Luke Manley 0705972: My Blog Assesment 1

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‘Physical theatre’ in its broadest term means that it is a general term used to describe any mode of performance that is focusing on storytelling through primarily physical means. Physical Theatre is not directly linked to human performances but the term ‘physical theatre’ can be used as somewhat of a guideline for some forms of puppetry, especially on a large scale. The term ‘physical theatre can also be used to describe the following types of performances: Theatrical Acrobatics, Theatrical Clowning/Physical comedy and also some forms of Dance Theatre.

For me, even though they are all forms of physical theatre, or claim to be, distinct boundary between what is and what is not physical theatre. I have been taught, and also believe that, physical theatre utilizes existing text but the primary focus is on the physical work of the performers expressed through the use of their bodies. Somebody that works in physical theatre should not be called an actor or dancer, as the line between each, is very fine. Both actors and dancers perform, so somebody in physical theatre should be know as a performer.

I feel that during my process towards our performance, my body has grown, in the sense that I have captured my character within myself physically, whereas if I had a script my character would not have been this physically developed.

2

When reading, Anna Sanchez-Colberg suggested that ‘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)

The above quote, in its broadest sense means combing dance and theatre together within a performance. So when performing a piece of physical theatre include some sort of dance.
Upon further reading, Sanchez-Colberg suggested that with the combination of Dance and Theatre, this would create a new type of genre. But personally, I think the two genres are different even thought there is a very close combination of them both. Both physical theatre and dance tell they story of a character and a journey they go on.

I do feel that the two types of genre are different, but I also feel that the ‘hybrid character’ is extremely suggested in physical theatre. Both genres use the body to tell the story of a character and a journey that character is going on that very moment.

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DV8 is a physical theatre company that was formed in 1986. DV8 label themselves as dancers in the work that they have produced, but also they describe themselves as ‘breaking down the barriers of dance, theatre and personal politics’ and ‘reinvesting dance with meaning’ (www.dv8.co.uk). Their performances are 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). When looking at DV8’S work most of the performances contain ‘hybrid character’. By allowing this, they can push the boundaries of physical theatre further, creating a more sophisticated and somewhat fashionable piece of physical theatre.

When watching some of DV8’S work, I have personally felt that this performance has been made for me, or my personality, as they seem to tackle with issues that I connect with, and in some of their performances that I don’t connect with as much, there is somebody else who feels the same as I did with their previous work. DV8 seem to know what society would like to, and needs to see, that’s why their work is so popular and is being more demanded. It tackles with issues in today’s world.

Bibliography

[1] Murray, S, Keefe J Physical Theatres: A Critical Introduction London: Routledge 2007

[2] Callery, D (2001) Through the body. New York: Routledge

[3] www.DV8.co.uk home page 25/2/09

Hannah Page

Physical theatre as a genre makes use of the body above all things as opposed to the spoken word, which is the primary means of communicating with an audience throughout everyday theatre. The use of body shape and position can easily communicate a story to an audience without the need for spoken words. Most of the movements in physical theatre come from improvisation and a devising method of moving to a specific mood or impulse, rather than originated from a pre-existing scrip.
Throughout the ‘process and performance’ module, as an ensemble we have used body movement and memory to gain skills in physical theatre. We have learnt as a group to be aware of our surroundings and to stop and start as a group at the same time. Neutrality is another key part of physical theatre that we have worked on in the process. Neutrality helps the ensemble to focus as well as work collaboratively in moving as one unit.

Ana Sanchez-Colberg suggests that “The term –“physical theatre”- denotes a hybrid character” this implies that the mixing of two genres, dance and theatre creates a new genre ‘physical theatre’ This new genre takes movement, neutrality and lack of script from dance and mixes it with the conventions of theatre to tell a story through movement with no need for the spoken word. This makes an audience at points fail to see the meaning or impulse behind the movements, which therefore makes defining the genre at times tricky.
Physical theatre is a hybrid performance genre because it is clear in the movements as to whether they came from dance or conventional theatre. Movements in process aren’t choreographed like they are with dance and can change and be improvised at any point. Often coming from an impulse during ‘play’ the movements aren’t all dance, many movements come from pedestrian movements used in everyday life, much like the conventions of naturalistic theatre.

