Game, Image, Task

Overview

(Game, Image, Task)/Technique is an approachable, training-agnostic way to view and create contemporary physical performance. It’s a framework that Ben has been researching in various contexts for the last few years, including through workshops at Pitch Catch Circus and at Breaking Walls Festival in Cairo, Egypt.
Under this framework, we think of game, image, and task as three distinct modes of action in performance: what a performer does. These three modes, and the combinations of them, circumscribe the entire set of what a performance can be.
In each moment of performance, one can be considered primary and another secondary. As practitioners navigate between the three, they can create present performances that do not rely on a pre-existing knowledge of traditions of acting, dance, circus, etc.

This workshop will be a playful and fast-paced research laboratory, leading to the creation of brand new original material by each participant.

Please wear clothes you can move in comfortably, and bring a notebook!

About the Artist

Ben Grinberg is a Philadelphia-based performing artist, director, educator, and festival producer. Working at the intersection of contemporary circus and ensemble dance theater, he co-founded and directs Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, an award-winning, internationally touring physical performance ensemble (2020 Rocky Award, 2020 FringeForward Award, a 2017 Suraya Award, 2017 CircusNow ICE Award, and a 2019 Barrymore Award). He co-founded and Program Manages Cannonball Festival, a hub for new performance in Philadelphia, and teaches Acrobatics at the UArts/Pig Iron MFA program in devised performance. He was a 2024 and 2022 invited choreographer at the Breaking Walls Festival in Cairo, Egypt, a 2024 Festival Academy graduate, a 2022 subcircle resident artist. Grinberg’s work has been presented by Jacob's Pillow, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Queer Zagreb, Touchstone Theatre, FringeArts, NYLA, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co, the Mexico City International Festival of Contemporary Dance, Assembly Festival, and more.