Iwan-Hotnitza

Falling in love with what is – Sensory Labyrinth Theatre and Mindfulness workshop

Between 3rd and 8th of August 2018 in the village of Hotnitsa (Veliko Turnovo) for the second year will be held Summer Academy for Sensory Labyrinth Theatre. This year’s facilitator is Iwan Brioc (Wales), who sowed the method of the sensory labyrinth theatre in Bulgaria 12 years ago and who held a series of international trainings with the Bulgarian artists. This year’s training “Falling in love with what is” has the task to explore and unite the methods of Sensory Labyrinth Theatre and Mindfulness, known as a technique for observing, awakening and harmonizing the body and the mind. The connection between the two methods is not accidental – the strong impact of the Sensory Labyrinth Theatre is closely related to the state of expanded consciousness and presence HERE and NOW, which is Mindfulness’s main goal.

For the specifics and the theme of the workshop, Iwan Brioc is writing:

The most difficult thing I will ever do is to fall in love with what is. This is not because my apparent reality seems not to care about me, or what I want.  It is not even because I will never possess this lover.  No, the difficulty is because I must surrender the most precious belief.  The idea that there is something I have to do to get it.  And if there is nothing to do then why is there the need for an ‘I’ to do it?  The falling is into being-ness, and there is no one who can do that.

What we can do is to practice being available to being-ness, because most of us are not even noticing it we are so busy with doing our life.  One name for this practice is Mindfulness, a way of practicing being available that is becoming very popular as a way of helping improve mental health and to live with many debilitating physical conditions.

Practicing mindfulness at first is like going on a date with what is.  We are awkward: we have been hurt so many times before and all these comparisons and judgments come in.  ‘This is not how it should be’, “Why can’t he/she just shut up.’ ‘This just isn’t going to work.’  But slowly we start to befriend our experience and so the romance begins.

For those of us who practice Sensory Labyrinth Theatre, mindfulness can help us connect with the mystery that first drew us to this work.  It can help us improve our gatekeeping of the sensory portals.  And it can also be a way of integrating our experience in SLT with our everyday life.

This five-day training will use Mindfulness as a basis for creating a Sensory Labyrinth Theatre performance and will introduce Mindfulness to SLT practitioners and SLT to Mindfulness practitioners.  For those new to both, welcome and be prepared for wonder.

The training is open to ALL who are ready to undertake an inner journey to themselves, to explore their personal borders and beliefs, to reveal their creative energy and imagination, and to discover new ways of connecting and communicating with the Other.

>>>>> WHEN: 3rd and 8th of August 2018                                                 The event will finish with a labyrinth performance on 6th August 2018 as a result of the training. If you would like to visit it, please write us in advance at info@sensorytheatresofia.com

>>>>>> WHERE:  Hotnitsa village is a beautiful and mystical village close to Veliko Turnovo town. The village is famous for its waterfall and the ancient gold treasure found on its territory. Also gradually the village became a center of alternative culture with the appearance of new foreign settlers. And for two years now, it is a summer residence for Sensory Labyrinth Theatre with the vision to become an annual festival for Context-Oriented Arts.

>>>>>> PRICE OF THE TRAINING: 150 euro 

>>> TRANSPORT AND ACCOMMODATION: the participants should organize and cover themselves the costs of transport and accommodation. There are several possibilities for accommodation: hotels in Veliko Tarnovo, guest houses in the village of Hotnitsa or tents on the spot of the workshop where the conditions are like on an open air festival.                  Link to the guest house in the village of Hotnits https://vila.bg/house-baba-hota-3075.html

SUBSCRIBE FOR THE WORKSHOP: If you want to attend the training send us by July 20th, 2018 a brief presentation of yourself, if you have any past experience with sensory theatre or Mindfulnessyou’re your contacts at info@sensorytheatresofia.com or call us on 00359 885617207

Working language of the workshop: English

Who is Iwan Brioc?

Iwan Brioc  is a welsh interdisciplinary artist and researcher, inspirer and teacher, creator of the unique Sensory Labyrinth Community Theatre methodology. Inspired by the Colombian theatre anthropologist Enrique Vargas, enriched by his meetings with teachers such as Augusto Boal and Tony Parson, and formed by his various occupations in the fields of cinema, psychology, social work, psychodrama, Mindfulness approach to health, art therapy, Forum Theater, Theater of the Oppressed and social activism through art, in the last years Iwan Brioc is committed to create networks and communities that are practicing “creative citizenship” for positive social change and achieving personal awareness and freedom.

He is founder and director of research at the European Network for Contemporary Arts – “The Republic of the Imagination”,  art director of Theatr Cynefin – a platform for activism through theater in Wales and one of the founders of Drums for Peace – a network for creative work with young people with disabilities, as well as a father of 4 children! More about him and his projects on http://www.iwanbrioc.com

>>>>>> What is Sensory Labyrinth Theatre?

The Sensory Labyrinth Theatre is an interactive creative process that leads to the creation of a site-specific performance. In this type of theatre the visitors are not passive spectators, but active protagonists and creators who personally meet and interact with the artists. Visitors go individually through a specially prepared labyrinth installation, saturated with unusual sensory provocations (hearing, tactile, olfactory, visual and taste).More about the methodology and its development in Bulgaria check on https://sensorytheatresofia.com/en/