How to engage with your audience and create participatory and immersive performances
🌟 Elevate Your Artistry in the Enchanting Ohrid, North-Macedonia! 🎭
Don't miss this unique opportunity to elevate your artistry, connect with like-minded artists, and be part of an experience that blends culture and nature. Places are limited, so reserve your spot today.
Prepare to embark on a poetic and artistic adventure like no other. Join us in Ohrid, and let your creativity flourish in a setting that is truly magical. We can't wait to welcome you to this enchanting journey of self-expression and artistic growth. 🎙️🌟
Are you a passionate poet or performer looking to transcend your art and leave a lasting mark on your audience? Do you dream of captivating crowds, creating unforgettable moments, and embarking on a transformative artistic journey? Look no further! We invite you to be part of a one-of-a-kind workshop set against the backdrop of Ohrid, North-Macedonia, a UNESCO World Heritage site that seamlessly combines natural and cultural beauty.
Dates: July 15th to July 21st, 2024
The Perfect Fusion of Art and Scenic Splendor
Imagine perfecting your craft in the midst of stunning landscapes and rich history. Ohrid, known for its shimmering Lake Ohrid and the ancient architecture of its Old Town, is a haven for artists and nature lovers alike. Our workshop is strategically aligned with the Ohrid Summer Festival, a prestigious cultural event that graces this picturesque town, ensuring a seamless blend of artistic exploration and breathtaking surroundings.
35 Years of Stage Experience
Philip Meersman is a multilingual poet-performer who explores the boundaries between written and spoken poetry. With a socio-political and biotopic perspective, he approaches contemporary themes. As the coordinator of the European project Urban Time Machines, curator of the Brussels Planetarium Poetry Fest and Transpoesie, and a doctoral candidate at the AP Hogeschool, KASK Antwerp, he transforms visual poetry into XR experiences. Meersman performs worldwide, conducts workshops on experimental poetry, and teaches these forms. He is also a co-founder and president of the ivzw World Poetry Slam Organization aisbl, organizing the European and World Poetry Slam Championships.
His experience will be complemented by several local and international poetry workshop teachers and musicians specialized in improvisation.

Day one: Skopje to Ohrid
Arrival, transfer to hotel in Ohrid plus welcome pack
Room division
Dinner
Day two: Ohrid
Breakfast
Welcome session
introductions & presentation of the program
"Poetry: The Oral Conception and Prosody of a Verbal Artefact in the Brain"
Theory on voice use, improvisation, attitude, structure of presentation, writing binding texts, interpreting performance, dealing with parasitic words and ticks, context, audience participation and engagement.
Competences acquired:
After this session, participants have a basic knowledge of writing text for the stage, they know the techniques used to do a live presentation such as use of voice, body posture, audience participation, performance space and they can integrate these into their performance.
Lunch
Group visit with guide to Ohrid, UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site
Writing session on location
Dinner
Evening at Ohrid Summer Festival or dinner performance on a boat on the Ohrid Lake (tbc)
Day three: Ohrid
02:03 am automated poetry writing session
Breakfast
Sensory writing techniques: sound, image, writing, delivery
During this session the emphasis is on speaking as writing, writing sound poetry and visual oral scores and reading and performing sound poetry and oral scores.
How sound can add extra layers to the poem, how to use the body to add sound effects
Competences acquired:
After the session, participants have a basic knowledge of oral visual scores and sound poetry. The participants will be able to process sound as an added value to their poetry in a live performance and appreciate oral visual scores.
Lunch
Collaborative Writing & Performance Prompts
Collaborative writing exercises & feedback session. During this session, the emphasis is on writing tools & techniques and how the tools and carriers can influence the result. Editing of text, use of tools and intensive listening to sheet sessions conclude this session.
Dinner performance on a boat on the Ohrid Lake or evening at Ohrid Summer Festival (tbc)
Day four: Ohrid
Sunrise writing prompt
Breakfast
The stage, Technical Set Up, Use of Equipment + Hearing, Seeing, Performance and Continuity
Technical set up and stage techniques:
use of the microphone, use of the stage, interaction with the audience
Audience observation techniques as performer
Reading the audience and interaction with the audience
Continuity of performance - what if …
Lunch
Deep POV
In this session we look for emotion and feeling within ourselves, we investigate their projection and the impact of the performance, but first and foremost we ensure a secure inner environment.
The feeling should be evoked in the audience when you write from a deeply emotional event from your own point of view (Point of View or POV). As a performance poet you need hooks to show vulnerability, but not to be, to arouse emotions and not necessarily to get emotional, to be angry without just shouting. How do you create deep emotional connection with your audience without becoming an emotional wreck yourself.
Competences acquired:
After this sessions, participants will have knowledge to project the emotional intent of their poetry towards the audience and to not be consumed by these emotions themselves, using all the pre-acquired knowledge of previous sessions. Participants will also deepen their audience involvement via emotional connection and link these also to universal feelings/emotions/situations and contextualist them depending on the stage location. Taking into account the performance environment and context, the content and emotion within their text and the geopolitical context of the performance location in terms of performance.
Dinner
Naughty Nightly Writing Session and Cabaret
Poetic evening around the themes of sensuality, eroticism, desire where all senses will be awakened. Writing texts which are bold, saucy, spicy, intense, wild, firm, full-bodied, fluid,... written texts will not be performed by the author...it will be a fun evening full of laughter and craziness, because poetry is sexy! But we will take care that this will be a safe, inclusive and caring space where only the bounderies of language and poetry could be breached...
Day five: Ohrid
Breakfast
Writing & Performance Prompts
Collaborative writing exercises & feedback session. During this session, the emphasis is on writing tools & techniques and how the tools and carriers can influence the result. Editing of text, use of tools and intensive listening to sheet sessions conclude this session.
Lunch
Free afternoon
Free afternoon with an option for a guided visit to the City of Struga, the Poetry Park, the Mladinov Brothers Museum and the Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Kališta
Dinner
Performance at the Ohrid Summer Festival - Belgian Day
Day six: Ohrid to Skopje
Packing & checkout
Breakfast
Evaluation and feedback session
Return with bus to Skopje
Arrival in Skopje
Check in hotel
Lunch
Cosy sharing experiences afternoon
Dinner
Final performance in Skopje
Day seven: Skopje to home
Packing + checkout
Breakfast
transfer to airport, return home.
** please let us know in advance if you are okay with us taking pictures and video material and if we may share this beyond the workshop group
*** included: hotel with facilities in Ohrid in single room occupancy, half board, water, return transfer Skopje-Ohrid, workshop locations and materials, tuition fee for local and international tutors, guided visit to Ohrid UNESCO Cultural Heritage site.
**** not included: other beverages during meals, lunch, souvenirs, tips, optional visit to Struga, small personal costs, international travel to Struga, travel insurance,....
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