International Creative Team launch tour for 2010
	Aims of our workshops
	Background
	Why use puppetry?
	Why use Brain Gym?
	Workshop participants feedback
	Our short workshops
	Specialised workshops
	Lectures
	Biography's
	New workshops
	Puppetry for Film-and-Television
	Paper Meditation Workshop
	Object Improvisation Workshop
	Workshop News and Views

We conduct Puppetry for Film-and-Television Workshops, Object Improvisation and Paper Meditation Workshops in high schools, universities throughout Australia and internationally.

The workshop can take the form of a once off three-hour experience; a full-day or a regular weekly creative development session with your students. We are also able to offer specifically targeted workshops at your location, or in our own fully-equipped studios at Sydney Film School.

• Puppetry for Film-and-Television Workshop
  In our puppetry for Film-and-Television Workshops, participants are taken on a journey through the different creative stages of producing a short film or television scenario. Starting with the concept, ideas are brainstormed, developed into a scenario and television puppets are designed and then built by the participants, dependant upon the look and feel of the piece. The rehearsal process then begins, which is followed by performances, which are video taped and thereafter discussed by the group. These workshops are usually held at Sydney Film School. Watch the News and Views page for details of upcoming events and workshops!

  
  

• Paper Meditation Workshop
  Starting from the point of zero, we go inside ourselves to rediscover our lost childhood creativity. During a guided meditation, the students are taken on a short journey into a quiet space from which they will explore a sheet of brown paper in the darkness.

  We begin in the darkness with a sheet of paper, relying mainly on the sense of touch. We experience the sound the paper makes when touched and moved. The paper forms shapes and moves in different ways. It can transform, fold, be manipulated or take over the manipulator. The sheet of paper becomes the co-performer and can interact with the manipulator. The paper transforms into a metaphor, with the sounds or voice of the manipulator.

  Paper is a non-conventional way of expression. Starting from a touch in the darkness, hence removing the visual element, the blockage is removed to let inner creativity flow freely.

  In today's world, the puppeteer gets too comfortable with the visual, there is too much dependence on the material. In the darkness we remove the distance. By adapting ancient traditions, we bring it back to the modern theatre by connecting with the original self.

  
  

• Object Improvisation Workshop
  Sitting in a circle, different shaped and textured objects are passed around. This is done in darkness, so that the objects are touched and not seen. Each participant chooses an object which appeals to him and passes it on to the others. When each person has their object, the group are left alone for a few minutes to discover and explore their objects. They explore the texture, the sound it makes, the movement possibilities of the object and a short scenario it can create, either together or in a group with other objects.

  The darkness encourages the performer not to rely only on the visual, but to explore the other possibilities of the object, the texture, movement and sounds it can create alone or in harmony with the performer.

  For further information or bookings, kindly contact us!

 
     International Puppetry Links:

     The Puppetry Home Page, USA
     Marionette site, Charleville, France
     UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette)
     Australian UNIMA
     THEMAA - French Puppetry Website
     Handspring Puppet Company, South Africa