In this rare public lecture, Antero Alli discusses the central principles and methods of his ritual technology of "Paratheatre" and its application in theatrical performance and in non-performance oriented training processes. This work does not originate in any known or popular ritual traditions but was inspired by the early paratheatre of Jerzy Grotowski. Antero's paratheatre is an original ritual medium that combines physical theatre, dance, vocalization, and standing Zazen meditation to tap the Unconscious as a wellspring of presence, movement, and vocal resources - "to make the Unconscious, conscious." He will explain how our innate and often unconscious instinctive, psychic, and spiritual responses can be - once made conscious - converted into ritual skills. He will also share his vision for an experimental theatre troupe he plans to start in Portland with his wife, the singer/composer Sylvi Alli. This talk introduces the upcoming ZERO LAB, an 8-week paratheatre training workshop led by Antero and Sylvi for those wishing to participate.
Paratheatre in performance
The video clip above is excerpted from "Orphans of Delirium" , a feature-length video document of a paratheatrical performance (written & directed by Alli) at CellSpace, San Francisco in 2004. "Orphans" developed through a four-month training process exploring initiatic experience and how rituals of initiation might be designed and executed. Click this for more on the performance. Click this to purchase the dvd.
ANTERO ALLI ~
author/ritualist/theatre director
In 1977, Antero was inspired by the Paratheatre of Jerzy Grotowski and over the next three decades, he combined his early theatre experience and training to design his own paratheatre medium -- as documented in his book, "Towards an Archeology of the Soul" (Vertical Pool, 2003), in four videos (1992-2012), and in 2008 by Nicoletta Isar, Professor at the Institute of Art History, Copenhagen University. Between 1971 and 2005, Antero wrote, directed, produced and performed in numerous experimental theatre productions. Between 2005 and 2015, Antero stopped producing theatre to write and direct a series of feature-length art films which included "The Greater Circulation" (2005; 93 min) a critically acclaimed cinematic treatment of poet Rainer Maria Rilke's "Requiem for a Friend", "The Invisible Forest" (2008; 111 min) featuring the radical ideas of French Surrealist, Antonin Artaud, "To Dream of Falling Upwards"(2011; 120 min), exploring the occult worlds of rural and urban sorcery and "The Book of Jane" (2013; 115 min.), an urban fable of Feminine initiation. He has been in artistic collaboration with his wife, the singer composer Sylvi Alli, since 1989.
