Workshops

I am as passionate about teaching and facilitating as I am for performing.

 

For me, being in a focused incubator of process, play and experimentation is one of the most magical and rewarding places to be. Every session creates a unique universe created by the chorus of individuals that comprise it, each bringing their own life experiences, imaginations and state to the experience.

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It is my job to curate a focused space that summons a spirit of bold and playful exploration, welcomes vulnerability, opens a heightened awareness, and raises the antenna of players to technique and structure. Play thrives within a container and it is shared with an audience via the ethics and discipline of technique, articulation, and specificity. I don't believe in the "casual" acting class. I push for engagement, focus and a heightened level of presence so that we can depart from the mundane and invite something special and transformative. 

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I strive to facilitate a safe(r) space where individuals feel they can fly. That means putting systems in place that give agency to students to feel they can advocate for their personal boundaries and well-being and opening lines of communication. I believe in integrating intimacy direction practices such as establishing "fences" - sharing personal physical and thematic boundaries at the beginning of a work session. I believe in putting a word in place for individuals to pause an exercise if they need a moment. I believe in acknowledging teacher/student power dynamics in the room, and being transparent with intention. I commit to a learning space that is respectful, inclusive, unbiased, anti-racist, anti-homophobic, anti-transphobic, that respects and appreciates all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, gender identities, gender expressions, sexual orientations, abilities, and other differences. I enthusiastically welcome a call or meeting when I fall short with any of the above. 

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I encourage participants to not view class as "a class", but as a suspended moment in time where they may leave their to-do lists at the door and are free to explore and play without the pressure of producing a marketable product or needing to prove themselves as "worthy" or "good". Yes, it's fulfilling to witness a discovery, a moment of brilliance, or a breakthrough of some kind - but it is just as exciting to embrace a "failure", which is just as valuable (if not more) as part of someone's personal and creative journey.

 

Society at large has such a toxic relationship with whatever "failure" is and we are burdened with an emphasis on production for survival. While I understand this pressure, it can be an inhibitor of creative pleasure, innovation, the joy of shared space and connecting with something deeply personal. I strive to create a space where we celebrate failure because once this relationship is flipped - magic happens. 

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I am available to lead a variety of classes and workshops and can curate specific types of training for ensembles of many kinds. This is not specific only to actors and devisers but any group of individuals that is curious to explore the benefits of play and working as a team. I also love coaching one-on-one, helping bring life and specificity to characters and audition pieces, discovering what unique gifts a performer has and tailoring our exploration just to them.

 

Let's chat! michael.amendola.8@gmail.com