La Fenice Physical Performance Workshop - Schools

Two company members from Adelaide's sister city of Austin, Texas are coming to visit, and are offering workshops while they're in town! La Fenice is an award winning Commedia dell’Arte and physical theatre company based in Adelaide's Sister City, Austin, Texas, USA. As a company, they believe physical performance is for everybody and every body. Since their founding in 2009, they have taught physical theatre to thousands of students of all ages. Your payment helps us cover the cost getting Kate and Tobie to Adelaide. We are flexible on the timing of these workshops, and can adapt them to suit your class periods and the needs of your students. We look forward to collaborating with your departments to develop a meaningful program for your students! Each of these workshops is developed to stand alone, but they can be combined over two workshop periods to provide deeper training opportunties for young scholars. Commedia dell’Arte For the Modern Stage 2.5 Hours This workshop introduces performers to Commedia dell’Arte Stock Characters and their use as a tool for character development on the modern stage, with emphasis on the history and evolution of form, movement tropes, ensemble movement conventions, and improvisation. Stage Combat 2.5 Hours This workshop guides students through the safe performance of common stage violence, including strikes, slaps, kicks, chokes, and other stage violence. Kate Meehan has been performing, teaching, and writing about Commedia dell’Arte for over three decades. She is the award-winning Artistic Director of La Fenice, and teaches mask, devising, and long form improvisation. She holds an MA in Theatre History and Criticism from Texas State University, and she has trained with Giangiacomo Colli, Joan Schirle, Antonio Fava, Carlo Boso, Massimo Machiavelli, and Fabio Mangiolini. She has produced dozens of postmodern Commedia dell’Arte productions, and acted as a movement consultant or dramaturg for dozens more. Her work is featured in Commedia dell’Arte: A Handbook For Troupes and The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell’Arte.  Tobie Minor has been a certified Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors since 2000, and is a certified Vocal Combat Instructor (VCT). He is the founder and Head of Training at Violent Crown, and currently serves as the Director of Stage Combat and Intimacy at Texas State University, which is consistently named one of the top 25 drama schools in the world. He holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from New Mexico State University, and has provided fight choreography for hundreds of theatrical productions across the U.S.A. and around the world, including the Globe Theatre in London.