GUIDE TO WORKSHOPS,
MASTER CLASSES & RESIDENCIES

THE CHAMELEONS, Keith Berger and Sharon Diskin, offer a wide range of classes and residencies that can be individually designed and tailored to meet the needs of the arts organization or presenter. The following is a basic guide to the arts/educational services offered by THE CHAMELEONS:

I. Master Class

An exceptionally entertaining hands-on foray into the arts of mime and physical theatre. Students will learn to create movement, illusions, characters, and will perform their very own scenes. Fast-paced and inspiring, students leave this class in a state of amazement at what they have accomplished in a relatively short amount of time.

II. 2-3 Day Workshop

Students will learn to create movement, illusion, character and scenes just as they would in a single master class. However, the excitement generated by the first class is allowed to continue into the second and third. Students delve deeper into the medium and leave with and even broader sense of appreciation and accomplishment.

III. Residency (1 week)

This is an in-depth course of study into the art of physical theatre. Students will actually acquire residual performance skills and first hand knowledge of the performing arts process

Residency Culmination Performance

Each residency is designed to result in a culmination performance of the students’ work. In the past these culminations have been performed for audiences of students, parents and teachers. The culmination performances is always delightful and surprising.

IV. Teacher Workshop

This class is designed to impart readily obtainable skills in teaching mime theatre to children. Training is hands-on, painless, entertaining, and very effective. Teachers find when they go back to their classrooms and try it, their kids are immediately impressed and very responsive.

Note: THE CHAMELEONS (a.k.a. "Berger & Diskin") are featured in "Art Source: The Music Center Study Guide to the Performing Arts" which is a nationally distributed Study Guide for educators on teaching the arts.

MASTER CLASSES ( 1 1/2 hrs.)

These classes are specifically geared to students of the performing arts.

For the student of dramatic arts, mime and movement study provide an incredible opportunity to go beyond the spoken word. The craft of the actor is greatly transformed through the language of gesture and imaginative physical expression. The bare stage (or classroom) is the place where sets, props, time and space are created out of thin ear.

For the student of dance, silent acting is a skill that can make a viable difference in the way a piece or compositional work "plays" and is felt by an audience. Students learn to move to feelings and express characters who interact believably.

TEACHERS MASTER CLASSES ( 2HRS.)

Whether it be for teachers of school aged kids or teachers of the performing arts, this class is specifically geared to impart mime and movement theatre techniques, games and exercises that can, in turn, be readily taught to their own students.

WORKSHOP GUIDE

IMAGES IN MOTION (1 1/2 hr. workshop)

This is The Chameleons highly unique introduction into the world of mime and movement theatre. Fast paced and fun, this class covers a surprisingly vast terrain.

We begin with an energizing warm-up. From there, students move rapidly into movement...creative movement. Shapes, freezes, replays and dynamic qualities (mechanical, slow motion, living animation, etc.) are covered in an engrossing performance exercise called "moving to words". Next, we cover basic classical pantomime illusions ("the rope", "the wall", "the lean", the walk-in-place" and "the moonwalk"). At this point we are ready for characters and silent acting. Often with hilarious and moving results, students learn to transform into highly recognizable personalities drawn from themselves and the world they experience. Finally, the class separates into small groups and develops scenes or short plays. These works are then performed for the entire group. Students often find that time in this workshop goes by all too fast, however, they leave with a sense of accomplishment and a new and unique understanding of this exciting medium.

IMAGINES IN MOTION (2, 3 or 4 day workshops)

The Chameleons will cover the same ground as in their one day workshop, plus, more time will be given to character development, illusion, and movements games. Stories or scenes created in class will have more of a chance to develop and grow.

CHILDREN’S WORKSHOPS (1 hr.)

This one hour workshop provides an exciting opportunity for kids to channel abundant amounts of energy and imagination into the creative process. Ideas take shape, movement, characters and stories take flight. Kids also learn fun pantomime skills they can (and most often do) take home to show their families. The goal of this workshop is to impart a sense of creative accomplishment in each child and, in the process, gain a valuable insight into the performing arts.

Children’s study and follow-up guide available upon request.

THE CHAMELEONS
Mime & Movement Theatre Workshops

"The Chameleons" performance style ranges from the French classical pantomime of Marceau and Barrault to the cutting edge contemporary form of The American Mime Theatre. Keith Berger and Sharon Diskin have taught their fascinating workshop-classes at colleges, universities and community groups across the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. Recently, they were asked to teach an intensive series of master classes to the animation department at the Disney studios. Their college and university experiences include workshops and residencies at such places as Cornell University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Oberlin College. The residency at Oberlin College resulted in an actual performing troupe that went on tour of the summer festivals in Italy. In addition to adults workshops, Keith Berger and Sharon Diskin have taught hundreds of classes for children through the L.A. Music Center On Tour.

POINT & PURPOSE

• To express the imagination and feelings through physical means.
• To created believable characters drawn from our social experience.
• To create a movement story that is both beautiful and telling.

RESIDENCY PROGRAM (1 week - 1 month)

The specific times of this residency are tailored to the needs of the institution. The point and purpose is to realize performance results engendered by the creative process. The goal is to actually create, rehearse and perform a full presentation of the students’ work.