As part of the Sharing Experiences course, the Department of Acting at Arkin University of Creative Arts and Design (ARUCAD) hosted performance artist Tijen Lawton in an online session held on Thursday, 4 December 2025. Titled “Mindful Endurance and Conscious Risk — The Body as an Open System,” the seminar brought together students to explore Lawton’s approach, shaped by more than 32 years of international practice, focusing on multidimensional movement, embodied awareness, and the relationship between attention and action. Alongside Acting students, participants from different classes and academics from the Department of Dance contributed to a multidisciplinary discussion framing the body as an open and dynamic system.
During the seminar, Lawton proposed rethinking the idea of a “starting point” in performance through the body’s own functioning, emphasizing that risk should not be confused with danger. In her talk, she stated: “We all carry an archive, and this archive is constantly evolving. Five minutes later, we are not the same person. The body is not only its ‘front’; it also has a back, weight, width, and a relationship with time and space. Conscious risk is not about throwing yourself into the unknown, but about choosing when and how to act by listening to your body. Silence and stillness are also part of movement — what matters is being able to sense the body at every moment and move from that sensation into action.”
The session continued with participants’ questions on working with text, being present within a role rather than representing it, exploring the bodily dimensions of emotion, and the dramaturgy of movement, and concluded with a Q&A segment. The full seminar can be viewed via the link below:
