Open Laboratory
SPATIAL DRAMATURGY
An insight of the research
Directed by Carlos García Estévez
May 29th to June 1st 2025, Amsterdam
Discover the innovative theatrical language of Spatial Dramaturgy, developed through the groundbreaking research of Manifesto Poetico.
This four-day Open Laboratory invites participants to delve into the creative processes and techniques pioneered by Carlos and his team. You will explore both individual training and collective composition, unlocking new possibilities for live arts in the present moment.
This Open Laboratory emphasizes space as the primary tool for artistic creation, enabling participants to develop a deeper understanding of spatial relationships and their dramatic potential. Carlos will share 25 years of global experience from laboratories and productions, presenting a pedagogy focused on the "here and now."
Whether you're an actor, director, or creator in the live arts, this activity offers an opportunity to expand your artistic vocabulary and explore new theatrical territories and styles. Beginners are welcome to apply but may be asked for an interview.
SPATIAL DRAMATURGY &THE FOUR DIMENSIONS
Open Laboratory @ School of Jacques Lecoq - Paris, July 2019
I imagine a place where everything begins with a spark…
I think of the vastness of the sea.
Of the stillness that holds movement.
A mystery that always flows.
The spark where the story of our lives begins.
I learn to create with what seems to be nothing,
And I discover that everything was already there.
To shape the light and bring life to what once seemed empty.
A space for life. A poetic life.
- Carlos García Estévez. December 2024, Madrid
What you will experience
Performer’s Training and Stage Composition
Hands-on experience with advanced tools and concepts, such as:
Internal System of Forces
Tensegrity (*) for Artistic Creation
Cinematic Theatrical Language
Pattern Language
Everyday Movement and Its Dynamics
Study the interaction of light, color, line, point, and plane. Explore their dynamics, dramatic justification, and application to three-dimensional composition.Spatial Patterns
Analyze both abstract and concrete patterns to transform the invisible into the visible, bridging worlds and connecting the tangible with the intangible.
(*) Tensegrity is a structural principle that relies on a balance of tension and compression to create a stable and self-supporting structure. The term "tensegrity" is a combination of "tension" and "integrity,”
We will approach this concept to represent the balance between opposing forces such as chaos and order, freedom and structure, or intuition and technique.)
“We intend to revolutionise theatre-making by advancing methods of visual composition and movement in order to be on par with contemporary visual communications such as film, social media, and even basic software visualisations (for example the formatting of iPhones, iPads, computers etc.) all the while being low-tech, hand-made and live.”
- PAIGE ALLERTON, CO-creator OF Spatial dramaturgy
"Carlos’ research has led him to new, innovative ways of looking at, constructing and directing theatre.
He makes theatre that is three dimensional, bringing depth, perspective and the geometry of daily life to theatre.
This creates what could be called a kind of spatial dramaturgy - not with set design, but with the moulding and manipulation of empty space.
Inspiring, generous and mischievous!"
- Michael Levine, Scenographer
"...powerful combination of abstraction and concreteness: on the one hand, there is the analysis of the abstract (spatial and temporal) qualities of theatre, and on the other, the ongoing attention for the concrete physical particularities of the arts of acting and storytelling."
- Wout van Tongeren - dramaturg & editor, Dutch National Opera & Ballet
The History of Spatial Dramaturgy
Founder and Artistic Director of Manifesto Poetico, Carlos García Estévez, initiated his research in 1998 when theatre pedagogue Jacques Lecoq provoked him to explore the tragic depth in Commedia dell’Arte and mask performance. During his time with Lecoq, Carlos encountered the work of Italian Nobel Prize winner, Dario Fo, who he later worked with. He also met mask sculptor Donato Sartori. In 2003 Carlos became Sartori´s pedagogical assistant and collaborator for 12 years. By the hand of Sartori he began to explore the architecture of gestures and the anthropology of the mask. With the Lecoq-Fo-Sartori influence and his own subsequent performance work and research Carlos became specialized in the dramaturgy and acting technique of Contemporary Commedia dell´Arte.
In 2011 Carlos started a consolidation of his own signature theatre expanding his research of masks to a greater concept of the mask on the space, not only the body.
With this process of abstraction Carlos developed tools and concepts such as an inner system of forces, Tensegrity applied to artistic creation, a cinematographic theatrical language, a pattern language and more, leading him to expand his work into a wider variety of theatrical territories and styles.
In collaboration with Paige Allerton, co-creator of Spatial Dramaturgy, Carlos further refined these tools and concepts, shaping them into a unique theatrical approach. Together, they contributed to the development of Manifesto Poetico's Spatial Dramaturgy, blending their expertise to expand the horizons of contemporary theatre.
This is what built the Spatial Dramaturgy of Manifesto Poetico today.
PRACTICAL INFOrmation
SPATIAL DRAMATURGY
An Insight of the Research
DATES May 29th to June 1st 2025
PRICE 380€
LOCATION Polanentheater - Polanenstraat 174
1013 WC Amsterdam
www.polanentheater.nl
Accommodation is NOT included.
The activity will be directed in English. Work sessions can be translated in French, Italian and Spanish.
TO APPLY Email your CV, photo and letter of motivation to info@manifestopoetico.com
Applicants will then be selected.
