18-MONTH CERTIFICATE PROGRAMME
Movement Directing
An 18-Month Advanced Certificate Programme
An 18-month movement directing course for practitioners who already work through the body and want to direct movement for a whole production. You take your own performance material through five modules and build its movement score, with written feedback from your mentor every week. Distance learning, or blended with two studio sessions in Berlin.
The presentation describes the programme module by module and names the nearest start dates. We send it to you personally.
DURATION
18 months, five modules
FORMAT
Distance learning or blended, in English
FEEDBACK
Individual and written, every week
TUITION
€16,000
From movement in your body to movement for the whole stage
A performer can feel how a scene should move and still find it hard to give a cast actions they can repeat the next evening. Movement direction is the work of making those actions clear, shared and repeatable.
A movement director shapes the physical life of a production: how the performers' bodies carry the action of each scene, how an ensemble shares space and rhythm, and how one scene passes into the next.
Choreography usually composes movement material, often dance. Movement direction works with everything the performers do physically on stage, in plays, devised work and movement-based performance.
The programme teaches this work as a method. You learn to read a scene for its physical action, compose it in space with an ensemble, rehearse it with actors through a psychophysical approach and record it as a movement score.
Who the programme is for
The programme is written for experienced practitioners who work through movement and want to direct it in other performers.
01
Performers moving into movement direction
Actors, dancers, physical theatre and circus performers with years of stage work in their own bodies. Here you learn to give other performers movement they can find again, and to build it for the whole stage.
02
Teachers who direct
Teachers of movement, acting or dance who stage productions with students. The programme connects your studio exercises with staging decisions and a method you can document.
03
Theatre directors
Directors who want to build the physical side of a production with the same precision as their work on the text: composition, ensemble, tempo-rhythm and the actor's body.
04
Choreographers and movement practitioners
Choreographers invited to stage movement in plays and devised work, and practitioners already working as movement directors who want to set their approach down as a method.
Entry requirements: a bachelor's degree or an equivalent professional qualification. Each application is reviewed individually, with attention to your practice, your motivation and the project you want to develop.
If you are starting out in directing, the 12-month Theatre Directing Certificate and the three-month programmes are written for that stage.
Your own project, from Month 1 to Month 18
You choose your performance material at the start: a play, a devised project or a literary source. It stays with you for eighteen months. Every module takes its tools to that material through the cycle the programme calls Observation → Action → Analysis: you try something in practice, document it and reflect on it in writing.
By the end of Month 12 the scenes you have built in the modules come together in a movement score for the whole performance. The graduation project then takes that score into rehearsal, onto a stage and into documentation.
ONE PROJECT, FIVE STAGES
What happens to your material
Module I: the first scene of your performance, developed in movement
Module II: the physical structure of a second scene
Module III: a scene rehearsed with performers, with the emphasis on psychophysics
Module IV: the movement score of the whole performance, edited, shown to an external observer and documented
Module V: the graduation project, staged and documented over six months
What you work on
Four three-month modules build the tools; the fifth module is your graduation project.
01
MONTHS 1 TO 3
Foundations of the Director's Physical Thinking
Impulse, direction and quality of action, Lecoq's qualities of movement, lines and levels in space, tempo-rhythm as dramaturgy, physical action as a unit of dramaturgy and the recording of a physical score. Meyerhold's biomechanics and Viewpoints, compared.
02
MONTHS 4 TO 6
Composition and Space
The stage as the audience sees it, static and dynamic composition, lines of force and focus, the energy of an ensemble, body and scenography, movement and music, the editing of transitions and pauses, and the structure of a physical rehearsal.
03
MONTHS 7 TO 9
Working with the Actor and the Psychophysical Approach
The physical life of a character, Lecoq mask work, contact and reaction, physical conflict, text explored through movement, the move from improvisation to structure, and a score adjusted to the individual actor.
04
MONTHS 10 TO 12
Authorial Movement Direction
Stage language and metaphor, physical poetics, video documentation of rehearsals, movement with light, sound and media, transitions between scenes, and the movement score within the whole production, tested in a viewing with an external observer.
