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FALL FORWARD: a workshop series for artists in motion

“This is a time of impossible problems… And yet, with impossible problems come innovations, artistic shape-shifting, and new pathways toward performance creation.” -Quinn Bauriedel

In the wake of UArts’ closure and the difficult decision to pause the Pig Iron School’s graduate program this fall, we are keeping our community moving with a Fall workshop series.

From August to December, beloved faculty and exceptional guest artists will lead masterclasses, training intensives, and skill-building workshops in the Pig Iron Studios for participants with a wide range of performance interests and experience levels.

This is a unique opportunity to get into the studio with Pig Iron’s master teachers and collaborators. Workshops will be 3 to 6 sessions each, usually offered on nights and weekends. Come recharge your spirit, or take a first step into the playful-but-rigorous landscape of Philadelphia’s experimental performance scene. 

Stay tuned for more offerings, as we will be announcing workshops on a rolling basis.

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3 Visions of Presence

a workshop with Dan Rothenberg

December 2, 9, 16

Pig Iron Co-Artistic Director Dan Rothenberg offers a series of provocations for the creative actor. Pulling from his encounters with Jacques Lecoq (France), Joseph Chaikin (USA), and Toshiki Okada (Japan), Rothenberg weaves together some radically different approaches and performance temperatures for actors who are keen to experiment.

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Riffs on a Text: adapting and digesting the work of Koltés

a workshop with James Ijames and Dan Rothenberg

December 4, 8, 11, 15

Pulitzer-winning and TONY-nominated playwright James Ijames and Pig Iron co-founder Dan Rothenberg lead a workshop for writers and performer-creators, offering their distinctive approaches to disassembling and reworking source material.

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Teaching Literature on Your Feet

a two-day intensive with Sarah Sanford

December 7 & 8

Explore how dynamic, collaborative theater practices can fill the classroom with creativity and excitement. During this on-your-feet intensive, Pig Iron faculty Sarah Sanford will introduce exercises to get your students physically engaged in lessons and stories. These ensemble theater techniques foster imagination, encourage group problem-solving, and offer new, innovative ways to learn through live performance. 

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Introduction to Physical Characters

a workshop with Brett Robinson

December 14-15

Create deeply alive, sharply drawn characters that brim with life and imaginative force, with acclaimed actor/director/teacher and Pig Iron School graduate Brett Robinson.  

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ENDED - Intro to Clown

a workshop with Emmanuelle Delpech

November 15-17 - EDIT: 10.7.25 WORKSHOP FILLED. WAITLIST ONLY.

SECOND WORKSHOP ADDED: February 21-23, 2025

Theater-clowning has been a fundamental practice in Pig Iron’s work for almost three decades. Lecoq-certified master teacher, director, Pig Iron core faculty Emmanuelle Delpech offers you a baptism into the challenging, liberating world of clown.

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ENDED - Movement in Service of Play

a workshop with Anne Astolfe

August 31

This one-day intensive offers a hybrid of movement theory and physical practice—a unique opportunity for participants to immerse themselves in Jacques Lecoq’s movement pedagogy. Lecoq’s choreographic gestures, The 20 Movements, will launch physical games and explorations of jeu (“play”).

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ENDED - Mindful Artistic Practice

a workshop with David Brick

Mondays, September 30 - October 21

Artistic Director of Headlong and frequent Pig Iron collaborator David Brick leads a series of sessions exploring the crossroads of meditative practice and embodied movement.

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ENDED - Intro to Cabaret

a song and storytelling intensive with Dito van Reigersberg

October 2024

Pig Iron Co-Founder and cabaret faculty draws from his career as the beloved Martha Graham Cracker in a workshop.

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ENDED - Body Love: Strength, Range of Motion, & Inversions

a workshop with Nicole Burgio and Ben Grinberg

October 7, 21, 28

Whether you’re warming up or working through hamstring stiffness, this class is designed to get you sweaty and moving. Each session will feature a flexibility and strength building warm-up followed by tailored movement and acrobatics skill-building exercises.

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ENDED - Making Mischief, Mayhem, & Madcappery

a workshop with Quinn Bauriedel

November 22-24

Quinn Bauriedel, innovative Director of the Pig Iron School, brings his love of mischief and absurdity to comic actors and clowns who want to dig deeper into the ferocity of clowning.  Moving beyond traditional “red-nose clowning,” Quinn will explore the fundamental demands that deep clown work requires.

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