Build Your Expertise Through Communal Practice
Transform your approach to feedback
Join our 8-week intensive CRP® Fundamentals Program and learn directly from our trained facilitators in a collaborative, supportive environment.
When we show work that feels unfinished, messy, or still in progress, our bodies tell us we are in danger.
You might conjure fearful images of harsh teachers, disappointed family, or a skeptical public.
Revealing unfinished work runs counter to so much we are taught in the classroom, the studio, and the office.
Through practice, bravery, and better critique experiences, we can retrain ourselves to feel excited about feedback.
You could learn how to:
- Read the room when feedback dynamics get complicated
- Step into every role with confidence — maker, responder, facilitator
- Bring CRP into your own communities with a foundation under you
That’s what CRP Fundamentals is built for.
Applications are now open for our Fall 2026 cohort.
Fall 2026 Session
September 19-November 7
Eight CRP Circle Sessions
Saturdays from 11-1pm EST
The CRP Fundamentals Program is an 8-week intensive providing in-depth experience in Critical Response Process® circles with Liz Lerman-trained facilitators and a small cohort of dedicated practitioners from diverse disciplines.
Over 8 weeks, you’ll:
- Practice the method in actual feedback sessions with real creative work
- Experience every role in the Critical Response Process® — maker, responder, facilitator
- Build essential skills to recognize feedback dynamics
- Develop proficiency in facilitating meaningful critique
- Connect with peers who share your commitment to thoughtful feedback
- Receive personalized guidance from experienced CRP facilitators
“CRP Fundamentals helped me ask myself:
How do I continue to grow as a responder and facilitator over time, and not let my excitement for the subject matter and my ego supersede my role in the process? How do I stay grounded in keeping the Artist at the center and serving their growth?”
Program Overview
8 Weeks of Immersive Learning
Weekly 2-Hour Virtual Sessions with a small cohort of up to 16 participants
During sessions, you’ll experience:
→ Training that covers the core basics of CRP [insert details]
→ Check-in — brief introductions and a group check-in
→ Sharing of work — experience (or share) a performance or presentation on which to practice CRP
→ CRP circle — participants rotate through all roles in a live circle practice (with the director of the program serving as a partner facilitator if needed)
→ Group debrief — everyone reflects together on what they noticed in themselves and in the group
→ Final reflections in writing
Certificate of Completion for CRP Fundamentals awarded to participants who attend at least 6 sessions and complete the final reflection.
CRP Fundamentals currently runs twice yearly.
Applications are now open for Fall 2026.
“Before the CRP Fundamentals program,
I understood CRP as a way of gathering considered feedback. I hadn’t fully appreciated its reliance on ritual and repetition — the choreography of sequencing, tone, and pacing that creates a safe and spacious container for reflection. Through practice, I saw that neutrality is not passivity. It’s an active discipline: every question and gesture either holds space or tilts it.”
“CRP is like a well-tended campfire.
The artist offers kindling, a work in progress to the circle. Responders gather not to judge, but to share warmth and reflection. The structured steps of CRP act like stones around a fire, creating safety, holding space, and helping the artist see their path without extinguishing their spark.”
Wondering if CRP Fundamentals is for you?
Maybe you’ve taken a CRP workshop through your school, organization, or community and you’re craving more…
Maybe you’ve read Critique is Creative or Critical Response Process but haven’t seen the method in action…
Maybe you’re an artist or maker who’s tired of feedback that doesn’t feel supportive…or getting no feedback at all….
Maybe you’re dreaming of certification but want more time and practice with the process first….
If you’re ready to shift how you experience feedback and build work in a more rigorous, communal space, this is for you.
Want to ground yourself in the basics?
Learn more about CRP Essentials—an independent study course to learn and practice CRP.
Your Investment
CRP Fundamentals
8 weeks of immersive learning- Hands-on practice with real creative work
- Comprehensive debriefing after each session
- Reflective analysis of critique dynamics
- Opportunities to present your own work for feedback
- Co-facilitation experience alongside trained facilitators
- limited scholarships available
Not ready to enroll, but want to learn more?
About Liz Lerman and Critical Response Process®
Liz Lerman is a choreographer, performer, writer, educator, and speaker whose work has been recognized with numerous honors including a MacArthur “Genius Grant.” The Critical Response Process® (CRP) is her acclaimed methodology for giving and receiving feedback on creative works in progress, now used by artists, educators, and organizations worldwide.
Learn more about Critical Response Process® >
Meet Your Program Facilitators
Phil Stoesz and Sumana Mandala, certified CRP facilitators, will guide your journey through CRP Fundamentals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between CRP Essentials, Fundamentals, and Certification?
CRP Essentials is a self-paced web-based solo course that teaches CRP through videos, readings, and exercises. Essentials will help your personal practice by giving you everything you need to deepen your CRP knowledge in your own time.
CRP Fundamentals is an 8-week zoom-based course that is taught cohort style with other humans practicing CRP with works in progress. You’ll be in many circles, bring works in progress, and meet other artists and practitioners who are dedicated to developing better feedback practice.
CRP Certification is a year-long program that is the deepest level of CRP teaching available. You will learn facilitation skills, practicing facilitating your own circles, get mentorship, and develop your own practice of CRP through a project in your own work / life.
Is this only for artists?
What are you looking for in a successful applicant?
A “successful” applicant is anyone who wants a taste of a CRP circle in practice with CRP expert facilitators—either because they have heard about it, read about it, or practiced it long ago or in passing.
A “successful” applicant is ready to be vulnerable, responsible, trusting and able to recognize and address their doubts or discomforts. The values of a CRP circle are held in this readiness, while the practice in the circle helps hone them. The work in ourselves predicates the work in the circle and in our communities.
The eight circle sessions in CRP Fundamentals guide participants to recognize the multiple ways in which CRP’s values build upon each other to create deep and useful dialogue—whether around a work of art, a business proposal, an email, a relationship, etc..
How does the program address issues of equity?
CRP is a practice of equity. It was born from a place of constant oppression in the performing arts world, where hierarchies and power imbalances render an artist (especially if she is female) impotent in making, presenting, and talking about their own work. But we know these issues are not unique to the performing arts. The four-step CRP circle is a result of over three decades of reflexive research and action research across disciplines, diverse communities, and countries. It’s designed to put the maker back in the maker’s seat (not a hot seat) and all those who experience the maker’s work in close relationship with the maker to foster symbiotic and healthy dialogue. The CRP circle is a place where every participant learns something about themselves and about those around them—and where the responsibility of guided response engages joy in our varied experiences.
Ready to Build Your Expertise Through Communal Practice?
