CENTER FOR INTEGRAL ARTISTIC TRAINING

What is it?

A place where theatre artists and educators can meet to exchange experiences and know-how, to develop and grow, to share different views on education and art.

A place where teachers can develop their work creatively, by helping them explore new creative tools, through games, group work and the theatre, with which they can transmit their knowledge.

A place where specialized teachers from Mexico and abroad can be invited to share their knowledge and experience.

A place for researching and exploring new scenic and pedagogic languages, in the artistic as well as the social arenas.

Our training center is an open space aimed at encouraging an exchange of knowledge and experiences among educators and artists from all of Mexico as well as abroad, so that they may obtain ideas and techniques that can help raise the quality of their productions. Likewise, it is a space for training and advising teachers and social workers from different areas in the use of games, group work and theatrical techniques in their daily tasks.

The practical and ideological conception of our work

Our methodology is tightly linked to the principles of group work, and involves physical experimentation through games and exercises. This allows for a process of trial and error from which each person can develop his or her own conclusions and own manner of working.

We start from direct experiences which then lead to analysis, establishing from the very start a relationship of equality: the fact that each person may be fulfilling a different role does not imply that the leader is privy to the truth or that his or her opinions are above those of the others.

Grupo 55 considers human growth to be as important as artistic growth. We aim to train people who can and will work in a team, who are able to coordinate the efforts of many, who are willing to learn to listen and generate consensus, who will direct through suggestion and motivation and not coercion and abuse. We believe that this approach will not only help achieve better artistic results but will also help people develop personally towards more egalitarian, democratic principles and habits. This is a fundamental principle for us, and even more so in dealing with artists that wish to aim their work towards children and youths.

Group work, games and humor are our trademarks. Their wholesomeness is such that they allow us to establish a healthy, warm relationship with participants, as well as transmitting know-how and experience in a way that is accurate as well as enjoyable.

In the field of theatre, specifically, we identify with the method of physical actions, the use of corporal expression, training in improvisational techniques and the use and transformation of objects.

Objectives

The general objectives of our training center are:

1) To contribute to the formation of theatre artists by sharing our way of working in the fields of directing, acting, designing, playwriting and teaching.

2) To open an arena for public debate regarding tendencies and movements that may help generate new forms of theatrical language.

3) To offer a setting in which teachers, artistic groups and persons generally linked to social, educational and cultural activities may receive training and consulting.

4) To recollect experiences in order to disseminate them through printed media as well as the internet.

5) To nourish our own development through a constant flow between education, experimentation and theatrical creation.

Other spaces within the Center:

Besides the training area, which will offer various possibilities of workshops and courses, the Center will offer the following spaces:

* A video library (stocked with video recordings of live performances in theatre, dance, circus and special events, as well as movies, focusing on humor and silent film, and television programs on related subjects.)
* A text library, focusing on artistic education, theatre texts, scripts, related topics, translation of foreign texts, etc.
In this area we are trying to develop a novel program for obtaining texts, with the support of international specialists and the embassies of their respective countries. On the other hand, we are loading texts into the computer in order to be able to send them via email or the web.
* A game library (a large file of games and exercises categorized and ordered in such a way that the counselors can use them as didactic resources and as a guide for the development of new literature about theatrical pedagogy).
* Permanent counseling in all aspects concerning the creation and staging of shows, group techniques, theatrical technique, education through art, how to create games and exercises, how to write a proposal, how to organize a group, arts administration, fundraising, how to teach theatre in schools, how to use games and theatre for community projects, etc.

We thank the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes and the Programa de Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales (2003-2004) for their support.