Giovanni Fusetti
| Mime is not an imitator but a creator.Marcel Marceau (1923-2007) |
Pedagogy
THE PEDAGOGY
The Journey of Initiation of the ACTOR-CREATOR
Theatre is PLAY. Imitation, transposition and re-invention of the world. It's a very ancient human expression, based on the fun of playing, the awareness of the dynamics of life and the rigor of technique.
It's a space where life is represented, celebrated and transformed -through the body. This is a process that requires observation and curiosity in front of the mystery and wonder of life in movement. The Actor-Creator is a poet who enters the journey of discovering the world and manifests the world’s beauty, through poetical forms. S/he is the poet of ecstasy. Her/his body is the body of the world.
My pedagogy is, and will be, a constantly evolving process. It's an alchemy in which I distill the best of my findings. The latest version is always the most updated. There are a few fundamental sources that have nourished and inspired my pedagogic practice: the Theatre Pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq, Gestalt-therapy, Western Bioenergetics (Wilhelm Reich), Taoism (Wutao), the practice on the state of playing (le jeu) as an Altered State of Consciousness, Breathwork, Process Work (Process Oriented Psychology), as well as Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal, and in general the use of theatre in communities, education and political action.
The integration of different practices has lead to the creation and development of a pedagogy with multiple branches.
A PEDAGOGY OF MOVEMENT
The BODY is the first space of knowledge and sensitivity of the human being, the foundation of the artistic experience and of the theatrical language. The experience and study of the body moving in space leads to the progressive discovery of the principles of movement and of artistic creation. Nature, in the sense of "the movement of life" is our master.
A PEDAGOGY OF PLAY
Before being Homo sapiens, we are Homo ludens. Play (le jeu) exists when the rigor of technique joins with the pleasure of the artist. The "playing" actor represents and reinvents the world, revealing its poetic richness, in an ecstatic process. A poet through gestures, s/he works with rigorous fun and disciplined folly. The beginner’s mind of the player walks on a path of joy.
A PEDAGOGY OF CREATION
una pedagogia dell’arte
The Player is the Creator of her/his own work. The aim of a pedagogic process is to train creators capable of developing their own artistic voice in an autonomous way (arte). It's a work that inspires not only theatre artists, but any person who is interested in creating her/his own life journey. Pedagogy is a space of research and practice, where the world is recreated every day, and the pleasure of learning and teaching provokes the learners to develop their own unique, poetic identity and theatrical folly. Both the teachers and the students are servants of the creative process.
A PEDAGOGY OF STATES
Play is a particular state of consciousness and each theatrical genre flows from a specific “state”. The ability to reach this state in order to play and to create from it, is the essence of the shapeshifting vitality of the actor. Each form, each character, each mask, each movement, each story, is the threshold into an altered state of consciousness. To play is to participate to an enhanced state of vitality, to be aware of connections and to constantly "re-act" to movement. Play is ecology in motion.PEDAGOGY OF INITIATION
The actor, as poet, player and creator, is a shapeshifter, as well as a stateshifter, journeying in the footsteps of ancestral shamans and working every day to refine and develop her perception of reality, and to train his expressive skills. For this purpose, several pedagogical tools are creatively integrated within a unique "alchemical pot". In the journey of the discovery of the world, the artist encounters herself in a new state of self-awareness and transforms his inner world into a conscious instrument for poetry. She needs to face his own powers and her own wounds, often merged in a mysterious alchemy of awareness. The pedagogic purpose is not only to train theatre artists, but to accompany them towards a wider state of consciousness, and further levels of awareness, in order to work consciously with personal powers: emotions, life experiences, visions, dreams, wounds and desires. In the journey through theatre genres the actor/creator discovers how each genre appeals to different dynamics of the individual and of society, and therefore has unique and peculiar powers and potentials.
At the core of Giovanni Fusetti's Pedagogy there is his
PEDAGOGY OF RED NOSE CLOWN
There are as many clowns as there are human beings.
There is one way to stand while there are infinite ways to fall.
Intelligence is limited.
Stupidity is infinite.
The pedagogical approach integrates the Pedagogy of movement-based theatre of Jacques Lecoq with different principles and practices of physical and emotional awareness. In particular: Gestalt, Reichian Analysis, Bionergetics, Taoism and Process Work. The result is a deep artistic and emotional work, involving the body in a dynamic of play, technical training, awareness and performing folly.
This pedagogy is simultaneously an artistic process and a personal process.
THE ARTISTIC PROCESS
Clown is about comic poetry : funny and touching, essential and rigorous. It's a dive into the mystery of laughter.
Deeply rooted in movement-based theater, Red Nose Theater Clown is a specific theatrical and poetical territory. The pedagogic process focuses in particular on the analysis, amplification and play of the physical and emotional world of each actor, as revealed by her or his natural body in space. This leads to the discovery of a unique individual clown, with a specific body, tempo, voice, costume, attitudes, emotions, and poetic world.
