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.

Yesterday

Yesterday
Jasmin Vardimon Company

Wednesday 25 February 2009

Antoinette - Assessment 1

‘At its simplest, physical-theatre is theatre where the primary ,means of creation occurs through the body rather than through the mind. In other words, the somatic impulse is privileged over the cerebral in the making process.’

Physical Theatre focuses on using the body as a determiner of movement rather than the mind. This being the imperative tool of Physical Theatre, ensures that provoking emotions, feelings and impulse will be at the heart of its process. Which in it’s self will mean that the performance offers truth to its audience and to its creators. Unlike other forms of Theatre that are restricted by text, stage, a director, time and in some cases the set design, Physical Theatre and it’s process offers the discovery of self or a discovery of an inviduals extended self through play. It requires experience from all aspects of life to bring together a collective piece made by the artists themselves, the performers. It is through this notion of play and personal baggage, that the artists develop their extended selves rather than a character, thus, creating an art form through the body. Lecoq states, ‘the body knows things about which the mind is ignorant’ The development of a self has a canon effect to the process and result of the piece which is why it is imperative that individuals don’t produce characters. Characters stifle and restrict the development of self and a performance, as they cannot add anything more than what they have been assigned to within a piece.

‘The term itself – ‘physical theatre’ – denotes a hybrid character and is testimony to its double legacy in both avant-garde theatre and dance. 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)

Colberg explains that in order to achieve understanding of the term Physical Theatre, individuals must appreciate that it is a combination of two elements, dance and theatre that moves beyond norms questioning status quo.It is the collaboration of these two forms that bring Physical Theatre to birth. Physical Theatre is a Hybrid character, as it sits in between the two art forms mentioned neither being totally compliant to one or the other. It is this grey area between the two that drives critics and lovers of the art to find an answer, Callery supports this by explaining, ‘Physical Theatre is not codifiable. The term is applied to such a diverse range of work that it has become virtually undefinable. ’ In light of this although there is yet to be a definite definition, it is key to understand that the concept is like no other, there is a demand on the actor to become a creator rather than a visual tool that meaning is given too.


Jasmin Vardimon Company would be classed a perfect example of Physical Theatre as it over steps the boundaries of theatre it self. It aims to provoke and challenge audiences through the use of people and their experiences. More recently in an informal post discussion one of the members (seen below) from the group explained that Jasmin has a ‘love for people’ and the company itself aims to be ‘for the people about the people’ when asked to sum up the way in which the production works.




There website supports this by stating that,
‘Renowned for her uniquely theatrical choreographic and directorial style combining physical theatre, quirky characterisation, innovative technologies, text and dance, Vardimon accentuates her work with an acute observation of human behaviour’
It is clear to assume that the technique used in Process and Performance are ones that are closely followed within this company especially in regards to people and the impact they will indefinitely have on a performance. Like most Physical Theatre companies they too create performance first and then apply the theory behind it for example in their production Yesterday a scene shows all members moving in unison erratically to several spaces within the stage, the movement was developed first and then the idea of a flag controlling them was given afterwards. Therefore supporting that meaning is created through the body rather than adhering to rules or aesthetic ideologies.







Bibliography

• Callery Dymphna, ‘Through the Body’ A Practical Guide to Physical Theatre Routledge 2001 p4

• Keefe, J&S Murray ‘Physical Theatres A Critical Reader’ London:Routledge 2007 p21

• Lecoq Jaques, ‘The Moving Body’ London: Methuen 2000 p9

• www.jasminvardimon.com

Antoinette McCook

Post One Nicole Dixon

1. Discuss the key features of the genre of ‘physical theatre’ as explored in the module content of Process and Performance. (200 words)

