The Antwerp Mime Studio guarantees a unique,
professionally oriented training in physical – mimical theatre
which is unmatched in
After several periods of study abroad –
among others, a long study with Etienne Decroux a training at the
Ecole Nationale de Cirque in Paris – Jan Ruts, a trained
social psychologist, returned to Belgium in 1975. He found that
therewas a big gap when it came to dramatic movement language and
he took the initiative of establishing a studio where interested
people could became skilled in modern mime art and related
disciplines.
Herman Verbeek, who had also studied
with Etienne Decroux for a long time, stepped into the project
with a dynamic training as counterpart to the somewhat static
movement language of Decroux. In order to avoid a sheer gymnastic
training, Jan Ruts quickly completed the whole with an actors-training
based on psychic skills and also with intensive play and
improvisation trainings which gave the studio its typical and
rather unique training concept. Additional trainings in
acrobatics, modern dance, non-verbal use of the voice and others
broaden the pretty intense approach which enables the
participants to develop towards various artistic genres and
working fields.
The training is based on 2 approaches,namely the intensive
training of physical-bodily and psychotecnical skills for the
benifit of the modern movement theatre and also the accompaniment
in searching and developing a personal approach to theatre.
The basic training package which has been
developed over the years contains a movement part and an acting
part which are both approached analytically as well as
dynamically.
This training, designed by Decroux, makes out the basic training
of the Antwerp Mime Studio. Starting- point is the analysis of
the natural movement down to its last, indivisible elements. This
movement grammar forms the basis for an intense training in body
control and body awareness.
In this training the emphasis lies on the circulation of movement
through the whole body. By means of several bigger figures, aimed
at the mobility and flexibility of the spinal column, both energy
and blockings of the body are being practised. The purpose of
this training, based on the work of for example Grotowski, E.
Barba, M. Tanaka and others, is gaining trust in and making use
of semi- or subconscious implulses and contents on
the one hand and the actual dramatizing of them on the other hand.
In this training the inner skills of the actor ara being
developed. Short theatrical actions lead to a fruitful use of
mental activity, concentration, imagination, sensorial and
affectionate memory, adaptation and empathy, role development,
partner- and ensemble playing, and so on. This training is
mainly based on insihgts of C. Stanislawski and L. Strassberg.
This training is aimed at the recovery and the development of the
antural playing skills and this in a dynamic way. Physical, vocal
and psychotechnical skills are handled in an integrated way both
individually and in group. This training also pays attention to
the different dramatic styles which are being applied in the
mimical-physical theatre.
The above-mentioned basic trainings are occasionally completed
with trainings like acrobatics and circus techniques, modern and
post-modern dance, training of the voice and – if asked for
– also other specific disciplines.
Apart from the actual training the working on projects becomes
important from the third year on. In these projects, which take
place individually and in group, the attention is drawn to
specific creation problems. During this period it is possible to
take part in a so-called “laboratory” under the
guidance of Jan Ruts or another mime artist or to choose for a
training period with other groups.
At the beginning of each new season the Antwerp Mime Studio
organizes an initiation week for people who want to get
acquainted with the training concept of the Mime Studio. During
this week all trainings are presented and the teachers can be met.
This week usually takes place during the last week of September.
Our secretarial office will give you all the necessary
information.
Occasionally workshops with – foreign – specialists in related disciplines are being organized. These workshops are also open for people who don’t follow the training. Those who want to be kept informed about this offer can leave their data with our secretarial office and will be informed in due time.
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starts with an initiation week at the end of September
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aims at a professionally orientated training as physical actor,
both physically and mentally
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lasts 3 or 4 years, depending on the progress of the participant
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3 hours a day, from Monday till Friday ( part-time)
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from the beginning of October till
mid June
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no trainings during school holidays and on public holidays
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aimed at people who are interested in physical theatre and are
looking for an angaged leisure activity in that area
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takes place one evening in the week during the whole school year
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the school holidays and public holidays are being considered
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a session lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes and is divised into a part
physical training and a part play and improvisation. It is
obvious that there is no training to the bone during this course.
The enjoyment and the experience are central in this group. This
way a real dynamic can be developed which can result in a
theatrical product at the end of the course.
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The sessions start at
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Jan Ruts,Ludo Van Passel.
- Several guest teachers for acrobatics, circus techniques, modern dance and others.
The lessons take place at several
locations in Antwerp, most of them in the Zegelstraat ( Werkhuys
) at Borgerhout – Antwerp.
Adress:
Antwerp Mime Studio
Sergeyselsstraat 24
B.2140 Borgerhout – Belgium
Phone: +32/(0)3/236 37 13
E-mail:mimestudio@tiscali.be
An extensive information package about the
Antwerp Mime Studio is available. It can be obtained after a
simple application.