The reference to the Neutral Mask is fundamental. In terms of movement, no body is neutral – every body carries profoundly expressive themes, embodied in everyday movement. There is a web of "non-neutral attitudes" and physical and emotional “background sounds" within each person’s movement and physical presence. If an actor is observed with an eye to movement, using the reference point of the Neutral State, this web appears like painting/markings on a white sheet. They are “dramatic” in the etymological sense: they contain a drama – an action. The exploration and analysis of the body within the theatrical space reveals a movement dynamic that is constantly expressed through core movement patterns.
The use of the smallest mask in the world, the RED NOSE and the amplification and articulation of these very personal movement themes allows the actor to enter the Clown State.
The clown is a state of playing, in which the actor unfolds the themes that are impressed in the body. In this process everyone has access to the key question: what is so funny about me ?
To discover one’s own clown is to reveal one’s own unique comic persona and turn it into a universal comic form.
The theater artist is a poetical human being. There is something fundamental about the discovery of her or his individual Clown: it's raw, pure, personal, emotional, unique, challenging, empowering, revealing, and extremely rewarding... It’s the exquisite pleasure of touching the empty space of complete comedy.
As a theatre territory, Clown has a unique poetic potential because it allows the performer to explore and play with the naiveté and the vulnerability of the child and with the rigor and the technique of the adult, thus revealing the poetry of the ridiculous, and a unique personal poetic power.
The sublime stupidity of the clown is her/his enduring openness to life and to the present moment, despite her/his radical imperfection.
THE PERSONAL PROCESS
As a personal journey the discovery of one's individual clown is an ecstatic way to get in touch with one's unique humanity, and play with it in a space of openness, vulnerability and poetical fun. The personal process within the pedagogy is based on the combination of three fundamental principles. The first two come from the bio-energetics practice, first expressed in the West by Wilhelm Reich and then explored by many different approaches.
The first principle says that
What is not expressed by the body remains impressed in the body.
The second principle states that
The expression of all emotions brings fluidity (flow) to the body and this fluidity brings physical pleasure.
The third principle is related to the archetypal nature of theatre as a ritual of connection and exploration of the different aspects of human nature:
As a way of getting in touch with, and integrating different parts of the self, seen as a process, theatre becomes a powerful space of knowledge, awareness and personal and collective empowerment. Through the playful unfolding of the energies impressed in the body, a clown will appear, and through playing this form with the rigorous support of theatre technique, a unique poetic world will emerge, as well as a fundamental process of personal evolution.
The Way (Tao) of clown brings powerful and highly poetical insights, witnessed by the audience and celebrated with laughter, and generates the ecstatic joy of being who we are in a unique experience of letting go of all intentions (Wu-Wei).
THE COURSES
The program proposes different courses of study:
PHYSICAL PRACTICE
These classes involve practical work with the body, to train, develop and refine the physical awareness, abilities, skills and techniques of the students.
- Martial Arts
- Physical Preparation and Elements of Acrobatics (ACROGIOCO)
- Movement Analysis and Movement Technique
- Voice Training
POETIC PRACTICE
Classes that engage in the practice of exploration, creation and transposition in theatrical languages.
- Improvisation
- Playwriting
- Theatre Creation
CLASSES
Classes take place each day, Monday through Friday, with 4 hours of master classes and two hours of creation per day.
At the beginning of each week, students receive a theme on which they work in an autonomous class called creation. This course culminates into a presentation of their resulting research, at the end of each week, to the pedagogical staff. These presentations are open to the public. During specific periods of the term the students present selected elements of their work in public evenings of performance.
In addition, the School offers some weekend intensive workshops as well as some outings, to observe nature and human life, renewing the sources of inspiration.
At the end of the training, every student will devise an original project. This will be the final step to obtain the diploma.
Each student will be responsible for some tasks connected with the running of the school (service work). In particular the cleaning and ordinary maintenance of the studios are under the direct responsibility of the students.
In total, the training involves the students for an average of 30 hours per week, over a period of 30 weeks.
OPTIONAL CLASSES
These classes are offered to students beyond the currriculum of the school. They take place at Helikos, in evening sessions and intensive seminars, and involve payment of an extra tuition fee. Please contact the school for further details.
The Ma.Ma.S. Atelier
Materia.Maschere.Spazio
(Material-Masks-Space)
directed by
Matteo Destro
with Helikos Staff
Practical workshop that deals with the study of movement in space, towards the making of Masks, Costumes and Sets.
- Laboratory of study of forms
- Mask-making
- Costume creation
PAPAS
Personal Awareness Process in Altered States
with
Giovanni Fusetti
These optional classes encourage students to deepen their awareness of the emotional journey of the actor during the training. Through group sessions this class supports personal processes of self-discovery and emotional awareness through the practice of the Pedagogy of Initiation, which integrates Movement Theatre with elements of Gestalt-Therapy, Bioenergetics, Deep Psychology, and Process Work (Process Oriented Psychology).
