EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM “THEATRE THAT (HAS NOT) LOST HOPE. COMMUNITY”
After a series of events in Kharkiv, we announce the next phase of the the black box program, which will take place in Lviv. Considering the current local context, curators Nina Khyzhna and Artem Vusyk outline their concept as follows:
“Reflecting on the program for Lviv—a city currently vibrant with rapidly developing theatrical processes that attract many artists working in various directions and aesthetics—we decided to focus on strengthening a value-based theatrical community and enhancing the professional skills of practitioners working in the field of devised theatre and using performative modes of expression. Through workshops and lectures, theatre professionals will have the opportunity to gain practical tools from experienced mentors who skillfully combine reality and fiction, montage of aesthetics, and storytelling techniques.”
“THE AWAKENED BODY” – WORKSHOP BY ROB HAYDEN (USA/BELGIUM)
May 2, 10:00–17:00
Auditoria Hall
For actors, dancers, and performers.
Movement becomes action in a precise and organic state of intentional surrender. We begin by activating multiple senses as we move through a continuous stream of bodily imagery, uncovering an endless source of information and experience within each creative act.
This comprehensive and multilayered practice acts as a mechanism to heighten awareness of the dynamic relationship between impulse and action. A key function of the work is achieving clarity of intention and organic movement—both in form and content. Instinct and intuition play important roles in identifying where we are “asleep” in our actions. The creative act becomes a tool, awakening deeper connection and presence from within.
Guided movement and theatrical exercises bring more clarity and precision to the process. As we move from initial development toward refining our own artistic language, the ultimate goal becomes creating within structure.
Rob Hayden – performer, choreographer, director, and educator from the USA. He received his BA in Theatre and Contemporary Dance from the University of New Mexico in 1991. Since 2009, he has collaborated as director, choreographer, performer, playwright, and sound composer with various artists and organizations in Europe and beyond. His creative and teaching work synthesizes over 30 years of research and experience in performance, dance, theatre, sound composition, martial arts, therapeutic massage, and meditation.
“FREEDOM AND SOAP I” – PUBLIC LECTURE BY ALIN UBERTI (ROMANIA)
May 2, 19:00–20:30
Auditoria Hall
Free entry with registration
A lecture about the limitations that arise in devising theatre: how to establish collective trust, responsibility, and creative freedom while maintaining discipline and a clean working environment? How to create a process in which every team member can fully be themselves, yet remain committed to the shared goal? How to find and preserve freedom within constraints?
Based on Alin Uberti’s experience and examples from other artists, this lecture explores the idea that freedom exists within, not outside, limitations.
Alin Uberti – playwright, theatre and film director from Bucharest, Romania. He has extensive experience in directing both dramatic and postdramatic theatre at local and international levels. His preferred method is devising, which often involves (but is not limited to) site-specific spaces and topics, contemporary adaptations of classical texts, postmodern collage, and a democratic, egalitarian, collective creative approach—with a touch of humor.
“THE BODY AS TEXT” – WORKSHOP BY NINA KHYZHNA (UKRAINE)
May 3, 11:00–15:00
Auditoria Hall
For actors and performers.
A theatre-movement workshop focused on corporeality in theatre.
During this four-hour workshop, we will attempt to reclaim our own bodies, listen to the stories they can tell, and recognize their authentic language. We will look at movement, spontaneously born in the body, as a text—a code capable of conveying non-verbal information.
We will explore our physical nature and search for ways to articulate it. Using theatrical, performative, and movement practices, we’ll reconnect with our bodies and perhaps learn to read the texts they hold.
Nina Khyzhna – director, choreographer, performer, actor, and teacher. She works in the independent theatre and performance scene and co-creates the “Nafta” Theatre in Kharkiv. Nina sees theatre as a safe space for dialogue and community-building, as well as a tool for introducing topics such as tolerance, equality, inclusion, and safety into the social discourse. She has collaborated with both state and independent theatres in Ukraine, such as the Kharkiv Academic Drama Theatre and the Kharkiv State Youth Theatre, as well as with theatres and creative groups abroad, including Teatr BRAMA (Goleniów, Poland); the projects “Maps of Fear/Maps of Identity” and “My grandfather dug, my father dug, but I will not” (Poland/Ukraine); TEATR POWSZECHNY im. Zygmunta Hübnera (Warsaw, Poland); Divadlo Pôtoň (Slovakia); and Studio Ninja Guru (Graz, Austria).
“FREEDOM AND SOAP II” – WORKSHOP BY ALIN UBERTI (ROMANIA)
May 3, 16:00–20:30
Auditoria Hall
For actors, performers, directors, and playwrights.
This workshop will apply the theory from Freedom and Soap I in practice. Participants will form teams and, with Alin’s guidance, create short theatrical scenes using devising theatre techniques. At the end, all participants will watch each other’s work and reflect on the discoveries made during the process.
Note: Alin Uberti’s lecture is a theoretical introduction to this workshop. Therefore, attendance at the lecture is a prerequisite for workshop participants.
Participation in the workshops is free with prior registration. Due to limited capacity, participants will be selected based on submitted applications. Language of Rob Hayden’s and Alin Uberti’s sessions: English with translation.