The 17th Annual Physical Theatre Training

SUMMER INTENSIVE 4–16 January (2 weeks)

TRAINING & DEVISING MASTERCLASS

19–23 January (1 week)www.zenzenzo.com

Stomping Ground 2015

Presented by Brisbane Powerhouse Home Company ZEN ZEN ZO Physical Theatre

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Physical Theatre Training Intensive Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm, Brisbane 4 – 16 January Mon – Fri: 9 am – 4 pm (2 Weeks)Teaching Artists: Lynne Bradley, Steph Kehoe & Simon Woods

“ Stomping Ground was a unique encounter; both challenging and affirming. The quality of instruction was superb and the energy of the company was infectious. I’ll carry this experience with me for a long time to come.” STEPHEN ATKINS (Canadian Director & Actor-Trainer)

2015 will mark Stomping Ground’s 17th year. This annual physical theatre summer intensive training program, which was the first of its kind in Australia, will be led by Zen Zen Zo founders and directors Lynne Bradley and Simon Woods and one of the preeminent Lecoq teachers in Australia, Steph Kehoe from Melbourne. The aim of this 2-week course is to introduce artists to a range of physical theatre disciplines including Zen Zen Zo’s specialty areas of the Suzuki Method, Butoh, and the Viewpoints, as well as the Lecoq pedagogy for training and devising. Stomping Ground will provide a solid base in these approaches focusing on developing the performer’s physical, vocal and ensemble skills. It is also a journey of transformation — both personally and professionally — as participants begin the new year by refining their goals for 2015, shaping their craft, and meeting fellow artists with similar interests and beliefs.The first session will take place on Sunday 4 January from 6–9 pm. Then from Monday 5 January the daily schedule (Mon – Fri) will be as follows: 9:00 – 9:30 Arrival & Self Warm Up 9:30 – 10:00 Group Warm Up, Conditioning & Yoga 10:00 – 12:30 The Viewpoints (Week 1) /

Suzuki Actor Training Method (Week 2) 12:30 – 1:30 Lunch 1:30 – 4:00 Lecoq Pedagogy (Week 1) / Butoh (Week 2) *4:00 – 5:00 * Lecoq Life Observation (Week 1 only — some afternoons)

* Friday 9 January: Physical Theatre Forum * Friday 16 January: Final Training Jam

Early Bird* Fee: $690 Adult / $590 Conc. Full Fee: $840 Adult / $740 Conc. * Early Bird — booked & paid prior to 30 Nov, 2014

20% discount for returning Stomp Intensives participants

Training & Devising MasterclassBrisbane Powerhouse, New Farm, Brisbane 19 – 23 January Monday – Friday: 9 am – 5 pm (1 Week)Teaching Artists: Lynne Bradley & Simon Woods

“ Recognize the basic necessary ingredients (for theatre making):

1. you need something to say 2. you need technique; and 3. you need passion.

Like a milking stool, if one of the three legs is missing, the stool will topple over and be ineffectual. It is as simple as that!” ANNE BOGART

This week-long Masterclass gives participants the chance to work in an intensive laboratory environment that involves both advanced training in Zen Zen Zo’s core methods and the creation of new work. Building on the skills learnt in the first two weeks of Stomping Ground, Lynne Bradley and Simon Woods will lead participants through Zen Zen Zo’s core methodologies for devising over the past two decades. In addition they will introduce a number of creation techniques borrowed from other companies and artists that have taken root at Zen Zen Zo, including Anne Bogart’s Composition, Maro Akaji’s Miburi/Teburi, and the devising exercises of Frantic Assembly. In addition each day will have a specific focus and tackle practical questions surrounding structure, rhythm, transitions and layering.

Participants will be involved in a continuous series of individual and group creation tasks, both inside the studio and outside around the Powerhouse and New Farm Park. The goal of the week is to get the creative juices flowing, remove the road blocks to creativity, overcome the myriad of challenges inherent in creating new work, and to find each artist’s unique “voice”.

Please Note: This week is open only to those who have participated in the Stomping Ground 2-week Training Intensive this year or in past years or regular members of the ACTOR’S DOJO in Brisbane or Melbourne.

