Description: Introduction of the course content. Presentation of artworks of Ewa Żurakowska. The general purpose of classes Assignments/deadlines: 1. Students self - presentation 2. Discussion on key issues for the course 3. Indicating examples in the practices of performing arts in Europe and in the world 4. Practice: body and voice awareness; breathing, grounding, deepening body sensation

Description: What is the ritual behavior? Reception of the human body, voice, and movement in the rituals. Rituals in the Balkans, Scandinavia, Siberia, Africa and Ukraine Assignments/deadlines: 1. Group exercises including the warming up, elements of yoga and voice yoga. Focus on connection of breath, movement and voice 2. Breathing – primary human action as starting point of sound and voice work of performer - practical exercises with reference to specific vocal techniques (yoik in Scandinavia, throat singing in Siberia) 3. Watching videos presenting ritual practices in chosen cultures Reading: TURNER, V., From Ritual to Theatre. The Human Seriousness of Play., New York: PAJ Publications, A Division of Performing Arts Journal, Inc, 1982 (introduction)

Description: Specific rituals in India on the example of Milon Mela theatre house (West Bengal) and others; context and structure. Discussion and practice Assignments/deadlines: 1. Presentation of filed recordings from India, recorded by E. Żurakowska on the study trips.; audio and video 2. Rituals in West Bengal: Baul mystic singers tradition, Sadhu tradition, Gotipua dance, Chhau dance 3. Ritual aspects of mantra singing and yoga 4. Practice in the group on breathing, voice, movement

Description: Acknowledging the works of chosen the artist; Kaimera Production, Third Rail Theatre, Stefan Kaegi and Rimmini Protokol; video presentations Assignments/deadlines: 1. Group movement practice; diving into, immersing with, flowing with 2. Interactive strategies in the group 3. Creating short etudes: Participation

Description: How we can create a collective space for ritual and performance. Examples of particular rituals in the Czech culture Assignments/deadlines: 1. Group practice focused on creating collective space 2. What is the collective space on the example of local rituals in the Czech Republic 3. “Masopust” – Czech carnival as a cultural phenomenon 4. Elements of ritual and elements of performance – discussion

Description: Acknowledging the phenomenon of Synesthesia in the XX and XXI art (visual and sound) Assignments/deadlines: 1. Practice in the group: breath, movement, and voice – work with imaginary 2. Listening, sounding, and visualizing – creating the performative space through embodied presence - towards the synesthesia Reading: Sounds, Codes, Images. HLAVAČKOVÁ J., VOJTĚCHOVSKÝ, M. ( (eds.), ArtMap, 2020

Description: Presentation of chosen topic by each student. Discussing the acknowledged tools and methods from previous classes. Assignments/deadlines: 1. Decision-making process: how do I present my topic? What is the main idea? Which components do I use? 2. Devised work: individual and collective processes 3. Planning the creative work for the next classes

Description: Field research in the spaces of AAU Campus. Recognizing the qualities: historical, semantic, aesthetic, aural, social. Assignments/deadlines: 1. Observation and recording the elements of space, which are significant for each student 2. Bodily experience in performative spaces 3. Sonic attributes of spaces – experiments 4. Sensual experience of space as an element of performance Reading: BLESSER, B., SALTER, L. R. Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? London: MIT Press, 2009 (fragm)

Description: Acknowledging the use of digital media in performance Assignments/deadlines: 1.Practice: deepening body and voice awareness 2.Discovering the connection of human body and digital technology 3.Performative technologies, interactive technologies, immersive experience and AI – (re)Creating the connections between human bodies

Description: Work on the final project. Actor and spectator in theatre, performance, and ritual. The interactive role of the public in performative events. Performative space is an act of meeting between performer and spectator. Video presentation of chosen performances with a significant role in public Assignments/deadlines: 1. Creating the active role of the audience in the final project 2. Invitation for a final presentation, poster

Description: Work on the final project in terms of details of each performer’s work and search for cohesion in terms of ensemble work. Final shape: individual etudes or collective work Assignments/deadlines: 1. Practice: body and voice awareness during the final presentation 2. Inner scenario in a final work (each students develops a map of her/ his action during the final project) 3. Fixing the structure of the final presentation – individual and group work Reading: CAVARERO, A. For More than One Voice. Toward a Philosophy of Vocal Expression. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005

Description: Students will take part in the festival dedicated to the local ritual “čarodejnice“, called also „witch burning“ and learn about this annual ritual in the Czech Republic. Assignments/deadlines: 1. Practice: body and voice awareness 2. History and symbolism of Čarodejnice and why it is also called the Walpurgis Night 3. Acknowledging the symbolism of pagan rites versus Christian religious calendar in Europe

Description: Students present their topic with the reference to the rhythm Assignments/deadlines: 1. Body and voice awareness; focus on rhythm 2. Work on final project. Focus on rhythm of each element of performance and their interdependence. 3. Rhythm of ritual as structuring element of the social life. Rhythm of performance as communication with spectator Readings: Music & Ritual. Bridging Material & Living Cultures. JIMENEZ, P.R., TILL, R., HOWELL, M. (Eds.). Berlin: Ekho Verlag, 2013

Description: Decision-making process: awareness of chosen artistic tools in each project (or group work) Assignments/deadlines: Rehearsing the structure and preparing the content of the final presentation in terms of the chosen space

Group and individual presentation of students' art projects