Nonverbal masked play
Experience techniques used by puppeteers to enhance your theatrical performance and body expression, bringing an original touch to your interpretive talents.
Exact schedule
- Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Thursday, November 14, 2024, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Friday, November 15, 2024, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Saturday, November 16, 2024, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
- Sunday, November 17, 2024, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (open class at 2:00 PM)
This training includes a body preparation period followed by exercises that highlight the fundamentals of non-verbal masked performance. The activities will focus on improvisations based on created characters and situational setups.
General objectives
- Apply the fundamentals of non-verbal masked performance.
- Create characters using full larval and expressive masks.
- Develop situations for wordless performance based on the created characters.
Specific objectives
- Improve awareness of the three-dimensionality of the stage body.
- Adapt to the mask’s proposition and adopt the appropriate breathing and body transformation.
- Apply the principles of dissociation, rhythmic variation, and pauses to develop the character’s body language.
- Choose the right gesture or movement to make the character’s state understandable.
- Connect characters and develop actions that reveal the characters.
Any questions ?
Trainer
Trained in pantomime, corporeal mime, masked performance, and theatrical interpretation, Johanne Benoit was an actress and artistic director of Théâtre La Grosse Valise (1981-1991).
A scholarship recipient from Quebec and Canada, she refined her approach to movement and masked performance with Monika Pagneux and Guy Freixe, both trained by Jacques Lecoq. She holds a bachelor’s degree in drama education and has completed coursework for a master’s degree (UQAM). She leads workshops and theatrical productions focused on masked performance in Canada and France. In 2020, she co-directed a masked performance training with Guy Freixe in Charleville-Mézières.
A Professor of Alexander Technique since 2004, she incorporates these principles into her theatrical pedagogy and coaching for performing artists. She has been teaching at the Professional Theater School of Collège Lionel-Groulx since 1996, as well as in continuing education with the Union des artistes.
In 2017, she directed Trois petits vieux qui ne voulaient pas mourir, a text by Suzanne Van Lohuizen, produced by Théâtre du Frèt. The production was hosted by Théâtre du Balcon as part of the Off Festival Avignon from June 29 to July 21, 2024
She is part of the organizing committee for the Val David Masked Play and Puppet Theater Festival, 1001patentes qui bougent, which will present its fourth edition in July 2024.
The Non-verbal Masked Play training is hosted by the AQM in collaboration with the RQD and the UDA. The continuing education activities of the AQM are made possible through financial support from the Government of Quebec and are supported by the Intervention-Compétences program and the Conseil de la formation continue Arts et culture de l’Île-de-Montréal (CFC).
