Filling the Empty Space: Performance Training in the 21st Century
Summer Institute for K-12 Teachers
June 21-July 2, 2004

Intended for K-12 theatre teachers, this two-week, sixty-hour intensive is a comprehensive overview of techniques for performance studies in contemporary theatre. The B.A. Theatre Arts faculty will team-teach a series of mini-seminars in physical theatre, clowning, puppetry, text-based acting, voice and speech, music theatre, and auditioning and career preparation. The goals of the techniques are: to better integrate training the instrument into introductory performance teaching, to introduce the creation of performance as holistic and ensemble based before separating it into constituent components of acting, directing, design, playwriting, etc.; to introduce performance vocabularies and techniques that reach beyond conventional American techniques for realism/naturalism; to better prepare today’s performance student for work and life in theatre in the 21st century.

The faculty will include Kari Margolis of Margolis Brown Theatre; Luverne Seifert of Theatre de la Jeune Lune; Michael Sommers of Open Eye Figure Theatre; Dr. Elizabeth Nash; Kent Stephens of Illusion Theatre, and others; many of the techniques that will be taught are derived from 20th century European teachers like Jacques LeCoq, Etienne Decroux, Cicely Berry, Patsy Rodenburg, Eugenio Barba, and others. Participants have the option to register for Professional credits. CEU's are included.

For Whom: Most appropriate for teachers of grades 6-12. Open to K-12 and community college educators. Enrollment is limited to 20 participants.
When: June 21-July 2, 2004, 9:00-4:00 p.m. each day
Where: Rarig Center, West Bank of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Scholarships: A limited amount of scholarships are available in the form of a $250 stipend (if you are registering for course credit) or two weeks of complimentary single dorm accommodations on campus with air conditioning and shared bathrooms. Participants check in on Sunday before the institute and check out on the last Friday by noon.

Registration: Registration is $150 for a non-credit course. Registration/tuition covers the cost of faculty instruction, guest speakers, and a continental breakfast. Participants are responsible for textbooks, travel and some meals. Participants have the option to register for professional credit. Tuition is approximately $292 per credit, plus registration fees. If you request professional credit, you will receive an additional billing from the University of Minnesota for the credits. Registration is due June 1, 2004. For more information, contact Sarah Herzog by phone or email or register online.