On this page, I'd like to share with you some information about my working philosophy and my personal artistic approach...

My work is primarily directed toward theater-makers in the discipline of performance but my approach equally addresses the work of theater teachers, directors, playwrights, designers, choreographers, and musicians.

As I was originally attracted to theater through my work as an athlete and trainer in sport, from the very beginning I saw the different roles in creating and performing as players of the same game: specialized yes in different skill sets, but integral parts of the same game plan … don’t they ultimately all train together?

My mission focuses on the creative development of each of the individual players.

My target is in provoking them to develop into independent artists and theater creators able to invent and affirm their own unique artistic journey, while remaining a collaborative contribution for the overall creative working plan.

Physical and practical training programs are at the foundation of my work.

Resulting of my sport background, I see theater-makers like multi-faceted athletes on the field of creation with an equal need for consistent training and exercise of their tools –body and mind- in order to become sophisticated 'play'-ers and phenomenal winners.

My work proposes practical, hands-on experiences that lead artists to the discovery and acknowledgment of themselves, their bodies and their resources allowing them to successively move into the important phase of awareness and application of the laws that govern theatre creation.

With my background of studies in architectural design, I see a performance as a form of architecture with specific laws and calculations that regard the foundation and building of structure. I consider theater makers as the architects that must experience the laws that allow for a structure to stand before they can create the dramatic constructions of their imagination!

The journey I propose has a target that is always focused on creating a 'laboratory-based' experience where experimentation leads to discovery. I believe that direct experience is the key to a solid foundation from which to create any artistic work. I do not discuss personal tastes or dislikes, morality of right and wrong but rather, I allow artists to discover, by experiencing it, what works or what doesn’t work in the making of their art.

Technically, the work I propose is grounded in the tradition of ‘Physical Theatre’ and based on ‘the body in movement and the artist in play’ but many different experiences and practices have contributed to the development and creation of my teaching approach and philosophy.

To acknowledge the tradition, the contemporary terminology of ‘Physical Theater’ comes from events occurring during the last century where movement theatre underwent a renaissance in pedagogical research and performance based in the traditions of the Commedia dell'Arte, focusing on improvisation and expressive physicality. This period had a major focus in France and Italy with the work of Jacques Copeau, Jean Dasté and Jacques Lecoq where modern day 'physical theatre' was distinguished from the School of Realism on the stages of the boulevards. This period saw 'physical theatre' emerge from the psychology of drama as a highly-charged event of corporal expression, influenced by the world of masks, elements of circus and the traditional spectacle-parades of Europe and Scandinavia.

I tremendously respect the history and the tradition of ‘Physical Theater’ which my teaching approach is based, but with that acknowledgement and understanding, I don’t consider 'physical theatre' or 'physical theatre training' as a style or an end to itself... as ‘THEATER’ is itself a physical event. But I consider it to be a powerful tool that serves the larger objective of ‘revitalizing the art of the artists’ and frees them from following a particular method, technique or system, in finding their own artistic voice.

For performers, I am committed to offering them new tools to use as a platform from which to develop and enrich their own work, whatever direction they choose to take: from text-based stage work and film to original theater creation.

For teachers, I am committed to providing them with new approaches to impact and facilitate the journey of artistic exploration for their students.

As a director, I have a unique style that applies to the very development and creation of the project I work. My target is in the facilitation of the artists' vision in order to combine the perspectives of writer, actor, designer and producer rather than the contemporary, defined role of a director.

No matter what function I am serving, whether focused toward training or directing, one thing is for sure, I prepare the space in which creation can happen and I define myself as 'a facilitator for creation' not a 'teacher for how to create'...!

I don’t dictate rules or solutions, I create the foundation for them to born!

Please, feel free to use the “Ask Paola a Question” link for any clarification you may need to further investigate the above conversation or for anything that interests you.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Paola Coletto