‘The characteristics of physical theatre are many and varied. Indeed the term is virtually impossible to define. Yet the emergence of physical theatre […] seems to represent a change in the nature of acting […] and the Stanislavskian notion of interpreting a role.’ (Callery, 2001, p3) During the course of Process and Performance this has been evident. We have been able to construct characters; not only in the conventional theatrical way of embodying a role but by using our bodies, feeling a connection or impulse and pursuing it to create a new character. Many characters have been created by impulse and sensing that connection with other bodies rather than putting pen to paper and researching in depth to create a role in that format.
‘The actor’s instrument, the body, must be well-tuned and able to reflect all the internal and external influences of the dramatic moment.’ (Dennis, 1995, p18) When dissecting this quote; in the genre of physical theatre I would not use the term ‘actor’, but would replace it with ‘performer’, this is because as a performer you are not one dimensional, there are so many different constructive elements that constitute the creation and moulding of a performer must be take into consideration. External influences have been guided by the other bodies in the space and creating a new environment and relationship between the two, this is mainly the physical movements. The internal influences add the intrinsic, innate value to the performance in particular emotions and feelings.

2. What does Ana Sanchez-Colberg imply by the ‘hybrid character’ of physical theatre? Is physical theatre a hybrid performance genre? Discuss with reasons for your answer. (150 words)

“The term itself – ‘physical theatre’ – denotes a hybrid character and is testimony to its double legacy in both avant-garde theatre and dance.” (Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe & Murray; 2007, p 21)

Hybrid can be defined as ‘the offspring of two animals of different breeds, […] as produced through human manipulation for specific genetic characteristics.’ (Dictionary.com, 2008) Colberg implies that physical theatre has been manufactured through physical moulding together of avant-garde theatre (going against the naturalistic) and dance. Yes physical theatre is a hybrid performance . . . it has been formed by the manipulation and mutation of many different areas and it will continue to develop and grow throughout the years. There is that uncertainty that comes with the genre of physical theatre which allows it to be able to take risks, acceptably push boundaries and explore subject matters which would not necessarily be explored everyday; and because it predominantly movement based, the body is allowed to express what would be taboo to express with words.

3. Identify a contemporary British performance company whose practice falls into the remit of ‘physical theatre’ as you have defined in the above two answers. Discuss briefly the key features of their practice that makes them a physical theatre company. (150 words)
“DV8 Physical Theatre’s 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” (DV8, 2008) This quote correlates with my understanding of physical theatre. DV8 like to push their own boundaries as well as social boundaries and like to experiment with the ‘re-examination the roles and relationships […] in our society’
‘Physicality is central to the actor’s expression: in silence or voice, in motion or stillness.’ (Dennis, 1995, p17) DV8 use of physicality is used to evoke discussion. They use their external influences to their advantage, with their environment specific to the genre they are trying to explore. DV8’s work has that sense of limbo about it, questioning what genre it actually fits into. I would put it under physical theatre, because of it being hybrid. You cannot class it as just dance and you cannot class it as just theatre.

Bibliography:
CALLERY, D. 2001. Through the Body: A Practical Guide to Physical Theatre. London: Nick Hern Books.
DENNIS, A. 1995. The Articulate Body. London: Nick Hern Books.
SANCHEZ-COLBERG, A. 2007. In: KEEFE, J & MURRAY, S. eds. 2007 Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader. London: Routledge

Other Sources
DICTIONARY.COM. 2008. Hybrid [WWW] Available from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hybrid [Assessed 24 February 2009].
DV8 (2008) Artistic Policy [WWW] Available from: http://www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html [Assessed 24 February 2009]

NICOLE DIXON

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Blog Assessment 1-Gina Dobrovic

1.

‘Physical Theatre’ tells stories through the body rather than necessarily through text. ‘A critical dimension of understanding the emergence of physical theatre practices is to locate them historically within the devising paradigm and its politics of process’ (Murray and Keefe: 2007, p.18) http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MbOsCnifyaoC&pg=PA4&dq=physical+theatres:+a+critical+introduction#PPA18,M1

Process and Performance has explored physical theatre at its finest. We are currently undertaking journeys on the path to discover physical theatre within our own bodies. One of the key features of physical theatre is expression through the body. The process we are involved in now tells a story through movement. It has enabled us to explore different ideas and relationships using the bodies, and learn about ourselves.

