Practice of Presence
February 20 — April 20, Yerevan
Сontemporary theatre and performance art workshop curated by Ilya Moshchitsky
2 months / on-site / 6 days a week / 5 hours a day (evenings)
Get notified about next laboratories
Does theatre exist outside the stage?
We invite you into a two-month process of collective work and performative research, which unfolds into a three-day performative project across different spaces and formats, forming a single performative statement.
The Workshop Studio is dedicated to contemporary theatre and performance art as a living, process-based practice, built through an ongoing dialogue between participants and space.
Rather than following a predefined trajectory, the work is grounded in intensive collective practice: rehearsals, performative and acting practices, discussions, lectures, writing, screenings and discussions, where practice becomes a form of research and co-creation.
What is three-day performative project about?
- Day 1
I’m HomePerformative project unfolding inside a real apartment and its surroundings.
Home is explored as space, memory, and identity through individual performances within a continuous, open process. - Day 2
Proposed CircumstancesPerformance at the Stanislavsky Theatre.
Dialogue with actor training — its methods and expectations.
The project explores how theatre is changing, what remains alive, and what has become legacy in need of reassembly. - Day 3
Out of PlayA performance on a football field.
A match that gradually transforms into performance, with the field becoming a space where the rules of the game are known yet constantly broken.
Participants create a choreography of collective action, where personal episodes merge into a shared movement, ensemble, and game situation.
mentors
- Ilya MoshchitskyWorkshop curator, Studio leadDirector, curator, and founder of the Chronotope Theatre Company and the Chronofest Festival.
Winner of the “Breakthrough” Award for the production The Trial of John Demjanjuk. Holocaust Cabaret.
Nominee for the “Golden Mask” Award for the production The Book of Disquiet. - Ekaterina KramarenkoViewpoints, Performance, Site-SpecificShe graduated from the Saint Petersburg Theatre Academy and completed training with SITI Company (Tadashi Suzuki, Anne Bogart).
She works with Viewpoints, contemporary dance, physical theatre, breathing and voice practices, and the method of Theodoros Terzopoulos. - Vlada KuprinaTheatre and Performance HistoryShe graduated from GITIS (workshop of A. V. Bartoshevich and V. Yu. Silyunas). She has taught at GITIS, the Moscow Art Theatre School, the Higher School of Performing Arts, and the Dadamyan School. Member of the expert council of the “Golden Mask” Award.
A specialist in European theatre of the 20th–21st centuries, contemporary directing, and theatre institutional structures. - Alexey KiselevContemporary Theatre, New Stage FormsColumnist for Afisha, editor-in-chief of the I’m at the Theatre project, expert for the “Golden Mask” Award, and curator of Formafestival.
Founder of Mobile Art Theatre and editor-in-chief of Individuum Publishing.
He specializes in contemporary European theatre, documentary and hybrid forms, site-specific and performative practices. - Alexander PlotnikovDramaturgy, Performance WritingHe studied at VGIK (workshop of Rustam Ibragimbekov) and at the Higher School of Performing Arts (workshop of Kama Ginkas).
Participant in the longlists of the “Golden Mask” Award.
He works with documentary structures, verbatim theatre, experimental dramaturgy, hybrid forms, and performative writing. - Anahit MusheghyanYoga, Body and Breath PracticesCertified yoga teacher and co-founder of the B’Arev Festival — Armenia’s first and only transformational festival.
She holds a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certification and a 50-hour Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training certification, with over five years of teaching experience.
Her work is based on a holistic approach to wellness, movement, and mindfulness. Through yoga, breath, and embodied attention, she guides individuals and groups toward balance, presence, and self-awareness.
- Art is an anthropological necessity of the human being.
- We work in a safe environment where thoughts can be expressed freely.
- Ethics and discipline matter — only insofar as they help us collectively navigate chaos.
- Chaos matters, because it is where ideas come from.
- We prioritize process over product; results are consequences of a living process, not ends in themselves.
- We value thinking over repetition and learn to think publicly rather than declaim with expression.
- Tradition in art is valuable only when it does not claim the present.
- We are able to move in any direction; an open field is closer to us than predefined paths.
