APPLY NOW: CIRCUS — Writing in the In-Between with Andréane Leclerc

Note:
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this workshop will take place remotely.
Contact harris@playwrights.ca for any questions about the workshop.

This bilingual five-day workshop led by circus artist Andréane Leclerc will explore the process of creating and performing circus from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Too often, circus acts are simply inserted into an existing work or juxtaposed with other forms. There are many reasons for this, including the technical constraints of the art form and the particularity of its languages. These challenges can complicate staging, research and creation processes, and can hinder real interdisciplinary dialogue. How then can we reflect on circus as a subject within an interdisciplinary creative process? How do we move beyond a dichotomy between two disciplines? What can we discover in the in-between? What new dramaturgical possibilities might emerge?

Schedule:

(5-day virtual workshop)

1PM to 4PM EST every day
Monday, January 25 to Friday, January 29, 2021.

Location:

The workshop will take place remotely via video-conferencing software.

This workshop offers a space for reflection, exchange, dialogue and creation. Participants will be led to question and discuss different visions and possible interpretations linked to the challenges inherent in circus creation. The workshop’s hands-on format seeks to disrupt the hierarchy of scenic languages to allow new performance forms to arise. It is an invitation to develop a practice of active listening and sensitive dialogue, to delve into the heart of the unknown, and to find links in the porous in-between zones.

Writing in the In-Between is open to creative artists from all disciplines with experience or interest in circus arts, interdisciplinary creative processes, and contemporary dramaturgy.

Topics covered will include:

The multidisciplinary vs. the interdisciplinary;
Exploring disciplinary permeability;
Distinguishing between lived vs. perceived experience in the context of circus performance;
Dramaturgical challenges in the circus pieces;
Contemporary dramaturgy;
Staging questions;
Developing a common language.

Application Instructions

Please send us a bio and/or artistic CV as well as a brief (1-2 paragraph) statement explaining why this workshop interests you, how it is relevant to your artistic practice, and what your expectations are.
Send applications and any questions to harris@playwrights.ca with the subject line: Exploring Practice with Andréane Leclerc.
You may send your application in English or French.

Apply before noon on January 8, 2021 to ensure that your application will be considered.

Work plan

The course will begin with group discussions, followed by a pair or individual work sessions. The instructor will also offer a personalized, one-hour session with each pair or individual.

Lesson plan

Day 1: Introduction – Circus

What is it? How did it come to be that? What does it mean?

Day 2: Circus disciplines and the relationship to the object

Is it extension of the body? A binary duality?
Where do we situate circus? How do we differentiate between acrobatics, acrobats and their apparatus?

Day 3: Acrobatic language

What is its inherent system? What can we hide and reveal?
Where does dramaturgy come into play?
What are the technical repercussions of dramaturgical choices ?

Day 4: Space-time, and the question of becoming

What is circus’ relationship with other forms? How can they be brought together coherently?

Day 5: Conclusion – The encounter with the audience

Reflecting on the context in which a piece is presented.

About the workshop leader

Founder of Nadere Performing Arts, Andréane Leclerc graduated from the National Circus School of Montreal in 2001. Driven by a desire to harness contortion technique as a malleable material that is capable of generating a world of sensation and imagery beyond the spectacular, she now creates her own experimental and conceptual performances – Di(x)parue (2008), Insuccube (2012), Eat Me (2013), Bath House (2013), Cherepaka (2014), Sculptural body (2014) and The Whore of Babylon (2015). In 2013, she finished a masters degree in circus dramaturgy in the Theatre department at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) under the direction of Marie-Christine Lesage. Actually in a co-creation with the dancer and choreographer Dany Desjardins called Sang Bleu, Andreane has a particular interest in the scenes that pushes limits out (cabarets, Edgy Women Festival, Short and Sweet, Piss in the Pool, Salon K). She continues to interpret for choreographers and directors such as Peter James (Famille Déjantée), Angela Konrad (Variations pour une déchéance annoncée) and Theatre Republique in Denmark (The Tiger Lillies performs Hamlet, 2016). Since 2014, Andreane gives workshops around the world for circus artists: Acrobatic dialogue and Contortion technique. Recently, Andréane also offers Contortion for All that aims to demystify and undo clichés inherent to the art of contortion by introducing a strong technique and giving tools to allow movements throughout the whole spine.