Movement, Voice and Theatre
WORKSHOPS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
An exciting opportunity to train with the critically acclaimed Feet First Collective (FFC), a boutique producing house that makes contemporary independent theatre in Fremantle, Western Australia.
The Feet First Method is supported by a unique combination of training methodologies: Teresa Izzard’s approach to Laban and Somatic Movement for actors, Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints and Composition and Donald Woodburn’s Vocal Targeting. Feet First Collective Training offers the opportunity to train with us as a company, alongside two company members (lead/senior coach and an assistant) to experience our expertise and working processes. We offer the following:
practitioner Workshops
FFC can provide incursions and professional development for students / educators in the following practitioners / methodologies:
Anne Bogart: Ensemble Building and Physical Approaches to Devising
1: The 9 Viewpoints
2: Viewpoints in Rehearsal
3: Composition and Devising
Rudolf Laban: A Language for Generating and Describing Movement
1: Effort – Time, Weight, Space and Flow
2: Space – Kinaesphere and Dynamosphere
3: Effort and Character
New Practitioners: Skills Development for the New Curriculum
1: Steven Berkoff and Artaud 2: Frantic Assembly 3: Lecoq
NB: We recommend that an Introductory session on Viewpoints or Laban be at least 90 minutes if at all possible. 120 mins is preferable. This is to allow us time to deliver the material in a thorough manner for the students. Please contact Teresa if you would like to discuss this recommendation.
Also available: Directing, Brecht, The Theatre of the Absurd, Grotowski and Poor Theatre, Vocal Viewpoints, Practical Aesthetics
*Donald is currently based in Sydney. We have the capacity to arrange Zoom workshops supported by coaches in Perth or are happy to discuss the logistics of arranging an in person masterclass.
“I thoroughly recommend them. Amazing knowledge and great fun in a highly practical workshop that we could use immediately in our classrooms.”
Each session as described can be delivered at an introductory level in 50 minutes to 1 hour. However, all / any of these sessions can be expanded and/or designed to meet the needs for different year levels or tasks. We can also create a teacher development day or series of masterclasses. FFC coaches have expertise in a wide range of movement and theatre practitioners and methodologies so just ask us if you would like to design your own bespoke workshop.
Making a Candidate’s Choice
Our popular OSP Package has been redeveloped in conjunction with the new curriculum and beyond. The new version is more adaptable and can cater for both scripted and original work. Starting with an inspiring practical session that gives students the skills and confidence to generate their piece, we can curate the process to meet your needs.
Individual aspects can be booked separately and quotes can be provided for your context. Get in touch if you have questions! An example package might look like this:
Introductory Devising Workshop ($500 for 2 hours): Introduces devising methodologies and tools. Supports students to generate / develop their ideas. Can be adapted to focus on solo or ensemble process
OR
Monologue Masterclass ($500 for 2 hours): Choose to focus on one session (ANALYSIS, CHARACTER or STAGING) or get a taster of all three!
Supported coaching sessions – these sessions weave the content of the workshops into rehearsal process. ($250 an hour)
Showing (including feedback) ($500 for 2 hours)
Total Price (with 4 hours of coaching) = NORMAL PRICE $2000
CANDIDATE’S CHOICE PACKAGE DISCOUNT ***$1750***
Teacher and Student feedback from our Devising workshop!
“Feet First are by far the best group to bring in to take your senior classes through the process of making theatre … A must for all classes studying Drama as a Performing Art.” (James Dove - Theatre Arts Teacher and Digital Creative Corpus Christi College)
“First Feet Collective are so passionate about what they do, and that truly resonated with all of us in the workshop! Sam and Teresa have a wonderful sense of play. Being able to see our in-class written work come to life was rewarding and fun!” (Indahly – student at Irene McCormack Catholic College)
Making a Monologue
Developed as a series of three workshops addressing ANALYSIS, CHARACTER and STAGING in turn, the team can redesign the content to your needs.
Aimed at supporting students to create effective performance choices for character, to offer simple and effective analysis tools and provide structures for staging. The series weaves in a lot of Viewpoints but other practitioners can be added on request.
Each two-hour session is $500
Making Metamorphosis
Take a peek behind the scenes of what it takes to stage Berkoff's classic!
The FFCT team were behind the WA premiere of this work in 2020 as well as staging it in 2022 with high school students with great success. Your students will learn the essential skills they need to stage this challenging text through exploring: mime, expressionist performance, Lecoq and aspects of Viewpoints in application.
This can be delivered as a 3 OR 6 hour series OR as a 2 hour intensive introduction.
Feedback from our Making Metamorphosis workshop!
“Feet First Collective delivered an intensive and inspiring series of workshops which deepened students’ understanding of Berkoff’s approach and the techniques he employed specifically to stage Metamorphosis. They bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to their workshops, customising content and tailoring the sessions to meet students’ needs. The workshops were fast paced, busy and energetic, challenging students to make instinctive and creative physical choices beyond their expectations. Our students were full of appreciation for the experience of working with Teresa and Sam, and I highly recommend Feet First Collective workshops to other schools.”
-Sarah Combes | Curriculum Leader - The Arts
Scotch College
“Feet First are by far the best group to bring to take your senior classes through the process of making theatre. Their bespoke approach to physicalising and bringing text to life is refreshing, enriching and steeped in professional practice... Students don’t just appreciate the practitioner techniques, but gain real lived in experiences that they can apply... A must for all classes studying Drama as a Performing Art.”
Rates
All our rates include consultation, preparation, a lead and a senior coach, travel to your venue* and resources as appropriate. This reduces if you book us for more than one hour which we encourage you to do.
