International Platform Performance Training

IPPT LONDON 2026 I THE SYMPOSIUM ON AI & PERFORMANCE

Hosted by Fourth Monkey at The Monkey House. An exclusive four-day laboratory where the world’s leading pedagogues and practitioners dissect the digital soul of the performing arts. Something is changing in the way we create. With AI entering our studios and classrooms, we’re starting to ask deeper questions about where our best ideas actually come from. We are at a turning point, looking at how technology can live alongside the raw, messy, and beautiful reality of live performance.

DATES:

SAT 28 FEb 17:30 - 19:30
SUN 01 MAR 9:00 - 17:00
MON 02 MAR 9:30 - 17:00
TUE 03 MAR 9:30 - 17:00

what is the ippt symposium?

For 12 years, the International Platform for Performer Training (IPPT) has been the heartbeat of global pedagogical innovation. This year, we bring the conversation to London. While the physical laboratory at The Monkey House is strictly limited to an invited cohort of international researchers, the questions we are asking belong to everyone.

Join the Conversation from Afar: We believe the future of performer training is a collective journey. Even if you aren't in the room, you are part of the evolution.

follow the provocations

We will be sharing "Digital Echoes" from our sessions.

tage the debate

Use #IPPT2026 and #FourthMonkey to share your thoughts.

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WHO ARE IPPT?

The International Platform for Performer Training is an independent global network for the exchange of practices and critical reflection on performer training, bringing together artists, pedagogues, and researchers from across Europe and beyond. For over a decade, we have bridged the gap between artistic education, professional practice, and practice-based research.

The 2026 edition will focus on the intersections of contemporary performance practice, the legacy of twentieth-century theatre reforms, and the challenges posed by the age of artificial intelligence.

THE RESIDENCY

The 12th IPPT Symposium invites you to a rigorous, collective interrogation of this new era.

Artificial Intelligence is entering our lives with extraordinary speed and across multiple domains. Creative practice and pedagogy are no exception, increasingly shaped by the presence of Large Language Models. Philosophers and scientists continue to debate definitions of AI and its relation to consciousness—without reaching consensus or definitive answers. Meanwhile, AI writes scripts, poems, music, essays, and scholarly papers. It is already embedded in research, administration, education, war, and the arts.

We will grapple with:

The Morality of Originality: In a world of generative data, is the "original thesis" becoming obsolete?
Critical Engagement: How do we navigate the affordances of AI without losing our artistic agency?
Sanctuaries of the Physical: Is an "AI-free" training space possible—or even desirable?
The New Muse: Can the machine serve as a legitimate source of inspiration for the performer1?

The IPPT Way: Collective Intelligence Unlike traditional conferences, IPPT operates on a Single-Stream Model. There are no parallel sessions. Every participant engages in every workshop, provocation, and discussion. We believe in the power of the collective, ensuring a shared vocabulary and a deepening of thought over the four-day residency.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Magdalena Stawman-Tuka

Magdalena Stawman-Tuka is a theatre maker, performer, researcher, and performing arts teacher. She trained and worked for ten years with Warsaw-based Studium Teatralne and has collaborated with Via Negativa (Ljubljana) since 2009. She holds a PhD in Drama (Practice-as-Research) from the University of Kent. Magda is Artistic Producer at Horsedonkey, Head of Skills: MAKE (Devising) at Fourth Monkey (Falmouth University), and teaches at East 15 (University of Essex). Her work has been presented widely across Europe and the United States.
magdatuka.com | horsedonkey.org

bradley jay high

bradley jay high is a queer, neurodivergent actor, performance-maker, and trainer. Originally from Canada, he trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York and holds a BA (summa cum laude) from McMaster University, as well as an MA (distinction) from York University, where he studied with Lisa Wolford Wylam. He was a full-time actor and teaching assistant at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards (2013–2018).

