“The beauty here is a beauty you feel in your flesh. You feel it physically….Other beauty takes only the heart, or the mind.” (Barry Lopez, “Arctic Dreams.”)

Devising is a form of collaborative creation in which the performers themselves author every moment of a performance from movement to text (if any), to spatial relationships, clothing, entrances and exits, etc. The “stage” may be viewed as a natural landscape through which performers journey. Unlike story-driven theater or dance, elements such as space, time, movement, and sound all share an equal footing.

In this course, we will immerse ourselves in various approaches to making physical theater and Devising. We will read and watch the work of such innovators as Mary Overlie, the Tectonic Theater Project, Ping Chong, and Frantic Assembly. Students will bring in stories, costume pieces, found objects, sound and music and begin to create their collectively devised piece. This course is recommended to anyone interested in collaborative creation, dance/theater, experimental theater, devising, and making one’s own work. The course culminates in a public presentation of the work.