PEDAGOGY
Since September 2017, I am a permanent Teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham's Drama and Theatre Arts department, My pedagogical expertise lies in practice, and I teach practical courses at all levels. From September 2006 to June 2017, I was an Associate Lecturer in drama and performance at the University of Kent's School of Arts. I have also been a visiting teacher at Central School of Speech and Drama, and Canterbury Christ Church University. I have taught and convened courses, delivered lectures and workshops, run seminars and supervised students' work at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
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My areas of expertise cover: live art, contemporary performance practice, auto/biography, theatre journalism, site-specificity, stagecraft, event design and management, audience interactivity, self-reflexive and performative writing, new approaches to directing, and key 20th century practitioners
(Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski, Robert Wilson, Pina Bausch, the Wooster Group, Forced Entertainment). You can access some of my lectures at the bottom. I have an eclectic pedagogy that capitalises on my experience and knowledge as a performance-maker and event producer; emphasising embodied learning and bringing together theory and practice. Above all, I like to encourage a curious, inquisitive and critical body/mind. |
LIVE ART WORKSHOP INTENSIVE
In July 2017, I ran a week-long workshop on live art at the Casa de Cultura, El Campello (Alicante, Spain). It took place within TAE's summer programme. The course was designed as a practical, embodied introduction to live art and performance art practices, for participants without any prior experience. Our exploration included work on: non-matrixed presence, generating a state of flow, liveness and risk, spatial relationships, Fluxus and task-based actions, materiality and image composition.
The slide show below shows images of this workshop.
Here you have two examples of practical exercises/experiences I have created:
The Gentle Rhythm Of Walking Is Often A Tonic for Thought,
(published in Performance Artist's Workbook: On teaching and learning performance art - essays and exercises.
ed. Pilvi Porkola, vol. 61 The Publication Series of the Theatre Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki,
(available online here)
Recipe for Action.
Previous students under my supervision on the MA Contemporary Performance Practice at the University of Kent, have created performances involving:
- building a 3ft. modular structure from plans they'd receive each day from a designer, it was made up entirely of recycled materials and was erected in a public square over the course of a week;
- making an immersive experience for one audience member at a time involving binaural recording technology and being wheeled around on an office chair whilst blindfolded;
- making a life-size puppet and living attached to it 24/7 for two weeks, documenting the process throughout and presenting studio performances at key points;
- worrying their friends and families about the fact they were going on a number of radical fad diets for a month, only to fake the whole thing, revealing the truth during a cat-walk inspired performance...
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Here are some nice things Dr. Rosemary Klich (Head of Drama and Theatre Studies) has said about me:
"Pablo is an exceptionally engaging and inspirational teacher who has expertise across a range of theoretical and practical areas. He always pushes students to produce their best work and to think creatively, facilitating a fun and supportive learning environment. A talented performer and theatre-maker himself as well as an academic, Pablo encourages students to create interesting, innovative performance practice that is informed by current trends in European theatre. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching with Pablo on modules such as 'New Directions' and 'Performance and Art'. He's always popular with the students!" Here are some nice things students have said about me in their anonymous feedback: "I loved the teaching from Pablo, he was very helpful in his feedback and always made seminars and workshops very engaging and interesting." "The regular meetings with Pablo were extremely useful and this constant support allowed me to develop my research portfolio over the whole term. I was able to send him written work and would get feedback within a few days, which was a great help towards the last few weeks building up to my final project. Overall, I couldn't have asked for more support." |
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