Melbourne Physical Theatre School

Winter Workshops are dropping!!
This is a simple website to connect you to intense physical theatre training. Join the family of Melbourne performers who want to get gritty with their theatre.

Joining the mailing list will keep you updated about classes.
Name

Email

Comment
WINTER WORKSHOPS ARE HERE!

Bouffon: Play Fuels the Fire
Has your satirical eye been firing off lately?

ALMOST FULL! Only 2 places left!

Bouffon is a style of physical comedy that is rooted in satire, parody, grotesque and tragedy. It is created through wild ensemble play, a style of group improvisation called flocking.

Bouffon is a style of theatre that requires larger than life play. It is driven by the madness and absurdity of embodied child-like play. Characters, situations and themes become physically saturated and amplified. The writing of Bouffon typically moves towards the big, complex themes of humanity and injustices. The Bouffons love the shadows of society. They love hypocrisy. We must train the actors' sight to have a sharp eagle eye to SEE-IT-ALL. Then we must train the actor's body to be able to BECOME-IT-ALL. Bouffon is a style that fully embraces the art of shape-shifting.

We will ground ourselves in movement complicity through the technique of flocking. Then we will practice how to make theatrical moments bigger through the technique of amplification. The students will get the opportunity to choose themes to feed to the Bouffons. We will look at what to do when we improvise great work and then want to turn it into something repeatable and performable.
This workshop will be a great refresher course for previous Bouffoners and will also work as an introduction to the form for people who have not encountered it before.

Come and dance the wild dance of the Bouffons.

This Bouffon course is a pedagogic process devised and refined by Giovanni Fusetti. Giovanni has been my main teacher since 2017. As a performer I have studied many theatrical styles under his tutelage. As a teacher, I am one of three Australians to have completed ‘An Advanced Training in the Pedagogy of Movement Theatre’ with him in 2019. Alongside Giovanni my practice has been concretized in the Lecoq lineage of mask, mime and movement theatre.

Dates:
July 15th - 19th
Times:
9.30am - 5.00pm each day
1.00pm - 5.00pm (on Fri 19th)
Prices:
Early Bird (Payment due by Jun 15th): $600.00
Full Price (If paid after Jun 15th): $750.00
Mob tix: $500.00
A non-refundable deposit of $200.00 is required upon acceptance into the course.
Payment plans are available.

Minimum participants: 9
Maximum participants:12
Minimum number of participants must be enrolled by July 1st for the workshop to go ahead.

Location:
Coburg Uniting Church

APPLICATION LETTER
Please apply for this course by emailing Kimberley Twiner a letter of motivation. In the letter of motivation please outline what draws you to this work, your experience with physical theatre and performing and any other key motivating desires, hopes or fears. Email your application to ktwiner@gmail.com.

As some of you may know I am interested in running a longer term Bouffon creation project. Training in this 5 day module is compulsory to engaging in any longer term Bouffon project I may offer. Stay tuned for more info.
One Day Workshops
Fixed Point: The Magic of Stillness
Thurs 11th July, 9.30am - 4.30pm
If you have not stopped then you have not started. A day of exploring and practicing the technique of articulated stillness.
More info and booking link here.

There is no application process for these one day workshops you just book and you're in, all workshops require a minimum of 8 participants in order to go ahead.

