The aim of Arto is to asses the audiences inner animal through the act of cruelty, hint why it is commonly refered to as the theatre of cruelty. He affects his audience with the use of the five senses. The whole idea of the inner animal is that without society we are all animals but it is hidden away in our subconcious.
In the play metamorphesis the man because he was constantly rushing/ scurrying around after the needs of his family. An exercise we did was to go into groups and create an emotion using just our breathing and our voice. Through this we found that you breathing can actually affect the audiebces heart to make them feel the emotion with you. Some themes in Arto are ritualism, naturalism, surrealism and expressionism. Also to create the idea that monsters are real and they should be feared.
Has a link to Butoh how you access the subconcious however it is switch so that the adience in arto help what the butoh performer feels.
The main idea is of the passive and active performers. He also aranged movemt into three stages:
Preparation - Otkaz - I
Action - posil- ras
end point - tochka - do
The aim of the training was presishion, balance, coordination, effushancy, expressiveness and responceiveness. In class we minimised the script to allow us to create still sculpters that move based on te rythem of the active person. The creator was Russian who joined a German school and was influenced by fordism and cominist beliefes. In his works he uses biomachanics where you make people into high effishant machines to get the greatest responce. He got executed because his works became very popular and the ruler feared that the audience would be changed into radical thinkers. The russian dictator also thought that he was underminding cominism and also that he was trying to kill the leader.
There is a strong link to Gardinez with the use of rythem though not mutualiy agred on by performers.
We started by walking at the same pace to get a rythem. We then got into pairs to get our breathing and running in time with each other. But to then go into jazz breathing for a short time then straight back into the rythem. We then hoped from one foot to the other with the aim being to do exactly the same start and finish. We found it easier if you did a slight movement to show you were about the start and we also changed our breathing when we were about to stop. A technique we used was columbian hypnosis in pairs when you follow the other persons hand. You need lots of focus to follow the hand and when we stopped you felt very weird which is when you realised your were in trance like state. The main ideas of these is to empty the mind of everything to listen to ther people.
Simular to butoh in the way of clearing your mind but the goal of butoh is to frr the subconcious instead of using it to focu souling on one thing. The use of equality, reacting and bouncing off each other is simular to meyerhold but in meyerhold there is a dominent character who the others get their rythem from.
A main idea in butoh is that a persons personality comes from their subconcious, kill it and a new personality forms. It is constantly dying from changes and events in our lives and a new one is constantly forming. The constant cycle of a persons personality is the stimuli for butoh dances. Hasu uhno uses confusing poems to take away the consious mind to reveal the subconcious.They use white face paint to remove all signes of the character, the consious and netralise the mind. The puppet master walk is used to remove the performers self control. Tatshumi hitchakata creates a set vocabulary of movements within in a performcnce to show the different forms of the fish from seewead to the fish swimming. Butoh fu is manily about the transitions when you could walk through an invisable wall and when on the other side you turn into fire for example.
First lesson we watched some example videos to introduce us to the general style of Butoh. The whole class then spaced and lyed down on the floor. Andy then read out a story about Hiroshima were you are are people who are burt and preserved after then bomb. From this stue state you turn into dust that blows away and from the dust a plant grows. The flower then very slowly wilts and dies but then grows again. Throughout the lesson we were all asked to write down any questions we had about Butoh to enable us to understand the subject fully.
At the start of the next lesson we were lead through warm ups to help us prepare to use to embody different states and use different parts of the body.
The exercises are as follows:
clapping and electric pulse.
Running in a circle, heads hanging, arms waving, legs flopping, weight forward.
Jumping from one foot to the other.
Jumping sideways from foot to foot. Keep toes on the ground. Keep heels on ground.
Whole body collapses over legs, (string from head).
Collapses and wave up. Smaller and more frequent.
Starting at the hips.Wave around the clock. (12, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 12, 11, 10, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Chest forward and back. To the one side and to the other. Chest circles.
Shake out
After this we had our introduction to the butoh puppet master walk
much like the Hiroshima story we did another abstract story :
A maiden discovers a waterfall. She washes herself in a torrent of water. The water turns to ice and she freezes. The ice melts and she walks again. The sun burns her skin and she ages rapidly. Her body turns to sand. A tree grows out of the sand. The tree turns into a maiden etc. Representing the never ending cycle of peoples personalities.