Early Bird* Fee: $340 Adult/$290 Conc. Full Fee: $390 Adult/ $340 Conc. * Early Bird – booked & paid prior to 30 November, 2014

20% discount for returning Masterclass participants

Suzuki Actor Training Method“ What I am striving to do is to restore the wholeness of the human body in the theatrical context, not simply by going back to such forms as Noh and Kabuki; but by employing their unique virtues, to create something transcending current practice in the theatre.” TADASHI SUZUKI

Zen Zen Zo’s core company training is designed specifically to equip actors for high energy, physical performance. The primary inspiration for this training has come from the Suzuki Company of Toga (Japan) and the Saratoga International Theatre Institute (New York). This method takes participants through a fascinating minefield of diverse and challenging techniques that work towards fusing body, voice, mind and spirit. It integrates a challenging spectrum of advanced performance training techniques to cultivate the actor’s physical energy, vocal quality and range, concentration, ensemble awareness and imagination.

Training is a moving experience to witness: the intense and personal journeys of fellow human beings of all shapes and sizes as they manifest, explore and shape their creative impulses through extraordinary physical and vocal forms. Everyone works from their physical being to their sub-conscious core to find a new relationship with themselves and the performance space they inhabit and energize. Through this method you are led to the edges of your potential, the place where learning and self-discovery is optimal.

This week-long component of Stomping Ground will provide an introduction to the fundamental principles and practices used in Zen Zen Zo’s year-round company training.

Teaching Artist: Simon Woods

SIMON WOODS founded Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre with Lynne Bradley in 1992, and until 2008 directed 12 productions for the company. In 2011 Simon joined the Queensland Performing Arts Centre as a Producer, and in 2014 joined the producing team at the Brisbane Powerhouse. He is one of Australia’s leading instructors in the Suzuki Actor Training Method. Over 20 years of teaching and directing, Simon has run numerous Suzuki Method and Viewpoints training programs in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada and throughout Australia. As a resident in Japan from 1993–1995 Simon studied Noh theatre and the Suzuki Actor Training Method and participated in Suzuki Tadashi’s International Masterclass in New York (1994) and Toga, Japan (2007). He has also observed Suzuki at work directing several productions for the renowned SCOT Company. Simon received a Master of Arts in Drama (UQ) in 2006 for research on the application of the Suzuki Method for contemporary performers. From 2001–2007 Simon was also a consultant with the Brisbane Lions (AFL) creating and teaching flexibility and core strength programs.

Butoh Dance-Theatre“ The passion of the Butoh dancer is an inner one. What you see on the outside is always infinitely subtle. You see a trace of the emotion, never the emotion itself. In the west we have a tendency to throw ourselves against walls as a way to indicate passion. The Japanese just show traces, not unlike their prints, their art of leaving traces on paper. They disclose only just enough to allow you to imagine an inner poetic landscape. This is much more interesting.” ROBERT LePAGE

Butoh is a contemporary avant-garde dance-theatre form that originated in Japan. It has been described as a dance of the senses, of complete presence, of universal archetypes and imagery expressed through the body (instead of through words). It combines dance, theatre, improvisation, and ritual, crossing cultural borders in its search for the universal. At its heart, Butoh aims to reveal the unconscious, inner world of the performer, stripped of his/her social mask. For this reason no prior movement training is necessary, as the classes aim to find each person’s unique physical expression, unencumbered by language, tradition or social conditioning. Butoh develops absolute presence, a deep physical awareness, a rich imagination, courage, and the ability to be highly expressive with the entire body.

Drawing from Lynne Bradley’s extensive and diverse Butoh training background, this week will lead participants through a number of approaches to Butoh and will cater to both the beginner and the more experienced student/artist. Work will take place both inside the studio and outside in nature.

