Transformative Actor Training with Budi Miller

This workshop combines maskwork, scene study, and spiritual practice to transform your approach to acting.

Throughout the week, you will elevate your craft through exercises that explore the fundamental aspects of performance, including movement, physical awareness, improvisation, ensemble building, and more. At the center of this comprehensive training is the mask, which acts as a gateway to greater artistry and deeper spirituality. As the week progresses, you will apply your enriched skill set to the work of fully embodying a character in scene work. Ultimately, the actor’s goal is to welcome what the Balinese call taksu, the manifestation of divinity through performance. In sum, this workshop offers actors a unique opportunity, in a supportive and immersive environment, to experience, artistically and spiritually, the transformative power of their calling. 

Unlocking Taksu 

Balinese Wisdom 

Explore the Balinese concept of taksu, a performance energy marking the presence of the divine. Understand its universal presence, transcending cultures and becoming a source of inspiration for your craft. 

Maskwork

Masks strip away personality and reveal the raw circuitry between body, breath, voice, and imagination. The Latin persona, that through which sound passes, points to an ancient understanding of performance as vibration, resonance, and transmission, not surface behavior. In maskwork, actors are trained to access a deeper creative engine: the physical, emotional, and intuitive body where impulse precedes thought and image precedes language. This is the terrain of taksu, the animating force of presence that shifts performance from effort to inevitability. When taksu is activated, the imagination is freed from ego-driven storytelling and enters a field of archetypal, energetic intelligence. This workshop invites participants into Budi’s distinct mask training pedagogy, combining rigorous ensemble practice with techniques influenced by Michael Chekhov, whose work draws from Eastern spiritual traditions that treat imagination as a living, somatic force rather than a mental construct.

Scene Study

This workshop offers a unique opportunity to work from the intersection of one's own culture, with a strong emphasis on scene study. Drawing on ancient and modern approaches to acting, including Balinese Performing Arts Training, the program provides a rich foundation for delving into character and narrative. Working as an ensemble, actors will discover renewed energy in their performances through dynamic movement, expressive mask work, and the powerful experience of performing scenes from plays from around the world. This fusion of diverse techniques and traditions enables actors to explore and celebrate their cultural heritage while honing their craft and creating original, impactful pieces. 

Key Components

Practical Embodiment

Gain practical insights into what it means to embody a character. This workshop provides hands-on experience, allowing you to feel the transformative power of character exploration.

Holistic Training

Dive into essential aspects of actor training, from movement and improvisation to physical awareness and ensemble work. Develop a well-rounded skill set that goes beyond surface-level techniques.

Freedom from Judgment

Create within a safe space, free from judgment, guilt, shame, or punishment. This environment encourages you to explore and express without constraints, fostering genuine artistic and spiritual growth. 

Dr. Budi Miller's Background

Grounded Expertise: Benefit from Dr. Budi Miller's more than twenty-five years of dedicated research and development in Budi Miller Taksu Training (BMTT) and Balinese Performing Arts

Training (BPAT). His work has freed imaginations and significantly impacted theater and

on-camera performances globally.

Spiritual Artistry: This workshop is designed for actors committed to spiritual artistic development. Budi's methodologies offer a thoughtful and measured approach, focusing on the nuanced aspects of the actor's craft. 

Dr. Taylor Barfield’s Background

Script Vault: Dr. Taylor Barfield has spent ten years working as a new-play dramaturg, scholar, and teacher. Over this time, he has assembled a vast network of scripts from around the world to use as training tools for actors. His experience as a dramaturg also provides him with research methodologies to locate plays for specific workshop cohorts. 

Dramaturgical Collaboration: In this workshop, Taylor will collaborate with Dr. Budi Miller to identify scenes to push actors in their training. Their process aims to choose scenes with a focus on cultural nuance and dramatic challenge.