As part of the Fira B! Arts Escénicas 2024, the project created by Jeroni Obrador will be presented.
On 4 October, will be presented at Fira B! a performing arts showcase organised by the Institute of Balearic Studies- the new theatrical genre of emotional training Ànima and the first emotional alphabet, both created and systematised by Jeroni Obrador, internationally renowned playwright and actor.
This pioneering project has a global impact, endorsed by prestigious universities, festivals and institutions in Latin America. The emotional alphabet allows users to recognise and manage their emotions through acting techniques both in everyday life and in the creation of fictional characters, allowing them to feel, think and act as they wish. In addition, it helps in the understanding of psychological tools, which marks a fundamental advance in a society that, although it has progressed in many aspects, still has a deficit in teaching and emotional management.
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Fira B! disseminates the first emotional acting alphabet and its theatrical genre
In 2006, after suffering an anxiety attack in Seville, Obrador began an investigation to turn the acting technique into a therapeutic tool. Inspired by neurobiologist Antonio Damasio and his research on the differentiation between emotions and feelings, Obrador developed a methodology in his workshops that focuses exclusively on the emotional body, working with acting exercises that influence muscle tension, breathing and blood flow, without resorting to conventional psychological techniques.
In 2009, he wrote the play The War of Images, which has been translated into 17 languages and disseminated worldwide by various social movements. In this play, the god Mars learns to manage his emotions through theatre classes taught by Stanislavsky and Chekhov, which connects with the research of psychologist Paul Ekman on the six basic universal emotions. This play was presented in multiple venues, including a monologue read at the Reina Sofia Museum in 2021 and broadcast on Radio Nacional de España.
In 2014, Obrador created the subject ‘Emotional Culture for the Creation of the Fictional Character’ at the Dguión school, in collaboration with the San Jorge University of Zaragoza, directed by Mercè Clascà. In this subject, he introduced concepts such as the Karpman triangle – renowned American psychiatrist and psychotherapist – which facilitates the identification of emotional conflicts and applied his research to the creation of the first systematised corporal emotional alphabet, which will now be taught in schools in the Balearic Islands.
Since 2021, the online platform Intelsoul has been promoting and disseminating Jeroni Obrador’s work internationally, offering training in the emotional alphabet and the theatrical genre Ànima for psychologists, therapists and stage trainers. These workshops teach how to identify and manage everyday emotions, as well as how to apply them in the creation of fictional characters. Given the growing international demand, its online community and partner centres, such as La Parisina in Córdoba, Argentina, and La Concha theatre in Cali, Colombia, spread the knowledge of this innovative method worldwide.
Jeroni Obrador has developed a methodology that allows a specific approach to emotional training through the body. In this academic year 2024-2025, primary and secondary school pupils in the Balearic Islands will learn to manage their emotions through performance with the programme ‘Viu la Cultura’, promoted by the Regional Ministry of Education and Universities, after the author has been promoting it around Ibero-America for the last 15 years.
Obrador has had the support of international institutions such as the Teatre Lliure de Barcelona in its Directors Lab Med, the Festival de Manizales, the University of Buenos Aires and the ESAD of Seville, among others. In 2023, the Generalitat de Catalunya supported the production of the first virtual reality film based on the theatrical genre Ànima, entitled Ànima Performativa. This film, which promotes corporal emotional management in the performances of the genre, was presented at the Nau Ivanow in Barcelona and the immersive hall S’Abeurador in Santanyí, Mallorca.