Acting Methods Reconsidered: New perspectives in Acting Practice in a metacovid world

Marathon Acting Symposium
14-30 July 2022

Hosted by Marathon Run Start Venue, Marathon, Greece
Marathon Acting Symposium is an international Event held under the auspices of The
Makings of the Actor in collaboration with the Municipality of Marathon, supported by
Labanarium and organized by Post-doctoral Researcher Dr Kiki Selioni Royal Central
School of Speech and Drama, University of London.

Gathering onsite in Marathon, this Symposium will contain a wide range of events
including Conference (research papers and presentations as well as teaching
demonstrations), Workshops and Performances. Further, this Summer Event will
offer a special training program that meets the needs of the contemporary actor as
formed in the educational and artistic institutions as well as informed by techniques
such as archery and riding.

Bringing together practitioners and scholars in the field of actor-training, this year’s
conference will also celebrate the launch of a new actor-training initiative to be run by
the Makings of the Actor in the Municipality of Marathon, Greece. By reconsidering
and reevaluating the existing methods prevalent in actor-training our initiative is aimed
at addressing the holistic education of the actor in the 21st century, in order to establish
new perspectives and approaches within the field of acting.

In recognition of both the global reach of this theme and the expansive network of interested
practitioners and scholars, as well as the impact of the current pandemic, participants are
invited to take part either in person or virtually. Conference proceedings will be live-streamed;
papers, and where appropriate workshops and demonstrations, can be presented remotely.

CONFERENCE: Acting Methods reconsidered: New perspectives in Acting Practice in a metacovid world

Call for papers and teaching demonstrations
Building on the success of the last years’ conferences in various cities, The Makings of
the Actor, invite submissions for presentations and papers for this summer’s
conference, which is part of the Festival/Symposium, in Marathon, Greece.

Keynote speakers:
Ramunė Balevičiūtė Associate Professor in Theatre Studies, Lithuanian Academy of
Music and Theatre, Lithuania.

Prof. Nikos Geladas Dean of the School of Physical Education and Sports Science
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens GR

Prof. Bharat Gupt Former Faculty, Delhi University, Trustee and Executive Member,
INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL CENTER FOR THE ARTS, (Ministry of Culture),
New Delhi, India.

Laura Wayth Associate Professor of Theatre, School of Theatre and Dance, San
Francisco State University, USA

Although we are at the most contagious phase of the pandemic and skeptical about the
future, we are nevertheless optimistic about the fact that we are in the last stages of the
pandemic. Our thoughts are on what will open up before us and what changes it will
bring about in our lives. Namely what our theatre education will look like in a metacovid world.

The word meta in Greek means more things than the usual translation as post. It means
later in the near future or after something else. The meaning depends on the words that
accompany the word meta. The word meta is also associated with the concept of
temporality as a later that never arrives. In Greece the word is mockingly associated
with stagnation in perpetuity. The danger is visible in the prospect of living in an
imaginary landscape where any change means progress, or evolution, while constantly
being stuck at the same point.

In theatre education we are at a critical place where we need to redefine our
understanding of the art of acting, considering the new demands of the industry. In these
critical times the need to come together and discuss, to experience the teamwork and
contact that our art demands, is imperative. Moreover, in times of crisis, it is necessary
to return to ancient knowledge, to review their evolution up to the present day and to
move forward on the basis of what unites us.

What unites us is our freedom to search for every new perspective and knowledge,
considering the values that concern human existence. The theatre as it was born and
presented to us by ancient Greek thought is the answer to a world of contradictions and
conflict.

In his article “Nietzsche’s ‘Daimonic Force’ of Tragedy and Its Ancient Traces”
Stephen Halliwell quotes Nietzsche’s wonder, at how the warlike Greeks, are watching
and reacting with fear and pity to this emotional praxis:
Men of fundamentally warlike temper, as for example the Greeks in the time of
Aeschylus, are difficult to move to emotion, and when pity does for once defeat
their hardness it grips them like an ecstasy and like a ‘demonic force’ – they then feel
themselves unfree and excited by a religious shudder. Afterwards they have their
reservations about this state of mind; so long as they are undergoing it, they enjoy
the rapture of being-outside-oneself and of the miraculous mixed together with the
bitterness wormwood of suffering: that is a drink fit for warriors, something special,
dangerous, and bittersweet that is not easily granted to a person. It is to souls that
experience pity in this way that tragedy is addressed, to hard and warlike souls that
are defeated only with difficulty, whether by fear or by pity, but for which it is useful
from time to time to grow soft. …When the Athenians had become softer and more
sensitive, in the time of Plato – ah, yet how far they still were from the emotional
sentimentality of those who dwell in our cities, both large and small! – the
philosophers already made complaints about the harmfulness of tragedy (Halliwell,
Arion II.I Spring/ Summer 2003).

The theatre is concerned with a particular experience of existence whence man is not
judged but deeply understood. Its axis is the power of life not its loss of life. In Aristotle,
the entelechy of existence is life not death. The stage praxis is defined as the foundation
of a great active moment of full bodily consciousness of an existence that lasts beyond
the stage as a psychic uplift. The stage is the place where the body is experienced,
celebrated, attuned in its contact with the rhythmic energy of the bodies of the audience
in a mind-lightning φρίττειν (shuddering) and understood physically and spiritually as a
deep pleasure of coexistence.

If Ancient Greek thought has managed to distinguish itself in science and philosophy, it
has excelled in the theatre, reversing the warlike nature of instincts by contrasting the
physical and spiritual explosion of human life on the stage.

