'Presence & Play in Scenework' with Tara and Rance (The Nest Theatre)

Discovery Over Invention - A Joyful Romp into Presence & Play in Scenework

with Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Rizzutto

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION (from the instructors):

We will start the day with presence exercises designed to keep you in the moment, implement tools to get you out of your head and stay in the scene you're in, and later focus on creating without demanding of your partner, but collaborating with them to find the new idea born between you. Most of the stagnation of improvisation comes when we, the player, miss what is already happening between us. Rather than leaning desperately on formulas that can work ("pattern", "game", etc.), we should lean instead towards our scene-mate to explore "zero moments" that will only be born when there is alchemy between players. Be ready to work, to think, to explore, to discuss, and play; Connection is what we all want in this artform and also what we spend the most time avoiding. We want to know what kind of player you are, and what more is possible by the end of the day. Must haves: A full heart, a curious mind, and the will to see what else is possible if we truly let go.

TEACHER BIO:

Tara DeFrancisco is a headlining performer at iO Chicago (on the Deltones, Chaos Theory, Armando, defrancisCo), ComedySportz (Mainstage), and a three year vet of the Second City Touring Company. She’s taught for those theatres and independently, both at home and internationally. Media-wise, you might see her in a Las Vegas commercial campaign, on Delusions of Grandeur (ABC Family/Blip TV), soon in the new feature film The Life & Death of an Unhappily Married Man (2015), or in several projects filmed for the satirical newspaper, The Onion.

She is also the founder and president of The Improv Retreat (http://theimprovretreat.com), the acclaimed and beloved summer camp for adult improvisers in the midwest. In March of 2015, weekly residency of Here (a two person longform improvised musical, performed with Rance Rizzutto) is scheduled for Thursdays at iO around their worldwide tour dates. Tara has won numerous awards, including Top Performer in Chicago from New City, Funniest Person in Chicago by the Free Press, Top 25 Of Comedy in the US by Curve Magazine, as well as Chicago Tribune Show of the Season for the long running renegade feat, defrancisCo.

Rance Rizzutto started doing improv with ComedySportz in Portland as well as joining Portland’s longest running sketch comedy troupe, The Third Floor. Since moving to Chicago in 2003 he has performed with ComedySportz, The Second City Chicago, DSI (The Beatbox), Silent Treatment (award winning two-person silent improv), seven8nine, and various other improv teams and venues. He currently teaches for iO, and has taught for ComedySportz and Second City in the past. He has taught in 51 cities in 18 countries (as of May 2017) including Estonia, Germany, Copenhagen, and Latvia.

DETAILS:

Saturday, 18 May

11:00 - 16:00 (4-hour workshop, 1 hour lunch break)

Location: Cliffordstudios - Kleine studio

€60 per participant (cash on day)