HB Studio and Eòlia Conservatory of Dramatic Arts Establish International Partnership

HB Studio is pleased to announce that we have teamed up with Barcelona-based drama school Eòlia Conservatory of Dramatic Arts to establish a student exchange and a joint devised theater ensemble with select students from both institutions.

Following our transition to virtual training, HB Studio sought to take advantage of opportunities to build bridges among the international community and establish a mutual exchange of work in the online space. HB Studio is also formalizing plans to partner with other international organizations, including Institut Ramon Llull, Drama School Mumbai, and the Rose Bruford School in London.

About Eòlia Conservatory of Dramatic Arts

Eòlia Conservatory of Dramatic Arts was founded in Barcelona in 2000 and is associated with the theater companies Tricicle, Dragoll Dagom, and The Galilei Project.

Eòlia is closely connected to both the national and international theatre arts scene and has professional training programs for actors, singers, playwrights, dramaturges, producers, dancers and musicians. These programs incorporate current and cutting-edge artistic techniques and are taught by renowned faculty active in the professional performing arts world. Alumni of Eòlia include many professional actors, dramaturgs, and directors working in Spanish and Catalan TV, film, and theater.

Eòlia is more than a theater school, it’s a living project—a space that offers students room to grow and an outlet for discovery, whether they are future professionals, professionals that seek to hone their skills, or people who don’t plan to go on to a career in the Performing Arts but seek to grow, learn, and have fun in the areas of theatre, dramaturgy, playwriting, singing or dance.

An alumna of both Eòlia and HB Studio, Spanish actress and HB Studio teaching artist Maria Fontanals initiated the partnership between the organizations.

“Art knows no boundaries,” said Fontanals. “As a fluent speaker of Spanish, Catalan, French, and English, I have come to understand the value of a multilingual and multicultural worldview. Having this partnership will build a strong artistic community that knows no borders.”

About the Devised Theater Ensemble

Two teaching artists and two students from each institution will collaborate together on a mentored, student-directed devised theater project that will culminate in a performance showcase. Eòlia faculty members Alexandre Fons and Mariona Esplugues and students Clàudia Hernández and Sara Font joined HB faculty members Paul Pryce and Ben Mehl and students Meytat Zehavi and Jandel Camilo to begin work on the project last month.

Josep Galindo, director at Eòlia, envisioned the project as an opportunity for artists to develop material that is uniquely personal through unimpeded creative freedom and generous mentorship.

“We want to give plenty of space for ideas to unfold,” said Galindo. “We don’t know where this journey will take us, rather we will discover it along the way.”

Through the process of sharing and generating together, the ensemble will shape a creative work and present it to audiences from both institutions when the artists feel it is ready.

About the Student Exchange

In addition to the devised theater project, HB Studio and Eòlia have established a free international exchange among five students. HB Studio students Chase Ramsey, Anna Cherkezishvili, and Gem Nelson began participating in a virtual 14-week directing class conducted by Galindo with other students from the Barcelona-based school, on Feb. 11.

The class proposes a process of preparation for a director beginning work on a play, exploring stage languages and systems of analysis. Students choose a play and design a staging for the project. The three were selected among a group of 20 students at HB Studio that had applied for the opportunity.

Students selected from Eòlia include Adriana Galicia and Mariona Esplugues. The two students will participate in a multilingual devised theater performance lab with 14 students from HB Studio. The lab is a collaborative and contemporary reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE with HB Studio instructor Pablo Andrade, which ends in a virtual presentation of their completed work.