Seoul Foreign School to present drama workshop

Eduardo Castro Neves holds a theater workshop at Ege University Bornova in Turkey. / Courtesy of Eduardo Castro Neves

By John Redmond

Seoul Foreign School’s theater department will host a theater workshop featuring Eduardo Castro Neves, Saturday.

The Brazilian dancer will teach an all-day workshop in both contact improvisation and playback theater.

Contact improvisation and partnering systems help every performer develop greater physical awareness as well as listening and performing skills.

“Beginning with the use of positive and negative space, learning basic body-weight awareness and ways to create connection, artists will work on how to follow a physical point of contact, lift, support and give and receive weight to and from a partner,” Neves said.

Playback theater is a form of improvisational theater in which audience members tell stories from their lives and watch them subsequently enacted by a group of actors. The technique was developed by Jonathan Fox from the U.S. and Jo Salas of New Zealand and is based on the traditions and rituals of storytelling but follows the development of contemporary theater.

“Playback is used by both artists and educators to address social and/or educational themes such as poverty, privilege, prejudice and bullying. The fact that the process of creating theater with others and in the presence of others means it is an inspiring and transformative experience for both performers and audience,” Neves said.

Neves is a dancer, physical theater artist, choreographer and director who has taught physical theater, dance, contact improvisation, choreography composition and playback theater around the globe in places such as Brazil, Turkey, Lebanon and Switzerland.

He began his career with the Contemporary Ballet of Rio de Janeiro and continued as a physical performer with the Mid-America Dance Theatre.

After being inspired by the Tanztheater, Neves moved to Germany nearly 20 years ago and began performing with the Bonn Opera House. He has performed in “Off the Map” by Zen in the Basement Dance Company and in a modern version of “Les Noces” with French company Homnibus.

The workshop is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and costs 150,000 won that includes lunch and snacks.

To register, email donna.youngblood@seoulforeign.org or find the event page on facebook.com/SeoulForeignSchoolTheatre.