Dr Alejandro Postigo

Dr Alejandro Postigo is Associate Professor in Musical Theatre at the London College of Music, University of West London. His practice-based PhD from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2019) explored the intercultural adaptation of Spanish copla, as demonstrated in his award-winning theatre works The Copla Musical and Copla: A Spanish Cabaret (2012–2025), presented across Europe and the United States. His research examines historical revisionism in Spanish musical theatre and applies translation, queer, and intercultural theories to professional theatre practice. His recent work addresses cultural and linguistic barriers in Anglophone theatre, advocating for migrant, non-native English speakers and audible minorities, as seen in Miss Brexit (2022–2025).

Irfana Majumdar

Irfana Majumdar is a theatre artist, filmmaker, and researcher. She is Artistic Director of NIRMAN Theatre and Film Studio (Varanasi, India) and a PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at York University. Her research focuses on devised theatre, performer training, and postcolonial studies. She trained at the University of Chicago and in Corporeal Mime, Suzuki, Viewpoints, Clowning, Feldenkrais, Yoga, Aikido, and Hindustani vocal music. She has directed three documentaries and one feature film. Irfana is also raising two children and cultivating a forest of 10,000 trees along the Ganges.
www.irfana.info

Labirion / Officine Trasversali

Officine Trasversali is a research, training, and theatre production centre with an international profile. The work of its residential company develops at the intersection of physical and minimalist theatre, with explorations into street arts and new technologies. Their work has been presented at festivals and institutions including La Biennale di Venezia, the Grotowski Institute (PL), LUME Teatro Unicamp (BR), SESC Campinas (BR), Voilá! Europe Theatre Festival (UK), NTL Festival (DK), Holstebro Festive Week (DK), IPPT (EU), and numerous universities across Europe and the UK.

Ula Kijak, PhD

Ula Kijak is a director, creativity trainer, and educator with over twenty years’ experience in performing arts and interdisciplinary projects. She is a lecturer at the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw and Head of the Safe Culture Academy postgraduate programme. Her work focuses on psychological safety and process-oriented creative practices.

Małgorzata Jabłońska, PhD

Małgorzata Jabłońska is a lecturer at the Department of Drama and Theatre, University of Łódź. Her research focuses on actor training, particularly Meyerhold’s biomechanics, and Polish alternative theatre. She is a founding member of the CHOREA Theatre Association and co-author of Physical Actor Training (Łódź, 2015).

Sztuka Nowa (Art New) – Association for the Promotion of Cultural Initiatives

Sztuka Nowa supports innovative and socially engaged artistic practices in Poland and internationally. The association creates opportunities for emerging artists and interdisciplinary projects, striving for high artistic quality and meaningful social dialogue. Its core areas of interest include theatre, film, and visual arts. Members include actors, cultural animators, poets, and photographers.

Katarina Maniou

Katarina Maniou is a vocal performer, musicologist, and postdoctoral researcher. She holds a PhD from the University of Athens and has taught at the Universities of Ioannina and Thessaly. She also holds diplomas in piano, music theory, and opera singing. As a practitioner, she has collaborated with the Greek National Opera, the Onassis Foundation, and numerous theatre and dance artists. Her postdoctoral research explores vocal (techno)mythology and bioethics through posthuman perspectives.

Jingsheng Gu

Jingsheng Gu is a PhD candidate in Drama: Practice-as-Research at the University of Kent. He specialises in cross-cultural actor training and physical theatre, with over fifteen years of training under Tadashi Suzuki in Japan and experience teaching Suzuki-based practice in the UK and China.

Davide Giovanzana

Davide Giovanzana is an Italian–Swiss–Finnish theatre director, pedagogue, and researcher based in Helsinki. He is a lecturer in acting at Tampere University and Artistic Director of Teatteri Metamorfoosi. His book Performing Violence (Routledge) examines the ethics and limits of representing violence on stage.

Cyfunol

Cyfunol is an intermedial, interlingual collective of artists and researchers from across Cymru. Working internationally, they strengthen West Cymru’s connections within contemporary European theatre. Their work excavates new perspectives between community and creativity, heritage and imagination, and technology and audiences, blending Cymraeg narratives rooted in land and memory with forward-thinking contemporary performance.