Process and Performance gives us the ability to be part of a devised creative process and explore dance theatre as well. We have learned many physical skills to be able to be part of a physical performance, ‘building our palette’ the whole time. These have ranged from using pedestrian movements effectively; simply telling stories with our bodies, and then completely abstract movements. These equally tell a story, as we have been exploring. We are currently working towards devising a performance, involving all the things we have learned.

2.

The definition of ‘hybrid’ is a cross or mixture. Ana Sanchez-Colberg implies that a ‘new genre’ (Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe & Murray: 2007 p.21) has been created from mixing theatre and dance together. She suggests that to even begin to break down the definition of physical theatre, you must take into consideration the influences of avant-garde theatre and dance. ‘What is physical theatre?’ will always be a question people ask, because it has never been properly defined. People will always disagree on whether it should be a class of its own, or what category it falls under. Dymphna Callery writes, “…it was the dance company DV8 Physical Theatre, which first used the term…” (Callery: 2007 p.6) suggesting that the line is very thin and that companies combine both ideas in their practice. For me, physical theatre is a hybrid performance genre because there will always be elements of both evident in many physical theatre performances.

3.

DV8 Physical Theatre company also class themselves as a dance company. Their website claim that
‘The name was chosen as a result of the dissatisfaction felt by Lloyd and the other founder members with what was happening in contemporary dance at the time. They wanted (and still want) to make work that had meaning for them.’ (http://www.dv8.co.uk/faqs/faqs.html 2009)
This shows that they do fall into the remit of ‘physical theatre’ but they also very much about dance, describing their cast as ‘dancers’ rather than actors. However, to watch DV8 they are a physical theatre company. They tell stories through using their bodies and turn every day pedestrian movements into something much more abstract. Their movements resemble dance but are not as aesthetically pleasing as dance aims to be, even though they aim to take risks, ‘aesthetically and physically…’ As mentioned earlier, physical theatre is about expression through the body and they certainly do this.


Bibliography

Callery, D (2001): Through The Body: New York: Routledge.

DV8 Physical Theatre (2008) [online]. London: [Home Page][cited 24th February 2009]. < http://www.dv8.co.uk/faqs/faqs.html>.

Keefe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader: London: Routledge

Blog Assessment 1

Question.1
‘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




Edward Critchlow

Sunday 22 February 2009

Blog Assessment 1

1.

The term “physical theatre” has quite a variety of opinion because some theorists claim that physical theatre falls into dance theatre and some will say there is a clear distinction from one genre to another.

Ana Sanchez-Colberg states “At a surface level, the term has been collectively used to identify an eclectic production commonly understood to be one which focuses on the unfolding of a narrative through physicalized events”. (2007. pg 21)

Throughout my training my understanding of physical theatre has changed in many ways. Originally I saw physical theatre as dance theatre, simply because everything looked as if it was choreographed to look pretty. However once we began devising work my understanding has changed drastically.
I now firmly believe that physical theatre has derived from dance theatre but has a meaning behind the movements. I believe that pedestrian movements separate dance theatre from physical theatre, pedestrian movements give the audience a need to decode the body as a sign to read further into what they are seeing compared to dance where the audience only tend to watch what is happening on stage rather than thinking about why they are moving.




2.

Ana Sanchez-Colberg says “The term itself – ‘physical theatre’ – denotes a hybrid character and is testimony to its double legacy in both avant-garde theatre and dance. It is precicisely this double current of influences which needs to be taken into consideration in any attempt to delineate specific parameters of the new genre.”