All queries can be directed to ktwiner@gmail.com or 0468664466.
Past Workshops
Summer 2023/24
Australia Dell'Arte (2 weeks) - by Giovanni Fusetti
Clowns Life (2 weeks) - by Giovanni Fusetti
Winter 2023
Melodrama: More is More (3 days) - by Kimberley Twiner
Character: An Embodied Way In (3 days) - by Kimberley Twiner
Physical Theatre Conditioning: Invigorating the Poetic Body - by Kimberley Twiner
Mimodynamique Training: Animal Drives - by Kimberley Twiner
Autumn 2023
Physical Theatre Conditioning: Invigorating the Poetic Body - by Kimberley Twiner
Mimodynamique Training: Animal Drives - by Kimberley Twiner
Summer 2023
Mimodynamique of The Colours - by Kimberley Twiner
Bouffon (5 Days) - by Kimberley Twiner
Summer 2022
The 20 Movements - by Giovanni Fusetti
The Red Nose Journey - by Giovanni Fusetti
The Neutral Mask in Nature - by Giovanni Fusetti
The Spirit of Commedia dell'Arte - by Giovanni Fusetti
Winter 2021
Abbotsford Convent Pivot Residency Project - by Kimberley Twiner
Autumn 2021
Bouffon 2 Day Workshop - by Kimberley Twiner
Clown Play 2 Day Workshop - by Kimberley Twiner
Flock Fit in the Park Series - by Kimberley Twiner
Winter 2020
Outdoor Physical Theatre Conditioning Series - by Kimberley Twiner
Summer 2020
From the Neutral Mask to Red Nose - by Giovanni Fusetti
The Pedagogy of Bouffon - by Giovanni Fusetti
Bouffon and the Ecstasy of Mocking - by Giovanni Fusetti
Spring 2020
Drag 101: Performing Skills - by Kimberley Twiner
Character Charge Up - by Kimberley Twiner
Creative Food
Resources for the eyes and ears that capture something about the incapturable.

Books
Copeau: Texts on Theatre by Jacques Copeau
The Archetypal Artist by Mary Antonia Wood
A History of the Dance by Curt Sachs
Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
The Dance Cure by Dr Peter Lovatt
Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy by Barbara Ehrenreich
The Poetic Body (also known as The Moving Body) by Jacques Lecoq
Women Who Run With The Wolves by Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes
The Empty Space by Peter Brook
Why Is That So Funny? by John Wright
True and False by David Mamet
Every Little Movement by Ted Shawn
Listenings
Myths of the Family by James Hillman
The Creative Fire by Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes
The Politics of Feeling by James Hillman
Pagan Psychology by James Hillman
Pink Madness by James Hillman
The Blog
Thoughts, musings and ruminations.
Alison Croggon's Article
June 14, 2024
As promised here is the article. HERE
Mimodynamique Training: Movement Beyond the Self
May 18, 2023
The movement doesn’t mean something, it is something. Mimodynamique training is a type of theatre training that is grounded in one key principle: observe the world then imitate it. It is a pillar of the Lecoq pedagogy of Mask, Mime and Movement Theatre and can create a really liberating state...
A Theatrical Dare for 2023.
December 31, 2022
I dare you to make your theatre work radically theatrical. I dare you to return to the roots of this dance. I dare you to stop looking for new ideas. I dare you to play fiercely with old ideas. I dare you to imitate your themes. I dare you to use your body first. I dare you to study...
Mailing List
Follow the impulse. Get in touch.
Name

Email

Message

Comment
About
Here's the background...
Melbourne Physical Theatre School was officially started by Kimberley Twiner in 2019. It is a place for high quality training in the Lecoq lineage, taught by local, national and international maestros. Kimberley's main collaborating teacher is Giovanni Fusetti.

Kimberley is a Melbourne based performer, director and teacher. She is a Fusetti, Bolton and Gaulier trained performer. In 2019 she studied THE PEDAGOGIC JOURNEY: An Advanced Training in Movement Theatre under the tutelage of Giovanni Fusetti. This was a study into teaching the within the Lecoq lineage of mime and movement training.

Kimberley is obsessed with many aspects of theatre training and believes that technical training and play-based training hold hands with each other. Play without technique doesn't work, and technique without play doesn't work. Kimberley seeks to train people in a non-personal way, because theatre trangresses the personal, a performer must go beyond their own private experience. Mask, mime and movement training is her core passions to move towards a dynamic theatre.

Kimberley's expertise is found in devised physical comedy, clown, bouffon and character comedy. Her practice is ensemble powered, devised and deeply collaborative. Her current working ensembles are PO PO MO CO, The Beaks, Fish & Twiner's Bait Shop, The Bouffonery, The Wholesome Hour and Brunswick East Entertainment Festival.
Read More