Ntina Kafterani

Theatrical workshop for adults

 

Talking body - Embodied speech

 

 

 

The context - the vision

 

The self-organized theatre. A theatre that operates autonomously: outside of state or private institutions. The personal artistic vision here meets and co-constitutes with the collective vision of freedom, solidarity, autonomy. And this encounter permeates both the creative process and the organization: technique, virtuosity, the treatment of the body, the other, the text, rhythm, labor relations, the wage, here all tend to resonate with the frequencies of the vision. 

It traces trickles of poetry behind  Omonia

 It sows seeds of courage

It blows questions that keep the hearth of the resistance burning 

 It suggests the ecstatic experience of life in the face of sterile and dry submission.

It cherishes the questioning of all dogma, the disruption of imposed normality and the unmasking of the arrogance of authority.

Within this framework, how is the artistic work formed?

  

The workshop

 

How does the rhythm of the world change within me? 

Talking Body-embodied speech

 

Talking body: the body as the bearer of its history, personal and collective. 

The body as a living space and as a grid of power, as a centre of production and consumption of energy. The individual body-the collective body.

How do socio-political conditions shape my relationship with my body?

The body today after quarantine and confinement, in this environment of fear and repression, with the rise of fascism, gender violence, hyper-information and virtual reality.

We will listen to the vibration of the present as it is imprinted on the individual and collective body.

We will search for the body that is co-opted , the rebellious body.

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Embodied speech - the dance of concepts

words in the body-the melody of meaning, the rhythm of contemplation

Does freedom have a melody?

What is the rhythm of justice?

Is the tune of the universe musical? Can I dance to it, can I sing it?

 

The workshop consists of two parts running in parallel: 

1) Dramaturgical editing-internal discussions: 

(a) emergence of concepts and themes of interest to the particular circle

b) collection of texts

2) Stage action

Work on stage presence and group process. Through this work we will approach the texts selected.

 

The aim is to create a performance form to be presented at the end of the workshop.

The workshop is addressed to actors, dancers, musicians and art lovers. And while no previous experience is necessary, a desire for experimentation, exhibition-direction and play is absolutely essential.

 

 The first three classes will be open and then the cycle will close.

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Dina Kafterani is an actress, director and animator. 

Her studies at the Department of History and Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, at the drama school "Arhi", as well as her apprenticeship with Anneza Papadopoulou and Tapa Sudana have shaped the dominant fields of her interest and work: with influences from anthropological, folk and street theatre, she is constantly working on the relationship between theatre and politics, while on a practical level she has focused on the relationship between concepts and music.

 

 As an actor , director and animator she has worked with various institutions, theatres and foundations such as the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , the Kapodistrian University, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the Mantra Blokku Monument of Kokkinia, the Network for Theatre, in education, etc. But mostly she has worked in the field of self-organized theatre, participating in numerous performances as well as in movements and mobilizations for art and free expression in public space.

Since 2008 she has been directing Stray Bitches. Stray Bitches is a self-organized, music-theatre group that has been presenting the Waltz of the Dirty Streets for 15 years. Waltz is a concert-like performance, a political cabaret inspired by contemporary socio-political reality. So far the Stray Bitches have presented 7 versions of the Waltz. They have performed in many music and theatre venues, in self-managed spaces and barricades. In recent years with Angelos Angelides, the composer and musician of the Strays, they present the "Cinquanta Drachma", a performance of rhythmic speech, and "The mystery of the world", a musical monologue in texts, rhymes and lyrics of her own and music composition and performance by Angelos Angelides.

Since 2006, she has been teaching theatre to children and adults, amateurs and professionals, in Athens and in various municipalities and communities. Author of "The Tales escaped", a play for children, commissioned by the Argo Theatre, . The performance was presented at the Argo Theatre in the winter of 2015.