Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory

Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory

Author: Dominika Laster

Publisher:

Published: 2011-09-09

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9781243760296

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This dissertation explores several themes central to the work of theatre director Jerzy Grotowski including body-memory, vigilance, witnessing, "verticality," and transmission. The study identifies two types of body-memory in Grotowski's research: personal and ancestral. The former was deployed as a tool of self-penetration undertaken by the actor, in which memory constitutes an instrument for the rediscovery of impulses of a past moment. The latter phases of Grotowski's research were concerned with "ancestral memories." Active remembering in relation to "the ancestor" - real or imagined - functioned as a means for the search for one's essence, understood as the most intimate, pre-cultural aspect of the self which precedes difference. Next, the dissertation examines vigilance, or heightened awareness, by considering paratheatrical events such as Night Vigil and The Vigil. These events are set against the background of traditional Polish and Eastern European rituals associated with the vigil. I argue that vigilance facilitated acts of witnessing, both on the part of the actor and spectator. I explore the ways in which the performative act constitutes evidence of the actor's heightened awareness, and argue that it is this very act of testification that transforms the status of spectator into witness. Working with Haitian songs and ritual movements as well as textual material from the Christian Gnostic tradition, Grotowski developed extremely precise performance structures, deeply tied to what he considered archaic vertical structures, figured in images such as that of Jacob's ladder. These opuses constituted tools for the refinement of one's energies. The study explores Grotowski's conceptualization of human relationality, particularly vis-?is the notion of twinship, which recurs both in the Gnostic literature and subsequently appears in the performance work. Finally, the dissertation examines the complexity and multi-directionality of transmission by examining Grotowski's real and imagined relationship with Haiti. I explore Grotowski's broadly-construed understanding of ancestral relations and multiple lineages by considering his relationship with the Haitian Vodou priest, Amon Fr?n, as well as Grotowski's work with the "performative artifacts" of the Afro-Haitian line, which constitute the embodied practices associated with Vodou.


Book Synopsis Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory by : Dominika Laster

Download or read book Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory written by Dominika Laster and published by . This book was released on 2011-09-09 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation explores several themes central to the work of theatre director Jerzy Grotowski including body-memory, vigilance, witnessing, "verticality," and transmission. The study identifies two types of body-memory in Grotowski's research: personal and ancestral. The former was deployed as a tool of self-penetration undertaken by the actor, in which memory constitutes an instrument for the rediscovery of impulses of a past moment. The latter phases of Grotowski's research were concerned with "ancestral memories." Active remembering in relation to "the ancestor" - real or imagined - functioned as a means for the search for one's essence, understood as the most intimate, pre-cultural aspect of the self which precedes difference. Next, the dissertation examines vigilance, or heightened awareness, by considering paratheatrical events such as Night Vigil and The Vigil. These events are set against the background of traditional Polish and Eastern European rituals associated with the vigil. I argue that vigilance facilitated acts of witnessing, both on the part of the actor and spectator. I explore the ways in which the performative act constitutes evidence of the actor's heightened awareness, and argue that it is this very act of testification that transforms the status of spectator into witness. Working with Haitian songs and ritual movements as well as textual material from the Christian Gnostic tradition, Grotowski developed extremely precise performance structures, deeply tied to what he considered archaic vertical structures, figured in images such as that of Jacob's ladder. These opuses constituted tools for the refinement of one's energies. The study explores Grotowski's conceptualization of human relationality, particularly vis-?is the notion of twinship, which recurs both in the Gnostic literature and subsequently appears in the performance work. Finally, the dissertation examines the complexity and multi-directionality of transmission by examining Grotowski's real and imagined relationship with Haiti. I explore Grotowski's broadly-construed understanding of ancestral relations and multiple lineages by considering his relationship with the Haitian Vodou priest, Amon Fr?n, as well as Grotowski's work with the "performative artifacts" of the Afro-Haitian line, which constitute the embodied practices associated with Vodou.

Rethinking Religion in the Theatre of Grotowski

Rethinking Religion in the Theatre of Grotowski

Author: Catharine Christof

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2017-03-27

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1351854623

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This book opens a new interdisciplinary frontier between religion and theatre studies to illuminate what has been seen as the religious, or spiritual, nature of Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski’s work. It corrects the lacunae in both theatre studies and religious studies by examining the interaction between the two fields in his artistic output. The central argument of the text is that through an embodied and materialist approach to religion, developed in the work of Michel Foucault and religious studies scholar Manuel Vasquez, as well as a critical reading of the concepts of the New Age, a new understanding of Grotowski and religion can be developed. It is possible to show how Grotowski’s work articulated spiritual experience within the body; achieving a removal of spirituality from ecclesial authorities and relocating spiritual experience within the body of the performer. This is a unique analysis of one of the 20th Century’s most famous theatrical figures. As such, it is a vital reference for academics in both Religion and Theatre Studies that have an interest in the spiritual aspects of Grotowski’s work.