Teaching Artist: Lynne Bradley

LYNNE BRADLEY has worked as a director, choreographer, performer and actor-trainer in Brisbane and abroad for the past 25 years. In 1992 she founded Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre with Simon Woods, and spent two decades building Zen Zen Zo into an internationally renowned performance and training centre. Lynne was one of the first artists to introduce Butoh to Australia in the early 90s and is currently involved in a major intercultural exchange with world-renowned Butoh company Dairakudakan in Japan, traveling regularly to train and work with her teacher of the past decade, Maro Akaji. Lynne’s seminal training in Japan (where she lived for 5 years in her early 20s) was with Butoh founder Ohno Kazuo, Katsura Kan (Byakko-sha) and Iwashita Toru (Sankai Juku), and also included extensive training in Noh and the Suzuki Method of Actor Training. In 1993 Lynne wrote her Honours Thesis (at UQ) on Butoh and continues to be passionate about introducing it to other artists around Australia. Lynne is also a principal instructor of the Viewpoints. In 1998 she received a scholarship to study the Viewpoints with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company in New York, and she and Simon Woods subsequently became the first teachers of this actor training method in Australia. Lynne and Simon are also qualified teachers of Ashtanga Yoga (1st series).

As a director, choreographer and performer, Lynne worked extensively between 1992 and the present, and has won a number of awards, including Matilda Awards for Zen Zen Zo’s Cabaret (Best Musical) and The Tempest (Best Independent Production). Zeitgeist was also short-listed for a prestigious Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009, and toured extensively between 2008-2010. Lynne is currently completing a Practice-Led Research PhD at QUT, and teaches regularly around Australia and abroad.

Suzuki Actor Training Method“ What I am striving to do is to restore the wholeness of the human body in the theatrical context, not simply by going back to such forms as Noh and Kabuki; but by employing their unique virtues, to create something transcending current practice in the theatre.” TADASHI SUZUKI

Zen Zen Zo’s core company training is designed specifically to equip actors for high energy, physical performance. The primary inspiration for this training has come from the Suzuki Company of Toga (Japan) and the Saratoga International Theatre Institute (New York). This method takes participants through a fascinating minefield of diverse and challenging techniques that work towards fusing body, voice, mind and spirit. It integrates a challenging spectrum of advanced performance training techniques to cultivate the actor’s physical energy, vocal quality and range, concentration, ensemble awareness and imagination.

Training is a moving experience to witness: the intense and personal journeys of fellow human beings of all shapes and sizes as they manifest, explore and shape their creative impulses through extraordinary physical and vocal forms. Everyone works from their physical being to their sub-conscious core to find a new relationship with themselves and the performance space they inhabit and energize. Through this method you are led to the edges of your potential, the place where learning and self-discovery is optimal.

This week-long component of Stomping Ground will provide an introduction to the fundamental principles and practices used in Zen Zen Zo’s year-round company training.

Teaching Artist: Simon Woods

SIMON WOODS founded Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre with Lynne Bradley in 1992, and until 2008 directed 12 productions for the company. In 2011 Simon joined the Queensland Performing Arts Centre as a Producer, and in 2014 joined the producing team at the Brisbane Powerhouse. He is one of Australia’s leading instructors in the Suzuki Actor Training Method. Over 20 years of teaching and directing, Simon has run numerous Suzuki Method and Viewpoints training programs in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada and throughout Australia. As a resident in Japan from 1993–1995 Simon studied Noh theatre and the Suzuki Actor Training Method and participated in Suzuki Tadashi’s International Masterclass in New York (1994) and Toga, Japan (2007). He has also observed Suzuki at work directing several productions for the renowned SCOT Company. Simon received a Master of Arts in Drama (UQ) in 2006 for research on the application of the Suzuki Method for contemporary performers. From 2001–2007 Simon was also a consultant with the Brisbane Lions (AFL) creating and teaching flexibility and core strength programs.

The Practice of Wonder:Approaches to devising inspired by the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq“ Don’t invent, discover… You can immerse yourself in a drop of water and see the whole world. In life, I want my students to be alive and on stage, I want them to be artists.” JACQUES LECOQ

These sessions will introduce participants to devising methodologies inspired by the creative pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq and explore the spirit of playfulness, openness and transparency that makes possible every creative act.

