WORKSHOP

Suddenly, we! Improvised Poetry

How to invent a story while maintaining the poetic flow? If in the theater we use the scene understood as a place, circumstances of the characters and events, in a poetic performance the focus to move the audience’s sensitivity and create the scenic action is on words and images. Poetry has its home in the body, travels through the voice, incarnates and vibrates. It is in relationship with the surrounding environment, influences it and is influenced by it. And like a flower is also born in the desert, at any time and in any place it is possible to make poiesis: literally “creation from nothing”. Extemporaneous, or improvised, poetry has very ancient origins, and has been passed down through various regional traditions, but today it is finding new life thanks to the Slam Poetry movement and the art of Freestyle Hip-Hop. The workshop aims to share theoretical, methodological and inspirational ideas to create an Improv Poetry performance, both individual and collective, starting from a few ideas. Starting from the characteristics and genres of poetry, through games, examples and writing exercises, we will explore how the narrator can become either a character or a person and we will understand which mechanisms and tricks of the trade bring surprise to us and to the spectators. Through the richness of collective work, we will accompany each participant to train and enhance their personal qualities. The research will finally lead to a moment of sharing in the form of a competition: following the regulations proposed by the Italian Poetry Slam League, we will stage a real Improv Poetry Slam.

STREET PERFORMANCE

BIO

Antonio Amadeus Pinnetti graduated in Theater Direction at the Paolo Grassi Civic Theater School in Milan. He discovered Slam in 2018, a discipline in which he found great freedom of expression and direct sharing of poems with the public. Among the most well-known performers of Italian improv poetry, during shows and poetry slams he usually uses situations and suggestions from the public to compose texts on the spot.