Grotowski and Decroux in actors' training

Guest instructors from Kent University (UK), Lille University (France), and Claremont Graduate University (California) will carry out a series of lecture-demonstrations exploring the actor training lineages of Jerzy Grotowski and Étienne Decroux, two of the major reformers of contemporary theatre.

Event line-up

'A Transdisciplinary Turn: The Arts as New Leaders of Learning', keynote by Dr Shamini Dias
Director of Transdisciplinary Studies, Claremont Graduate University, California

This presentation explores how the arts, especially performance, can lead a new transdisciplinary pedagogy rooted in creativity, empathy, and relational learning.

In an unpredictable world, the arts provide meaningful, healing, and resilient spaces that cultivate presence, radical listening, and imagination. By engaging aesthetic and existential questions, the arts awaken conscience and foster connection across differences.

Artists, as new leaders of learning, integrate creativity with complexity, offering pathways for flourishing amidst uncertainty. More than reflections of culture, the arts become critical, transformative spaces for reimagining education and understanding in an interconnected world.

Shamini Dias directs the transdisciplinary studies programme and masters in transdisciplinary analysis at Claremont Graduate University. Editor of The STEAM Journal, she integrates arts, science, systems thinking, and embodied learning to foster creative, inclusive pedagogies for social impact. She is also an alumna and former teaching artist in Singapore.

'Mime and Corporeal Mime', a lecture-demonstration and masterclass by Wong Young Tseng
Multidisciplinary artist, performer, pedagogue, California

Wong Young Tseng is a mime artist working in movement and installation. His practice explores shifting perspectives through close attention to human and non-human presence, stillness, and time. Trained in Marceau’s and Decroux’s mime traditions, he has studied with Christina Sergeant in Singapore and Thomas Leabhart in California since 1995.

'The Body on Stage: From Corporeal Mime to Digital Art', a lecture-demonstration and workshop by Esther Mollo
Performer, director of the Diagonale Theatre Company, multidisciplinary artist, associate professor at the University of Lille, France

Esther Mollo is a Franco-Italian multidisciplinary artist trained in Corporeal Mime, Kyogen, and Kathakali. A performer and director, she has worked with RAI, the Living Theatre, and Théâtre La Licorne. She explores body-tech interactions, teaches at the University of Lille, and co-creates works blending dance and augmented reality.

'The Physical Performer', a lecture-demonstration and workshop by Paul Allain
Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK. Expert on physical acting, Jerzy Grotowski and contemporary Polish theatre, and Suzuki Tadashi

Paul Allain is professor of theatre and performance at the University of Kent and an expert in physical acting, Grotowski, and Polish theatre. A former movement director with major UK theatres, he has published widely and led workshops globally, including in Asia and across Europe.