The Art of Dying: A Multimedia Approach to Performing a Horrible and Painful Death
A workshop focused on the performance of pain and death.
Violence in Motion is excited to announce we are working with Nicolas Van Burek to bring you The Art of Dying: A Multimedia Approach to Performing a Horrible and Painful Death on November 26, 2023, at Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement. The goal of this workshop is to focus on the performance of pain and death, and how that can change depending on the medium.
The two-hour course is priced at $150.00. You can sign up for the course here.
About the Workshop
There is a famous story about Sir Christopher Lee (there are several stories about Christopher Lee) on the set of The Lord of the Rings. As director Peter Jackson was describing the way he’d like him to act out the death, Lee corrected Jackson, explaining the exaggerated noise that Jackson was looking for would never happen because the air would be driven out of the body when stabbed in the back.
But… how does one act being stabbed in the back? What’s the difference between dying by fire or blunt trauma? How do those different deaths sound, look and feel different? How do I remain safe and preserve my voice?
This workshop will focus on the reaction side of stage combat. How to perform a variety of types of reactions, and the visual differences in reactions between types of physical pain across various media; film, theatre, voice and motion capture.
Participants are asked to wear comfortable clothes that allow for movement. Bring water, a notepad and a willingness to experiment and have fun in a safe and professional environment!
About Your Guest Instructor:
Nicolas Van Burek is a Toronto-based actor, stunt actor and teacher. Fluent in French, Spanish and English, Nicolas has performed, taught and directed all across Canada, in the US and El Salvador. With over 35 years of professional experience, Nicolas works in theatre, film, television, voice, video games and teaches at the secondary and post-secondary levels.
