Do you want to bring more presence, flow and authenticity into how you share your words on stage and in life?

Do you want to develop more confidence around using your voice and body, being seen and heard?

Do you want to develop more sensitivity towards your listeners, so that your words land in their imaginations and hearts?

Then this is the workshop for you!

This two-day in-person workshop from Holly Stoppit is designed for anyone who wants to find more ease, play, authenticity and flow with their words, including: poets, public speakers, actors, performers, singers, teachers and facilitators.

Over the two days, Holly will hold a safe and exploratory space where a group of 12 adults can take risks to explore creative, playful, imaginative and body-based approaches to bringing text and improvised words to life.

“Amazing deep connecting work to self & others, from the sublime to the ridiculous!” - Grevil, entertainer / playworker, previous participant

To connect with our inner voices, Holly will offer guided meditations, we’ll explore mindfulness in motion through physical warm ups and gently coax our voices out to play with playful voice release. We’ll explore how to stay in contact with our inner voices whilst making sounds and talking, through individual, pairs and small group exercises, followed by structured feedback and reflection. There will be guided investigations of what stops us sharing our voices and words freely and a plethora of tools to help you speak, sing and make sounds with ease and pleasure.

Holly will dip into her huge performer-training toolkit and pull out exercises from a variety of sources including Natural Voice, Action Theatre, improvisation, stand-up comedy, Clowning, Fooling, dramatherapy and Flow Speaking.

“Highly interactive and fun… An opportunity to reach inside, to be more effective in communicating with those we meet.” - Diane, intuitive healer and transition doula, previous participant.

Holly Stoppit is a performance skills teacher, facilitator and dramatherapist specialising in playful, interactive, autobiographical performance. Once upon a time, Holly was a professional performer who suffered with debilitating stage fright. In 2017 she embarked on a mission to understand more about her stage fright, by making three solo shows in three months! The discoveries she made freed up her voice and led her all the way to performing her own TEDx talk on the main stage of Bristol Old Vic in 2019. To learn more about Holly and see her TEDx talk, click here: https://www.hollystoppit.com

This workshop was originally called ‘Playful Presence’ and was commissioned by a poet as part of her Arts Council England, ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ project. This is the forth time Holly will run it.

Dates / Times / Venue / Cost

Dates: Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 May 2022
Times: 10am-5.30pm both days
Venue: St Werburghs, Bristol (address will be supplied once your place is confirmed)
Cost: £180 (standard) / £150 (low income) / £120 (for people on benefits / in full time education)
Deadline: 22 April 2022
We will send out offers the week after the deadline with details of how to pay. Your place will be secured when we receive your payment.

About this form

This form is designed to capture some information from you to help us form an optimum learning group.

We will be selecting a balanced group based on experience, age and gender - we find it’s beneficial to the group process to have a range of ages, experience and genders in the room.

You don't need to have done any of Holly's previous training to come to this course. Returning Holly Stoppit Workshops participants are very welcome.

Completing this weekend will allow you access to Holly's advanced courses.

We will not share your information with anyone else.

Covid Policy

This workshop is designed with covid safety in mind, all activities will be offered at distance in a well-ventilated space. In order to make it as safe as possible, we will ask you to agree to the following on the application form:
> Please do a lat flow test on the first day of the workshop
> Please bring a mask - we may use them when doing breath work to minimise the risk.
> Wash your hands often - we’ll provide hand sanitizer
> As the space will be well ventilated, you will need to bring layers to keep warm
> Please do not attend if you have covid symptoms or a positive lateral flow or PCR test
> If you have a positive covid test within 14 days of coming to our workshop, please let us know, so we can let all the other group members know.
> Even with all these preventative restrictions in place, we cannot guarantee a covid-free environment. Your health is ultimately your responsibility.

Cancellation Policy

> If you need to cancel your place before the course begins, full refunds can only be given up until two weeks before the course starts
> Should you need to cancel your place after this date, 50% of your payment will be retained, unless your place can be suitably filled
> For drop-outs within 72 hours (3 days) of the start of the course, your full fee will be retained.
> In the event of you needing to self isolate because of covid, you will be able to get your money back.
> In the event of another national or local lockdown, this course will be moved to new dates.
> If you are unable to attend the rescheduled dates, then we will offer a refund.