Internships and workshops
Performing music is a natural act, and performing together is not reserved for specialists. In this respect, each person will find a place in the orchestra.
The “un-tamed instrument” approach , which consists in hijacking everyday objects and recycling waste materials for musical purposes (from the use of objects in the raw to the creation of actual musical instruments), is not intended to provide a cheap substitute for “real” instruments, but to foster artistic creativity, obviously musical, but also involving other forms of art (stage, poetry, sculpture … ).
Max Vandervorst, creator and showman, suggests an approach combining the transfer and exchange of know-how, not just another didactic method …
It is a noble form of DIY, using salvaged objects such as plastic bottles, tin cans, paper or cardboard… but also and above all a collective musical playground leading to moments like the “Rumba de Spa” or the Tarentelle de Vittel” … and returning home with loads of ideas and the irresistible desire to make the world resound.
Practically
A workshop is usually proposed as an add-on to a show on tour.
There is no “turnkey” formula. Each request will be examined to prepare a tailored proposal. The duration and content of a workshop or training session can vary from two hours to a week, depending on the objectives and wishes of the targeted participants (general public attending a festival, families or master-class).
Two thematic options: “paper and cardboard musical instruments” and “workshop for general musical practitioners”.
Quite practically
Participants will be asked to provide basic materials: a few very basic tools, and salvaged materials to be collected in advance.
A spacious venue, easy to access and uncluttered (a few tables and one chair per person). Better even: two contiguous rooms, one of which is used as a construction workshop, and the other as a performance/play area. As much light as possible, with preferably a source of water, and where one can make some noise …
Average group size: 20 participants
A “typical” workshop day would include: presenting the artistic environment with a few selected instruments; building one or several simple instruments, followed by individual experimentation and collective play; and the possibility of creating music in sub-groups, and ending the day with a mini-concert.
A few Master-Class references:
- Académie Internationale d’Eté de Wallonie (Neufchâteau)
- CFMI (Centre de Formation pour Musiciens Intervenants) in Lyon, Selestat, and Lille.
- International workshops of La Caixa Foundation in Barcelona
- Workshop at the Montreux Jazz Festival
- Workshop PIP in Torino…
- Ariam (Paris)