I agree in what Ana Sanchez is stating because physical theatre has not yet got a clear, distinct meaning. There has been an argument amongst theorists that physical theatre should fall into dance theatre and some think that it should be classed as a different type of theatre. Physical theatre does have choreographed sections which is where dance theatre becomes a part in the debate. However combined with pedestrian movements which are not associated with dance theatre, physical theatre is a hybrid performance genre because it combines two different theatre types and merges them together to create something innovative.

3.

Jasmin Vardimon company fall into the physical theatre genre. The company combine choreographed sections and pedestrian movements throughout their work.

The company add, “Vardimon accentuates her work with an acute observation of human behaviour”. This is something which physical theatre focuses on.
When watching ‘Yesterday’ it was clear to see how her work was crafted more towards the physical theatre genre and not dance. There were choreographed sections throughout the piece which featured pedestrian movements happening at the same time, this lost any meaning of dance theatre.

Having experienced a workshop with the company you can tell how they begin with an initial concept and then turn it into something which looks very creative. We started by walking in a group doing the same movements but then were told we had to imagine wind was controlling our movements, this type of work is clearly physical theatre and not dance theatre simply because it was not all about looking pretty but having a reason to move.



References

Keefe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader London: Routledge

Jasmin Vardimon Company (2008) [Home Page] [online] [February 22nd, 2009]







Daniel Smith

Saturday 21 February 2009

Marie Hartland - Task 1

1. “At its simplest, physical theatre is theatre where the primary means of the creation occurs through the body rather than through the mind.” (Callery, D (2001) p.4) Through the module content of Process and Performance, we have learnt through our bodies, rather than through dialogue and forward planning. For me personally, the module has taught me a lot about the genre of physical theatre and also about performance as a whole. Within physical theatre there is always a reason behind a movement. Due to this, I feel that the end result is not the entirety of this genre; it is in fact the creation of the material, which a lot of the time is achieved through play. The journey up to the final point is often a very personal one where the body is not only learning new skills such as weight sharing, the state of neutrality and contact but also emotionally there are many boundaries which are needed to be overcome personally. I found that I had to do this before I could progress and work well within the genre of physical theatre.

2. Ana Sanchez-Colberg indicates that the ‘hybrid-character’ of physical theatre is the combination of different genres. She talks about the ‘double current’ of influences which are both theatre and dance, and how a new genre is the hybrid of them; physical theatre. Physical theatre is a hybrid performance genre as it is easy to see both aspects of theatre and dance within a physical theatre piece. During our process and journey throughout Process and Performance, we have created material that initially started from simple pedestrian movements – something which would not be out of place in a text based theatre piece. The pedestrian movements we initially started off with soon became more stylised as our bodies led us in the creation of the movement. It is clear to see movements within our work which could be seen as dance, but due to the style we work in – combining movements together – it is in fact physical theatre.

3. DV8 are a theatre company who are renowned for pushing boundaries, personal, political and also social. DV8 describes their work as ‘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.’ (http://www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html)

Their work relies heavily on physical movements and it is created through the motivation of creative needs. They believe in recreating dance, and incorporating meaning. The issues they portray within their work can be seen as controversial as many social and political aspects are explored. The fact the company devise their work outside of the boundaries of theatre and include aspects of dance, mean that physical theatre is the genre which their work fits into. Their work allows spectators to interpret meaning however they wish to, but they mainly focus on exploring the roles of men and women within society.


Bibliography

www.physicaltheatre.com
www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8.html
Keefe,J and S Murray (2007) Physical theatres: A critical reader London: Routledge
Callery, D (2001) Through the body. New York: Routledge


Marie Hartland

Friday 20 February 2009

Blog Assessment - Task 1

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

Wednesday 4 February 2009

Porto 2009!

Hello bloggers welcome to Porto 2009!

This group consists of Daniel Smith, Lauren Walker, Gina Dobrovic, Edward Critchlow, Marie Hartland, Nicole Dixon and Antionette McCook.

Please keep a look out for further updates regarding our progress through out the devising process.

Regards UoW Students.