THE JOURNEY OF THE INITIATION OF THE ACTOR-CREATOR
Theatre is PLAY. Imitation, transposition and re-invention of the world. It's a very ancient human expression, based on the pleasure of playing, awareness of the dynamics of life, and the rigor of technique.
It's a space where life is represented, celebrated and transformed through the body. This is a process that requires observation and curiosity in front of the mystery and wonder of life in movement. The Actor-Creator is a poet who enters the journey of discovering the world and manifests the world’s beauty through poetical forms. S/he is the poet of ecstasy. Her/his body is the body of the world.
Helikos’ pedagogic work is, and will be, a constantly evolving process. It's an alchemy in which we distill the best of our findings. The latest version is always the most updated. A fundamental reference is the Theatre Pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq. But many are the sources that have nourished and inspired it: Gestalt-therapy, Western Bioenergetics (Wilhelm Reich), Martial Arts, Taoism (Wutao), the practice of the state of playing (le jeu) as an Altered State of Consciousness induced by movement and breathing, and Process Work (Process Oriented Psychology), as well as Theatre of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal, Community Theatre and Theatre in Education. The integration of different practices has lead to the creation and development of a pedagogy with multiple branches.
PEDAGOGY OF MOVEMENT
The BODY is considered the first dimension of knowledge and sensitivity of the theatre artist and the foundation for theatrical language. The experience and study of the body moving in space leads to the progressive discovery of the laws of movement and of artistic creation. Nature, in the sense of "the movement of life" is our master.
PEDAGOGY OF PLAY
Play (le jeu) exists when the rigor of technique joins with the pleasure of the artist. The "playing" actor represents and reinvents the world, revealing its poetic richness, becoming the “Homo Ludens,” a poet through gestures. S/he works with rigorous fun and disciplined folly. Play is a particular state of consciousness and each theatrical genre flows from a specific “state”. The ability to reach this state in order to play and to create from it is the essence of the shapeshifting vitality of the actor. To play is to be aware of all connections and to constantly "react" to movement; it's ecology in motion.
PEDAGOGY OF CREATION
The Actor is the Creator of her/his own work. The aim of the school is to train artists capable of developing their own voice in an autonomous way (arte). This is work that inspires not only theatre artists but any person who is interested in creating her/his own life journey. Pedagogy is a space of research and practice, where the world is recreated every day, and the pleasure of learning and teaching provokes the students to develop their own unique, poetic identity and theatrical folly. Both the teachers and the students are servants of the creative process.
PEDAGOGY OF INITIATION
The actor, as both poet and creator, is a shapeshifter, journeying in the footsteps of ancient shamans and working every day to refine and develop her/his perception of reality, and to train her/his expressive skills. For these purposes, several pedagogical tools are creatively integrated within a unique "alchemic pot." In the journey of the discovery of the world, the artist meets her/himself in a new way and transforms her/his inner world, to turn this inner world into a conscious instrument for poetry. S/he needs to face her/his own powers and her/his own wounds, often merged in a mysterious alchemy of consciousness. The pedagogic purpose is not only to train theatre artists, but to accompany them towards a wider state of consciousness, in order to work consciously with personal powers: emotions, life experiences, visions, wounds, and desires. In the journey through theatre genres, the actor/creator discovers how each genre appeals to different dynamics of the individual and of society, and therefore has unique and peculiar powers and potentials.