Discover presence and its embodiment as an essential tool for authentic expression, and learn how to bring this fully into your own performance.
An immersive two-day workshop led by Yorgos Karamalegos, founder of Physical Lab, dedicated to cultivating presence and authenticity in performance. This work is a journey toward uncovering one’s most authentic self and embodying a free, uninhibited artistic spirit.
Through embodiment practices and deconditioning, participants explore presence while releasing ingrained acting habits. Actors are guided to shed societal and cultural conditioning, opening the door to a state of performance in which body, mind, emotion, voice, language, and instinct flow together in harmony.
The aim is simple yet profound: performance rooted in truth, and presence arising from one’s deepest essence.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Georgios Mantzakos, Roda Fawaz, and the team at The Bridge Theatre for their encouragement of Yorgos and Physical Lab to host a Lab in Brussels. We are deeply appreciative of their efforts and enthusiasm in supporting and expanding the reach of this work.
The Bridge Theatre Studio is a bright and flexible venue in the heart of Brussels—ideal for team sessions, trainings, rehearsals, and creative gatherings of up to 60 people.
Designed for daytime use, the studio offers an open setting that welcomes many kinds of professional or creative events.
Images and studio description are © The Bridge Theatre, Brussels.
Many Lab participants have secured partial or full funding through arts grants, and we are happy to provide any documentation needed to support your application. Standard materials commonly required for grant submissions can be found on our Lab Pricing & Funding page. Please contact us should you need anything further.
We encourage you to apply even if funding has not yet been confirmed.
For our short courses, participants are asked to prepare and learn a single piece of text. This helps you fully engage with our Lab methodology and explore how text can be embodied and emotionally expressed. You’re welcome to work solo or with a partner, in any language you’re most comfortable with.
If you’re unsure of what to choose, please feel free to browse our library of suggested text. For full details and guidance, please visit: Preparing for a Lab.
Yorgos guides performers and professionals toward deep physical and mental awareness, emphasizing presence as a path to personal and professional freedom. His body-focused approach aims to use deconditioning as a tool to uncover authenticity.
“I didn’t realise how forcefully that lock was going to burst open and how the work that we’re doing is just so important — not just for you as an actor, as an artist, but as a person!”
“Working with Yorgos for 10 days in Crete, preparing for a TV part was an amazing experience! Even in moments of self-doubt and fatigue, when you face your own wall, he was always there fully present with me, both with great care and rigour! I have been working with Yorgos for about 8 years, and he always gives me strength and tools to keep going forward.”
“Anyone who met me in the following days saw a more aware and determined look on my face both professionally and personally. I recommend it to everyone.”
I have found my joy in acting again. I remembered why I wanted to do it in the first place. I feel more present, warm and embodied in my own body, less self-conscious […] A weight was lifted from me through this workshop, a lot of pressure I have put onto myself and onto the craft. […] Also, I learned, that I can pour all my personal experiences into my performances, without revisiting traumatic events of the past, but rather use acting as an outlet for my emotions to come through and release. And through that reach catharsis.”
“Yorgos has such an understanding and knowledge of how to take care of ourselves on a personal level when we’re doing this kind of work and living this kind of life.”
“Reconnecting with my essence via Yorgos’s guidance is a tool I’m not only excited to bring into my artistry, but also into my life as a whole. It’s truly been a priceless discovery.”
“Absolute. Radical. Transformation.”
“The Lab has been a great and safe place to research, try things out, not know, fail and get out of my comfort zone. After each session, I feel empowered to keep working on my acting and on myself for the days, months and years to come.”
I absolutely loved the workshop. It was an incredibly meaningful two days. [Yorgos] held the space so gently and I felt so safe and contained even though we were exploring work that could make one feel vulnerable and exposed. I felt such a shift exploring text after the very physical dancing with the masks on—it was very liberating going from that almost delirious state into the text because I was completely connected to the emotional story and not even thinking about lines. It was a very powerful experience.
I wish I could remember every moment, every exercise but I guess I have to trust that I have absorbed it and it’s there to access.
“Yorgos’ work is in perfect continuity with what Crete awakens in me: a deeper anchoring in the body, access to buried emotions, the courage to take risks, and the pursuit of a sincerity that can only enrich the creative process. More than an artistic approach, it is a true journey into the depths of the soul — one that seeks to serve art in its most authentic form.”
Return to the core principles of Fitness and Embodiment with Alex & Yorgos for our first-ever June retreat. Expanding the horizons of their work, June will be a return to the roots of the programme, focusing purely on connection and personal growth.
Our September 2026 retreat will honor the standing tradition with Alex, Yorgos, & Dr. Lena returning as instructors. Through movement, education, and community, you'll gain practical tools to lead a more balanced, energized, and present life—long after the retreat ends.
The Physical Lab Retreat is our flagship annual event for actors — a six-day immersive experience on the beautiful island of Crete where performers from around the world come together to deepen their craft and advance their artistic mastery.