DV8 are a ‘physical theatre’ company who use the concept of the ‘hybrid character’ in their work. By combining dance with theatre they are able to tell a story without 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.”

Callery, D (2001). Through The Body. London: Nick Hern Books Limited.

http://www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html

Ana Sanchez-Colberg Altered states and subliminal spaces.

blog 1

1) Physical theatre is mainly seen as drama and dance in many peoples opinions, but it can be argued by many people that this is not the case, this is because of what can be classed as physical theatre and what is not. When I started Process and performance I thought physical theatre would be shown through movements and dialogue. As time went on I found out that this was not the case, we can use the body to tell a story with movements and dialogue is not needed.

For a story to be told by physical movements, every movement needs to have a purpose and not putting a move in because it looks pretty or is convenient . Moves need to be thought through and have a clear purpose and meaning of why you are moving in that particular way . The main reason for this being is for the audience to understand the movements and to understand the character as a individual. If movements are not clear the understanding of the piece will be misled and may lead individuals to be interpreted something they are not as a character.


2) “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)

Ana Sanchez-Colberg is suggesting that the hybrid character is made up of two things these being theatre and dance. By combining these two type of arts together she proposes this be a new genre.

After reading Ana Sanchez-Colberg study I believe that hybrid character is present in physical theatre. Physical theatre has always been a hard definition to define with many different opinion on the matter, but I believe that hybrid character is the combining of dance and theatre. Dance and theatre in my opinion are linked, they both use the bodies to tell a story to the audience, be it either through the use of dialogue or a sequence of movements.


3) DV8 are a British physical theatre company who fit into the physical theatre genre and is led by Lloyd Newson. Dv8 create there work through artistic inspiration and they try to deal with many situations in the society we live in as possible, mainly these being the roles and relationships of men and women.

“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” (http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/projects/artist.php?id=43) .

This quote shows us that as a company, they are willing to take new risks and break the barriers to create physical theatre. Dv8 relate to physical theatre by tell a story through the use of there bodies and do not rely on the use of dialogue they try to work towards a wide range of audiences.


Books
Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe & Murray; 2007, p 21)

Web sites
http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/projects/artist.php?id=43

http://www.dv8.co.uk/index.html

http://www.4dr.co.uk/whatis.php

http://www.blackfishacademy.com/physical.htm

To many it is hard to define what ‘Physical theatre’ actually is. In this situation where it is questioned, a fine line has been created between what is considered conventional theatre and what is seen as dance theatre. Through my personal experiences in process and performance, physical theatre is when an audience can interpret a storyline or emotion from a simple body movement, and the use of speech is no longer necessary. Physical theatre creates a completely different ambiance both on and off stage, to me the relationships created in ‘physical’ work, are far more believable, as the intimacy levels are higher. Through the use of trust games, boundaries are broken down and characters can interact easier with each other then perhaps in a conventional piece of theatre, due to the fact they are not constructed by scripted dialog and plot
‘The intellectual is grasped through the physical engagement of the body, because as, Lecoq puts it, ‘The body knows things about which the mind is ignorant.’
(Callery,D, (2001) pg4)
This quote reminded me that when working in ‘physical theatre a persons guard is dropped because you have somehow managed to move away from allowing your brain to do the thinking and allowing your body to decide what is right.

