OUR ACTING CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
PIRANDELLO, 150 YEARS OF THEATRE
Advanced Workshop in Italian Acting and Interpretation
From 5 to 22 June 2017, in occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Nobel Prize winner author Luigi Pirandello,
the Italian Institute of Culture – Montreal hosted the
International School for Italian Theatre "Giovanni Grasso", founded by Valerio Vittorio Garaffa and Chiara Cimmino together with dr. Marco Piana, a PhD student and lecturer in Italian language and culture at McGill University and The Italian Institute of Culture, Montreal.
During their three weeks of training, 15 – 20 selected students studied and worked closely with TEATRO DEL DISÌO and professionals of Italian theatre and literature, improving their skills in language and culture, acting, diction, text analysis and interpretation. Training activity went hand in hand with the preparation and staging of Luigi Pirandello’s One act Plays (All’uscita, L’imbecille, Sagra del Signore della Nave) at the Casa d’Italia theater, in the heart of Little Italy in Montreal.
Workshop 2018 - ROSSINI LAB
Advanced Workshop in Italian Acting, lyrical singing and Interpretation
From 7 May to 1 June 2018, in occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of Gioacchino Rossini, the International School for Italian Theatre “Giovanni Grasso” and the Italian Institute of Culture will hold Rossini Lab, an Advanced Workshop in Italian Acting, lyrical singing and Interpretation addressed to 10 selected students.
During their four weeks of training, the students studied and worked closely with the acting teacher Chiara Cimmino and Valerio Vittorio Garaffa (TEATRO DEL DISÌO).
Commedia dell’Arte and Masks
Taking as its starting point the Commedia dell’Arte, TEATRO DEL DISÌO has returned to that great Italian tradition, in order to explore the masks and the body language, so as to go beyond mere verbal communication.
The neutral mask and the expressive masks amplify body communication, and changes the body to be an expressive dictionary with its own rules.
You will be guided to find your personal approach that will lead to creation of new kinds of masks and characters.
Italian Theatre (Ariosto, Machiavelli, Leon Battista Alberti, Alfieri...)
You will enjoy the experience of totally immersing yourself into the work of some classic Italian theatre authors.
A number of them are not much read even by Italians, although they have made significant literary contributions to the craft. Their plays are often written in an archaic form of the Italian language that has fallen out of use.
You will be guided into their world, disclosing the emotions hidden behind their words. Their meaning and universal timeless appeal will become crystal clear, leaving you with a burning desire to read, recite and act in their plays.
Acting in verse
Shakespeare and Dante’s "Divina Commedia"
The great poets, like Dante and Shakespeare, were experts in giving expression to the human soul going beyond words, using rhythm and melody skillfully crafted in terms of vowels, consonants and silences.
The workshop is aimed at those who wish to discover the power of sound in verse, by putting Shakespearean verse in juxtaposition with that of an ancient and musical language, as is Italian.
Even those who don’t possess a deep knowledge of Italian can discover how the sound of poetry can break down the barriers of purely logical meaning, by way of direct experience through the process of reciting and acting.
Greek Tragedy
This is a must workshop. Greek tragedy is considered a bedrock of European culture mainly due to the role of the Greek chorus which, through the use of powerful poetry, communicated in a familiar yet ancestral language, evoking a deep collective response in the actors and in the audience.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
First Prize - "Premio Mazzella" Award for Best Writing in Schools
In 2015 Valerio Vittorio Garaffa and Chiara Cimmino Sander were awarded First Prize in the prestigious "Premio Mazzella", a nationally recognized Award for Best Writing in Schools, after having led their students in writing the play Interplanet and then having directed it on stage. The students were invited to perform at the prestigious Teatro Quirino in Rome. They were awarded a Medal by the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.
“Il Bonci per le scuole” – Festival Nazionale del Teatro Scolastico
In 2016 the Jury of “Il Bonci per le scuole”, the prestigious National Festival of Theatre in Schools (Emilia-Romagna, Italy) drew attention to the play Interplanet as a work of particular note.
IX Festival dell’Incanto – Roddi
In 2013 Cymbeline was selected for the 9th edition of the “Festival dell’Incanto – Roddi” (Piemonte, Italy).
PLAYS