SUMMER SCHOOL 2023: MERIDA, MEXICO
~ INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR ARTISTS ~
La Pocha Nostra returns to MERIDA, YUCATAN, MEXICO to offer a 7-day International Performance Workshop
JUNE 12th - 18th, 2023
NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS HERE
Application in Spanish here.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 15, 2023 (Applications are now closed)
La Pocha Nostra will host a 7-day intensive workshop in the gorgeous city of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. This exclusive workshop will include a selection of 12 International artists, 6 Mexican national artists; and 10 artists local to Merida, interested in exploring the intersections of identity and how to transform your artistic and personal practice psychomagically.
La Pocha Nostra wants to reactivate performance artists and communities to experiment with our pedagogy exploring the possibilities of creative adaptability. We also aim to share our personal performance strategies and techniques for outlasting these times.
Locos y locas del Arte Vivo, let’s reunite and cross borders together!
About the Pocha workshop:
This school consists of 7 full days where participants will be immersed in our performance art techniques and exercises with a focus on the human body as a site for creation, reinvention, memory and activism. We will place particular emphasis on the relationship between the human body, Mexican mysticism, psychomagic & the politics of identity. This amazing cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary and cross-generational laboratory will host a both local and international artists. We consider our performance workshop intensives to be our most important pedagogical endeavor of the year.
The ‘Pocha workshop’ is internationally recognized as an amazing and rigorous artistic and anthropological experiment in which carefully selected artists from several countries and every imaginable artistic, ethnic, multicultural, and gender persuasion begin to negotiate common ground. Performance becomes the connective tissue and lingua franca for our temporary community of rebel artists.
As always, space will be very limited and is expected to fill quickly. La Pocha Nostra will help you with official letters of invitation if you need them for travel or funding purposes. We encourage all interested applicants to submit your application as soon as possible. Application guidelines are included below.
What will be taught?
The exciting 6 hour per-day workshop will offer two parallel processes: Participants are exposed to La Pocha Nostra's most recent performance methodologies, an eclectic combination of exercises borrowed from multiple traditions including performance art, experimental theater and dance, the Suzuki method, ritual shamanism, performance games and live jam sessions. Parallel to this hands-on process, the group will analyze the creative process, the issues addressed by the work, its aesthetic currency, cultural impact and political pertinence.
Who should attend? Performance artists, experimental actors, dancers, theorists, activists and students interested in the topics addressed by La Pocha Nostra. Ages can range from 18 to 80 years old. Applicants must have some performance experience and must be familiar with La Pocha Nostra’s work. The workshop is extremely fun but both physically and intellectually rigorous.
What is the application process?
International participants will be carefully chosen by a selection committee composed of Pocha Nostra Core members. Please fill the application form online and answer the corresponding questions. Responding to the economical challenges of our times, notifications of acceptance will be given within one week of having submitted your application giving you time to plan accordingly.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 15th , 2023
Please note that we will be accepting participants on a rolling basis and strongly encourage submitting your application in advance of the deadline to assure a place. Space is limited and expected to fill quickly.
TUITION: International artists: $1,000.00 USD The tuition for the 7-day workshop includes access to all sessions. To secure your place, a non-refundable deposit of $450 USD towards the full tuition fee of $1000 USD is required to confirm your place in the workshop by April 1st, 2023. The balance of $550 is due by June 1st, 2023.
Steps for applying:
Fill out the application online HERE (English / Spanish).
The form will ask you to include the following:
*A 300 word MAX personal biography
*A sample of your work is accessible online (video or photographic documentation). Clearly describe the medium, title and any other contextual information.
*Past workshop participants: Participants from prior LPN workshops all you need to do is fill in the form and indicate where you met LPN.
Please note that La Pocha Nostra is not offering full or partial scholarships. If you plan on applying for outside funding, please answer the corresponding questions in the application form and we will help you with letters of support if helpful.
For further information please contact all three core organizers:
Saul Garcia Lopez (Pocha Scholar - Manager of Pedagogy) saulagarcialopez@gmail.com
Federico Tello (Manager of Mexican Programs & Operations ) fede29r@gmail.com
Balitrónica (LPN Artistic Co-Director) ballitron@gmail.com
