1) Physical theatre allows a performer to combine both elements of theatre and dance together. As we know there is not a clear definition of what physical theatre actually stands for but as both a participant and viewer, I feel it enables the individual to explore the deeper meaning of performance. The actions themselves are never taken at face value; there is always a deeper connotation behind them. And that is how a performer of this genre intends there work to be absorbed. To see that perhaps, it wasn’t just that the right leg moved and then the left but what in fact moved them to do so and to also see the process in which they took to get to that specific point. Pina Bausch once said it is “Not how people move but what moves them.” (Bausch, P. and Schmidt, J. (1978, 1984) p 227-230) Therefore the key features of physical theatre are not solely the performance (as with other genres of theatre) but the work and process before even getting to that stage. It is about the journey the performer goes on up until that stage and there after.
2) Ana Sanchez-Colberg is correct in saying that Physical theatre is a hybrid character, because what she means by this is that two styles which in there own right have been brought together to create a completely new style of working. And that is what physical theatre is, a combination of both dance and theatre. Ana Sanchez-Colberg goes on to say that “It is precisely this double current of influences which needs to be taken into consideration in any attempt to delineate specific parameters of the new genre” (Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe & Murray; 2007, p 21) The idea of hybrid is “The offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2006) and in turn this is what Physical Theatre is. On the one hand you have Theatre a style which derives from text, and on the other you have Dance a style which derives mainly from movement. And by putting them together a whole new genre has been born.
3) DV8 is a British performance company who fit under the heading of a Physical Theatre company very well. The reason they do this so well because as a company they completely back the idea of it being a hybrid character. They combine both genres of theatre and dance so effortlessly, not only are they able to do this they are able to bring to life everyday scenarios but in a completely different light. Within their artistic policy DV8 say their “work is about taking risks, aesthetically and physically, about breaking down the barriers between dance, theatre and personal politics and, above all, communicating ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously. It is determined to be radical yet accessible…” That is why DV8 fit under the heading of a Physical Theatre company because not only do they take into consideration of where the genre has come from but also the idea of their work being based on personal experiences that everyone has to go through in life.
Bausch, P. and Schmidt, J. (1978, 1984) Not How People Move But What Moves Them, Pina Bausch-Wuppertal Dance Theatre or The Art of Training a Goldfish, trans.
DV8 physical theatre (2008) [Home page] [online] [February 20, 2009.]
< www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html >
Keefe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader London: Routledge
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (2006) [Home page] [online] Fourth Edition [February 20, 2009.]< www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/hybrid >
POSTED BY LAUREN WALKER
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Welcome to Porto2009.
This is the begining of our journey on the road of Porto2009. And the blog will give us the opportunity as a group to reflect on the work in which we have done within the sessions. We will keep you posted regarding the process we are making along the way.....
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
Question.1
ReplyDelete‘The term [Physical Theatre] has been collectively used to identify an eclectic production commonly understood to be on which focuses on the unfolding of a narrative through physicalized events and which relegates verbal narrative.’ (Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe & Murray; 2007. p.g. 21) To both further and elaborate on this quote; physical theatre does allow the unfolding of narrative through physical movements, however, it also allows the unfolding of characters and identities through the physicality of the genre. With the genre being so clearly being a physical one, the genre allows a greater exploration of character development & self discovery of the performers than could possibly be seen through ‘straight theatre’; as the ‘physical theatre’ genre ‘the emphasis is on the actor-as-creator rather than the actor-as-interpreter; the working process is collaborative; the working practice is somantic & the stage stage-spectator relationship is open’ (Callery; 2001. p.g.5) This quote, explains how the relationship with the audience is also a great influence to the genre; therefore, the genre isn’t just about the physicality of the performers on the stage, its also how the audience influence that movement and interpret the physicalized events that are occurring in the performance space.
Question.2
‘The term itself – ‘physical theatre’ – denotes a hybrid character (Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe & Murray; 2007. p.g. 21). The idea of the ‘physical theatre’ genre being a hybrid comes from the idea that the genre can not defined in either the ‘dance world’ or the ‘drama world’, it falls as a combination of both ‘worlds’. ‘It is precisely this double current of influences which needs to be taken into consideration […] of the new genre’ (Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe & Murray; 2007. p.g. 21). This quote is a direct on look to the work that goes into the ‘hybrid genre’. As the performance can begin from a stimulus and a performers attitudes towards this stimuli; this being a tool usually used in the ‘drama world’, however the performance can also use movement to music to a syncopated rhythm both to the music and against it this defiantly coming from the ‘dance world’.
Question.3
A British performance company whose practice falls in to the remit of ‘physical theatre’ from the definitions above is ‘DV8 Physical Theatre Company’. ‘DV8 Physical Theatre's work is about taking risks, aesthetically and physically, about breaking down the barriers between dance [and] theatre’. This quote from there website both reinforces the idea and shows how the company admit to ‘physical theatre’ being a ‘hybrid genre’. As well as the company working in ‘hybrid genre’, they also admit, on their website, to the genre being a performance where the performance work is lead via its performers and their relationships, ‘DV8 is motivated by artistic inspiration and creative need’. DV8 physical theatre company work ‘relies on pushing its own boundaries and on the constant re-examination of the roles and relationships of men and women in our society’, therefore its performance work is an exploration into social politics shown through physical work rather than text based work.
Bibliography
Callery, D (2001) Through The Body: New York: Routledge
DV8 Physical Theatre (2008) [Home page] [online] [February 22, 2009.]
< www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html >
Keefe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader London: Routledge
POSTED BY: EDWARD CRITCHLOW