* 2008 -- acting II : google.com/group/acting2
... 2009 :
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"Since the art of the actor is the art of plastic forms in space, he must study the mechanics of his body. This is essential because any manifestation of a force (including the living organism) is subject to constant laws of mechanics (and obviously the creation by the actor of plastic forms in the space of the stage is a manifestation of the force of the human organism)." (Braun 199)
[ru] Áaðáà: Äåéñòâèÿ àêòåðà — ýòî «òàíåö ìûñëè» !
Featured Pages: Research I had a couple of pages on Biomechanics for actors and directors... I had to open a new directory to organize the new pages in somewhat online textbook on bioMX I will be developing BM pages while teaching THR321 Advanced Acting, Fall Y2K Also, I plan to aply BM to WWWilde this time... As a style! In 12Night I used it as a method! They say Wilde is about style! Extreme applications of BM lead to stylized movement!
Some comments on my new BM pages: BM - antirealistic system of dramatic production developed in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s by the avant-garde director Vsevolod Meyerhold. Meyerhold drew on the traditions of the commedia dell'arte and kabuki and on the writings of Edward Gordon Craig for his system, in which the actor's own personality was eliminated and he was entirely subordinated to the director's will. Coached as gymnasts and acrobats and emphasizing pantomime rather than words, the actors threw themselves about in puppetlike attitudes at the director's discretion. For these productions the stage was exposed to the back wall and was then furnished with harshly lit, bare sets consisting of scaffoldings, ladders, and ramps that the actors used. Biomechanics had lost its appeal by the late 1920s, though Meyerhold's emphasis on external action did become an element in Soviet actor-training techniques. Britannica NEW: SummaryRUSSIAN PHYSICAL THEATRE: BIOMECHANICS -- formsBiomechanics is not an all-in-one system of acting, but rather a rigorous training technique. It is a means of refining the actor’s (1) balance and physical control, (2) rhythmic awareness and (3) responsiveness to one’s partners, audience and external stimuli. QuestionsExpressionism & BM: The definition of the word "biomechanics" is as follows: the mechanics of biological and especially muscular activity. Meyerhold believed that this should be the foundation for an actor's performance, rather than the in-depth system of psychological analysis that Stanislavsky had developed. Biomechanics were not the only element of Meyerhold's approach to acting, but they laid the groundwork for his theoretical practices, which translated quite clearly in his constructivist productions (stagematrix).NotesLECTURE/DEMONSTRATION: background, practice and development. Meyerhold’s actors worked on their awareness of themselves in space and were to display no emotion. Once they had mastered this technique, they could then add a single action or gesture that would signify an emotion or event. Meyerhold looked in detail at the communication of emotion by expression and used abstract movement to communicate stories and emotion.Meyerhold developed 16 etudes. The etude tells a simple story through a series of stylised movements in a certain sequence. Training in the etudes develops a balance, strength and an understanding of how the slightest gesture of the hand has an effect on the whole body. Of the original 16 etudes, only 7 are taught today. Russian Page ( in russian)
2007 acting2 -- all updates are there! ... Peter Brook's audio interview on Meyerhold (5.9.08)
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Biomechanics (BM) are for actors... or directors, serious people.Did you see BioMX directory? So many new pages! I even started another directory biomechanics.vtheatre.net (BM II). This was the first page! Consider it an introduction, a gateway page!
I recommend to go first to act.vtheatre.net, Fundamentals of Acting, where BM and Method are introduced. Yes, the pages are still not in proper order... Many texts are not there yet; I work on BM files when I teach Intermediate Acting.
Advanced Acting is for Stanislavsky.
All, who ask me about Biomechanics, do you know that you know it already? Meyerhold followed Aristotle and stated that every ACTION has beginning, middle and the end. In his words: AIM, ACTION, RELEASE. And stop. We move to another cycle.
Simple?
Obvious!
All you need to do is to train yourself to recognize and articulate each cycle of physical action.
In ACT Page I wrote about "1-2-3" or "ABC" of BioMechanics. [The pages are not yet in order; see the BioMX directory. Also, there are three pages on BM @ Acting Directory]
BioMX is a part of the larger vision of theatre by Meyerhold (read StageMetrics). If you are familiar with Semiotics and you are a director, see 3 Texts.
Read -- and do it!
Bookmarked IT and come back!
N= A1 + A2
(N= the actor, A1= artist who creates the idea and informs it, A2= the executant of said idea)
This is the most basic formula for the actor, and in order to fill each part of this completely, Meyerhold felt the first, and most important place to begin for an actor is in the training of the vessel which works the equation, the body. He felt that no amount of psychological preparation could possibly be the foundation for a performance. A performance starts with physical elements, and therefore should be based on these elements. After all, an actor cannot deny the fact that s/he is a physical form taking up space in a surrounding. Meyerhold also says that there is such an intense psycho-physiological connection, that the proper approach for an actor would be physicality first, which would lead to, or properly convey a psychological state for the actor and/or audience.
PS. Perhaps, I should call my pages on BM -- "Biomechanics for Method Actors" (because I imply that you are familiar with the basics of the Stanistlavsky System and because Meyerhold himself began it as a departure from Stanislavsky).
[ "Russian Page" ]
Ìàñòåð-êëàññ. Ïàðèæ, ÀÊÒÀ 1999 -- Physical Acting
"Without an external form neither your inner characterization nor the spirit of your image will reach the public. The external characterization explains and illustrates and thereby conveys to your spectators the inner pattern of your part." (Stanislavski: Building a Character)
Creating a Character: Physical Approach to Acting
Jerome Rockwood
Applause Theatre Book Publishers
ISBN: 1557831610
Alexander Technique (Yale)
Offered in all three years through class work and private tutorials, this work develops the actor’s kinesthetic awareness, fosters balance and alignment, and, through breath work, promotes the connection between voice and body.
Four Farces & One Funeral UAF Fall 05 -- Chekhov's one-acts = biomechanics.
Masks -- steriotypes (Am. equivalents)
Chekhov is dying.
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... old "movies" (bm.mov) -- new @ jumpcut.com/anatolant [ work-in-progress ]
biomechanics.vtheatre.net
“The actor must train his material [the body] so that he is capable of executing instantaneously those tasks which are dictated externally.” [Meyerhold, 1922]
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