In the Lecoq pedagogy, the journey towards making theatre, towards ‘expression’, begins by letting the world make an impression. During the week participants will be encouraged to ‘practise wonder’ at the observable movements in the world that surrounds us — a world filled with perfectly constructed dramas and comedies of space, time, rhythms, balance vs. off-balance. Observing and embodying these movements allows the performing and devising artist to better understand and ultimately more effectively create dramatic spaces, plot and scene structures, rhythmic builds, characters and emotions.

This week will offer playful ways of working with movement, masks, imagery, objects and spaces and investigate the links between motion, emotion and expression and encourage participants to create from a place of wonder, clarity and joy.

Teaching Artist: Steph Kehoe

STEPH KEHOE has worked as a performer, director and teaching artist in Australia, and throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. After graduating from the University of Queensland, Steph trained with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre in the Suzuki Actor Training Method. Her interest in masked theatre led her to Japan and then to Europe where she studied with Jacques Lecoq at his Ecole Internationale de Théâtre in Paris.

Steph completed her Pedagogical Training in the Lecoq pedagogy under Thomas Prattki at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA) where she then taught Movement and Improvisation for several years. In the UK, Steph also taught at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) and Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance. She also continued her own training working with renowned teaching artists including Angela de Castro, Jos Houben and John Wright.

Steph was a founding member of Swiss company Le Collectif des Mondes Contraires with whom she worked from 2000 - 2010. In addition to works created in Switzerland, Steph directed and performed in productions for the company in Brazil, Mongolia and Nicaragua collaborating with local theatre artists and performing for those without conventional access to theatre.

Returning to Australia permanently in 2012, Steph was appointed Artist in Residence at the Melbourne Women’s Circus. She is an Artistic Associate with Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre and performs with Born in a Taxi.

Cover images: (L to R) Eric Berryman & Lauren Jackson in MEDEA: The River Runs Backwards; Aleks Mikic in Amadeus. Photographers: Simon Woods, Christabelle Baranay & Morgan Roberts

Butoh Dance-Theatre“ The passion of the Butoh dancer is an inner one. What you see on the outside is always infinitely subtle. You see a trace of the emotion, never the emotion itself. In the west we have a tendency to throw ourselves against walls as a way to indicate passion. The Japanese just show traces, not unlike their prints, their art of leaving traces on paper. They disclose only just enough to allow you to imagine an inner poetic landscape. This is much more interesting.” ROBERT LePAGE

Butoh is a contemporary avant-garde dance-theatre form that originated in Japan. It has been described as a dance of the senses, of complete presence, of universal archetypes and imagery expressed through the body (instead of through words). It combines dance, theatre, improvisation, and ritual, crossing cultural borders in its search for the universal. At its heart, Butoh aims to reveal the unconscious, inner world of the performer, stripped of his/her social mask. For this reason no prior movement training is necessary, as the classes aim to find each person’s unique physical expression, unencumbered by language, tradition or social conditioning. Butoh develops absolute presence, a deep physical awareness, a rich imagination, courage, and the ability to be highly expressive with the entire body.

Drawing from Lynne Bradley’s extensive and diverse Butoh training background, this week will lead participants through a number of approaches to Butoh and will cater to both the beginner and the more experienced student/artist. Work will take place both inside the studio and outside in nature.

Teaching Artist: Lynne Bradley

LYNNE BRADLEY has worked as a director, choreographer, performer and actor-trainer in Brisbane and abroad for the past 25 years. In 1992 she founded Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre with Simon Woods, and spent two decades building Zen Zen Zo into an internationally renowned performance and training centre. Lynne was one of the first artists to introduce Butoh to Australia in the early 90s and is currently involved in a major intercultural exchange with world-renowned Butoh company Dairakudakan in Japan, traveling regularly to train and work with her teacher of the past decade, Maro Akaji. Lynne’s seminal training in Japan (where she lived for 5 years in her early 20s) was with Butoh founder Ohno Kazuo, Katsura Kan (Byakko-sha) and Iwashita Toru (Sankai Juku), and also included extensive training in Noh and the Suzuki Method of Actor Training. In 1993 Lynne wrote her Honours Thesis (at UQ) on Butoh and continues to be passionate about introducing it to other artists around Australia. Lynne is also a principal instructor of the Viewpoints. In 1998 she received a scholarship to study the Viewpoints with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company in New York, and she and Simon Woods subsequently became the first teachers of this actor training method in Australia. Lynne and Simon are also qualified teachers of Ashtanga Yoga (1st series).

