Workshops

July 28 - August 7, 2009

with Rachel Bowditch

Tues – Sat 9 AM – 1 PM, 3 – 7 PM/  

at the Dell'arte School in Blue Lake, California.

This is an introduction to the Rasaboxes training that combines classical Indian ideas about acting and emotion, contemporary theories of emotion coming from psychology and neurobiology, and twentieth century French theorist Antonin Artaud’s demand that actors be “athletes of the emotions.” The sanskrit rasa means juice, flavor, essence, and it describes the energetic transmission which is “tasted” both by actor/dancer and spectator in performance. Rasa refers to specific emotional states that are embodied and conveyed through gesture, facial expression and other codified modes of performance. The rasaboxes allow performers to develop unique ways to physically and vocally embody the eight rasas outlined in the Natyasastra: raudra (rage); bhayanaka (fear); vira (courage); sringara (love); bibhatsa (disgust); hasya (laughter); karuna (grief); and adbhuta (wonder) and to learn to apply the rasas to work with objects, texts, dialogues, and finally to mix and layer them, creating complex combinations of rasas. These modes become the basis not only for ongoing training but also for script analysis, scene and character work, performance composition, and performance preparation.

Ideal length of workshop: 3 hours

Ideal Space: A large, open rehearsal hall

RECENT RASABOXES WORKSHOPS:

MACHINAL Directed by Rachel Bowditch. One week intensive with ensemble. Arizona State University, Phoenix. September 2007.

EAST COAST ARTISTS Three Week Intensive. New York University, New York. July 2007. Co-taught with Michele Minnick and Fernando Cazadilla.

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Two Day Intensive for the MFA Acting Cohort. Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ . October 2007.

THEATRIKOS Theatre Company Five Hour Intensive . Flagstaff, Arizona. October 2006.

ARIZONA THESPIAN CONFERENCE 3 hour intensive . Phoenix, Arizona. November 2006.

EAST COAST ARTISTS Three Week Intensive. New York University, New York. July 2006. Assisted with Michele Minnick and Marissa Copeland.

PERFORMANCE STUDIES INTERNATIONAL # 10. Singapore. June 2004. Co-taught with Paula Murray Cole.

ABOUT THE TEACHER
Rachel Bowditch Ph.D. is an Assisant Professor in the School of Theatre and Film at Arizona State University. She has trained with Jacques Lecoq at the Ecole de Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France from 1998-1999, being part of his last class before his death in 1999. She is the Artistic Director of VESSEL and directs an ongoing performance installation TRANSFIX which has been seen at the New York International Independent Film/Video festival at Madison Square Garden, NYC; GenArt Summer Arts Festival, the New York International Fringe Al Fresco at Central Park and Grand Central (in collaboration with Timothy Speed Levitch), the Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2003, The Kitchen, the HOWL Festival 2004, the UnConvention and Performance Studies International #11 at Brown University.

Her studies at Ecole de Jacques Lecoq, Skidmore, the British American Drama Academy (BADA), Dell’ Arte Players Company, Suzuki and Viewpoints with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company and her recent studies with Richard Schechner and East Coast Artists at NYU, where she received her PhD in Performance Studies, have helped her move toward achieving her vision of theater. She also performed in Richard Schecher’s original adaptation of Yokastas at LaMaMa Annex.

She is an Artistic Associate and performer in Richard Schechner's company East Coast Artists Performance Exchange and an Associate of RoseLee Goldberg's Performa.