Next and perhaps the most memorable lesson was the fish Lesson. Where we learned a basic vocabulary of fish movements that would be used in a performance. We did a simular but much shorter exercise to the last lesson then we all sat around and watched Sankai fish scene. The most dominant thing was how slowly they were moving but they were all perfectly in time.
We then did a short movement sequence to warm us up and introduce us to the fish movements:
forward rotation,
backward rotation (legs over),
arms out rock to left and right,
bum rocking to crab,
child pose.
The fish vocabulary that we built was:
Lying on the ground the students are sand,
swaying and swimming in the water.
Sea weed begins to gather and float slowly upwards with the waves.
Fish walk
Fish Rise
Injured fish
The dying turns into sand and the cycle is complete
We went into groups and performed these in a loose sequence. Though it seems very childish many of the fish movements just looked funny perhaps we just didn't really understand it. With Tatsumi Hijikata is was just about your body resonding to the word very free and fluid. Whereas the set fish movements were set and the dymamics of the transformations were sometimes quite jerky.
Our next task was to create our own abstract stories from a collection of photos. Many of the photos were very grotesque with insects that reflect devouring and recycling of flesh. In our group we tried to put our in a kind of chrinilogical order. Now that i can reflect upon it I see that there doesn't need to be an order that makes sense because Butoh isn't supposed to.
At the start of the lesson we were showed contact improvisation videos and the class was shocked at how intune they were and that it all looked planned and not improvised. The key is the focus with your partner and to sense what the person will do next and know how the other person reacts to your movements. A way of getting to understand this is columbian hypnosis where your head stays two inches away from your partners hand so you follow their movements. Because you had to focus soo much and following the other person you went into a trance and when they staopped you felt really confused. During this we also learned about how much your partner could move and their limitations.
The performers also share a vocabulary of practised contact work so that ones you have shown the other person what you are trying to do they can understand and do the contact.
Vocabulary
Sitting back to back with you partner and pushing against each other to stand up and sit back down. I personally found it very hard because we accedentally went over each other which lickily we could actually use in our vocabulary.
We sat on our bottoms with our legs bent faceing each other and holding hands in front. From there we pulled each other up and down with a seesaw motion.
One person would lean forward with a flat back for the other to balance on. We first did it with them both back to back and the lifted person ballanced. But later we also did it where the lifted person balances their hips on the others persons back and balanced on their front.
Both stand side ways on to each other hip to hip and one lifts the other off the floor
For those who have prier experience triend more complicated lifts like areplanes. One was on the floor on their back as the otherwent into a crucific shape above them. This can be varied with doing it backwards and with one leg.
When we performed our improvisation it was clear to see how the focused groups movements were very fluid and those who didnt were much more rushed and not controlled. The next lesson we told a story through our contact work. We practised walking to a chair and sitting down exactly the same as each other to focus our selves. We we performed we made the story about me stealing her shoe and she kept having to try to reach across we to get if back and their was alot of tug of war.
The goal in this was give life to a mask and allow the mask to take over you. We took it in turns to put on masks look in the mirror and find out what expression suited it the act that out. It's a very strange experience because you go into a trance and your mask is telling you what toy to pick up and what to do. By telling us tht the masks were dangerous and that they had power. Convincing that it had the power to completely transform you. When you had to try and controll someone else they were just wild animals. From the moment you put the mask on till when you take it off you are the mask. When I put on my mask I was a very cheeky and naughty creature and when I chose a word it was bannanas just because it is completely crazy. The person that was looking after the masked interveiwed us and I found it very easy to only reply with my chosen word but more than that I was messing around with the other people in the group. The masks were then asked where they wanted to go and mine was very much a child a wanted to go to the park. She constantly tried to escape her carer and attack the other people. I think the transformation was soo effective because we were all able to draw from our subconcious. Being so spontanious that it does't feel like we are doin it at all with no controle.
Drawing from the subconcious is very simular to butoh with the performer showing an amost dream like state. How the character masks tern the performer into a kind of wild animal is simular to the desired effect on the audience in theatre of cruelty.
Commedia Dell'Arte is a form of theatre that began in Italy in the year 1560, characterized by masked "types", the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. It became the first entirely professional form of theatre and is commonly referred to as the origin of comedy.Sometimes the performers were referred to as "mountebanks" because they played outside on temporary stages, and relied on various props in place of extensive scenery. They used short funny sketches called lazzis between the main shows which are very familiar stories that are repeated but each group has their own interpretations. Three main ones are the rotton tooth, the fly and one where certain characters are drunk.
