Katie Duck is a renowned multidisciplinary artist, performer, teacher and pioneer with a career spanning several decades. Originally from the United States, she has been based in Italy, England and is now in the Netherlands. She has been an influential figure in how she has placed improvisation as an intricate element in composition and performance internationally, inspiring generations of performers, musicians and performance makers.
She set up the acclaimed Gruppo in Italy in 1979 and toured Europe with a host of productions. She was a senior lecturer at Dartington College of Arts in the late 1980’s. She joined the staff at Amsterdam Hogeschool voor de kunsten in 199, and founded the company Magpie in the 1990s with whom she toured internationally. Her collaborations have been with exceptional musicians, dancers, actors. Her work often blurs the line between composition and spontaneity, challenging traditional notions of performance. Her performances are often characterised by their spontaneity and interaction with the audience, as well as their exploration of themes such as vulnerability, identity, and the human experience. A key figure in experimental performance, Katie Duck’s contributions have influenced contemporary processes towards real time performances that are often described as dynamic, raw, and deeply engaging.
At RABBIT/DUCK festival, Katie performs her solo “The Day After”
About the work:
Sound and Film fills the space, using the presence of the performer as a potential background. Text and Interactions with the public are executed as if a figure has dropped out of one of the paintings from the film, worried, lost, disorientated, delegate humour that shifts from text to silence, pause to hypnotic movement like a baby learning to crawl.
“The Day After” questions the world of mental diversity, be it chemical or neuro.
“Living in a river of what we believe is real, while we swim in the noisy reality of how intimately private the mind is.”
We are thrilled to announce that in addition to performing, Katie Duck will also be teaching an multidisciplinary workshop for professional or emerging performers. Students in Dance, Theatre, Music, and the fine arts who are curious about interdisciplinary collaboration.
As she describes it:
“I have been teaching since I began to perform professionally in the mid 70’s. For me, teaching, alongside one’s professional practice, is one and the same process. I do, therefore I teach.”
The central goal is to enhance real time composition skills and expand creative expression through: Physical improvisation / Vocal/textual experimentation / Sound and movement relationship / Awareness of space, timing, and audience / Collaborative ensemble work
While each workshop is shaped by the group’s experience and context, common elements include: Daily warm-ups that involve physical and vocal exercises to build presence and responsiveness / Improvisation scores (structured prompts or games) used to explore movement, voice, and interaction / Solo, duet, and group explorations using real-time composition principles / Interdisciplinary tasks, such as adding live music, text, or visual art to performance improvisations / Feedback & reflection sessions to refine awareness and artistic decision-making.
Katie’s teaching style emphasises: Intuition over impulse or technique / Failure as a tool for discovery / Humour / Real-time decision making / The body as an instrument of expression / Listening (to sound, space, and others)
Themes: The performer’s presence in the moment / The role of chaos and order in creativity / Political contexts in performance / Autonomy and authorship in improvised work
Workshops are intense, playful, laced with Katie Duck’s insistence to find humour, creativity, and pleasure in every dark corner of the theatre.