RESPONSIVE LISTENING - Tapa blanda

Literary Nonfiction. Acting. Scenography. Essays. Art. Performance Studies. Detailing new perspectives on acting and scenography, this rich, inductive compilation of essays and personal reflections profiles Østfold University College/Norwegian Theatre Academy's unique approach to international theater education. At NTA, artistic research informs our pedagogy. Investigation and experimentation are emphasized over any single technique or method, defined by the use of sonic, kinetic, visual, and olfactory environments that can each serve as material for new creative work. By amplifying our students' engagement with diverse spaces, deep play, movement, full- body listening, vocalization, musicality, collaborative processes, ethical risk, and even failure, the faculty and guest artists at NTA have established a program that challenges the limits of the field, as we continue our growing contribution to contemporary theater practices.

Contributors: Karmenlara Ely, Serge von Arx, Camilla Eeg-Tverbakk, Electa Behrens, Øystein Elle, Veronika Bökelmann, and Ivar Furre Aam, with a photo essay by Karen Kipphoff.

Karmenlara Ely is the current Artistic Director of Acting at Ostfold University College/Norwegian Theatre Academy. Before coming to Norway, Karmenlara taught at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she holds a PhD in Performance Studies. She collaborates as a performer, dramaturg, and scenic costumer on theater, festival, and performance works in New York, Northern Europe, and the Americas, including recent projects with Spiderwoman Theater. She is the project leader for the Norwegian artistic research project Infinite Record: Archive, Memory, Performance, with institutional partners at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, York St. John in UK, and Muthesius Kunsthochschule in Kiel, Germany. Karmenlara teaches performance workshops and lectures internationally. Her research focuses on the critical roles of the body and desire in taboo breaking performances and on the complexities of pleasure and consumption in artistic processes.