
The Class
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With your commitment and Aelita's guidance you will learn to let go and allow the character - rather than the actor - drive the body. Through physical theatre exercises, you will train your body to respond to your character’s inner monologue. This will allow you to react spontaneously to the unexpected. Aelita will help you discover your own uniqueness - what you can bring to your performances that nobody else can - and to harness it and use it to set you apart from the crowd.
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Through clown exercises and scene work, we will focus to have direct access to your character and to deliver spontaneous and authentic performances. Aelita will support you through your unique process of unlocking the barriers between self and character; between mind and body; and between artifice and authenticity.
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We work in a group of no more than 12 people. We start with warm up, physical exercises. We then proceed with improvisations on a stage (alone or with others). Each improvisation is discussed to identify and bring out the positive and important aspects of our clown (and how it lives in us). This is done with care and respect for each individual and within a framework of rules that ensures a secure and protective environment.
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This is aimed at theatre professionals and not the general public.
Curriculum
Day 1. Connect with your body
Day 2. Follow the logic of your body; imagine with your body
Day 3. Improvisation and the birth of a character
Day 4. The character in the space of tragicomedy.
Day 5. Paradoxical thinking as a way to create works.
About
Aelita West

elita is an actress based in New York City with forty years of experience in film and theater
(drama, physical theatre and clowning), as well as a director and educator.
She currently works as the lead clown and master of the stage for the world-renowned "Slava's Snow Show" by Slava Polunin.
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THE PRINCIPLES
The key principles we are committed to in our teaching and which defines the specificity of our approach.
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INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACH
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WELL STRUCTURED CURRICULUM
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A COMMITMENT TO GUIDE AND SUPPORT YOU IN THE WORK
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ENCOURAGING ENVIRONMENT
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EMPOWERING YOU TO BECOME YOUR OWN TEACHER
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COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND LEARNING
The Philosophy - Physical Theater
An actor is a magician who can open a new world to his audience. To do this, an actor must master his craft. He must find the mechanism that allows him to travel between worlds. Words alone cannot achieve this. An actor's soul and body must work together to create this transition. So how do you do this? What is it you need to discover about yourself? That is the focus of this masterclass, where i offer you a meeting with yourself, with your imagination and with your body. With this training, we give ourselves the key to a limitless world of creativity - not along the beaten path, but along our own individual path.
Upcoming:
From May 26th to June 6th
(week schedule)
May 26th, 6pm - 10pm
May 27th, 6pm - 10pm
May 29th, 12pm - 4pm
June 1st, 6pm - 10pm
June 3rd, 6pm - 10pm
June 5th, 12pm - 4pm
June 6th, 12pm - 4pm
The Way Of The Clown with Aelita West
Training will take place at:
LaMama Studios
47 Great Jones St.
New York NY, 10012
Cost: $700
For more information please contact: AelitaWestStudio@gmail.com
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