05
MONTHS 13 TO 18
The Graduation Project
A complete movement score for a performance or a movement-based performance, staged with performers and documented.
The programme presentation lists the topic of every week.
How you study
Both formats follow the same modules, the same weekly assignments and the same written feedback.
Distance learning
Four modules of weekly study and the graduation project, from wherever you work. You test assignments with performers in your own setting and document what happens, often on video.
Blended
The same distance study, plus two five-day studio sessions in Berlin, taught in English. Session dates are agreed with you from several options.
The weekly cycle
1
Read the week's materials: a short lecture, references and a practical assignment.
2
Take the assignment to your own project, test it in practice and document what you did and why.
3
Send your work within the agreed timeframe.
4
Your mentor writes back individually, with your project, your profile and your earlier submissions in mind.
5
Carry the feedback into the next week and the next module.
ONE WEEK IN PRACTICE
Module I, Week 12
In the last week of Module I you develop the first scene of your own performance in movement, with the tools of the previous eleven weeks: impulse and quality of action, space, tempo-rhythm, physical action and the physical score. You test the scene in practice, document it and send it with a written reflection. Your mentor's written response stays with you as you begin Module II.
If you expect a delay, tell your mentor in advance. Where possible, a new submission date is agreed.
Written feedback from your mentor
Your mentor reads every weekly submission and writes back individually by email, about your project and the decisions you made in it. A NIPAI mentor is assigned to you according to your start date.
Written feedback every week in Modules I to IV
An interim assessment at the end of Module II and at the end of Module IV
A test viewing of your project with an external observer in Module IV, followed by feedback from your mentor and peers
Stage-by-stage supervision of the graduation project
The feedback stays with you in writing, to return to during and after the programme.
BLENDED FORMAT
Two studio sessions in Berlin
Blended participants take part in two five-day sessions in Berlin, taught in English. The sessions test the programme's methods through the body, timing, space and ensemble work, with an international group of NIPAI practitioners.
What you do
Daily physical training and method-based exercises
Ensemble laboratories, where directing tasks are tested with other participants
Composition and staging labs: space, focus and principles of blocking
Guided reflections and group debriefs
Optional short showings of work in progress
What you take away
A practical set of studio tasks for your own rehearsals
A written reflection after each session on what you observed and how you will apply it
Notes for the direction of your graduation project, worked out with your mentor
Dates are agreed individually from several options. Participation in the sessions is included in the tuition; travel, accommodation, meals, health insurance and personal expenses are not. In-class sessions follow NIPAI Etiquette and the Terms and Conditions.
The graduation project
Months 13 to 18 belong to one project: a complete movement score for a performance or a movement-based performance, created, staged and documented by you.
You choose the format that fits your professional context: a production with your own company or ensemble, or a laboratory showing that presents your movement direction in focus.
You organise the material, the venue, the performers and the schedule. The venue can be a theatre, a studio, an independent space or a video platform, and where the format allows, you can work solo. Organising this framework is part of the training, and your mentor supervises each stage.
MONTH 1
Material, partners and format confirmed; concept approved; rehearsal schedule agreed.
MONTH 2
A research laboratory with your performers; the physical language of the piece; first sketches of the score.
MONTH 3
Work on scenes, with video recordings, score drafts and feedback from your mentor.
MONTH 4
Scenes assembled into a structure; full rehearsals; light, sound and text brought together with the movement.
MONTH 5
Run-throughs and refinements; presentation materials; final filming or a public showing.
MONTH 6
The movement score and the director's statement; a final presentation and defence by video call.
What you submit: video documentation of the performance or its scenes; the movement score, as a diagram or a detailed text-graphic description; and a director's statement of 2,000 to 3,000 words on the concept, the process, the course methods you applied, the challenges and solutions, and your own analysis of the result.
What you finish with
The programme ends with a performance of your own material and the documents that show how you directed it.
01
A production or laboratory showing of your own material, with video documentation of the performance or its scenes.
A staged and documented graduation project
02
A complete movement score
The score of the whole performance as a diagram or a detailed text-graphic description, with your director's statement.
03
Eighteen months of working material
Scenes developed in the modules, rehearsal notes, score drafts and your mentor's written feedback, kept as an archive for later projects.
