ACTOR. SINGER. DANCER. TEACHER.
REBECCA CORT
WELCOME TO
Cort Studios is a Seattle acting studio founded by me, Rebecca Cort. It was created to provide the community an approach to a lesser-taught body-activated technique and an environment that constitutes as a training ground for actors who crave meticulously cultivating their craft.
WHAT IS IT?
Cort Studios currently offers Grotowski-based psychophysical acting technique classes where we integrate bodymindspirit, safely explore risk, and strengthen our muscle of trusting our boundaries in developed community. This technique does involve strong physicality in a modified way that fits each individual's body in their own capacities, but it is also simply an approach in which we are encouraged to use all the parts of us to tell story. I strongly believe in technique, its versatility and range, and expanding your actor toolkit with as many as possible. I do not believe in wholly subscribing to one. I want to provide a technical option for more connected storytelling of the bodymindspirit that sees them as intertwined and does not neglect the body's significance in our communication. The students are the ones in control in this class. The agency is yours.
We are never done training, and that's a beautiful and bountiful thing. I want to foster a community where like-minded folks can come play. Where folks who have a hunger to learn can do so with passionate others. Let's expand together.
We will be exploring the following concepts in our 1.0 Foundations series:
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Eliminating the division between body and mind; the integrated actor learns to connect bodymindvoicespirit.
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Creating containers and forms to explore our inner emotional worlds.
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Trusting the knowing body through les exercises plastiques et les exercises corporel, which connect image and movement to stir the spirit. Allowing the flow of targets and imagery.
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Having agency to explore what risks you wish to take within your boundaries. We exist on a constant continuum of what feels safe vs risky. The work is identifying boundaries and choosing from/playing with risks.
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Releasing and opening the collapsed spine in order to open the emotional conduit to the flow of impulses.
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Safely handling and separating emotional stirs (“stepping out”) in a sustainable way.
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Peeling away protective societal masks, leaving the actor’s instrument open to impulse. Releasing of blocks.
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Identifying and striving for stretch zone- getting out of comfort zone but never going to danger zone.
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Technique and intuition co-exist together (no inside/out or outside/in).
ABOUT THE
1.0 FOUNDATIONS SERIES
ABOUT THE TEACHER
My name is Rebecca Cort. I am the instructor of Cort Studios' classes.
I graduated from Western Washington University with an acting degree where we delved into techniques such as Linklater, Suzuki, Grotowski, Viewpoints, Shakespeare, Stanislovsky, Commedia dell'arte, and devising.
I've been acting professionally in both musicals and plays in the Seattle area for the last seven years, and have worked at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Village Theatre, Taproot Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Harlequin Productions, and more. I use my college techniques in my work every single day. Not only that, but I find myself yearning for class again, and aching over not having those opportunities anymore in the professional sphere. Mostly, I started this business because I deeply miss my classes. I want to play again.
My teaching career began in college when I TA'd several of my favorite classes, Movement /Grotowski and Commedia dell'arte, under the guidance of Rich Brown. Post-grad, I taught acting and dance to students at The Redmond Academy of Theatre Arts for two years, and now I've found what I am most drawn to is teaching adults. I gathered a group of close and curious friends and put together the first iteration of this class, which I am now offering to the public. Those five weeks filled my heart in a way I haven't felt in years. I am so excited to be finally launching this to the community.
SIGN UP TODAY!
We are currently offering workshops to student and adult performer communities in the greater Seattle area.
Grotowski can help provide community solutions, such as strengthening our actor intuitions, getting in touch with sustainable risk taking, and activating our bodies to connect them with our minds and spirits. It helps us shed protective layers and be seen. We allow, we flow, we discover, instead of "conjuring," all while using our bodies as a fluid resource. I specialize and cater my workshops depending on the needs of your particular group.
EMAIL US AT
with your community and interest and I would love to set up a conversation to connect.
If you are interested in future classes, feel free to reach out. I am preparing a new year launch for my next courses and gauging availability and interest is helpful in making these decisions!
Note: No technical experience required, though some performance experience is recommended. This is what could be considered a more "physical technique." We use our bodies extensively in many ways and share class mats for safety. *We do NOT use mats in our workshops, making them far less overtly physical.* The point of the class is NOT to be an athlete, it's to create containers to inform your inner world. Every exercise can and should be modified a variety of ways to fit a person's needs on any given day. Safety, both physically and emotionally, is the primary foundation in all our work. If you have further questions about the class or your experience level, feel free to reach out.