IB_Curriculum

Polytropic

International Baccalaureate (IB)
Workshops, Residencies, Consultation

Vincenzo Tortorici has been teaching World Theater Traditions in a flagship IB program (Atlanta International School) for the past eight years. Now, he is making his versatility and expertise available to schools the world over. His guest artist performances and residencies, fully integrated into the new IB curriculum, enhance assimilation and analysis of cultural information, while encouraging critical thinking (“connecting the dots”) in preparation for the Research Investigation and Practical Performance Proposal sections of the International Baccalaureate exam. His full CV can be viewed here.

Short Term Engagements

Á La Carte Performances
Available with same-day Workshops

Stages of the Renaissance:
Shakespeare and the Commedia dell’arte

The finest troupe of Italian players ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean…as Stowaways. Impresario Bruno Machiavelli loses his actors, so he calls upon the audience to become his new company of players, “La Commedia Sprezzatura”. He briefly trains them in this style of theater, and leads his volunteers through a Romeo-and-Juliet scenario, with a happy ending. Packs 500 years of theater history into a 40-minute performance plus post-show discussion.

Stages of the Industrial Revolution:
Vaudeville & Society

For fifty years, vaudeville was the pre-eminent entertainment form in the United States, and is closely related to English Music Hall. Highlights the intricate linkage between Vaudeville and the times in which it thrived. 40 minutes, plus optional post-show discussion.

Full-Length Performance

Il Teatro Machiavelli

A Double-bill of Italian Popular Theater,
with Discussion (or Riots ) to follow.

Best when presented to general audiences in coordination with in-class workshops or long-term commedia dell’arte residency.
Running time 80 minutes+

Part I:
La Commedia Sprezzatura
The finest troupe of Italian Players ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean
...as Stowaways

Part II:
The Prince
Part True Crime Story. Part Political Satire. All Puppets.

Long Term Residencies

Each covers the IB Trifecta:
Theater in the Making,
Theater in Performance,
Theater in the World

Commedia dell’arte: Focused instruction in technique, training, in-depth movement work, mask training, stylistic conventions, and history
Performance Option:
Class-created troupe performs an original commedia scenario.

Vaudeville: Physical skills (juggling, etc.), cultural history of Vaudeville, comic structure, and the discipline of seemingly effortless virtuosity.
Performance Option:
Class compiled-and-directed classic vaudeville show, including traditional scenes and playlets, specialty acts, etc.

Bunraku: Training in stylistic conventions, history, and techniques of this ensemble-focused Japanese puppetry tradition. .
Performance Option:
Performance of a traditional or original Bunraku puppet play.

Shakespeare: Text analysis, dramaturgy and character development, scene study, conventions of Elizabethan theater, interpretive applications.
Performance Option:
Performance of an edited play from the Shakespeare canon.

Absurd: Focuses primarily on Ionesco and Beckett, and the existential sensibility that followed the devastation of World War II.
Performance Option:
Performance of short plays by Samuel Beckett, compiled and directed by the students.

“Stages Of...” Il Teatro Machiavelli Thespians, etc. International Baccalaureate

Innovative Education

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