They use exagerated movements so that you can tell the story from afar and also to catch the audiences attention when they walk past them. The set characters are used so that they are easily identified quickly. During a warm up we did walks to show differnt emotions for example with happiness you would run and jump and skip, however if you were sad you were very slow, slouched and looked down a lot. We did this to introduce us to how the character walks are used to show emotion. Each character has set movements to further help identify them. They use half masks to show the characters even more my physical features like the long nose, or round almost swollen features. Most of the characters had with them a certain stereotype like the old perverted man, the hansom but dumb hero/ prince. To help us to physically embody these some students were taken out of the class and asked to show a stereotype that the rest of the class had to ques just by holding a pose. I was one of these students and I was given the sterotype of jock. I decided to do a persition of a muscly man kissing his biceps or often refered to as their guns.
Characters
Zanni
The character of Zanni was an older, impoverished man and hired servant of one of the other characters, typically Pantalone.
Zanni's costume was loosely fitting white smock and pants. He wore a black mask similar to his more popular descendant, Arlecchino. His behavior is a cartoon imitation of the impoverished rural folk of Bergamo who were forced to move to Venice in order to make a living. As such, his interests do not always coincide with those of his master. His primary goals are his own comfort and the satisfaction of various immediate desires.
Pantalone
Pantalone is one of the most important principal characters found in commedia del arte comedies. With his exceptional greed and status at the top of the social order, Pantalone is "money" in the commedia world.
The costume of Pantalone brings his most ominous features to life. Pantalone is the most constant character within the commedia world, which is presumably why his costume has not been dramatically altered. He traditionally wears red tights and a red jacket, and at his belt, a dagger or sword. He wears a black hat and a black cloak with black slippers or shoes. A brown, muddy colored mask, complete with a hooked nose and beard or mustache completes Pantalone's traditional look. Some variations have been recorded, including "additions of spectacles and a [money] pouch".
Il Capitano
Il Capitano often talks at length about made up conquests of both the militaristic and carnal nature in attempts to impress others, but often only ends up impressing himself. He gets easily carried away in his tales and doesn't realise when those around him don't buy his act. He would be the first to run away from any and all battles and he has trouble enough talking to and being around women.
Columbine
She is Harlequin's mistress, a comic servant playing the tricky slave type, and wife of Pierrot. Rudlin and Crick.
She is dressed in a ragged and patched dress appropriate to a hired servant. Occasionally, under the name Arlecchina she would wear a motley similar to her counterpart Arlecchino (or Harlequin). She was also known to wear heavy makeup around her eyes and carry a tambourine which she could use to fend off the amorous advances of Pantalone. She was often the only functional intellect on the stage. Columbina aided her mistress, the innamorata, to gain the affections of her one true love by manipulating Arlecchino and counter-plotting against Pantalone while simultaneously managing the whereabouts of the innamorato. She may be a flirtatious and impudent character, indeed a soubrette, but without losing her judgment.
Pulcinella
His main characteristic, from which he acquired his name, is his extremely long nose, which resembles a beak.
Ever white dressed and black masked (hence conciliating the opposites of life and death), he stands out thanks to his peculiar voice, the sharp and vibrant qualities of which contribute intense tempo of the show. According to Pierre Louis Duchartre, his traditional temperament is to be mean, vicious, and crafty: his main mode of defense is to pretend to be too stupid to know what's going on, and his secondary mode is to physically beat people.
The aim of useing masks was to create a blank canvas and to learn how to mime only through your actions. First we walked across the room as we would naturalyy with the masks on and and the class analysed our works. I looked at Rachels walk and she had quite a bouncey walk which could show that she has a happy, positive personality. Next Andy spoke a story and the whole group improvised and acted it out through our bodies as we had the mask's on. The idea of the blank canvas is to strip a person of their personality so that they can build a character on top of it.
To show us how we can tell stories in mime Andy gave us a short mime and we guessed what was happening and what he did to show it. Andy vey clearly showed that he was on some kind of busy street it was raining and he put his umbrella up. The also kept going into buildings and used his face to show that he was looking for something. The show the rain he held out his hand and reacted to the weather and he reacted with people going past him so that we knew their were a lot of people.
We were then asked to produced our own mimes based on the idea of a bartender. The mime would be a sequence of still persitions as te teacher counted 1,2,3 ... I personally liked Alys's mime the most because of how in one part she was doing some tricks and she waited like three still's before this thing came back down.