Book Synopsis Rethinking Religion in the Theatre of Grotowski by : Catharine Christof

Download or read book Rethinking Religion in the Theatre of Grotowski written by Catharine Christof and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-03-27 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book opens a new interdisciplinary frontier between religion and theatre studies to illuminate what has been seen as the religious, or spiritual, nature of Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski’s work. It corrects the lacunae in both theatre studies and religious studies by examining the interaction between the two fields in his artistic output. The central argument of the text is that through an embodied and materialist approach to religion, developed in the work of Michel Foucault and religious studies scholar Manuel Vasquez, as well as a critical reading of the concepts of the New Age, a new understanding of Grotowski and religion can be developed. It is possible to show how Grotowski’s work articulated spiritual experience within the body; achieving a removal of spirituality from ecclesial authorities and relocating spiritual experience within the body of the performer. This is a unique analysis of one of the 20th Century’s most famous theatrical figures. As such, it is a vital reference for academics in both Religion and Theatre Studies that have an interest in the spiritual aspects of Grotowski’s work.

Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory

Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory

Author: Dominika Laster

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780857423177

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One of Polish theater's great innovators is Jerzy Grotowski, well known for his lifelong research on the work of the self with and through the other. Taking various forms and undergoing multiple transformations, this single underlying proposition propelled Grotowski's career. In Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory, Dominika Laster analyzes core aspects of Grotowski's work such as body-memory, vigilance, witnessing, verticality, and transmission, arguing that these performance praxes involve a deliberate blurring of the boundaries of the self and other. This comprehensive study traces key thematic threads across all phases of Grotowski's research, examining lesser-known aspects of his praxis such as performance compositions structured around African and Afro-Caribbean traditional songs and ritual movement, as well as textual material from the Christian Gnostic tradition. As an active process of research and questioning conducted through the "body-being" of the performer, the Grotowski work is a practical realization of the often highly theoretical and abstract discussions of one of the field's main preoccupations: embodied practice as a way of knowing.


Book Synopsis Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory by : Dominika Laster

Download or read book Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory written by Dominika Laster and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of Polish theater's great innovators is Jerzy Grotowski, well known for his lifelong research on the work of the self with and through the other. Taking various forms and undergoing multiple transformations, this single underlying proposition propelled Grotowski's career. In Grotowski's Bridge Made of Memory, Dominika Laster analyzes core aspects of Grotowski's work such as body-memory, vigilance, witnessing, verticality, and transmission, arguing that these performance praxes involve a deliberate blurring of the boundaries of the self and other. This comprehensive study traces key thematic threads across all phases of Grotowski's research, examining lesser-known aspects of his praxis such as performance compositions structured around African and Afro-Caribbean traditional songs and ritual movement, as well as textual material from the Christian Gnostic tradition. As an active process of research and questioning conducted through the "body-being" of the performer, the Grotowski work is a practical realization of the often highly theoretical and abstract discussions of one of the field's main preoccupations: embodied practice as a way of knowing.

Jerzy Grotowski

Jerzy Grotowski

Author: James Slowiak

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-01-31

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 1351174762

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Master director, teacher, and theorist, Jerzy Grotowski’s work extended well beyond the conventional limits of performance. Now revised and reissued, this book combines: ● an overview of Grotowski’s life and the distinct phases of his work ● an analysis of his key ideas ● a consideration of his role as director of the renowned Polish Laboratory Theatre ● a series of practical exercises offering an introduction to the principles underlying Grotowski’s working methods. As a first step towards critical understanding, and an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.


Book Synopsis Jerzy Grotowski by : James Slowiak

Download or read book Jerzy Grotowski written by James Slowiak and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-01-31 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master director, teacher, and theorist, Jerzy Grotowski’s work extended well beyond the conventional limits of performance. Now revised and reissued, this book combines: ● an overview of Grotowski’s life and the distinct phases of his work ● an analysis of his key ideas ● a consideration of his role as director of the renowned Polish Laboratory Theatre ● a series of practical exercises offering an introduction to the principles underlying Grotowski’s working methods. As a first step towards critical understanding, and an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.

Acting after Grotowski

Acting after Grotowski

Author: Kris Salata

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-04-06

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 0429593872

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For whom does the actor perform? To answer this foundational question of the actor’s art, Grotowski scholar Kris Salata explores acting as a self-revelatory action, introduces Grotowski’s concept of "carnal prayer," and develops an interdisciplinary theory of acting and spectating. Acting after Grotowski: Theatre’s Carnal Prayer attempts to overcome the religious/secular binary by treating "prayer" as a pre-religious, originary deed, and ultimately situates theatre along with ritual in their shared territory of play. Grounded in theatre practice, Salata’s narrative moves through postmodern philosophy, critical theory, theatre, performance, ritual, and religious studies, concluding that the fundamental structure of prayer, which underpins the actor’s deed, can be found in any self-revelatory creative act.


