Ride the River
Ride the River: Paratheatrics and Contact Improvisation
a mini-workshop exploring the collision of Grotowskian paratheatrical work and Contact Improvisation
with Krista DeNio and Karl Frost
Saturday January 25 10am -1pm
Sunday January 26 3pm- 6pm
at Counterpulse, Mission and 9th, San Francisco
Following sensation into creative action, this mini-workshop brings together aspects of Jerzy Grotowski’s physical theater work with the practice of Contact Improvisation (CI). Creating a rich ground of physical and vocal exploration, the work leads to the cultivation of emotional states, potential framework for character development, and at a minimum— physical expansion, creative opportunity and the incredible potential of extreme play!
In simple terms, Grotowski’s theater work was rooted in the idea that one does not put on character, but instead finds the character as something already existing as part of oneself. Similar to some elements of somatic psychology, there is an act of distilling individual subtle physical or unconscious ‘subvoices’, starting with the observation of subtle sensation and then removing obstacles and teasing the process out into a more pure or amplified form. We’ll be primarily focusing on Grotowski’s Exercise Plastiques as our springboard into this work, an invaluable tool for anyone interested in ‘states-based’ explorations. 
Contact Improvisation is an open-ended physical art practice exploring the possibilities of bodies moving through physical contact, sometimes quiet and introspective, sometimes wild, explosive and acrobatic, following the collision of the physical curiosities and idiosyncratic choices of two or more partners. It is about discovering the unpredictable possibilities that happen with two independent choice makers playing with the body and physics.
The paratheatrical work opens up vast new territories for physical and psychological exploration within contact improvisation. In turn Contact Improvisation opens up new physical contexts and environments for the discovery of subvoices and physical processes in paratheatrical work and opens up emotional exploration to the inter and transpersonal.
This workshop is for the physically and psychologically curious and engaged. We expect everyone to be ready to jump into creative work with the body and mind, but the work will not assume previous formal training in CI or theater work.
Krista DeNio is an interdisciplinary choreographer, director, performer, writer and educator, committed to developing new forms of performance work, and evolving interdisciplinary thinking and creation between the fields of dance and theater. She collaborates with many artists across disciplines to create collaborative, interdisciplinary performance productions. From original solo theater works, to ensemble dance theater work, community-derived, interview-based theater projects, structured improvisations, and site-specific performance, she is invested in the form that best serves the situation. The work seeks to investigate the interrelationship between impactful global socio-political issues, and our intimate personal lives, while celebrating the wonder, mystery and humor of our human condition. Krista has worked in the Bay Area, California, NYC, New Mexico, Western Massachusetts, Colorado, and internationally and was the Executive & Artistic Director of Earthdance for 3.5 years between 2009- 2013. Her upcoming performance work, the CONTACT project , is currently being developed in residency at Counterpulse. www.kristadenio.com
Karl Frost is the director of Body Research Physical Theater, exploring how we live and construct meaning through the body. His work is postdramatic, more interested in sharing experience and phenomena than in narrative and symbol. His shows span the spectrum from traditional proscenium performances to fully interactive audience collaborative investigations of meaning.His personal training has included martial arts, contemporary and postmodern dance, butoh, physical theater, performance art, somatic psychology, and an enormous amount of disciplined practice and study of contact improvisation. He has been researching and teaching work
based in somatic psychology and contact since the 80s and his work has been shared in over 2 dozen countries on 5 continents. www.bodyresearch.org
Both Krista and Karl have backgrounds in applying both Grotowskian paratheatrical work and explorations from contact improvisation to both performance development and personal exploration and look forward to see what happens with this improvisational collision of perspectives.
cost: slidingscale
regular fee: $65-$100 with preregistration.
early discount: $50-$100 with registration by Sunday, January 19.
at the door: $75-$100
to register, send in the fee via the paypal button here…