‘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)

What Ana Sanchez-Colberg is suggesting, is that a ‘hybrid character’ is created by being influenced by both dance and theatre, the definition of ‘physical theatre’ lies within the definition of hybrid characters as to me they are one of the same. When dance and theatre are connected they create this illusion of what is now being labelled as ‘physical theatre’
The similarities between dance and theatre are apparent; they are both rehearsed or choreographed until each individual knows exactly where he or she is supposed to be, where a dancer would learn their moves an actor learns there lines, it is then, however, where we get confused, often physical pieces are devised being created from scratch, each character will often go on stage not knowing if they will be doing the same ‘movements’ as the night before, due to the fact they are not sure if their individual emotion will be the same. This to me is why we feel the need to label this interpretation of theatre with its own specific name.

The company I feel that falls into this genre is Knee high theatre, a Cornish based company who feel that their work breaks theatrical boundaries, during a question and answer session they take part in Sally Mackey’s Practical theatre,
When asked ‘When devising, would you try and clarify some sort of narrative line?’
Mike shepherd, artistic director for Knee high answered;
“It is to do with play, and a lot of the ideas don’t come from, ‘Right, were going to sit down now and were going to devise”
(Mackey,S,(1997) pg119)
When reading this i decided that this to me classed them as a physical theatre company as they express the same ideas and starting points as I have mentioned previously and the same in which we have personally used in process and performance.


Bibliography
1. Callery,D, Through the body a practical guide to physical theatre
(2001), published by Routledge, pg 4.
2. Keefe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader London: Routledge
3. Mackey,S, (1997), practical theatre; a post- 16 approach
Published by Nelson Thrones.

Blog Assessment – Task 1

Blog Assessment – Task 1
Emilia Breadon

1. ‘Physical Theatre’ is seen as a mixture of both dance and theatre, some practitioners argue what is and is not seen as ‘physical theatre’ because it is difficult to define.
Through my development in Process and Performance I have learnt that it is not always about depending on dialog to tell a story and that it can be done through body movement and body memory alone. Meaning that you should not have to think ‘what happens next’, your body from previous training and practise automatically remembers what comes next.

‘At its simplest, physical-theatre is theatre where the primary means of creation occurs through the body rather than through the mind’ (Callery, D (2001) p.4)

This made me realise that every movement must have a reason behind it, but whether you choose a clear move to represent it was your own choice. So you could make the audience look deeper into the piece and what it is about.


2. ‘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)

Ana Sanchez-Colberg suggests that the ‘hybrid character’ of physical theatre is a double current of influences these being Dance and Theatre. I believe she is correct in what she is stating because when these two genres when put together create a new genre is this becoming ‘physical theatre’.
I think physical theatre is a hybrid performance genre because when watching a piece you can clearly see the dance and theatre genre elements. With the dance process it is all choreographed and practised till it is made perfect making sure no one steps or moves in the wrong way but with physical theatre there may be parts that are choreographed but they can always change. With theatre you manly use pedestrian movements, actions that reflect the dialog. From my experience in process and performance we have in the past used ‘play’ as a starting point and then worked on from there using pedestrian movements but then developing them so they become more stylised, this can also involve improvisation and changing the piece.


3. ‘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.’ (http://www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html)

DV8 are a company whose practise falls into the remit of ‘physical theatre’ they use the whole concept of the ‘hybrid character’ in all of their work combining dance with theatre. This enables them to start with an idea for a piece and work on it making it become more stylised and pushing their own personal boundaries. DV8 believe that by pushing these boundaries within the piece they can push boundaries on the story enabling the audience to have more of a discussion on what they were watching and a connection to this story.
This is why DV8 fit into the ‘physical theatre’ genre so well because they use real day life subjects that any person in the audience may have gone through but by working with dance elements and physically stylising them it creates more of an atmosphere on the audience.