- Mistakes, doubt, and uncertainty are essential parts of the work.
- We do not compete — we share.
- Engaging with art is a pleasure, and doing anything in love is better than doing it without love.
answers
Key voices of contemporary European theatre entering the studio online:
Matija Ferlin
Croatian choreographer and performance artist working at the intersection of dance, theatre, and conceptual performance, often engaging with memory, repetition, and autobiographical structures.
Heiner Goebbels
German composer and theatre director whose work redefines music theatre through postdramatic forms, complex soundscapes, and the decentering of narrative and performer.
Stefan Kaegi
Swiss theatre director and co-founder of Rimini Protokoll, internationally known for documentary and participatory theatre involving non-professional performers and real social systems.
Boris Nikitin
Theatre director and performer working with documentary strategies, identity construction, and the exposure of theatrical conventions within contemporary performance.
Milo Rau
Swiss theatre director and writer whose politically engaged work combines documentary theatre, reenactment, and institutional critique.
Artyom Tomilov
Theatre director and curator associated with experimental and interdisciplinary performance practices at the intersection of theatre, visual art, and research-based formats.
Dmitry Volkostrelov
Theatre director and founder of post-theatre, known for minimalist, conceptual works exploring temporality, attention, and the limits of theatrical action.
Matija Ferlin
Croatian choreographer and performance artist working at the intersection of dance, theatre, and conceptual performance, often engaging with memory, repetition, and autobiographical structures.
Heiner Goebbels
German composer and theatre director whose work redefines music theatre through postdramatic forms, complex soundscapes, and the decentering of narrative and performer.
Stefan Kaegi
Swiss theatre director and co-founder of Rimini Protokoll, internationally known for documentary and participatory theatre involving non-professional performers and real social systems.
Boris Nikitin
Theatre director and performer working with documentary strategies, identity construction, and the exposure of theatrical conventions within contemporary performance.
Milo Rau
Swiss theatre director and writer whose politically engaged work combines documentary theatre, reenactment, and institutional critique.
Artyom Tomilov
Theatre director and curator associated with experimental and interdisciplinary performance practices at the intersection of theatre, visual art, and research-based formats.
Dmitry Volkostrelov
Theatre director and founder of post-theatre, known for minimalist, conceptual works exploring temporality, attention, and the limits of theatrical action.
Theater and performing arts practitioners
Actors, directors, performers, choreographers, and movement-based artists, as well as those who intend to connect their lives with performative practices — theatre, performance art, cinema, and related disciplines.
Those who are searching for ways to speak about themselves and the world; who are looking for their own language and are already in an ongoing artistic process.
——
Interdisciplinary artists
Artists and practitioners from related fields — visual arts, music, photography, design, architecture, research, media — who are drawn to performative forms, corporeality, space, and presence.
They come from different systems of coordinates in order to encounter new modes of expression and collective work.
——
Writers, curators, researchers
Dramaturgs, screenwriters, curators, critics, anthropologists, psychologists, and researchers who wish to translate analytical and textual practices into action.
Those who want to stop observing from a distance and start thinking through the body, testing their ideas within a living, collective process.
——
Newcomers and curious minds
Individuals from non-artistic backgrounds: IT, business, medicine, service, or any other field, who feel an inner necessity to encounter art from the inside.
Those who have never stepped onto a stage but are ready to challenge their daily routine and comfort zone.
——————————
Participants should be ready to experiment, perceive, share experience, and work collectively over an extended period of time.
——————————
Age: up to 38 (recommended). Primarily based in Armenia.
——————————
This program may not be a good fit for:
you are not interested in questioning your own ways of making theatre
you are seeking fixed answers, ready-made methods, or stable hierarchies
you prefer predictability and predefined outcomes over experimentation
you are unable to commit to an intensive, full-time, on-site process
Actors, directors, performers, choreographers, and movement-based artists, as well as those who intend to connect their lives with performative practices — theatre, performance art, cinema, and related disciplines.
Those who are searching for ways to speak about themselves and the world; who are looking for their own language and are already in an ongoing artistic process.
