Etienne Decroux

Description

Etienne Decroux is the primary creator of Corporeal Mime and one of modern theatre’s most charismatic innovators, known for his ground-breaking use of the body as the principal means of expression on stage. This second edition combines: an overview of Decroux’s life and work an analysis of Decroux’s Words on Mime, the first book to be written about this art a series of practical exercises offering an introduction to Corporeal Mime technique. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners are unbeatable value for today’s student. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of plates List of figures Acknowledgments Chapter 1: A PROMETHEAN LIFE Introduction The life of Etienne Decroux Chez Copeau: the Chapel, the laboratory, the school Jean-Louis Barrault 1789 and The Extravagant Captain Smith Children of Paradise Marcel Marceau Performance at La Maison de la Chimie New York years Last years in Boulogne-Billancourt Decroux’s “underground” school What Decroux accomplished Decroux and Asian theatre Decroux and Grotowski Decroux, Grotowski, and the audience The vibrato and dynamic immobility in Decroux’s work Transmission: patience is a long passion Transmission of what? “If Corporeal Mime survives, the world will survive” The Great Project Chapter 2: SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF WORDS ON MIME Chapter 1: sources Chapter 2: theatre and mime Chapter 3: dance and mime Chapter 4: mime and mime Chapter 5: teaching Chapter 3: DECROUX AS DIRECTOR/CREATOR: HOW DID DECROUX MAKE A PERFORMANCE? Banishing text Making performances from improvisation Decroux’s actor Funding for performances The other “alien arts” The movement itself: counterweights The dynamic construction – “dynamo-rhythm” Material actions suggest mental states The Carpenter The Washerwoman Summary Chapter 4: CORPOREAL MIME TECHNIQUE: PRACTICAL EXERCISES WITH IMMEDIATE APPLICATIONS Inclinations on a lateral plane Contradictions on a lateral plane Segmented movement, lateral scale, cumulatively curved (the spine moving like a chain) Pulling (and being pulled by) an extensor Double, triple, and quadruple designs Stages of consciousness Movement research: how to create a “movement score” Bibliography Index