Intro to Action Theater Sampler Class
Saturday Nov 9 11am-1:30pm
Needing more play in your life? Looking for a practice that will expand self-expression? Come try out some Action Theater Improvisation at our Sampler Class on November 9! We’ll be giving tastes of exercises from our different classes. This is a great way to have tons of fun and get a sense of what this practice is like. Come see if Action Theater Improvisation is what you’re looking for!
Limit of 12 participants. Please register to hold your spot.
Cost is sliding scale $10-25. No one turned away for lack of funds (lest they be forced into lack of fun!)
COVID safety: Participants are welcome to wear masks, but we will not be requiring masks unless there is a public health mandate. Air purifier will be in use. Those experiencing any cold symptoms are asked to not attend.
Cost for series is $280 due at first class. To hold your spot, please pay in advance a deposit of $50. Payment plans available – please inquire
PCC Community Education Three Summer Term Offerings
- 4-Class Series: Thursdays July 10th thru August 7th: 6pm-8:20pm (no class July 24th)
- Friday/Saturday two-day workshops:
- Fri 7/25 4pm-7:50pm & Sat 7/26 12:30pm-4:20pm
- Fri 8/1 4pm-7:50pm & Sat 8/2 12:30pm-4:20pm
Location: PCC Southeast Campus, Mt Tabor Hall, Room 102
This summer we are teaching three Action Theater classes through the PCC Community Ed department! We will be diving into exercises from Ruth Zaporah’s book and from our own zany minds. New students are welcome and we’ll help everyone get on the same page. For those of you who don’t know, Ruth is our teacher and the creator of Action Theater. All levels welcome! The class capacity is 23, and we almost sold out our spring term. Class schedule is now available, and registration has begun!
Happensdance
Upcoming Happensdance dates:
- June 3 (only first tuesday for the month of June)
Usually 1st and 3rd Tuesday evenings (no 3rd Tuesday in June) – 6:30-9pm – class & jam.
Happensdance is a playfulness-forward opportunity for all of the young at heart to discover what comes into being when vocal and verbal channels of expression and imaginative play are available alongside movement and contact. In other words, we’re playing with the territory where Action Theater and Contact Improvisation meet! This is designed more for people who have some experience with Contact Improvisation as we will not be teaching principles of CI. That said, beginners are welcome to come and explore and ask questions about contact. And, there is no requirement to do contact at Happensdance. You can lean more towards the AT side of improvisation or more towards CI. Totally up to you. You can also find beginner CI classes listed on the Portland Contact Improvisation Facebook Group or PDX Contact Improvisation calendar page.
Our agreements for this space:
- To respect peoples boundaries, verbal and non-verbal
- To not engage with sexual energy or sexual touch
- To take care of yourself
- You can say no or end a dance at any time, for any or no reason
Ring the doorbell to be let in. Building door is locked. Please try not to be late for the class. If you’re just coming for the jam try to arrive between 7:40 and 7:50pm.
Contact Improvisation +/- Festival
Monday-Friday, June 9-13
Location: Village Ballroom, 704 NE Dekum St
Mon-Thur evening jams at various other locations
We’re teaching an Action Theater intro class on Wed June 11th 2-3:30pm as part of the 2nd occurance of this fabulous festival! See all the info at https://www.pdxci.org.
Portland Action Theater Summer Retreat!
Come join us for a retreat on a lovely property by a creek in the forest! This is a chance to relax and play together for an extended time and build our community connections. We’ll be improvising, dancing, singing, eating, swimming and forest frolicking together! The indoor spaces are naturally cool in the summer, and are equipped with AC if needed.
DATES SCHEDULE: Arrive 4pm on Friday, depart by 4pm on Sunday. Days start with gentle movement and sound. We’ll do several Action Theater sessions throughout the weekend, and have some open jam time. Free time will be built into the schedule as well.
LOCATION: Private retreat property in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, 1 hour from Portland
COST: Sliding scale $350-450. Please give as much as you can so we can cover all costs and get paid for our time. Please contact us if the low end is still too high for you. Our hope is that enough people can pay the higher end of the scale so that we can accommodate supporting everyone who wants to participate. Let’s make it work!
PARTICIPANTS: max of 20. No prior experience necessary.
SLEEPING ACCOMMODATIONS: There is plenty of space for tent camping. There is also a carpeted room in the basement of the house that can be used as a group sleep space (you bring a mat and a sleeping bag, pillow, and whatever else you need for sleeping). There are 3 private sleeping spaces with double beds. 2 in the house and one in a pump house separate from the house. They can be used by a single person or a pair and will include an extra $50 fee, (split 2 ways for a pair). Please specify what your preferred accommodation will be on your registration form and we will try to make it work. Beds will be given to those who we deem need it the most, so please explain why you are choosing it.
FOOD: We will be providing the first dinner, which will be vegan and gluten free friendly. And we will provide all the breakfast and lunch foods. We would like to make the Saturday dinner be a potluck feast. So bring something to share, whether it’s raw ingredients or something you bring ready-made and we can improvise it together into a feast on Saturday evening!
>>Please specify food restrictions and also dietary preferences including milk preferences and what kinds of things you like to eat for breakfast/lunch. We will probably not be able to accommodate every need/desire, but we will do our best. If you have anxiety around your diet, please make sure to bring with you whatever will make you feel nourished. <<
Please contact us with any questions, suggestions or concerns. Details about what to bring will be sent after registration.
Level 2 Half Day Intensive – Focus on Frames
In 2024, Portland Action Theater will offer a variety of 4-hour intensive workshops one Sunday a month that explore improvisation topics in more depth.
The frame is one of our foundational building blocks in Action Theater – a constellation of constantly reorganizing elements of form, where mood is boss. In this class, we will explore different aspects of using frames in our improvisation practice:
- developing and deepening them while staying true to their boundaries
- exploring how different types of frames can respond to one another
- practicing remembering and bringing back frames in longer improvisations
- reframing the known to reveal the unknown
If we’re feeling skillful and adventurous, we may even venture into the land of transforming frames…
Cost for this 4-hour class is $94 due at first class. To hold your spot, please pay in advance a non-refundable deposit of $25. Payment plans available – please inquire.