Well, after 65 days on the road... we are headed into our home stretch! It was crazy and awesome to see the "Welcome To California" sign as we left Oregon and headed on our trip down the coast.
Our drive was astonishing as we passed by some of the most gorgeous blue waters. We were also blown away by the redwood forests. I mean... look at the massive trunk of this redwood tree! AMAZING!
We arrived in Blue Lake (which recently celebrated its 100th birthday as a city!) and headed straight to our meeting with Joan Schirle at the historic Dell'Arte International. Joan was one of the founding artistic directors over 30 years ago, so we were honored to get a chance to speak with her along our travels. Besides being an actor, director, playwright, teacher, and member of the Dell'Arte Resident Company, she also is The Director of The School of Theatre.
Dell’Arte International is the work of an extraordinary community of artists located amidst the majestic redwoods and rugged beauty of California’s North Coast. The uniqueness of this company makes them a destination unlike any other on the American theatre map. Dell'Arte specializes in physical theatre and has a training school that grants students an MFA in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre. Physical theatre is more movement based verses text based theatre, although the majority of works still have texts. Students study mime, clowning, Alexander technique, puppetry, commedia and so much more during their time at the school. Dell'Arte is also the only full time physical theatre school in the world with a professional company in residence that has deep roots in a local and regional community. The company has been touring original shows regionally and internationally since the 1970's. The are an acclaimed ensemble whose unique physical style reflects more than 30 years of collaborative creation.
Joan gave us a very cool tour of the school and we were able to say hi to a number of students who were busy working on their MFA thesis projects. She sat down with us to tell us the rich history of the organization as well as share with us the evolution of their training program. We were very interested in hearing about Dell'Arte's unique programming since they are the only physical theatre in the world offering an MFA where the degree is conferred by the school itself. We had a very interesting conversation regarding the challenges of running such a unique and community based company, but were also truly inspired by the growth of such a company since its humble beginnings.
We joined up with Michael Fields; founding member, producing director, and master teacher of the company. It was wonderful to sit down with him and Joan to learn more about the work of ensemble based theatre companies. We also discussed funding issues and trends during these changing times in American Theatre. We were thinking really hard about the great future for American Theatre... gotta love this awesome thinker photo!!!!
Joan then took us on a walking tour down the street to see more of the Dell'Arte studios and afterwards we kept talking at the local watering hole where we shared many more stories!!!! A good time was had by all!!!!
Thanks Joan for sharing your work and passions with all of us! Our time in Blue Lake was exceptional and we look forward to visiting Dell'Arte again someday!
Tomorrow is a travel day down the coast and we are then gearing up for our FINAL interview for Project Knowledge! WOW!
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