Dates: July 6 – August 7, 2020
Duration: 5 Weeks, 30 Hours per Week
Tuition: $3250
NOTICE: Due to faculty schedule conflicts, the Stella Adler Studio will NOT be offering the Physical Theater Intensive in the summer of 2021. As an alternative, the studio recommends looking into the Self-Generated Theater Intensive which is offered this summer.
The Physical Theater Intensive is a demanding five-week program for actors, dancers and movement artists who want to create original physical theater work, and also become more technically proficient and physically responsive actors.
Physical Theater Intensive classes meet for 30 hours per week. The classes provide rigorous training in the fundamentals of movement, which serve to strengthen and relax the actor’s body, expand the actor’s movement vocabulary and open up her or his physical imagination. The program introduces multiple approaches to creating new physically based theater work, and give the students the opportunity to apply these new techniques in their own performance work.
Classes include Viewpoints, Modern Dance Techniques, Physical Storytelling and Mime, Alignment and Character. Three additional classes – Ensemble: Image into Action, Impulse & Structure and Autonomy – highlight the Movement Department’s unique approach to equipping students with skills to conceive and devise original work.
The latter part of each week is organized around rehearsals for three original Movement Projects. These Movement Projects are wholly conceived by each respective ensemble in response to the themes and challenges of our rapidly changing modern world. Some additional rehearsal for these Movement Projects will be required beyond the weekly 30 hours of class. These Movement Projects are performed in one of the studio’s black-box theaters at the completion of the Intensive.
Guest Artist Workshops will also be offered, and each student is eligible for one 1-hour individual tutorial during the intensive. This intensive is presented in partnership with the Harold Clurman Center for New Works in Movement and Dance Theater.
Faculty will include award winning physical theater artist and Head of Movement Joan Evans (Character; Ensemble: Image into Action), Guest Artist Dawn Saito (The Art of Butoh), Master Teacher Joanne Edelmann (Modern Dance), Master Teacher Djoniba (Dance Styles of West Africa), world renowned mime Bill Bowers (Physical Storytelling), director Suzi Takahashi (Viewpoints) and international creator/performer Christine Sang (Structure and Impulse) and much more…
“I was challenged and inspired not only to build the inner life of a character through specific exploration of the body, but also to experience my own inner life more deeply. The incredibly masterful teachers and the nurturing, supportive environment of the studio gave me the courage to abandon text and learn to speak through movement.” – Lauren Patten (Fun Home on Broadway)
“(The Physical Theatre Intensive) is a great way to build a trust within yourself and with the people you work with in the program. You’ll not only move better on the stage, but you’ll move better in the world.” – S. Nicole Roberts
Admission Information
Admission to the Physical Theater Intensive is by entrance interview with the Head-of-Movement. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.
Student visas for international study are not available for this program at this time. Applicants must be a US Citizen/Permanent Resident or possess a currently active visa that allows for full-time study. The studio will be unable to provide this visa.
Applicant must submit the following:
Applications are not being accepted for the summer of 2020. Questions can be emailed to classes@stellaadler.com.
