Workshop
Poetry Meets Performance; Five-Session Workshop with Maya Martinez
Poetry and performance share an ancient yet continually renewed relationship, expansive in both form and reach. Together we will read, watch, play, and generate writing to strengthen the performance aspect of reading a poem. Studying the history and tools of poets theatre, phonopoetics, and acting techniques, we will widen our conceptions about what a poem is or can be by exploring the various performative traditions that have shaped its history. We will venture into risk, impulse, and improv to strengthen our performance instincts.
Workshop sessions may include a short lecture, generative writing prompts, improv activities, and group workshopping. I will also assign optional homework. While individual classes will focus on the spontaneous poem, phonopoetics, and poets theatre, my wish for our final class is for each participant to develop a long-term piece developed throughout the length of the course. It does not have to be finished or perfect, just a practice in developing a piece over time.
We will read monologues and watch different artists, including Jean Genet, FlucT, Jake Dibeler, June Jordan, Kamau Braithwaite, Ryan Trecartin, and Sue Tompkins.
