Theatre – Anmar Taha & Josephine Gray (Iraqi Bodies)

THEATRON
Theatre workshop

This workshop intends to reaffirm the notion of theatre in its original Greek sense, the place where things are made visible: theatron.
Focus will specifically be placed on how an actor, dancer, musician, or any performer may prepare him or herself to be (before attempting to be someone else). In this state of being, which precedes any act, the person is able to see more clearly the various acts that they clothe themselves with in daily life. If theatre is the place where we see; it is important that the person treading the stage is him/herself aware of what s/he presents to be seen.
We will be engaging with physical practices stemming from various traditions that we in Iraqi Bodies have collected and amalgamated into our own practice over the past decade. We will attempt to poke at the blocks we carry which hinder us from fully diving into the depths of our own abyss. Those blocks might have arrived from years of previous training or simply by the judgments we make each day about ourselves and others. Approaching our being as one we will explore all its facets including movement, breath, and voice. Although the workshop will be conducted in English the texts, we will be working with will be adapted to the various spoken languages present in the group. Upon acceptance to the workshop, you will be sent a few short texts to familiarise yourself with in preparation for the workshop.

Level: All
Ages: 16+

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Iraqi Bodies

The work of Iraqi Bodies explores the link between movement and gesture, between dance and theatre. The development of their artistic practice has been deeply influenced by the likes of Antonin Artaud, Jacques Copeau and Tatsumi Hijikata while retaining a constant dialogue with thinkers, writers, and poets such as Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Charles Baudelaire, Le Comte de Lautréamont, William Shakespeare, Henri Bergson, Krishnamurti and many others.​
The poetics of awareness is an absolute given in their continued search for a radical scenic language.​
Iraqi Bodies is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, since 2009 and is led by Artistic Directors Anmar Taha and Josephine Gray.
Their work has been presented at: Dansens Hus, Pustervik, Atalante, Inkonst,TeaterTrixter, StoraTeatern, GöteborgsStadsteater, GBG Mime Fest, SPIRA, RegionteaterVäst, Göteborgs Dans -ochTeater festival, Aerowaves, Kalamata Dance Festival, Dance Days Chania, BITEF, CostanteCambiamento Festival, Fadjr International Theatre Festival, Cairo Experimental Theatre Festival, Carthage Puppet Theatre Days, Carthage Theatre Festival, Tanztendenzen, BOZAR, TunnelhuisAntwerpen, Monty Antwerpen, Nitra International Theatre Festival and more.