Rhythm in Acting and Performance: Embodied Approaches and Understandings

Description

Rhythm is often referred to as one of the key elements of performance and acting, being of central importance to both performance making and training. Yet what is meant by this term and how it is approached and applied in this context are subjects seldom discussed in detail. Addressing these, Rhythm in Acting and Performance explores the meanings, mechanisms and metaphors associated with rhythm in this field, offering an overview and analysis of the ways rhythm has been, and is embodied and understood by performers, directors, educators, playwrights, designers and scholars. From the rhythmic movements and speech of actors in ancient Greece, to Stanislavski’s use of Tempo-rhythm as a tool for building a character and tapping emotions, continuing through to the use of rhythm and musicality in contemporary approaches to actor training and dramaturgy, this subject finds resonance across a broad range of performance domains. In these settings, rhythm has often been identified as an effective tool for developing the coordination and conscious awareness of individual performers, ensembles and their immediate relationship to an audience. This text examines the principles and techniques underlying these processes, focusing on key approaches adopted and developed within European and American performance practices over the last century. Interviews and case studies of individual practitioners, offer insight into the ways rhythm is approached and utilised within this field. Each of these sections includes practical examples as well as analytical reflections, offering a basis for comparing both the common threads and the broad differences that can be found here. Unpacking this often mystified and neglected subject, this book offers students and practitioners a wealth of informative and useful insights to aid and inspire further creative and academic explorations of rhythm within this field. Cover Contents List of Exercises List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgements PART ONE ESTABLISHING A PULSE 1 What Is Rhythm? An Open Question The etymology of rhythm Productive categories of rhythm Reflections 2 An Epoch of Rhythm: Now and Then Natural and organic rhythm Mechanical and deterministic rhythmic aesthetics Rhythm as a universal language Authenticity and real time A new epoch of rhythm Reflections PART TWO STANISLAVSKI ON RHYTHM 3 Tapping Emotions: The Ins and Outs of Tempo-Rhythm An aspiring opera singer Psychophysical techniques Eurhythmics and polyrhythm Tempo and rhythm – ins and outs Tempo-rhythm in training Tempo-rhythm in rehearsals Reflections PART THREE STRUCTURE AND SPONTANEITY 4 Suzanne Bing: Music and Games in Actor Training Initial interests in rhythm Children’s school in Paris Applying eurhythmics in actor training Voice, movement and storytelling Musique corporelle Legacy of rhythm and play Reflections 5 Vsevolod Meyerhold: Rhythm Not Metre Form as a means to freedom A rhythmic vocabulary Rhythm versus metre Tripartite rhythm Reflections 6 John Britton: Smashing the Ensemble Groove Musical accompaniment Jazz as model for ensemble improvisation Ensemble Smashing the groove The shape of an action The energetic Reflections 7 Anne Bogart and Tina Landau: A Horizontal Viewpoint A non-hierarchical ethos Musical accompaniment Rhythm in Suzuki work Viewpoints of time Reflections Reflections on structure and spontaneity PART FOUR THE ECSTATIC PERFORMER 8 Rhythm and Altered States of Consciousness: Entrainment and Communitas Rhythmic entrainment Group/ensemble rhythm Reflections 9 Jerzy Grotowski: Seeking Pulse, Movement and Rhythm Influences and sources Exercises plastiques Techniques of sources Reflections 10 Nicolás Núñez: Becoming Present Slow walking Contemplative running Cosmic verticality ‘Here and now’ Continuity of effort and the sustaining of rhythm Reflections 11 Eilon Morris: Orbits – Cultivating Simultaneity Vertical time Orbits Running Orbits Reflections Reflections on polyrhythm and simultaneity PART FIVE A PLURALITY OF VOICES 12 Rhythming Words: Where, How and Why Meaning and rhythm Reflections 13 Creating Spaces: Conversations with Judith Adams and Karen Christopher Judith Adams Karen Christopher Reflections 14 The Poetry of the Breath: Conversations with Bruce Myers and Kate Papi Bruce Myers Kate Papi Reflections 15 The Tune Is a Framework: A Conversation with Chris Coe and Frankie Armstrong Reflections PART SIX REFLECTIONS Coda Glossary Notes References Index