Bibliography:
DV8 physical theatre (2008) [Home page] [online] [February 23, 2009.]
( www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html )

Callery, D (2001) Through the body. New York: Routledge

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

Michaela Lloyd : Blog Assessment Post 1

1: During the Process and Performance module the genre of ‘physical theatre’ has been explored using the key features of devising to create an ensemble and the body’s ability to learn and remember. The devising process of physical theatre develops the ensemble using a variety of exercises to build confidence and trust amongst the company. As the group developed building towards a performance, this has proven to be an invaluable feature that not only maintains our safety during performances, but also creates and maintains characters relationships and the overall effect of the performers being part of the same company. Together we learnt how to perform lifts and falls safely and how to walk and stop as a group simultaneously.

Another key feature that has been explored is an individual’s body memory, physicality and how the body signifies meaning to an audience as well as responding to impulses and instincts in lieu of stage directions or script. Each week we rely on our bodies to recall a learnt movement or exercise based on our relationship with the floor and gravity ass well as other bodies in the room. We recall how it felt physically and repeat each exercise or movement until it is as our body remembers it to have been learnt.

2: Physical theatre has been described as an ‘intertwining’ of popular theatre with either mime, avant garde theatre or dance. ([1] P 53 Murray, S, Keefe J 2007). Sanchez-Colberg clearly states that physical theatre has a ‘double-legacy … in both avant-garde theatre and dance’ ([2]P 17 Murray, S, Keefe J 2007) . The implications of referring to a hybrid character within physical theatre is a clear reference to the fact that physical theatre is an intertwining of popular theatre with another medium, in this case, dance. To be involved with physical theatre you need to have an understanding of traditional theatre as well as physical or dance theatre. Physical theatre is a hybrid performance genre because it is a collaboration of traditional acting methods with another medium. Though there is usually a personal or political core to every physical theatre performance, there is no given script, which distinguishes it from popular theatre. There is a clear narrative that is told through the body making its influence from dance ambiguous yet the emphasis being on body movements and gesture without facial signifiers assimilates physical theatre to mime.

3: DV8 Physical Theatre produce work that they themselves describe as ‘breaking down the barriers of dance, theatre and personal politics’ and ‘reinvesting dance with meaning’ (www.dv8.co.uk). The company generally work with trained actors but have also worked with performers from acting backgrounds. Tim Etchells describes DV8’s work as closely paralleling theatre performances and conveying the body for observation. According to Etchells, DV8’s work shows the body through various stages with ‘the body itself as witness’ (p 115 Etchells, T 1994 ). This is clearly a feature of physical theatre similar to that of body memory recall that we undertake as Process and Performance students. The manner in which DV8 research a piece before creating it and use their bodies to emphasise a personal or political conflict defines DV8’s practice as a hybrid of dance and theatre and positions DV8 as a definitive Physical Theatre company.

Michaela Lloyd 0709448

Bibliography

[1] Murray, S, Keefe J Physical Theatres: A Critical Introduction London: Routledge 2007

[2] Murray, S, Keefe J Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader London: Routledge 2007

http://www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html (accessed Monday 23rd February 2009 20.05)

http://presence.stanford.edu:3455/Collaboratory/674 (accessed Monday 23rd February 2009 19.30)

Etchells, T Diverse Assembly: Some Trends In Recent Performance , in Theodore Shanks ed. Contemporary British Theatre P 107-122 London: New York Macmillan and St Martins Press 1994

Blog Assesment- Task 1 - Deadline: Wednesday, 25th February 2009, 5 pm

Word Count: 500 words total (200 + 150 + 150)
Task:
There are three inter-related questions you need to answer as part of this task.
All the questions relate to the quote below which is taken from one of the handouts given to you in Process & Performance.
Read the quote below and then answer each of the three questions within the word limit stipulated against each.
Conduct wider independent reading and use supporting quotes and examples to argue your views.
Present your writing in academic language with Harvard Referencing and a Bibliography at the end of your post.
Quote:
“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)
Ana Sanchez-Colberg
from
Keefe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader London: Routledge
Questions:

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

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)

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)

Our Group:

Hannah Page
Roxanne Mcdermott
Emma Parker
Luke Manley
Michaela Lloyd
Emilia Breadon