From 17 — 22 August 2015, the participants of the **UTE Decentralized Academy ** ensconced themselves in Bochum for a new masterclass, directed by Dutch theatre maker Eric de Vroedt.
Eight participants from Germany, Bulgaria, France, Greece and Israel/Palestine were brought together during the masterlass working on a series of texts for the “European of the Year”.
The actors of the masterclass with Eric de Vroedt picked various figures to tackle the theme “European of the Year”. In order to guarantee a wide range from real-life figures, saga heroes, to normal people, the final selection was as follows: Wolfgang Schäuble, Jason, Aznavour, Alias and Kostas Polychronopoulos.
Together with the master, Eric de Vroedt, the actors developed these characters by taking a highly artistic approach to what “European of the Year” meant for them. They then reduced it to very simple headshot videos, in which they presented their approach and outcome of dealing with their character.
Here are the eight participants of the masterclass:
Petya Alabozova | Bulgaria
Born in 1984, Bulgarian actress Petya Alabozova is a graduate of the ESAD acting School in Paris (2007-2010). She lives and works in France, Bulgaria and Germany. Since 2012, she has been a member of the ISO theatre collective. Currently she is studying at the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
Bilyana Georgieva | Bulgaria
Born in 1990, Bilyana Georgieva is a graduate from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Art “Krastyu Sarafov” in Sofia (2011-2015). She participated in several workshops in the field of performing arts and dance, among which a workshop on “body language” at the Trinity College in Dublin and the Atelier 200 workshop at the Sfumato Theatre in Sofia. She has been a member of the ISO theatre collective since 2012.
Khawla Ibraheem | Israel/Palestine
Born in 1991, Palestinian actress Khwala Ibraheem holds a bachelor degree in acting and theatre studies from the University of Haifa. Since 2010, she has performed in a dozen productions, among others 1945 directed by Bashar Murkus (2015). She has been a member of the ISO Theatre collective since July 2015, and participated in the artistic residency of the ISO Theatre in Sofia and Rome in the summer of 2015.
Aglaia Katsiki | Greece
Born in 1986, Aglaia Katsiki graduated from the National Theatre of Northern Greece Drama School in Thessaloniki in 2013. She has also studied piano, classical singing and music theory at the Municipal Conservatory of Karditsa and Thessaloniki. She cooperates regularly with the musician James Wylie, taking part in jazz music concerts as a singer. Since 2012, she has been a member of the ISO theatre collective.
Boris Krastev | Bulgaria
Born in 1985, Boris Krustev graduated in 2015 from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Art “Krastyu Sarafov” in Sofia, where he studied both directing and acting. Among other things, he directed the “Summer” season of the “Lazaritza” project at the Sfumato Theatre. He also took an active part in several theatrical productions, providing montage, animation, 3D model and visual effect works. Since 2012, he has been a member of the ISO theatre collective.
Vincent Menjou-Cortès | France
Vincent Menjou-Cortès studied at the National Superior Academy for Performing Arts in Paris (Conservatoire National Supérieur d’arts dramatiques) between 2006 and 2009. Three years of training at the École Claude Mathieu in Paris familiarized him with several techniques of performing arts: contemporary dance, fencing, mask and clown techniques. He also studied lyrical singing with Professors Pali Marinov and Alain Zaepffel. Since 2012, he has been a member of the ISO theatre collective.
Ioannis Panagopoulos | Greece
Ioannis Panagopoulos graduated from the Drama School of the National Theatre of Greece in Athens in 2009. During his education he worked with Omar Abu Saada and Mohammed al Attar, Krzystof Warlikowski and Stathis Livathinos , among others. Since 2009, he has been a freelance actor and has been working regularly at several theatres like the National Theatre of Greece, the Theatre of Nafplion, and with different theatre groups, such as the OMAA ENA, the Theseum Ensemble, or the Booze cooperation
Luana Velis | Germany
Luana Velis was born in 1988 in Bergisch Gladbach, and has German-Chilean roots. Since 2012, she has been studying at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Bochum. In July 2014, she performed in “14/18 – Die Welt in Brand“, directed by Johannes Klaus, which was shown at the Kokerei of the Zeche Zollverein and in Ramallah, Jenin and Bethlehem.
Masterclass with Eric de Vroedt
The Decentralized Academy of the Union of European Theatres presents:
Masterclass directed by Eric de Vroedt at the Schauspielhaus Bochum (Germany) 17 – 22 August 2015
In the framework of the CONFLICT ZONES network-programme of the UTE With the support of the "Creative Europe" Programme of the European Union
