International Physical Theatre Workshop Brings Artists from 14 Countries to Berlin

From 17 to 21 August 2026, NIPAI held its international physical theatre workshop Acting in Physical Theatre in Berlin.

The five-day studio intensive brought together performing arts practitioners from Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

For several days, different artistic traditions, professional backgrounds and cultural perspectives met in the same rehearsal room.

This international exchange has been part of NIPAI’s work since its foundation in 2000. Now in its 26th year, the Institute has organised more than 100 international educational and artistic projects, bringing together successive generations of actors, directors, dancers, choreographers, movement practitioners, teachers and theatre-makers.

Many participants who entered these projects years ago have since developed their own performances, companies, teaching practices and artistic processes, carrying elements of the methodologies they encountered into new contexts.

That continuity matters to us.

Performing arts training is never only about the exercises that happen during one week in a studio. Knowledge moves from artist to artist, from rehearsal room to rehearsal room, and from one generation of practitioners to another.

One of the most significant parts of an international workshop is something that cannot be fully planned in a curriculum: the relationships that form between people.

During the August workshop, participants trained together, exchanged professional perspectives and shared their different approaches to performance-making. Some left Berlin having formed new friendships and professional connections, and conversations about future collaborations have already begun.

For NIPAI, this is an important part of the work.

Our aim is to support performing arts practice and the people who continue to create, teach, research and develop it. Every artist entering the room brings another perspective into that larger history.

We are grateful to everyone who travelled from across the world to work with us in Berlin and became part of this edition.

The workshop has ended, but the work continues — in future rehearsals, performances, classrooms, collaborations and projects created by its participants.

See you at the next NIPAI project.