——
Interdisciplinary artists
Artists and practitioners from related fields — visual arts, music, photography, design, architecture, research, media — who are drawn to performative forms, corporeality, space, and presence.
They come from different systems of coordinates in order to encounter new modes of expression and collective work.
——
Writers, curators, researchers
Dramaturgs, screenwriters, curators, critics, anthropologists, psychologists, and researchers who wish to translate analytical and textual practices into action.
Those who want to stop observing from a distance and start thinking through the body, testing their ideas within a living, collective process.
——
Newcomers and curious minds
Individuals from non-artistic backgrounds: IT, business, medicine, service, or any other field, who feel an inner necessity to encounter art from the inside.
Those who have never stepped onto a stage but are ready to challenge their daily routine and comfort zone.
——————————
Participants should be ready to experiment, perceive, share experience, and work collectively over an extended period of time.
——————————
Age: up to 38 (recommended). Primarily based in Armenia.
——————————
This program may not be a good fit for:
you are not interested in questioning your own ways of making theatre
you are seeking fixed answers, ready-made methods, or stable hierarchies
you prefer predictability and predefined outcomes over experimentation
you are unable to commit to an intensive, full-time, on-site process
- Viewpoints — 3 times per week
- Yoga — 3 times per week
- Performance / Rehearsal / Acting + Project Lab — 5 times per week
- Writing Lab — 2 times per week
- Lectures — 4 times per week
- Online masterclass — 1 time per week
- Screenings and discussions — 1 time per week
- Feedback sessions — 1 time per week
- Day off — 1 day per week
Participants will develop capacity to:
Participation in the practicum offers entry into a broader artistic ecosystem and a range of possible trajectories beyond the program itself:
- work within ensemble-based processes of co-research and co-creation, sustaining shared responsibility and collective authorship
- navigate contemporary theatre as a field, recognizing its key tensions, trajectories, and positions rather than fixed canons
- use presence, attention, and corporeality as primary performative material, not as expression but as compositional tools
- engage space as an active collaborator, transforming environments into dramaturgical and performative situations
- form, test, and articulate performative ideas through practice, moving from impulse toward structured propositions
- work with dramaturgy and performative writing as living material, integrating writing into action, rehearsal, and thinking-in-time
Participation in the practicum offers entry into a broader artistic ecosystem and a range of possible trajectories beyond the program itself:
- continued work in laboratory formats, including further practice within the Études lab at hosq (May 2026)
- the opportunity to have their performance included in the Chronofest 2026 program.
- potential invitations to projects of the Chronotope Theatre Company.
- ongoing artistic development within both local and international contexts.
- access to a growing professional network of participants, artists, and collaborators.
- a certificate of participation.
- possible letters of recommendation from the mentors.
- Art is an anthropological necessity of the human being.
- We work in a safe environment where thoughts can be expressed freely.
- Ethics and discipline matter — only insofar as they help us collectively navigate chaos.
- Chaos matters, because it is where ideas come from.
- We prioritize process over product; results are consequences of a living process, not ends in themselves.
- We value thinking over repetition and learn to think publicly rather than declaim with expression.
- Tradition in art is valuable only when it does not claim the present.
- We are able to move in any direction; an open field is closer to us than predefined paths.
- Mistakes, doubt, and uncertainty are essential parts of the work.
- We do not compete — we share.
- Engaging with art is a pleasure, and doing anything in love is better than doing it without love.
The program is conducted in English, Armenian, and Russian.
- Depending on the linguistic composition of the group, simultaneous interpretation for lectures and workshops may be provided.
The program is conducted in English, Armenian, and Russian.
- Depending on the linguistic composition of the group, simultaneous interpretation for lectures and workshops may be provided.
We work with the body, attention, and presence, while respecting personal boundaries.
Any participant may opt out of an exercise.
Any participant may opt out of an exercise.
