Session 2: Performance and the body

In the first practical workshop of this module, we focused on performance and the body. Before beginning the main part of the session we did a few warm up exercises relating to movement and contemporary performance.

Leading by little fingers: One of the exercises we did involved one person closing their eyes, and the other person guiding them around the room by only their little finger. My partner did not clasp or hold my little finger but simply touched it. This felt very strange at first as I had no idea where in the room I was and was worried I would walk in to someone else. As I walked around like this for a little while it became almost relaxing. I began to trust my partner and simply let her walk me around the room as she pleased without worrying. When I opened my eyes I was in a completely different part of the room than I anticipated. It was interesting to see how a simple touch of a little finger could seem so intense when my eyes were closed. I realized that in terms of performance each little part of the body is very significant and we should pay more attention to this to create the best work.

Bamboo Sticks: Another exercise we did was the most challenging and interesting for me. We were given a bamboo stick and were asked to make eye contact with a partner before picking up the stick firstly with our finger. At first it was difficult to keep the stick in the air but when I got used to my partners movements and the rhythm of what we were doing, it became extremely natural and easy to do. We then added the element of battle where we were asked to try and make our partner drop the stick. When doing this I felt the movements became much more animalistic and almost dance-like. I noticed I was reacting to my partners movements without even giving it any thought. I simply moved in response to them, and vice versa. The moves also became much more imaginative and I explored different levels both high and low. There were a lot of twists and turns in our movement, and it became very interesting to watch. It felt more like a performance than a simple task.

Part 2: Other peoples work and practices

In the second part of the session we looked at some existing work relating to performance and the body. The work we looked at mainly involved using the body as a stage for a performance. The body was at the center of all the work we looked at and really was a creative outlet for the performances to come to life. One performance I found particularly interesting was "Long March" by Qin Ga. This performance showed a man named Qin Ga who tattooed on his back the journey of the chinese red army across 20 sites of the historic Long March. Qin Ga's body became more than just a body. It became a performance piece. It told a non verbal story and was actually regarded as an incredibly successful performance. This led me to question what actually constitutes as a performance. It doesn't always have to be a scripted play or a dance piece. It can be much more than that. Another piece of work I found fascinating was a performance called Pool (No water) by a physical theatre group called frantic assembly. In this performance they used an empty pool as their performance space and did various different movements to tell a story within this space. They were very imaginative in their movements and utilised the whole space. They would run up the walls of the pool, lay down inside it, and jump in and out of it. Each performers body was incredibly important in this performance and how they used their bodies to interact with the space really made the simple space of an empty pool in to an incredible piece of set rather than just a location.

Reading: Murray, s. and Keefe, J. (2007) Physical Theatres, A Critical Introducation, London: Routladge

This reading relates to the work we did in class this session on the body in that it talks about how as actors we can use physicality as well as dialogue to connect with audience on a deeper level.

Before a performance begins, we as the audience are able to make assumptions about it based on the mise-en-scene. Props, costume and lighting might give us visual clues about what to expect. Murray and Keefe talk about how theatre is "visual before it is oral" and this is an interesting point. The fact that even without dialogue the audience are able to gain some understanding of the performance, supports the class work we have done this session which was largely based on pure movement without dialogue. From a contemporary perspective we might assume that dialogue is never neccesarily needed in a performance, although it may be important.

The reading also talks about how specific actions that are presented on stage by actors are for the purpose of confronting "the everyday through specific practices removed from the habitual every day". In light of this comment we might consider the importance of our own every day routines. The steps we take to get ready in the morning. Murray and Keefe describe this as a type of Mimesis or imitation. The aim of this type of practice is usually to make the audience relate to what they see on a personal level. They may emphasise, recognise or indeed sympathise with the actions being performed. This relates to the idea of "suspension of disbelief" that is talked about in the reading. As audience members, we are required to believe the impossible is possible. We accept and believe everything the actor does and says, so that we can make sense of the story. This sometimes requires the audience to be active in thinking in terms of relating what they see to a specific emotion or memory they may have experienced.