Suzuki/Viewpoint Training
The Training Group was founded in the Fall of 2008 with the purpose of providing a training space for actors who have had prior experience in the Viewpoints and Suzuki techniques and wish to further explore the use of these techniques. These two techniques are most famously taught by the members of the SITI Company (a New York based theatre company led by director Anne Bogart) and the majority of the group have trained with them in the past. These day the group includes a core of about 10 active members who participate regularly and some 20 supporting members who participate sporadically. Through continuous practice with these techniques the actors gain acute awareness to their bodies in relation to time and space as well as to other actors around them.
The Viewpoints technique was developed by choreographer and dance teacher Mary Overly and adapted for actor training by Anne Bogart and the Suzuki technique was developed by acclaimed Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki and his company. These techniques complement one another as part of the overall training process. While the Viewpoints technique is geared toward facilitating improvisation and group creation, the Suzuki technique is based on strict forms and routines (kata) through which the actors develop strong physical presence and a better sense of their bodies in space. In each 3 hour session we train for 90 minutes with each technique. The work is led by some of the more experienced members of the group. Members interested in joining the group should contact Claire Redfield via the JCC at info@japaneseculturecenter.com