As a director, choreographer and performer, Lynne worked extensively between 1992 and the present, and has won a number of awards, including Matilda Awards for Zen Zen Zo’s Cabaret (Best Musical) and The Tempest (Best Independent Production). Zeitgeist was also short-listed for a prestigious Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009, and toured extensively between 2008-2010. Lynne is currently completing a Practice-Led Research PhD at QUT, and teaches regularly around Australia and abroad.

The Viewpoints“ The Viewpoints are a philosophy of movement translated into a technique for 1) training performers and 2) creating movement on stage …The Viewpoints are a set of names given to certain basic principles of movement; these names constitute a language for talking about what happens or works on stage … the Viewpoints are points of awareness that a performer or creator has while working.” ANNE BOGART

The Viewpoints is a training technique developed by renowned American director Anne Bogart which has been utilised by Zen Zen Zo as one of its core training methods for almost 20 years. The Viewpoints focuses on reawakening the actor’s instincts through impulse work and play, and exploring the basic elements of performance – the body in time and space – so that the artist can learn to use them articulately when performing and creating new work. The training is all ensemble-based, with each actor learning to respond impulsively and playfully to their fellow performers. The Viewpoints also develops the fundamental performance skills that help the actor/ dancer/ performer achieve a dynamic stage presence.

Anne Bogart visited Australia in 1997 for the first time to demonstrate the Viewpoints technique at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in a workshop in which Lynne Bradley participated. Simon Woods had previously studied the Viewpoints whilst in Saratoga Springs, NY, in 1993. Lynne and Simon have since studied intensively in America with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, and were the first practitioners to teach and work with the Viewpoints in Australia. Many of the Zen Zen Zo company members have since traveled to the USA to work with the SITI company, and continue to actively explore and encourage this method’s application to Australian artists, having taught at most major acting institutions and universities around the country.

Teacher: Lynne Bradley

Zen Zen Zo CompanyAt the heart of Zen Zen Zo are the company members who will be assisting during Stomping Ground, providing ongoing support and guidance to participants. Throughout the year this group of passionate and dedicated artists and educators is responsible for sharing Zen Zen Zo’s specialty training methods in a wide variety of contexts across all of the Training Centre’s annual activities, including The Actor’s Dojo adult training classes, the STOMP intensives, the In-Schools Program, and the Company Internship.

Zen Zen Zo Company History

BOOKINGSEmail: info@zenzenzo.com Phone: (07) 3162 0774 Online: www.zenzenzo.com

ZEN ZEN ZO OFFICE & STUDIO: Stores Building, Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm, Brisbane.

Early booking is advised as places are limited and this course is usually full by November. Once your booking is confirmed, full payment is required within 7 days. Online Booking, Credit card & EFT facilities are available.

PLEASE NOTE: This training course is physically rigorous and mentally challenging. Participants should be in good health and prepared to work hard. However, no previous physical theatre experience is necessary. Due to the demanding nature of this course, all participants must be at least 18 years of age (or have finished Year 12).

ZEN ZEN ZO, founded in 1992 by Lynne Bradley and Simon Woods, is an Australian physical theatre company at the forefront of contemporary performance and training. Through the PERFORMANCE COMPANY Zen Zen Zo produced two decades of potent, visceral theatre for local, national and international audiences. The company’s TRAINING CENTRE now offers a suite of internationally renowned actor-training programs which cater to professional performers, teachers, students, young people, and anyone with a sense of adventure!

The TRAINING CENTRE, which has branches in both Brisbane and Melbourne, includes the:

• The Actor’s Dojo (Weekly Physical Theatre Training & Acting Classes)

• Stomp Intensives (Stomping Ground, Devising Masterclass, Winter Stomp, Perth Stomp, New Zealand Stomp)

• Internship Program (5-month Leadership & Creative Entrepreneur Course)

• InSchools Program (Workshops, Artists-in-Residence Programs, Youth Productions)