In this lesson we watched a three stooges sketch with the classic charcters of Moe, Larry and Curley. It is a very old fashioned black and white film. We were asked to focus on a certain character and see what physical cues and gestures they used.
I chose to study the mannerisms of Larry in particular:
Repeating others lines
Pathetically flirtatious and forward
Hiding from fizzy water but failing in his attempts
Perfect comedic timing
Lysistrata
Lysistrata is an old fashioned comedy written by Aristophanes in 411BC. At the time that the play was written the Athenians were involved in Peloponnesian war (431-404 BC). The play is a fictitious story about a woman who decides to try to stop the war by convincing the women of warring nations to stop having sex with their husbands until they agree to stop fighting. In the play Lysistrata is also responsible for the occupation for the occupation of the Acropolis, which holds the state treasury.
We were put in pairs and given a script to devise a short sketch from. To start we all shortened our linesas much as possible as again it is in expression and movements that count. When performing the piece we found it more effective a funny to give it a pantomime quality. We over exaggerated our movements and the characters movements. For example the male gave a lot of feministic gestures towards the girl. After we showed them all we found that the bigger a movemant is the funnier it is and so was a greater comic success.
The performance would take place in a circular space called the "orchestra"
The audience would sit in a tiered semi- circular auditorium, called a threaton
There would be a wooden construction, located in the centre of the orchestra where costume changes could take place and where props could be stored.
The shape of the theatre is like the cone of a speaker. This helped the acoustics of the performance, making it easier for the audience to hear what the performers were saying.
Despite this fact, because the theatres were so large, and because they had no roofs, the audience could not hear everything that was said on stage. As a result it was important that the performers acted with large physical gestures in order to communicate what was going on in the play being enacted.
Greek Chorus
The Greek chorus usually communicated in song form, but sometimes spoke their lines in unison.
The chorus had to work in unison to help explain the play.
As the Greek Theatres were so large, the chorus' actions had to be exaggerated and their voices clear so that everyone could see and hear them.
To do this, they used techniques such as synchronization, echo, physical theatre, dance and the use of masks to aid them.
A Greek chorus was often led by a Coryphaeus.
Greek Choruses also served as the ancient equivalent for a curtain, as their parodos (entering procession) signified the beginnings of a play and their exodos (exit procession) served as the curtains closing.
The chorus wore linen, wood or leather masks, with a large mouth for projection. The comic actor wore: soft slippers, flesh coloured tights, a short tunic which was extravagantly padded and a large red leather phallus
Women were not permitted to act in Greek theatre. Consequently, in order to perform female characters actors would wear a prosternada and prograstreda, which were wooden structures worn by actors on their chest and stomach in order to make them appear like women.
Greek Plays
Greek plays were performed at the festival of Dyonysia, an event to honour the God Dyonysus, the ancient GreekGod of wine, wine cups, wineskin, grapes, theater, and fertility. Greek plays fell into two general types: comedies and tragedies.
Tragedy
Tragedy depicts the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgment, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience.
Hamartia ("tragic error"): a fatal error or simple mistake on the part of the protagonist that eventually leads to the final catastrophe.
Hubris ("violent transgression"): the sin par excellence of the tragic or over-aspiring hero. Though it is usually translated as pride, hubris is probably better understood as a sort of insolent daring, a haughty overstepping of cultural codes or ethical boundaries.
Anagnorisis ("tragic recognition or insight"): according to Aristotle, a moment of clairvoyant insight or understanding in the mind of the tragic hero as he suddenly comprehends the web of fate that he has entangled himself in.
Nemesis ("retribution"): the inevitable punishment or cosmic payback for acts of hubris.
In the lesson we practiced doing actions for different words to tell a story. This would have been similar to what the greek chorus would have performed. Each group was given a section in a greek script.In ours we decided to use a kmixture of saying the lines from the script to repeating key words or phrases. But the key element is the movement because most of the audience wouldn’t be able to hear the words. We used a mixture of unison actions and creating little scenes to illustrate. Watching the other groups I liked it when Katie and Sarah clearly created a gate which swung open to let James through. I liked it because even before they said anything you could understand what they were doing. Which was the main point of the lesson. This lesson helped me to understand physical theatre a lot more in that an action can replace a word. It also helped me to think more openly about mine. In being that you don’t just have to pretend to do something but that you can tell a story without words.