Minimum Call Out (up to 1 hour): $400
Masterclass (up to 2 hours) : $500
Half Day (up to 3 hours): $225 per hour ($675)
Full Day (up to 5 hours): $200 per hour ($1000)
Please contact Teresa on 0416530079 if you would like to discuss the rates or would like us to provide a quote for a particular context as we aim to be flexible and accessible.
FFCT's Cancellation and Rescheduling Policy
We understand that things crop up and want to be as supportive as possible. However, as a small initiative we need to ensure we are covering our costs.
Cancellation: Once you have booked a workshop with FFCT a cancellation in writing received more than 7 days prior to the workshop will incur a $20 administration fee. If you cancel all or part of your booking within 7 days we will invoice you for 20% of the cancelled portion of your booking to cover administration and planning costs. Any workshop cancelled within 24 hours will be charged in full.
Rescheduling: We are happy to reschedule booked workshops once free of charge. However, if you want to reschedule again after that we will add a $20 administration fee to our invoice.
*NB: Travel outside 25km radius from CBD will be charged at 72c per km, if parking is not provided on school grounds parking costs will be added to our invoice.
“It was the physical ‘doing’ of these viewpoints that allowed me to really understand each of them, how they worked and how I could manipulate them in my own work and written situations …The OSP workshop got me to jump over my overwhelm about the enormity of the task...”
INDIVIDUAL COACHING AND ARTIST DEVELOPMENT
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram to keep up with our offerings. Teresa Izzard is available for mentoring, dramaturgy for productions and individual movement / artist coaching in person and via Zoom. Donald Woodburn is available for individual vocal coaching via Zoom. Contact us for rates and packages.
“If you haven’t had Teresa Izzard out to work with your students, then you are missing out. It’s a great PD opportunity and our students just loved it. It was engaging, thought-provoking, well-paced, and fun! Thank you, Teresa and Feet First Collective!”
OUR TEAM
Teresa Izzard – Lead Coach
Teresa Izzard (Artistic Director / Creative Producer / Lead Coach) is a Laban/Bartenieff Certified Movement Analyst (Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, NYC ’07), a Dynamic Embodiment Practitioner (Centre for Kinaesthetic Education, NYC ’15) and holds a PhD in Theatre Direction and Dramaturgy which won the Phillip Parsons Prize in 2013. She has a wealth of experience as a director, movement coach, producer, dramaturg and theatre educator. She was Head of Movement at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 2014 and a Theatre Arts lecturer at Curtin University where she specialised in movement for actors and was a resident director until 2020. Founded in 2015, she is the Artistic Director and Creative Producer of Feet First Collective (FFC), an independent theatre company with a training wing, making critically acclaimed work in Perth, Western Australia. She now combines running FFC with teaching into the Music Theatre and Acting courses at WAAPA and independent projects. Her recent production of This Is Where We Live by Vivienne Walshe was described as “complex and tense … compelling viewing” by Vicki Renner for Arts Hub. Teresa brings her background in Somatics to her directorial practice and specialises in creating clear visual and physical dramaturgy for challenging, provocative texts and devised works. She directed her first solo work Shadow Boxing for Sydney Fringe 2023 to critical acclaim and looks forward to building on this success at Perth’s FRINGEWORLD in 2024.
Donald Woodburn – Lead Coach
Donald Woodburn (Board Member / Lead Coach) runs Woodburn Voice and is a Director at BrandU Media. He is an internationally accomplished voice coach with more than 25 years’ experience who works with professional communicators from an array of backgrounds. He studied at NIDA before heading up the voice departments at the South African School of Film and Drama (AFDA) and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). He has worked with an array of broadcasters and his approach to voice emerged from a blend of childhood experiences in rural KwaZulu-Natal and his extensive involvement with broadcast professionals. He is the originator of ‘Vocal Targeting’ work and is regarded for his ability to astutely diagnose vocal performance issues and quickly shift a speaker’s performance ability. Donald is a founding member of Feet First Collective and has been involved in all the company's productions. Recently Donald was the vocal coach for FFC’s critically acclaimed Perth and Melbourne Fringe seasons of 'This Is Where We Live' by Vivienne Walshe as well as for 'The Flower that Fell from the Sky' by Heloise Wilson and 'Medusa'. Currently based in Sydney Donald teaches for The Hub Studio and Actors Centre Australia as well as being a consultant to the international agency X Division. He was excited to work on 'Shadow Boxing' as dramaturg and vocal performance coach to bring this provocative work to Sydney audiences, and looks forward to continuing the journey at Perth’s FRINGEWORLD in 2024.
Samuel Addison – Senior Coach
Samuel Addison (Associate Producer / Senior Coach) holds a degree in Theatre Arts from Curtin University. He worked on a number of shows at the Hayman Theatre, including bringing the physically demanding lead role of Gregor Samsa to life in Berkoff’s 'Metamorphosis'. Samuel is a co-founder of Unbalanced Productions and received the Best Performance award for their production of Therese Roberts’ 'Playing with Shadows' at South West Shorts in 2020 which he reprised at Short ‘n’ Sweet Perth in 2021. He joined Feet First in 2019 and was a performer for both seasons of S-27. Sam set designed and performed in FFC’s Fringeworld and Melbourne seasons of 'This Is Where We Live' by Vivienne Walshe as well as set designing and performing in the FFC and Little y co-production of 'The Flower that Fell from the Sky' at The Blue Room Theatre. In 2019 he was appointed as a Core Artist and he is the senior coach within the Feet First Training team. In 2020-2022 he collaborated in the creative development of 'Medusa' as a performer and took on the roles of assistant producer, designer and director for the highly successful performance season in 2023. He is the performer for Shadow Boxing a challenging solo work that the company premiered at Sydney Fringe 2023 to critical acclaim, and that will be remounted for Perth FRINGEWORLD in 2024. He has recently been appointed as Associate Producer of the company.