ISTA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology) is an international and multi-cultural network of performers, directors, scholars and academics of the theatre. The organization has the nature of an itinerant university whose central field of study and research is Theatre Anthropology. Open sessions of the School are held periodically by the invitation of cultural institutions in various countries that provide the funding for them.
The director of ISTA is Eugenio Barba. Each session of the school focuses on a different aspect or theme, which is investigated by means of workshops and classes. Lectures and demonstrations are also used, as are theatrical performances. Before these sessions begin the attendees are selected (from various fields) and include choreographers, performers, directors, scholars and critics who have shown an interest, by application, to attend, participate, or simply observe. The ISTA is essentially a network of contacts between interested parties with a permanent core of Euro-Afro-American-Asian professors and performers from many universities. The work of the ISTA continues outside of the Sessions in the form of research and continued contact, exchanges and initiatives amongst and between its members. The results of the work and study are collected, interpreted and disseminated by and within the framework of the University of Eurasion Theatre.
Founded in 1979 the ISTA has functioned as a laboratory of theatre in the spirit of Grotowski, though broader and more inclusive. Its principles, however, remain clear and unambiguous. ISTA researches the technical aspect of the performers art (by empirical methods) to further our understanding of the fundamental principles which engender the performers' very particular being and energy. Talked of as her "presence" or "scenic life", this way of being is paradoxical. The 'daily' Organic being, is transmuted through often rigorous execution of techniques (Techniques sharing a number of common features across a multitude of traditions) to come alive and new in the moment of performance once again, but at a higher level of energy . It is the common features of these very specific techniques believed to facilitate this transmutation across a wide spectrum of performance traditions which is the discovery of Eugenio Barba and the study of ISTA. Barba travelled to India when still a disciple of Grotowski where he observed the Kathakali theatre, which until then had been undiscovered by the West. The 'extra-daily' life of these performers he discovered to be the result of alterations in the performers' balance, from ordinary daily balance, to a 'luxury balance' which channels the performers' energies in such a way as to enable them to execute actions, consciously, producing the appearance of a separate, unconscious autonomy. To go beyond the execution of technique, which is developed through time, into a realm of timelessness, requires the cultivation of 'understanding' of the 'scenic bios'. This understanding of the scenic bios will become the performer's second nature. In such moments the performer is no longer learning a technique, but continues to 'learn' in the moment of performance. Because the 'moment' is , in effect, another realm. It is a realm where 'learning' itself is remembered and forgotten. What is seen is not what has been learned, but what is being learned. So 'learning to learn' is referred to in this context. Tremendous importance is attached to this principle. 'Understanding' supersedes technique. An understanding of the very secrets of technique itself across all disciplines, specializations and particularities.