- The course may touch on personal and emotionally charged topics — we approach this with care. We do not encourage violence toward oneself or toward others.
partners
CYFEST
The International Media Art Fest CYFEST was founded by a group of independent artists and curators in 2007. Since its inception in 2007, CYFEST’s main concerns have been to examine the dialogue between various visual languages and technology cultures, and thus to explore a way of commoning with both art professionals and scientific communities. CYFEST unites artists, curators, educators, engineers, programmers, and media activists all over the world, and creates a platform for mapping, mediation, and documentation of new media art on different regional and international levels. CYFEST is is a nomadic cultural event: throughout the year, festival projects are presented at cultural institutions around the world. Each year, the festival program includes several exhibition projects, sound art, video and educational programs.
www.cyfest.art
The International Media Art Fest CYFEST was founded by a group of independent artists and curators in 2007. Since its inception in 2007, CYFEST’s main concerns have been to examine the dialogue between various visual languages and technology cultures, and thus to explore a way of commoning with both art professionals and scientific communities. CYFEST unites artists, curators, educators, engineers, programmers, and media activists all over the world, and creates a platform for mapping, mediation, and documentation of new media art on different regional and international levels. CYFEST is is a nomadic cultural event: throughout the year, festival projects are presented at cultural institutions around the world. Each year, the festival program includes several exhibition projects, sound art, video and educational programs.
www.cyfest.art
Yerevan State Conservatory (YSC) after Komitas was founded in 1921 as a music studio and re-founded two years later as a higher musical education institution.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Armenian professional performing culture was shaped. It was represented by the graduates of Russian and European conservatories. Violinist Hovhanness Nalbandyan, (St. Petersburg Conservatory and Berlin Musikhochschule), singer M.Akimova (Leipzig Conservatory), musicologist M.Aghayan (St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories), singer A.Shahmuradyan (Conservatoire de Paris) etc.
The founder and first rector of conservatory was famous Armenian composer and widely educated musician and public figure Romanos Melikyan (Saints-Petersburg Conservatory graduate)
https://conservatory.am
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Armenian professional performing culture was shaped. It was represented by the graduates of Russian and European conservatories. Violinist Hovhanness Nalbandyan, (St. Petersburg Conservatory and Berlin Musikhochschule), singer M.Akimova (Leipzig Conservatory), musicologist M.Aghayan (St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories), singer A.Shahmuradyan (Conservatoire de Paris) etc.
The founder and first rector of conservatory was famous Armenian composer and widely educated musician and public figure Romanos Melikyan (Saints-Petersburg Conservatory graduate)
https://conservatory.am
Armenian National Music Organization was founded by Tigran Keshishyan, Sergey Umroyan and Astghik Martirosyan on May 7, 2013.
ANM's main goal is to create an up-to-date digital collection of the recordings of the Armenian folkloric, traditional, sacred and classical music.
To this date, thousands of audio recordings have been restored, processed, digitalized and presented through the organization's website.
In addition, we have also digitalized thousands of pages of sheet music, aiming at the complete digitalization of the Armenian composers works.
https://anmmedia.am
ANM's main goal is to create an up-to-date digital collection of the recordings of the Armenian folkloric, traditional, sacred and classical music.
To this date, thousands of audio recordings have been restored, processed, digitalized and presented through the organization's website.
In addition, we have also digitalized thousands of pages of sheet music, aiming at the complete digitalization of the Armenian composers works.
https://anmmedia.am
The State Philharmonia of Armenia
The State Philharmonia of Armenia has been established in 1930. Throughout its activity, Philharmonia has played a significant role in preserving and developing Armenian musical culture. International educational and cognitive projects, concerts, festivals, competitions, master classes, presentations are organised by the institution. Philharmonia is also engaged in the production of scientific-cognitive films and publishing. The mission of Philharmonia is to contribute to the development of the country's cultural sector by presenting the best works of Armenian and world art.
https://babajanyanhall.org/en/
The State Philharmonia of Armenia has been established in 1930. Throughout its activity, Philharmonia has played a significant role in preserving and developing Armenian musical culture. International educational and cognitive projects, concerts, festivals, competitions, master classes, presentations are organised by the institution. Philharmonia is also engaged in the production of scientific-cognitive films and publishing. The mission of Philharmonia is to contribute to the development of the country's cultural sector by presenting the best works of Armenian and world art.
https://babajanyanhall.org/en/
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