HELLENIC THEATRE/DRAMA & EDUCATION NETWORK (TENet-Gr)
Theatre Summer Camp 2022
Chiliomodi Greece 24-29/8/2022
MAIN SEMINAR
"Me, Myself and We "
Georgia Tsangaraki, Actor, Director, Theatre Educator and Dramatherapist
This seminar is offerd in Greek Language
An experiential theatrical workshop on the concept of Withness in the Chorus of Ancient Greek tragedy.
The “Spiral Effect” is a method that applies to theatre education, self-development workshops and personal therapy. It is based on the concept of co-existence, which dominates the Chorus of ancient tragedy, and took its name from the multidimensional symbol of the Spiral. How do we emerge strong and active through a group of people? How much do we understand the responsibility of belonging in an ensemble? How do we enforce our personal identity and shine inside and outside of a group?
The Method includes in brief:
1) The visualization of speech in order to embody it.
2) The creation of a common physical communication code of the team based on the dynamics of Peripheral Vision.
3) The development of a spiritual area for the understanding of poetic texts and the creation of personal contact with them.
4) The expansion and strengthening of the imagination as a structural artistic and self-knowledge tool.
In this particular workshop, an attempt will be made to approach practically the concept of the Withness thinking by the systemic therapist John Shotter, combining my method of Peripheral Vision as a tool for understanding systemic thinking. Shotter through his Noticings focuses on the importance of imagination and the endurance that one must show in the new and the unknown that resides within him. It speaks of a new pre-linguistic communication and invites the individual not to think with logic, but to be left to the experience from which the New Word / Code of the group will emerge. When someone "enters" Peripheral Vision with the group, they stop thinking about themselves and concentrate on the here and now. This develops the energy vigilance of the participant, relieving her of the anxiety of "I do" and "I understand". It expands the imagination because the other senses are sharpened as the vision enters under the supervision of the situation and not its control. The group connects on a non-verbal level and "winds up" in a very complacent and safe way. The personalities emerge without the agony of exposure and confirmation. Once the group is organized at this level of peripheral coexistence, the sound can be spoken and the collective subconscious appears here and now. The system is now ready to listen and the individual ready to express the core of their empirical thinking.
With a choral piece from the Eumenides of Aeschylus, we will discover the importance of Withness in the ritual event. We will come in contact with our transformative qualities, our "good" and "bad" side, our darkness and light. The purpose is to create a safe theatrical environment in which the individual voices of the participants will emerge and flourish.
Georgia Tsangaraki is a director, actor, theater educator and dramatherapist. She completed her B.A. studies with Honors degree from the Greek National Theater Drama School in 1994 and continued with a one year post graduate course in Great Britain and Arts Educational London Schools. She is her last year of a Dramatherapy Master’s degree. Since 1996 she has been working as an actor with the National and Independent Theatre of Greece in multiple shows (Greek tragedies and contemporary pieces alike). She has participated in short and feature films, as well as television shows. She teaches voice, acting, and movement in Greece and abroad, using a unique self-created practice based on Greek Chorus and the importance of working in an ensemble. The method applies to different educational acting and self-development programs and is called “The Spiral Effect”. She has collaborated as an educator and director with: SITI company (N.Y), Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh), Vassar College, Pace University, MB2 Centro Para la Experimentación de las Artes (Arica-Chile), UNIACC (Santiago, Chile), Baumastrasse (Athens), OYL’S Apprentice company (Papingo, Greece) , Attico Ancient Greek Drama School, and many more. She is the creator and artistic director of an arts space in Athens called “The Farm” where she teaches theatre in nature and runs self-development sessions. She has co-written with Angelita Tsougou “Paperback Romance”, a comedy inspired by Mills-and-Boon type books, and “Mary End John”, a contemporary tragedy, based on the myth of Clytemnestra. She has also written a woman’s monologue “Mother tongue” that refers on sexual abuse and dealing with this trauma, as well as a children series under the title “Kora Korn and the adventures of life” – the reality of a little girl with diabetes type 1. She has directed: “In between_A Dithyramb” Bios (2022) , The circle of Dionysus” (2021), “The Magic island” (2021),“Lemon”, an adaptation of her own in “Novecento” by Alessandro Baricco, that has gained the award of Best Direction and Best Play in the Comic 7B international festival de Teatru in Buzau Romania, 2019. “Las Bacantes Flamencas” (NY Thalia Theatre 2019), “Alkestis” (MB2, Chile 2019), “Mary End John” (Baumstrasse 2018), “Les Chrysanthèmes” (The Farm 2018), “Las Bacantes” (MB2 Chile 2017), “Lithi a compass” (Virsodepsio 2013). She speaks English, Italian and Spanish, and is also and mostly a mother of an amazing child. Her main concern is finding ways to teach people the art of performing in different circumstances and conventions, without ever losing their truth and personal involvement to the project. She believes the art of Theatre is therapeutic, inspiring and life changing, and her workshops around the world have a great impact on people’s lives.
Organisation: Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network (TENet-Gr)
info@theatroedu.gr / ++0030 2106541600