Theatre was born out of the need to protect freedom of expression and to build an inner
world sensitive to human values. Now, after centuries of conflict and collisions, the
theatre must make a new start for it to contribute to the development of a world that must
eliminate all hatred and hostility from its words and actions. Let us hope that this meta
will mark a real change towards a better way of dealing with our problems.

In the historic district of Marathon, we invite all our friends and colleagues, practitioners
and academics, to an open discussion about our common future about the difficult times
we are experiencing in a dramatically changing world.

In addition, our proposal includes in the training of the actor techniques such as arm
wrestling, riding, archery, equestrian archery, shooting, rowing, etc. The knowledge and
training of the actors in these techniques are an essential tool for their professional
competence since the current needs of films and action series require multiple skills.
Special training activity expands the boundaries of the actor’s kinesthetic consciousness
to the main goal of the art of acting which is the transformation of the actor’s body that
allows him to perform different roles.

Physical Acting differs from acting in that the focus is not on the interpretation of
a role or character in a narrative, but on the materiality of the actor’s body and
what can be done with it as a medium. Just as a painter paint with colour, Physical
Acting paints with the body. The emphasis is not on the predetermined structure
of a play, story, or other dramatic source. It relies on presence, being oneself on
stage, exploring and exploiting the body’s full capacity, and working with others
in space as a primary mode of investigation (Paul Allain, Actor Trainer PATAZ,
Professor of Theatre and Performance, University of Kent)
https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/physical-actor-training

The choice of the Municipality of Marathon, apart from the historical name due to the
famous battle of Marathon and the Marathon Road, also offers the appropriate building
facilities and spaces.

With these thoughts in mind, our research into the training of the actor directs itself
towards a number of core questions:

• What elements make up the practice of today’s actor based on the creative
coexistence of cultures and mentalities and full respect for otherness?

• What forms of dance or athletic training serves the actor best?

• In what ways are these capacities being applied to performance making and
choreographic practices in live performance and film? And how might these
industry requirements feedback into training practices?

• What can field such as psychology and applied kinesiology offer to actor
training?

• Are we contemporaries or do we are still enduring a meta that last for centuries?

The themes this conference seeks to address include, but are not limited to:
-Stanislavsky and his legacy
-Michael Chekhov Acting method
-Yat Malmgrgeen and his legacy
-American School in Acting
-Laban Studies and Acting
-Lecoq method as a tool in Acting
-New approaches and Methods
-Acting training and coaching
-Voice training for performers on stage/screen/radio/
-Dance and movement training for actors
-Acting for dancers
-Presence on stage and on screen for actors and dancers
-Training for musicals
-Martial Arts
-Stunt Acting Training
-Kinesiology in Acting
-Historical dances training
-Dance and choreography in theatre practice and on screen
-Acting and dance in physical theatre practices
-Physical theatre and Performance Art practices
-Directing actors and dancers on stage and on screen
-Spiritual and intellectual training for the contemporary actor
-Theory and practice in acting practices
-Presence, truthfulness and somatic awareness on stage
-Actor and musical productions
-Improvisation techniques and the rehearsal process
-Acting in Education
-Actors in industry and their continuous training
-Skills and dexterities in acting
-Acting/coaching teachers and their skills.
-Mime in Acting practice
-Acting and Sports

We are open to applications for the following:
We welcome submissions from acting/voice/movement/dance teachers, acting coaches, theatre practitioners, actors, directors, dancers, choreographers, film directors, dance-film directors, training practitioners, theatre and dance researchers and academic researchers within varying aspects of practice.

For papers, please send your abstract of 200 words for your oral presentation in Word doc
form, including title, institutional affiliation, your brief CV and email address. The paper
presentations will be 40 min, followed by a 10 min discussion with the audience/participants.
We accept submissions for online paper presentations.
Submissions of teaching demonstrations must be in English and can be up to 4 pages (including references and figures) in a Word doc form, including title, institutional affiliation,
your brief CV and email address. The first 2 pages are expected to describe your approach.
The third and fourth pages are expected to be used for images, references, and technical requirements. You can expect wireless network access. 15-25 students will be provided for all
accepted demonstrations. The demonstrations allow practitioners/researchers to demonstrate
their works in teaching in a dedicated session of 100 min., followed by a 20 min discussion
with the audience/participants.

Please send your submission by the 25th of April 2022 to:
kiki.selioni@cssd.ac.uk and cc΄to: info@themakingsactor.com

Acceptance Notification: 29th April 2022

If an official invitation is required earlier for research funding purposes, please contact
kiki.selioni@cssd.ac.uk and ensure that you submit your abstract as early as possible.

Conference Registration fees:
Paper presentations fees: 120€
Teaching demonstration: 200 €
Attendants fees: 200€
Student & unwaged fees: 100 €
Paper presentations, teaching demonstrations and performances will be held between 14– 22 July 2021.

Workshops will be held 14-30 July

facilitated by:
Lars Andersen Archery Teacher
Rasmus Blad Bjørkvad Choreographer, Movement Teacher
Barbara Berkely Dialectic coach
Joanna Labon Yoga Teacher
Andy Long Film Director, Stunt Choreographer
Vladimir Mirodan Acting Teacher
Kasper Ravnhoj Choreographer, Movement Teacher
Tim Robins Acting Teacher
Rob Roznowski Acting Teacher
Morwenna Rowe Voice Teacher
Iraqi Bodies Performance Art Training

Important note: We will announce soon the detailed program of the
workshops and performances.
https://themakingsoftheactor.com
For info: kiki.selioni@cssd.ac.uk