04
NIPAI Advanced Certificate in Movement Directing
Issued on completion of the 18-month programme and its final assessment.
Other NIPAI programmes
Shorter programmes work on single areas of the same practice. If you apply to this programme after a three-month NIPAI programme, your completed programme can be reviewed as part of your pathway, and tuition alignment can be discussed during admissions.
3 MONTHS
Choreography and Blocking in Performance
Stage composition, mise-en-scène and blocking on a play of your own.
12 MONTHS
Theatre Directing Certificate
A structured first path into directing, built around your Director's Book.
18 MONTHS
Theatre Directing: Advanced Diploma Programme
A consistent directing method across the whole process, with a graduation production.
Programme details
Programme
Movement Directing: Advanced Certificate Programme
Duration
18 months: four three-month modules and a six-month graduation project
Format
Distance learning, or blended with two five-day studio sessions in Berlin
Study rhythm
One practical assignment a week in Modules I to IV, with written feedback; a deadline can be moved when agreed in advance
Language
English
Tuition
€16,000
For 18 months. After admission, a deposit of €1,600 confirms your place and counts towards the tuition. Instalment plans are available once you are admitted.
Financial support
Partial scholarships of up to €3,000 through NIPAI’s partner organisations.
Entry requirements
A bachelor's degree or an equivalent professional qualification
Admission
Application form, registration form, study contract, enrolment documents, programme start. Each application is reviewed individually.
Withdrawal and refunds
As set out in the Terms & Conditions
Certificate
NIPAI Advanced Certificate in Movement Directing. NIPAI is a private provider of non-formal professional education; the certificate documents professional training and is not an academic degree.
Starting with a shorter programme
If you have completed a NIPAI three-month programme, it can be reviewed as part of your pathway, and tuition alignment can be discussed during admissions.
Start dates
In the programme presentation
Terms
Participation is governed by the NIPAI Terms and Conditions.
Next step
Programme presentation
Every module and week of the programme, with the nearest start dates. We send it to you personally.
A question about your project
Tell us about the material you want to work on, the performers you work with and the context of your practice, and we will answer with your situation in mind.
Application
Send the application form with your CV and links to your work. Each application is reviewed individually.
Frequently asked questions
Can movement directing be learned through distance learning?
Yes, when the work is practical and documented. Each week you take an assignment to your own project, test it with performers where you work and send the result to your mentor, often with video. Blended participants add two five-day studio sessions in Berlin.
How is movement directing different from choreography?
Choreography usually composes movement material, often dance. Movement direction shapes the physical life of a whole production: how the performers' bodies carry the action of each scene, how the ensemble uses space and rhythm, and how the work is fixed in a score. This programme works on movement direction for plays, devised work and movement-based performance.
Do I need my own company or performers?
You need performers to test your work with; a permanent company is optional. Participants often work with friends, colleagues or local amateur groups. For the graduation project you choose between a production with your own ensemble and a laboratory showing; organising the venue and the performers is part of the training, with your mentor's guidance.
What is the difference between the distance and blended formats?
Both formats follow the same modules, weekly assignments, written feedback and graduation project. Blended participants also take part in two five-day studio sessions in Berlin, taught in English, with dates agreed individually. Participation in the sessions is included in the tuition; travel and accommodation are not.
What does the certificate confirm?
The NIPAI Advanced Certificate in Movement Directing confirms that you completed the 18-month programme and its final assessment. Your graduation project and its documentation show the work itself. NIPAI is a private provider of non-formal professional education, and the certificate is a professional document, not an academic degree.
Is financial support available?
Partial scholarships of up to €3,000 may be available through NIPAI’s partner organisations. We explain how to apply, and the partner organisation reviews applications and makes the decision. A scholarship works best as one part of a wider funding plan; we can also tell you about other funding for your country, your work and your goals: write to info@nipai.org.
Can I start with a shorter programme?
Yes. Choreography and Blocking in Performance and Ensemble Building each work on one area of the same practice over three months. If you later apply to Movement Directing, your completed programme can be reviewed as part of your pathway, and tuition alignment can be discussed during admissions.