** Training for the rest of the season 17/18
We will continue after the New Year from week 2 with the current training offers (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/traening-saeson-1718-del-2/) , but for some in other formats…

From Monday 8 January there are new classes (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/moderne-dans/) with Stands&Dans at 18 and 19:30 – where Mette Overgaard and Camilla Stage are in charge of the teaching. As a member, participation is free. The popular voice training by Angelina Watson (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/stemmetraening/) continues on Wednesdays at 9-10:45 with Anja Owe replacing Angelina who is producing with the Olske Orkester (SUKKER (http://www.detolskeorkester.dk/sukker.html) ) in January and February. Gaga changes format to Saturday workshops over the spring.
Øyvind Kirchhoff’s class with mask work (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/maskearbejde/) every Friday at 9-10:30 will be taken over by guest teachers in January and February as Øyvind is in production. We are very happy to announce that Svend E Kristensen (Mediet og Masken (http://www.medietogmasken.dk/) ) will start with the first two Fridays and that he will be replaced by Bjarne Kalhøj (Teater Værk (http://www.vaerk.eu/) ).

Read more here (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/traening-saeson-1718-del-2/) .

In short, the training offer for the second half of the 17/18 season looks like this:
Monday 18 & 19:30 – Modern Dance (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/moderne-dans/) (Stands&Dans)**
Wednesday 9-11: Voice training (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/stemmetraening/) * (REMEMBER TO REGISTER)
Friday 9-10:30: Mask work (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/maskearbejde/)
Saturday 10-12: Gaga (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/gaga-research-2017/) (17 March and 21 April 2018)

*) Registration required by 21:00 the evening before by SMS to 20150949.
**) Read also more about the teams on their website here (http://standsogdans.dk/dansehold/forsoegsstationen/) . Members can attend for free.

Christmas lunch at the research station
Don’t forget to sign up for this year’s or was it this year’s?! Christmas party held
Saturday 9 December at 17-02

…and you are welcome to start cooking (let your creativity sizzle and bubble) – to be able to serve up delicacies for the palate and for the eyes and ears – as always, we would like to have cheerful features along the way – and very much like to try local dishes from near and far…

Membership renewal?
If you have not renewed your membership for the 17/18 season, you can do so by filling in this form (https://www.forsoegsstationen.dk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Medlemskab_FS.doc) and sending it to mail(at)forsoegsstationen.dk (http://mail@forsoegsstationen.dk) .

If you have not been a member before, please include a short CV. Payment information will be sent to you after approval.