Let’s get physical... physical! Whether you’ve dabbled in the basics of mime (with me or otherwise) or never touched the subject this course will be a great way to gain confidence incorporating pantomime into your improv performance and develop characters from a physical perspective.

We will start with reviewing mime basics such as how the weight and shape of objects affects how we manipulate them differently and engage our entire body to lift, carry, push and pull different sized objects. We will break down the steps to common actions such as opening doors, setting a table and riding a bicycle in order to bring to life our imagined realities. In this work we will also learn ways to “show, not tell” the audience where we are when we improvise. Focusing on how we carry our bodies in different spaces and how we “change the space” when changing locations in both long and short form games.

I will then lead the group through a series of physical exercises that can be used to develop new and unique characters made from bold physical choices. These exercises will help you expand the range of characters you are comfortable playing as well as maintaining bold character choices throughout the course of a scene.

Hope to see you there!

INSTRUCTOR: Anya Opshinsky is a German, American mime, actor, director, improvisor, physical theater creator and teacher. Originally from NYC Anya moved to Paris to study physical theater at Ecole Jacques Lecoq 7 years ago. She has been creating, teaching and performing there ever since. Anya is the co-founder of Shift Shape Theater through which she creates and tours original shows the most recent of which is entitled “ROVERS: Two Mimes on the Run” which is currently touring around France. Anya has taught mime, mask-making, clown, physical theater and improv with HUGE Improv, MN, Vis à Vis Théâtre, The Magnet, NYC and Théâtre de Verre, Paris. She also works as a solo artist performing original drag, mask, burlesque and clown pieces in the Parisian cabaret circuit. Anya is excited to have a chance to teach this workshop while she visits Denver for some performances this June!