Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen

Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen

Author: Annette Lust

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 0810882124

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As stage and screen artists explore new means to enhance their craft, a new wave of interest in expressive movement and physical improvisation has developed. And in order to bring authenticity and believability to a character, it has become increasingly vital for actors to be aware of movement and physical acting. Stage and screen artists must now call upon physical presence, movement on stage, non-verbal interactions, and gestures to fully convey themselves. In Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen, Annette Lust provides stage and screen artists with a program of physical and related expressive exercises that can empower their art with more creativity. In this book, Lust provides a general introduction to movement, including definitions and differences between movement on the stage and screen, how to conduct a class or learn on one's own, and choosing a movement style. Throughout the book and in the appendixes, Lust incorporates learning programs that cover the use of basic physical and expressive exercises for the entire body. In addition, she provides original solo and group pantomimes; improvisational exercises; examples of plays, fiction, poetry, and songs that may be interpreted with movement; a list of training centers in America and Europe; and an extensive bibliography and videography. With 15 interviews and essays by prominent stage and screen actors, mimes, clowns, dancers, and puppeteers who describe the importance of movement in their art and illustrated with dozens of photos of renowned world companies and artists, Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen will be a valuable resource for theater teachers and students, as well as anyone engaged in the performing arts.


Black and Asian Theatre In Britain

Black and Asian Theatre In Britain

Author: Colin Chambers

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-12-17

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 1134216890

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Black and Asian Theatre in Britain is an unprecedented study tracing the history of ‘the Other’ through the ages in British theatre. The diverse and often contradictory aspects of this history are expertly drawn together to provide a detailed background to the work of African, Asian, and Caribbean diasporic companies and practitioners. Colin Chambers examines early forms of blackface and other representations in the sixteenth century, through to the emergence of black and Asian actors, companies, and theatre groups in their own right. Thorough analysis uncovers how they led to a flourishing of black and Asian voices in theatre at the turn of the twenty-first century. Figures and companies studied include: Ira Aldridge Henry Francis Downing Paul Robeson Errol John Mustapha Matura Dark and Light Theatre The Keskidee Centre Indian Art and Dramatic Society Temba Edric and Pearl Connor Tara Arts Yvonne Brewster Tamasha Talawa. Black and Asian Theatre in Britain is an enlightening and immensely readable resource and represents a major new study of theatre history and British history as a whole. Chapter 1 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.


An Actor's Survival Guide

An Actor's Survival Guide

Author: Chas Burns

Publisher: Copy Real

Published: 2023-05-19

Total Pages: 124

ISBN-13:

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In this first handbook, and those to follow, my aim is to share my personal experiences with you, the actor, in hopes of helping you find your way and sustain yourself in this profession. The question of what we do and why we do it can be a challenging question, particularly when faced with certain audiences. As an actor, you may exude great confidence on stage, only to reveal yourself as an incredibly shy and private individual offstage. So what drives us to pursue this craft of assuming different personas and performing in front of audiences? This question has plagued me for over four decades, and I still don't have a concrete answer. Perhaps it's a need to explore ourselves or a desire to express ourselves to others from some sort of monophobia. Maybe it's an uncontrollable urge to reveal our innermost feelings from behind a mask. Or maybe it's just an innate passion for performing. Whatever the reason may be, as actors, we often face a host of challenges and complexities that are not immediately apparent to the outside world. Within these pages, I hope to provide some answers and guidance to help you navigate these challenges and find fulfillment in your chosen path.


The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance

The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance

Author: Naomi M. Jackson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-11-16

Total Pages: 720

ISBN-13: 0197519520

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Responding to recent evolutions in the fields of dance and religious and secular studies, The Oxford Handbook of Jewishness and Dance documents and celebrates the significant impact of Jewish identity on a variety of communities and the dance world writ large. Focusing on North America, Europe, and Israel in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, this Handbook highlights the sometimes surprising, often hidden and overlooked Jewish resonances within a range of styles from modern and postmodern dance to folk dance and flamenco. Privileging the historically marginalized voices of scholars, performers, and instructors the Handbook considers the powerful role of dance in addressing difference, such as between American and Israeli Jewish communities. In the process, contributors advocate values of social justice, like Tikkun Olam (repair of the world), debate, and humor, exploring the fascinating and potentially uncomfortable contradictions and ambiguities that characterize this robust area of research.


The Invisible Actor

The Invisible Actor

Author: Yoshi Oida

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-10-01

Total Pages: 123

ISBN-13: 1350148288

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The Invisible Actor presents the captivating and unique methods of the distinguished Japanese actor and director, Yoshi Oida. While a member of Peter Brook's theatre company in Paris, Yoshi Oida developed a masterful approach to acting that combined the oriental tradition of supreme and studied control with the Western performer's need to characterise and expose depths of emotion. Written with Lorna Marshall, Yoshi Oida explains that once the audience becomes openly aware of the actor's method and becomes too conscious of the actor's artistry, the wonder of performance dies. The audience must never see the actor but only his or her performance. Throughout Lorna Marshall provides contextual commentary on Yoshi Oida's work and methods. In a new foreword to accompany the Bloomsbury Revelations edition, Yoshi Oida revisits the questions that have informed his career as an actor and explores how his skilful approach to acting has shaped the wider contours of his life.


Ageing Masculinities in Contemporary European and Anglophone Cinema

Ageing Masculinities in Contemporary European and Anglophone Cinema

Author: Tony Tracy

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-12-30

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1000830144

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This volume offers a unique exploration of how ageing masculinities are constructed and represented in contemporary international cinema. With chapters spanning a range of national cinemas, the primarily European focus of the book is juxtaposed with analysis of the social and cultural constructions of manhood and the "anti-ageing" impulses of male stardom in contemporary Hollywood. These themes are inflected in different ways throughout the volume, from considering how old age is not the monolithic and unified life stage with which it is often framed, to exploring issues of queerness, sexuality, and asexuality, as well as themes such as national cinema and dementia. Offering a diverse and multifaceted portrait of ageing and masculinity in contemporary cinema, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of film and screen studies, gender and masculinity studies, and cultural gerontology.


Body Knowledge

Body Knowledge

Author: Mary Simonson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-09-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0199898022

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While female performers in the early 20th century were regularly advertised as dancers, mimics, singers, or actresses, they wove together techniques and elements drawn from a wide variety of genres and media. Onstage and onscreen, performers borrowed from musical scores and narratives, referred to contemporary shows, films, and events, and mimicked fellow performers. Behind the scenes, they experimented with cross-promotion and new advertising techniques and technologies to broadcast images and tales of their performances and lives well beyond the walls of American theaters, cabarets, and halls. The performances and conceptions of art that emerged were innovative, compelling, and deeply meaningful. Body Knowledge examines these performances and the performers behind them, highlighting the Ziegfeld Follies and The Passing Show revues, Salome dancers, Isadora Duncan's Wagner dances, Adeline Genée and Bessie Clayton's danced histories, Hazel Mackaye and Ruth St. Denis's pageants, and Anna Pavlova's opera and film projects. As a whole, it re-imagines early twentieth-century art and entertainment as both fluid and convergent.