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Munich Now (2014)

Teaching & Mentorship /

Summer Lab Intensive

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Only One Yellow Rabbit

Only 1 Summer Lab Intensive

 

Established in 1997, the Summer Lab Intensive is an unconventional three-week master class for actors, writers, directors, dancers and all other artists interested in performance-based creative practice. The Lab teaches performance creation techniques, enhances your performance skills and stimulates your imagination. Throughout the process, we aim to fascinate, motivate and initiate your creative abilities – the experience is about transformation.

With a mixture of emerging and established artists, the Summer Lab Intensive uses an integrated approach during the teaching process with the emphasis on exploring individual personal aesthetic. Instructors work closely with artists to provide a truly meaningful experience.

One Yellow Rabbit's Summer Lab Intensive

 

Who Are You Now?

Artists of the Summer Lab Intensive should expect to be immersed in the creation principles honed by One Yellow Rabbit since 1985:

  • Economy, precision, and relaxation.
  • There are no "rules" to creation except the ones you invent yourself.
  • Imagination is key.
  • A solid understanding of all elements of performance and creation is necessary to authentically engage an audience.
  • Practice and discipline are necessary throughout the entire process, from creation to warm-up and finally to performance.
  • Honest experience creates the most powerful art.

“Our idea is to create a safe place where artists can explore their personal aesthetic without judgment. The Lab is not just a philosophical exercise or a place where we just talk. We are active in our bodies investigating performance theatre.”

— Denise Clarke, Founder and Director of the Summer Lab Intensive, OYR Associate Artist

What Can You Expect From the Summer Lab?

Throughout the Summer Lab Intensive artists will work to create both a solo and group performance for an invited audience. Although guided with questions and inspiration derived from exercises, suggestions and a daily practice led by instructors, these works are wholly
self-generated.

Each day of the Summer Lab begins with The Player: Physical Practice and Discovery Without Rules, taught by Denise Clarke. A physical
warm-up adaptable to the needs and abilities of each participant is followed by a series of investigations and exercises and techniques as utilized by the OYR Ensemble.

The second half of the day is divided into two sessions, The Gaze: The Observer and the Observed, led by Chris Cran and Text: Words From the World, led by Blake Brooker. To motivate, initiate and transform artists’ ideas of performance, guest artists are also invited to perform pieces and lead conversations on their work.

Multiple rehearsal venues are provided for artists to create and rehearse out of sessions, and opportunities for artists to socialize outside of class are provided, such as the delightful/challenging Stampede Parade Breakfast. One Yellow Rabbit is proud to have played host to a long and distinguished list of past Summer Lab Intensive Artists.

“The teachers are exceptional, each recognized national leaders in their respective fields, and more importantly they are personally and genuinely engaged in the process of learning; giving the participants not only the fruits of their experience but the constant re-assessment and exploration of the theatrical art form itself.”

— Peter Hinton O.C., Theatre Director/ Playwright.

 

Interested in finding out more?  Email us today

Denise Clarke

Associate Artist

Denise Clarke is an Associate Artist with One Yellow Rabbit and is the Director of the OYR Summer Lab Intensive. She has created or co-created several shows for OYR including The Erotic Irony of Old Glory, Touch, Breeder, So Low, Featherland, Sign Language, A Fabulous Disaster, Smash, Cut, Freeze and wag. In 2013, Denise was awarded an honourary doctorate from the University of Calgary and made a Member of the Order of Canada.

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Blake Brooker

Artistic Director

Blake Brooker is an award-winning writer and director. He has created or collaborated on such productions as The Erotic Irony of Old Glory, Tears of a Dinosaur, Serpent Kills, The Land The Animals, Dance Freak, Breeder, Permission, Alien Bait, The Ugly Man, Conniption Cabaret, Mata Hari: Tigress at the City Gates, and many others, which have been presented throughout Canada, and in Europe, Australia and Asia. In 2015, Blake was made a Member of the Order of Canada. 

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Chris Cran

Instructor for the One Yellow Rabbit Summer Lab Intensive. Chris Cran is an internationally renowned visual artist and has been widely exhibited across Canada. He is an instructor for the Alberta College of Art and Design and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Chris Cran was born in Ocean Falls, British Columbia in 1949 and grew up in Salmon Arm, B.C. He is a graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary. His paintings have been widely seen in exhibitions across Canada as well as at the 49th Parallel Gallery, New York City (1992) and in the Fourth International Painting Biennial, Cuenca, Ecuador (1994). Cran’s paintings investigate perception and illusion and the viewer’s role in how images are formed. He lives and works in Calgary.  Chris Cran is represented by TrépanierBaer Gallery in Calgary.