Book Synopsis Acting after Grotowski by : Kris Salata

Download or read book Acting after Grotowski written by Kris Salata and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-06 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For whom does the actor perform? To answer this foundational question of the actor’s art, Grotowski scholar Kris Salata explores acting as a self-revelatory action, introduces Grotowski’s concept of "carnal prayer," and develops an interdisciplinary theory of acting and spectating. Acting after Grotowski: Theatre’s Carnal Prayer attempts to overcome the religious/secular binary by treating "prayer" as a pre-religious, originary deed, and ultimately situates theatre along with ritual in their shared territory of play. Grounded in theatre practice, Salata’s narrative moves through postmodern philosophy, critical theory, theatre, performance, ritual, and religious studies, concluding that the fundamental structure of prayer, which underpins the actor’s deed, can be found in any self-revelatory creative act.

The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners

The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners

Author: Franc Chamberlain

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-08-16

Total Pages: 636

ISBN-13: 131735740X

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The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners collects the outstanding biographical and production overviews of key theatre practitioners first featured in the popular Routledge Performance Practitioners series of guidebooks. Each of the chapters is written by an expert on a particular figure, from Stanislavsky and Brecht to Laban and Decroux, and places their work in its social and historical context. Summaries and analyses of their key productions indicate how each practitioner's theoretical approaches to performance and the performer were manifested in practice. All 22 practitioners from the original series are represented, with this volume covering those born after 1915. This is the definitive first step for students, scholars and practitioners hoping to acquaint themselves with the leading names in performance, or deepen their knowledge of these seminal figures.


Book Synopsis The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners by : Franc Chamberlain

Download or read book The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners written by Franc Chamberlain and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-08-16 with total page 636 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners collects the outstanding biographical and production overviews of key theatre practitioners first featured in the popular Routledge Performance Practitioners series of guidebooks. Each of the chapters is written by an expert on a particular figure, from Stanislavsky and Brecht to Laban and Decroux, and places their work in its social and historical context. Summaries and analyses of their key productions indicate how each practitioner's theoretical approaches to performance and the performer were manifested in practice. All 22 practitioners from the original series are represented, with this volume covering those born after 1915. This is the definitive first step for students, scholars and practitioners hoping to acquaint themselves with the leading names in performance, or deepen their knowledge of these seminal figures.

The Great European Stage Directors Volume 5

The Great European Stage Directors Volume 5

Author: Paul Allain

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-10-07

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1474259936

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This volume provides a fresh assessment of the pioneering practices of theatre directors Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook and Eugenio Barba, whose work has challenged and extended ideas about what theatre is and does. Contributors demonstrate how each was instrumental in rethinking and reinventing theatre's possibilities: where it takes place – whether in theatres or beyond – and who the audience might then be, as well as how actors train and perform, highlighting the importance of the group and collaboration. The volume examines their role in establishing intercultural dialogues and practices, and the wider influence of this work on theatre. Consideration is also given to each director's documentation of their practice in print and film and the influence this has had on 21st-century performance.


Book Synopsis The Great European Stage Directors Volume 5 by : Paul Allain

Download or read book The Great European Stage Directors Volume 5 written by Paul Allain and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-07 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides a fresh assessment of the pioneering practices of theatre directors Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook and Eugenio Barba, whose work has challenged and extended ideas about what theatre is and does. Contributors demonstrate how each was instrumental in rethinking and reinventing theatre's possibilities: where it takes place – whether in theatres or beyond – and who the audience might then be, as well as how actors train and perform, highlighting the importance of the group and collaboration. The volume examines their role in establishing intercultural dialogues and practices, and the wider influence of this work on theatre. Consideration is also given to each director's documentation of their practice in print and film and the influence this has had on 21st-century performance.

Race and the Forms of Knowledge

Race and the Forms of Knowledge

Author: Ben Spatz

Publisher: Northwestern University Press

Published: 2024-02-15

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 0810146606

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Enacts a radically interdisciplinary intersectionality to position performance-based research in solidarity with decoloniality This boldly innovative work interrogates the form and meaning of artistic research (also called practice research, performance as research, and research-creation), examining its development within the context of predominately white institutions that have enabled and depoliticized it while highlighting its radical potential when reframed as a lineage of critical whiteness practice. Ben Spatz crafts a fluid yet critical new framework, explored via a series of case studies that includes Spatz’s own practice-as-research, to productively confront hegemonic modes of white writing and white institutionality. Ultimately taking jewishness as a paradigmatically “molecular” identity—variously configured as racial, ethnic, religious, or national—they offer a series of concrete methodological and formal proposals for working at the intersections of embodied identities, artistic techniques, and alternative forms of knowledge. Race and the Forms of Knowledge: Technique, Identity, and Place in Artistic Research takes inspiration from recent critical studies of blackness and indigeneity to show how artistic research is always involved in the production and transformation of identity. Spatz offers a toolkit of practical methods and concepts—from molecular identities to audiovisual ethnotechnics and earthing the laboratory—for reimagining the university and other contemporary institutions.


