A pragmatic intervention in the study of how recent discoveries within cognitive science can and should be applied to performance. Drawing on his experience the author interrogates the key cognitive activities involved in performance inc non-verbal communication; thought, speech, and gesture relationships; empathy, imagination, and emotion.
‘A focus on the body, its actions, and its cognitive mechanisms identifies ... foundational principles of activity that link the three elements of theatre; Story, Space, and Time. The three meet in, are defined by, and expressed through the actor’s body.’ – from the Introduction Embodied Acting is an essential, pragmatic intervention in the study of how recent discoveries within cognitive science can – and should – be applied to performance. For too long, a conceptual separation of mind and body has dominated actor training in the West. Cognitive science has shown this binary to be illusory, shattering the traditional boundaries between mind and body, reason and emotion, knowledge and imagination. This revolutionary new volume explores the impact that a more holistic approach to the "bodymind" can have on the acting process. Drawing on his experience as an actor, director and scholar, Rick Kemp interrogates the key cognitive activities involved in performance, including: non-verbal communication the relationship between thought, speech, and gesture the relationship between self and character empathy, imagination, and emotion. New perspectives on the work of Stanislavski, Michael Chekhov, and Jacques Lecoq – as well as contemporary practitioners including Daniel Day-Lewis and Katie Mitchell – are explored through practical exercises and accessible explanations. Blending theory, practice, and cutting-edge neuroscience, Kemp presents a radical re-examination of the unconscious activities engaged in creating, and presenting, a role.
A pragmatic intervention in the study of how recent discoveries within cognitive science can and should be applied to performance. Drawing on his experience the author interrogates the key cognitive activities involved in performance inc non-verbal communication; thought, speech, and gesture relationships; empathy, imagination, and emotion.
In this collection of essays, the four branches of radical cognitive science—embodied, embedded, enactive and ecological—will dialogue with performance, with particular focus on post-cognitivist approaches to understanding the embodied mind-in-society; de-emphasising the computational and representational metaphors; and embracing new conceptualisations grounded on the dynamic interactions of "brain, body and world". In our collection, radical cognitive science reaches out to areas of scholarship also explored in the fields of performance practice and training as we facilitate a new inter- and transdisciplinary discourse in which to jointly share and explore common reactions of embodied approaches to the lived mind. The essays originally published as a special issue in Connection Science.
Exercises for Embodied Actors: Tools for Physical Actioning builds on the vocabulary of simple action verbs to generate an entire set of practical tools from first read to performance that harnesses modern knowledge about the integration of the mind and the rest of the body. Including over 50 innovative exercises, the book leads actors through a rigorous examination of their own habits, links those discoveries to creating characters, and offers dozens of exercises to explore in classrooms and with ensembles. The result is a modern toolkit that empowers actors to start from their own unique selves and delivers specific techniques to apply on stage and in front of the camera. This step-by-step guide can be used by actors working individually or by teachers crafting the arc of a course, ensuring that students explore in physically engaged and dynamic ways at every step of their process.
This edited volume seeks to integrate research and scholarship on the topic of embodiment, with the idea being that thinking and feeling are often grounded in more concrete representations related to perception and action. The book centers on psychological approaches to embodiment and includes chapters speaking to development as well as clinical issues, though a larger number focus on topics related to cognition and neuroscience as well as social and personality psychology. These topical chapters are linked to theory-based chapters centered on interoception, grounded cognition, conceptual metaphor, and the extended mind thesis. Further, a concluding section speaks to critical issues such as replication concerns, alternative interpretations, and future directions. The final result is a carefully conceived product that is a comprehensive and well-integrated volume on the psychology of embodiment. The primary audience for this book is academic psychologists from many different areas of psychology (e.g., social, developmental, cognitive, clinical). The secondary audience consists of disciplines in which ideas related to embodied cognition figure prominently, such as counseling, education, biology, and philosophy.
What can the Globe Theatre tell us about performing Shakespeare? Unearthing Shakespeare is the first book to consider what the Globe, today’s replica of Shakespeare’s theatre, can contribute to a practical understanding of Shakespeare’s plays. Valerie Clayman Pye reconsiders the material evidence of Early Modern theatre-making, presenting clear, accessible discussions of historical theatre practice; stages and staging; and the relationship between actor and audience. She relays this into a series of training exercises for actors at all levels. From "Shakesball" and "Telescoping" to Elliptical Energy Training and The Radiating Box, this is a rich set of resources for anyone looking to tackle Shakespeare with authenticity and confidence.
Black Acting Methods seeks to offer alternatives to the Euro-American performance styles that many actors find themselves working with. A wealth of contributions from directors, scholars and actor trainers address afrocentric processes and aesthetics, and interviews with key figures in Black American theatre illuminate their methods. This ground-breaking collection is an essential resource for teachers, students, actors and directors seeking to reclaim, reaffirm or even redefine the role and contributions of Black culture in theatre arts. Chapter 7 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
A primer in the highly effective "Whelan Tape Method" -- actors will learn how a simple tape recorder can take them to new levels of physical and emotional connection with their characters.
Arthur Lessac’s Embodied Actor Training situates the work of renowned voice and movement trainer Arthur Lessac in the context of contemporary actor training. Supported by the work of Constantin Stanislavsky and Maurice Merleau-Ponty's theories of embodiment, the book explores Lessac's practice in terms of embodied acting, a key subject in contemporary performance. In doing so, the author explains how the actor can come to experience both skill and expression as a subjective whole through active meditation and spatial attunement. As well as feeding this psychophysical approach into a wider discussion of embodiment, the book provides concrete examples of how the practice can be put into effect. Using insights gleaned from interviews conducted with Lessac and his Master Teachers, the author enlightens our own understanding of Lessac’s practices. Three valuable appendices enhance the reader’s experience. These include: a biographical timeline of Lessac’s life and career sample curricula and a lesson plan for teachers at university level explorations for personal discovery Melissa Hurt is a Lessac Certified Trainer and has taught acting and Lessac’s voice, speech, and movement work at colleges across the United States. She has a PhD from the University of Oregon and an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University.