
CPP 2025 internal page
Dear CPP participants:
First of all – congratulations on being part of 2025 cohort of CPP/Contemporary Performance Practices International Summer Intensive – I can’t wait to meet all of you in just a few days!
CPP had its inaugural edition in Rijeka, Croatia in 2019. That year, my New York based performance group, WaxFactory, celebrated its 20th anniversary. This was an interesting juncture at which to begin weaving together strands that ultimately became Contemporary Performance Practices. Momentous occasions such as this always prompt us to take stock of what we have been doing so far, re-examine our own practices, and imagine what the next 20 years might look like. As I continue to make work and teach, I have been thinking a great deal about this: as we gain solid footing within the landscape of the 21st-century time-based art, it is evident that traditional definitions of genres and disciplines are being transcended in favor of multiple, fluid, hybrid art forms. Along with the resurgence of site-specific, devised, immersive, virtual-reality and other cross-media projects, the role of the performer is rapidly evolving, away from being simply an interpreter of scripts and scores to becoming a co-creator of work – one whose contributions are integral to the vision and identity of the newly forged creations. Consequently, the CPP program aims to acknowledge and expand the performing arts canon, tracking current trends and discovering new ones, for the benefit of contemporary performers and performance-makers, such as yourselves; our aim is to collectively imagine what shape the 21st century performing arts training might take.
For the program’s 2025 edition, I decided to invite two practitioners — both consummate performers and educators — reflecting on their experiences as part of some of the world’s most forward-thinking contemporary performance companies: SITI Company, co-founded by Anne Bogart (New York, USA) and SCOT - Suzuki Company of Toga (Toga-mura, Japan,) founded by Tadashi Suzuki, represented here by Ellen Lauren; and Sasha Waltz and Guests (Berlin, Germany) represented by Claudia de Serpa Soares. While these instructors’ philosophies approach performance-based work from different angles, both are deeply committed to developing truthful, compelling, rigorous visions for the stage, honoring the performer’s intuition and intelligence to advance their development as co-creators rather than merely interpreters of work. I chose these two educators for this year’s program as I find their visions to complement each other in a way that will afford participating artists a well-rounded preparation, inspiring them to generate their own unique creations in the future.
As the CPP’s start date fast approaches, allow me to share a few practicalities.
Our first session will begin on Monday, June 23 at 10 AM. Kindly arrive a few minutes early and meet at Istrian National Theatre / City theatre of Pula (INK) in Pula (address/map) where a representative of our team will greet you and direct you to our workspace.
The workshops will take place daily — except Sunday — until mid-afternoon: please refer to the exact schedule below as it may vary from day to day. Additionally, on our second to last day (Friday, July 4) we will have a final workshop presentation for an invited audience in the evening. It is possible that there will be some minor fluctuations to this schedule, at the instructors’ discretion, but this is the basic framework we will be working with that you should be aware of. As a reminder, attending all scheduled work-sessions is a prerequisite for participation in the program. Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes as there will be a great deal of physical work involved.
We will begin our first day by introducing ourselves and doing an overview of the daily schedule of activities, and will share all the relevant details before we begin to train with Ellen Lauren.
The day before we begin, you will also receive a reminder message on the mobile phone you provided for our contact sheet regarding our first session via our private WhatsApp group. If you should have any difficulty finding the venue or experience unexpected delays, please let us know via WhatsApp: that will be the best way to reach us, as we will be able to respond to you immediately.
Below, you will find the contact sheet, the daily schedule of workshop activities as well as additional information provided by the instructors.
Again, on behalf of the entire team: welcome to CPP! I very much look forward to getting to know you in the coming weeks.
I look forward to meeting you in Pula.
- Ivan Talijancic, CPP Artistic Director
June 2025
CPP 2025 contact sheet
Please note that this all of this information is confidential and for your own personal use only — due to privacy regulations, we kindly ask that you refrain from sharing any of these links or documents with anyone outside of the CPP cohort.

Schedule + materials: week one, Ellen Lauren
Monday-Saturday (23-28 June)
10.00 -11.45: Suzuki training
11.45 -12.00: break
12.00 - 13.45: Viewpoints
13.45 - 14.00: break
14.00 - 15.15: Speaking Practice
Sunday (30 July) - REST DAY
INSTRUCTIONS:
As you know, we will be practicing and researching two different contemporary training vocabularies - The Suzuki Method of Actor Training, as well as the language of Viewpoints. If you have experience with one or both trainings, it’s my hope to be able to contribute to your knowledge and practice.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions, or any issue you would like to share and discuss, to ensure your ability to fully engage in the work. (elauren@siti.org)
Please dress to move, have a pair of socks you can wear, no street shoes. If you need to work in shoes, write me and let’s talk through how I can help you maximize your experience. Suzuki training is done in clothing that allows me to see the bend of your knees. Please don’t wear loose or long pants for that. Tights, shorts, training clothing that allow maximum movement and comfort. For Viewpoints you are welcome to change into dance pants, longer and looser attire. Viewpoints work is usually done in bare feet. Again, please talk to me about your needs.
No jewelry or watches in class and please have your hair tied back for Suzuki training. It’s my recommendation that you bring layers as you warm up and cool down. I respectfully ask that you not take notes in class, but I will allow a short time at the end of each session for you to write in your notebooks, ask questions and reflect.

Schedule: week two, Claudia de Serpa Soares
Monday-Thursday (30 June - 3 July)
10.00 - 13.00: Morning session
13.00 - 14.00: lunch break
14.00 - 16.00: Afternoon session
Friday (4 July)
10.00 - 13.00: Morning session
13.00 - 14.00: lunch break
14.00 - 16.00: Afternoon session
evening (timing TBA): Public sharing
Saturday (5 July) - FINAL DAY OF CPP 2025
10.00 - 13.00: Morning session
13.00 - 14.00: lunch break
14.00 - 16.00: Afternoon session
IMAGES ON THIS PAGE
_top: CPP 2023 session with Claudia de Serpa Soares, photo by Marko Ercegovic
_week one: CPP 2023 training with Ellen Lauren, photo by Marko Ercegovic
_week two: CPP 2022 session lead by Claudia de Serpa Soares, photo by Glorija Lizde