About Us
The London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA) is a centre of artistic research, innovation and individuation. It seeks to inspire the theatre and performance arts of tomorrow and appeals to those committed to the creation of their own work – whether as actors, performers, directors or writers for the stage. The journey which LISPA offers is both poetic and practical, integrating a deep curiosity for life with a passion for theatre and performance.
Inaugurated in the autumn of 2003, LISPA welcomes each year some 100 students from around the world, offering them a uniquely stimulating and challenging meeting place. The school was founded by Thomas Prattki, former pedagogical director of the Jacques Lecoq School in Paris. He leads an international team of teachers, who bring to the school a wide diversity of experience in acting, performing, directing and teaching. They all share a profound interest in the movement of life and its reflection in the ever-evolving world of theatre and performance arts.
A Note from the Founder
A new generation of performing artists is changing the landscape of modern theatre. The idea of the performer as the creator of her or his own work is no longer a fringe phenomenon, but an influential international artistic movement. Independent theatre companies and performing artists produce some of today’s most exciting work, and inspire audiences around the world with their inventive creations. To support this growing movement, new forms of education are needed – education which links artistic craft and expertise to an intensive process of personal and artistic development; education which goes beyond the theatre, to foster the visions of individual creators for the theatres and societies of tomorrow.
The London International School of Performing Arts was founded to create a place for artistic and personal research. It is a place created to stir students’ curiosity for the grand Movement of life in all its different expressions – a place for those seeking a deeper understanding of those dynamic forces which are at the very core of the mystery of life – in all its beauty, drama, tragedy, and humour. The physical and emotional experience of those dynamic forces are at the heart of LISPA’s approach, allowing the performing artist to embody the worlds around and within, linking movement and emotion, real life and dramatic transposition, collective experience and personal individuation.
At LISPA we challenge our students to develop those qualities essential to the creation of their own work: A never ending curiosity in life as it is, an ability to give form to what could be, and a fully alive body through which to experience and express their own vision of life.