CPPM Open Class with Stacy Makishi

One of the most rewarding aspects of being in the audience of Contemporary Physical Performance Making (CPPM) is that, due to the open nature of the programme, we get to watch the performers develop as artists over the course of two years’ work, together and with more-established artists. It’s one thing to follow along with someone’s career on social media, but being in the same space – and being a necessary part of the artists’ own experience and development, present as audience to their physical performance – is fascinating. And that’s before we consider the opportunity to see the more-established artists running the workshop in action – the programme’s open classes, workshops, and performances are an education for the public as well as good entertainment. 

Having attended their first group performance but missing the subsequent events, the open class with Stacy Makishi was my  was my first chance to check in on the cohort in months. Rather than a full performance, the open class combines prepared focus pieces, interludes of instructor-student lecture and one-on-one exercises, and opportunities for audience participation, making full use of the EAMT Blackbox space. Indeed, the show begins in the lobby as Makishi welcomes the audience and cautions us to lower our expectations – this is not a polished show but a living classroom. At the centre of her workshop with the student-artists, she explains, is an exploration of shame; the students circulate with paper and pencils so we could write, at Makishi’s behest, a “deep longing” to be shared anonymously as part of the evening’s experience.

We are divided into three groups and directed to separate entrances, each group treated to a different encounter. Mine was claustrophobic, erotic, and deeply weird – consulting with others after the show, it seems of the other two, one focused more on violence and the other was a family-friendly affair, though I did not get details on how that played out. I’m assuming it was not accompanied by the hidden chorus of moans accompanying the two adult groups into the space.

As with the first performance I’d attended, the specialties of each artist were given space to be shared with the audience; a sampler from this evening includes opera, aerial work, video, and puppetry. In turns heartfelt, bizarre, and confronting, the evening brought forward the conflicts between vulnerability and self-protection when facing internal and external pressures. Transgression and the transgressive were approached obliquely and explored “with great love”. Both physically and metaphorically, we were shown and invited to participate in the creative process as one of mess-making, but also cleaning up together.

The first year of this CPPM cohort concludes with guest artist Lloyd Newson of Australia’s DV8 Physical Theatre company. The public is invited to join a lecture on 23 May, or the final open class of the semester on Saturday 24 May. Check in now to see what’s yet to come – both their work together in the school year ahead, and their solo shows at the Tallinn Fringe Festival in August and September. 

Author: Laurie

Laurie likes alliteration, ambiance, and lists with three things.