Summary: | Riedlbauchová, Veronika. Motion Techniques and Patterns - Creative Freedom of Expression. M. A. Thesis, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Theatre Faculty, Prague 2009, 111 pp.
In her M. A. thesis, the author focuses on the education of an open and all-round actor and stage director by the means of movement. In doing so, she draws from her artistic practice as well as from her personal experience with physical acting she got acquainted with during two years of study at Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. She points out that the contemporary theatre still keeps omitting movement - one of the most important stage elements. Through a detailed reflection she presents various motion techniques and patterns, which may signifícantly enrich the actor´s or stage director´s expression capabilities subsequently leading them to creative freedom. The author emphasizes an empiric approach to the search for a stage expression and she presents a variety of concrete exercises. She also demonstrates some ways of applying the knowledge of particular techniques in modern practice.
The paper is divided into two parts. The first part called Body Language focuses on general patterns of motion and its communicativeness in theatre. In the first chapter the author pursues motion as a specific element of stage work, in the second chapter as a component of the theatre language. She explores motion and its energy, the motional expression and its capability to reveal the personage´s emotions, motion in a mutual interaction with the space and time, motion in relation to the sound and word. In the third chapter she expresses a necessity of a lifetime development and training of an actor and stage director, which reinforces their creativity and makes them equal partners. In the second part called How to Apply a Mask Technique in a Contemporary Practice the author focuses in detail on the application of the knowledge of two concrete mask techniques in a broader theatre practice. The fourth chapter presents work with a neutral mask inspired by the method of Jacques Lecoq and its employment in the creation of a stage personage. The last, fifth chapter concerns the old technique of commedia dell´ arte and its application in teaching the improvisation. This chapter is innovatory as it presents practical instructions how to train the actor´s improvisatory abilities in the framework of the whole onstage composition.
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