history of movement direction

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Ari Raskin 2/20/15 The work of the movement director is to navigate the embodiment process for the actor with the actor Laurence Olivier took his route into character through a physical journey. Artistic Director of the National Theatre he was instrumental in advocating and making sure movement had a place in production A wave of innovation from central Europe labeled as “The new expressive dance” changed the way movement was seen bringing a “new energy” to it Geraldine Stevenson emerged from this new wave of movement. She is one of the first noted movement directors. The other aspect of central European movement comes through the practice of Litz Pisk. She started her work in Brittan as a movement teacher. Her great innovation was the idea of using real weights. Letting the imagination feed how movement might happen. She believed it was “non form based” being created out of the necessities of the actor’s body. She worked as a movement teacher and a movement director at the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company as well. Pisk’s teachings led to Jane Gibson who taught movement at the National Theatre from the mid 80s to the mid 90s. At the heart of the French Connection were Suzanne Bing and Jacques Copeau. They created chorus work with mask and mime

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Page 1: History of Movement Direction

Ari Raskin 2/20/15

The work of the movement director is to navigate the embodiment process for the actor

with the actor

Laurence Olivier took his route into character through a physical journey. Artistic

Director of the National Theatre he was instrumental in advocating and making sure

movement had a place in production

A wave of innovation from central Europe labeled as “The new expressive dance”

changed the way movement was seen bringing a “new energy” to it

Geraldine Stevenson emerged from this new wave of movement. She is one of the first

noted movement directors.

The other aspect of central European movement comes through the practice of Litz Pisk.

She started her work in Brittan as a movement teacher. Her great innovation was the idea

of using real weights. Letting the imagination feed how movement might happen. She

believed it was “non form based” being created out of the necessities of the actor’s body.

She worked as a movement teacher and a movement director at the National Theatre and

the Royal Shakespeare Company as well.

Pisk’s teachings led to Jane Gibson who taught movement at the National Theatre from

the mid 80s to the mid 90s.

At the heart of the French Connection were Suzanne Bing and Jacques Copeau. They

created chorus work with mask and mime using natural gymnastics. They created

exuberance through acrobatics, movement, and breath.

From the French Connection came Jacques Lecoq who inherited the Copeau work.

In 1973 Claude worked on a piece of work known as Equis. This incredible application of

animal work was shown through these incredible costumed actors.

Another aspect of movement directors’ lineage is dance. This is where many modern

movement directors come from. Notably Struan Leslie and Kate Flatt.

Flatt emphasizes her ballet training and how it gave her an anatomical attitude and a great

ability to work with music. She works in theatre and opera using that route of dance to

harness ballet for actor movement.

The rise of physical theatre helped promote and consolidate what movement could be in

productions. It is an explicitly physical style.

Page 2: History of Movement Direction

We are now working in a truly multi generational multicultural environment. Movement

practices dazzle and innovate in a time which is starting to celebrate movement

I really enjoyed this video I feel like I learned a lot on a topic I generally don’t know that

much about. I found the entire video fascinating, but I was especially intrigued by the work of

Kate Flatt. I love how she took ballet training and applied it to acting movement. I have taken

ballet class since I was a child and I feel like it has definitely influenced the way I move as an

actor. Even though I do not consider myself a “dancer” I definitely base my own physical

movement from a ballet background as well. I really liked that she took her “anatomical attitude

and placed it towards acting” ballet allows you to really harness every part of your body and I

understand what she means by using the anatomy of ourselves to evoke different feelings and

emotions. I also really loved that she paired that with her ability to work with music. I think

sound has such a big impact on movement, as we saw in the movement exercise the first class.

When we were in the circle as sounders and you told us to make rainforest noises it completely

changed the actions of the movers as well. Even though they were given no instructions they

were influenced by ours. The sounds we made inspired them to move in a myriad of ways

linking sound and movement to create real art. That is what I really took away from this video.

That movement can be the route into a character and the way in which they express themselves.

Just as it is important to create a story for your character it is important to create movement for

them as well. Just focusing on the mind is not enough. The emotional work is important, but

taking that and paring it with the physical is where the true character really comes through.