STUDIO 5
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Studio5newyork.com
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Private Sessions
Per Brahe | Akil Vishus Davis
Theatre, for me, is that moment where a human being starts to radiate a
special energy. It lifts us out of the rhythms of pedestrian, daily life.
But it also inspires those daily rhythms, when we return to them. When a
human being can radiate the special energy, itıs very attractive and we
become fascinated by it
Training ought to help mobilize that force.
The most spectacular training awakens the whole body, going beyond the
process of intellectual and psychological reflection. It concerns how to
radiate that energy; how not to waste it, but concentrate it towards the
audience. Speed and weight are transformed into power.
In our training at Studio 5, the actorıs energy is exposed to certain
obstacles which will be overcome and will transform you. In that split
second, the dramatic moment is born. Our material is generated from
knowledge of Bali, Thailand and Japan. On the surface, their performances
appear to be simply ornate styles. They are actually movements executed to
elicit heightened energy from within the body. That energy then communicates
through those movements and is given freely to the audience. It is the
audience that we serve.
A personal session is a two-hour intensive.
1.) Sessions start with a warm-up for the body. It is based on Michael
Chekhovıs exercises and material. At heart, they find roots in very ancient
performance techniques that fit a modern, Western mentality. They assume the
presence of two bodies a physical body and a sub body. Michael Chekhov
calls it the LIFE BODY.
It is the freeing of the latter that gives the actor his or her ability to
channel energy to the audience. It is also here where we loosen up any
physical blocks and help develop your capacity for inspiration and
imagination. At this point, we add mask work.
2.) The mask work builds on inspiration and imagination and removes the
obstacles of fear, unhealthy anger, uninspired behavior and sluggish form.
We have a collection of over 400 masks created especially for the actorıs
development, so we can definitely address each individual actorıs needs.
3.) At the peak point of this progression, we add text and character work.
This is related to your own specific goal or objective for the session. Most
likely, you will know and communicate this to us before you come in.
We end with a few moments to reflect on the session and give additional
advice for the future.
You will work in a spacey, clean studio modelled for the actorıs training.
Shower facilities are available.
A 2 hour class is 150 dollars.
A set of 10 classes can be purchased for 800 dollars
PER BRAHE, Artistic Director of Studio 5 in Brooklyn New York, has been a professional director, writer, actor, teacher and painter since 1967. He has directed more than 85 plays throughout the world. He recently translated and directed a modern adaptation of August Strindbergs Miss Julie. He is currently developing his translation of Vladimir Mayakovskys monodrama, A Tragedy and an all male version of Shakespeares Twelfth Night with masks. He is a world-renowned Mask teacher and Master Teacher of Michael Chekhov technique and an expert in Balinese Mask. He taught at Gitis in Moscow and at the International Summer School in Irkusk, Siberia, and has been an invited Master Teacher at the Moscow Art Theatres celebration of its 100th year anniversary. He is full-time faculty at The Actors Center. He is on the faculties at Yale School of Drama, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, The National Theatre Institute, and the Bill Esper Studio. In 2000 he was the Artistic Director for the Michael Chekhov Conference in Siberia. In 1991 he founded the Michael Chekhov Studio, Aarhus, Denmark. He is the Artistic Director for the annual Bali Conservatory.
MICHAEL AKIL DAVIS is an Art Spirit: an actor, dancer, writer, musician, director, teacher, and yogi. He recieved his BA from NYU's Tisch undergrauate theatre program with focuses on Shakespeare, Clowning, and Alchemistic Theatre, and was most recently seen in the award-winning Off-Broadway production of Emperor Jones at the Irish Rep theatre. As a Dancer he has been trained in the forms of Thai Classical (Master Manop Meejamrat), Balinese Topeng (Masters Ida Bagus Anom and Ida Bagus Alit), Butoh (Tetsuro Fukuhara), Jazz, African Dance, as well as over 9 years of Modern experience, and 15 years of Hip-Hop experience. His other artistic and endeavors include his central membership of the New York based band Ippazzi, in which Akil provides the rap and lyrical sections of the music- being widely known for almost entirely "freestyling" his lyrics and performance. He is an avid writer of poetry, philosophy, social commentary, fiction, and theatre; completing his first short novel in 2009 and writing and directing his first play "Gods and Demons" in the summer of 2011. Akil also has studied and now teaches Acroyoga (acrobatic yoga) around New York and other parts of the world. He has taught and performed in numerous cities around the country, as well as at the Patravadi Theatre in Bangkok Thailand, and the Purnati Art center in Bali Indonesia.
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