Ensemble Incubator Class

The Ensemble Incubator was an 8 week course open to students of various disciplines from the Deptartment of Theatre and Dance. This semester undergraduate dancers, writers & actors, and graduate writers, dancers and actors participated in the class. The entire group cross-trained together in voice, movement and writing. There were five Tricklock Company members teaching the class, (Summer Olsson, Kevin R. Elder, Byron Laurie, Juli Hendren and Kate Schroeder) leading ensemble building and original work creation exercises. One of our goals was to create something new everyday. Throughout the class, students learned different methods for performance creation and made new work, solo or in groups, watched each other and gave critique. As the ensemble strengthened and more work was created, the class began to focus in on a final performance. The ensemble learned to have group discussions that culminated in decisions about theme, purpose, and artistic aesthetic. They learned how to bravely put ideas on the table, but also how to take ideas off, for the betterment of the whole show. The culmination of the class was a demonstration evening of orginal works in progress, created and performed entirely by the students of the class. The evening was titled Out Of Body, and investigated the fears and funniness of what is is to be human.

"Congratulations to the Tricklock teaching team and the Theatre and Dance students in the Ensemble Incubator class who put together such an imaginative and skillfully performed showcase in Theatre X last night! It was obviously the result of a deeply collaborative process and exciting to see our students--actors and dancers--doing work that really stretched them, that was both physically demanding and well- executed, and artistically surprising at every turn. The Tricklock teaching artists set the bar high and our students rose to the challenge. The spirit of the ensemble and their joy in performing literally rolled, climbed, crawled, and radiated into the audience. This project embodies what the Departments' partnership with Tricklock as our resident professional theatre company can be. The standing ovation this received was richly deserved. I wish it could run for weeks instead of just one performance and I can hardly wait for the next collaborative project in this residency. Bravo everyone and thanks to all those who helped make the residency happen!! "

Susan Pearson
Chair
Department of Theatre and Dance

“Our new partnership is designed to enhance the educational, outreach and production values of both groups. UNM has the best performance facilities for the kind of experimental theater we do, and we’re excited to be able to give something back to the university from which most of our company members graduated, and where we received outstanding training.”

Artistic Director Joe Peracchio