Let the Body Lead the Mind

A performance workshop from the director and actors of the Ebisu Sign Language Theatre.

Participants will work barefoot; please wear loose, comfortable clothing, preferably black.

We invite members of the Deaf community and theatre professionals to join this shared study experience.

The workshop will introduce members of the Deaf community and theatre professionals to the unique methods and techniques developed by the Ebisu Sign Language Theatre Laboratory.

Photo: Uri Rubinstein

The session will begin with a short warm-up to prepare the body for movement. Participants will then try the main exercise—repeated movement that gradually begins to “develop on its own”, without conscious control. The workshop includes both group and individual work, allowing each participant to find their own rhythm and means of expression.

Gradually, gestures will be incorporated into the movement. We will play with rhythm, vary the placement of gestures in relation to the body and space, and exchange them with partners, building a kind of physical dialogue. Additional elements such as gesture, mirror dance, and pantomime will be introduced step by step. In the final stage, participants will create short solo and duet studies combining sign language with expressive physical action.

Workshop leaders

Atay Citron — head of the Ebisu Sign Language Theatre, associate professor and chair of the Theatre and Performative Studies Department at the University of Haifa.

Elvira Okhotin — deaf actress and co-founder of the Ebisu Theatre, teacher at a school for the deaf in Tel Aviv.

Nurit Shalom - deaf actress and co-founder of the Ebisu Theatre. She performs and directs productions at the Na Laga’at Centre for the Deaf and Blind, and also gives tours of the exhibition Invitation to Silence at the Holon Children’s Museum. She was the first deaf actress to play a leading role in a prime-time Israeli television series (Vicky & I, 2018), and has also appeared in other films and TV shows.