Training
P3/East Methodology
The P3/East training practice is designed to help performers more consistently act on stage with an engaged body and imagination working as one. The combination and counterbalance of offering the physical rigor and “inner sensibility” of Tadashi Suzuki’s training for actors, with the spaciousness of Shogo Ohta’s slow-tempo, and Robyn Hunt and Steve Pearson’s own explorations in developing clear presence through breath, specificity and ki study is unique to P3 training. P3/East regularly offers workshops taught by master teachers Hunt and Pearson in New York, Seattle and Chicago and coming soon to Los Angeles and Cape Cod. These intensives employ a synthesis of the core of Suzuki training, modern dance, slow tempo, circus technique, silent narrative, and a fresh response to Stanislavski’s ideas. Additional workshops serving as introduction to this training are lead by P3 Studio members across the country.
SUZUKI METHOD
With roots in Noh and Kabuki theatre, the productions and training techniques of Japanese director, Tadashi Suzuki, are based not on psychological drives, but rather on the integration of the mind’s analytical prowess with the body’s articulation and strength. The forms and sequences are physically rigorous, demanding strength with ease and depth of concentration.
SLOW TEMPO
A training approach and performance aesthetic which is an acute, almost microscopic look at the human condition, explored by working entirely in silence and in a fundamental shift out of our daily, modern habit of speed and acquisition, to what one artist called “the mercy of slow tempo”. Shogo Ohta, Japanese director, playwright and master teacher, spent over twenty years exploring the actor’s movement in three-dimensional, modern, urban space. Slow tempo challenges the actor to explore authentic impulse without adornment, while increasing stamina, concentration, breath control, stability, focus and clarity.
KI TESTING
Originally introduced to the West as Chi through acupuncture, Ki is a Japanese word with many meanings, including mind, spirit and heart. It is the vital energy that courses through the body. Having worked directly with master teacher, William Reed, and with Aikido sensei BJ Carlisle, Steve Pearson has developed a series of partner exercises designed to test the level of mind-body coordination. These adjustments encourage performers to continually refresh, restore focus, and work with increased clarity and ease.
