AHA! Theatre Festival - A workshop for Storytellers & Educators

PERFORMANCE THROUGH STORYTELLING AND CLOWN

In this one-day, intensive performance workshop, we will explore how to hold the attention of an audience. Be it through the means of "Storytelling" or clowning, both styles based on physical theatre as inspired by the techniques of Jacques Lecoq.

The clown – a theatre form both charming and provocative, simple yet intelligent. A discipline that allows the performer a huge amount of freedom but demands brutal honesty in return, the clown character can inspire and expand the level of performance regardless of whether the actor plans to take to the stage in that persona or not.

In this workshop we will approach the subject of the clown through physical work: seeing our bodies as the instrument that sets the tone through posture, breathing and tempo. We’ll search for universal emotions and recognisable failures to discover what is happening to the performer in the moment.

Using these methods, storytelling becomes something greater than words, it becomes a playful means of communication based upon movement, humour and imagination: a way to grab the audience with a minimum of props, with or without words. Coupled with the basics of clowning, this performance workshop aims to be a springboard for creative communication that can be used wherever you find yourself in front of an audience.

ABOUT SHIVA GRINGS

An international performer since 1998, Shiva Grings has toured the globe from Europe, Siberia, Brazil and New Zealand. He has won several prizes and played in a host of renowned festivals. He has also directed many performances that have toured the international circuit.

As a teacher, he has taught stage-presence, clown, buffoon and theatre of the oppressed to both amateurs and experienced performers. His education in the Commedia School, Denmark, as given him a solid base in which to safely guide and push students to discover the world around them - as well as themselves.

Shiva Grings grew up in Ireland and is now based in Germany.