Book Synopsis Race and the Forms of Knowledge by : Ben Spatz

Download or read book Race and the Forms of Knowledge written by Ben Spatz and published by Northwestern University Press. This book was released on 2024-02-15 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enacts a radically interdisciplinary intersectionality to position performance-based research in solidarity with decoloniality This boldly innovative work interrogates the form and meaning of artistic research (also called practice research, performance as research, and research-creation), examining its development within the context of predominately white institutions that have enabled and depoliticized it while highlighting its radical potential when reframed as a lineage of critical whiteness practice. Ben Spatz crafts a fluid yet critical new framework, explored via a series of case studies that includes Spatz’s own practice-as-research, to productively confront hegemonic modes of white writing and white institutionality. Ultimately taking jewishness as a paradigmatically “molecular” identity—variously configured as racial, ethnic, religious, or national—they offer a series of concrete methodological and formal proposals for working at the intersections of embodied identities, artistic techniques, and alternative forms of knowledge. Race and the Forms of Knowledge: Technique, Identity, and Place in Artistic Research takes inspiration from recent critical studies of blackness and indigeneity to show how artistic research is always involved in the production and transformation of identity. Spatz offers a toolkit of practical methods and concepts—from molecular identities to audiovisual ethnotechnics and earthing the laboratory—for reimagining the university and other contemporary institutions.

The Routledge Companion to Studio Performance Practice

The Routledge Companion to Studio Performance Practice

Author: Franc Chamberlain

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-29

Total Pages: 832

ISBN-13: 1000402118

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The Routledge Companion to Studio Performance Practice is a unique, indispensable guide to the training methods of the world’s key theatre practitioners. Compiling the practical work outlined in the popular Routledge Performance Practitioners series of guidebooks, each set of exercises has been edited and contextualised by an expert in that particular approach. Each chapter provides a taster of one practitioner’s work, answering the same key questions: ‘How did this artist work? How can I begin to put my understanding of this to practical use?’ Newly written chapter introductions put the exercises in context, explaining how they fit into the wider methods and philosophy of the practitioner in question. All 21 volumes in the original series are represented in this volume.


Book Synopsis The Routledge Companion to Studio Performance Practice by : Franc Chamberlain

Download or read book The Routledge Companion to Studio Performance Practice written by Franc Chamberlain and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-29 with total page 832 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Companion to Studio Performance Practice is a unique, indispensable guide to the training methods of the world’s key theatre practitioners. Compiling the practical work outlined in the popular Routledge Performance Practitioners series of guidebooks, each set of exercises has been edited and contextualised by an expert in that particular approach. Each chapter provides a taster of one practitioner’s work, answering the same key questions: ‘How did this artist work? How can I begin to put my understanding of this to practical use?’ Newly written chapter introductions put the exercises in context, explaining how they fit into the wider methods and philosophy of the practitioner in question. All 21 volumes in the original series are represented in this volume.

Experiential and Performative Anthropology in the Classroom

Experiential and Performative Anthropology in the Classroom

Author: Pamela R. Frese

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-07-08

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 3030419959

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The contributors gathered here revitalize “ethnographic performance”—the performed recreation of ethnographic subject matter pioneered by Victor and Edith Turner and Richard Schechner—as a progressive pedagogy for the 21st century. They draw on their experiences in utilizing performances in a classroom setting to facilitate learning about the diversity of culture and ways of being in the world. The editors, themselves both students of Turner at the University of Virginia, and Richard Schechner share recollections of the Turners’ vision and set forth a humanistic pedagogical agenda for the future. A detailed appendix provides an implementation plan for ethnographic performances in the classroom.


Book Synopsis Experiential and Performative Anthropology in the Classroom by : Pamela R. Frese

Download or read book Experiential and Performative Anthropology in the Classroom written by Pamela R. Frese and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-07-08 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors gathered here revitalize “ethnographic performance”—the performed recreation of ethnographic subject matter pioneered by Victor and Edith Turner and Richard Schechner—as a progressive pedagogy for the 21st century. They draw on their experiences in utilizing performances in a classroom setting to facilitate learning about the diversity of culture and ways of being in the world. The editors, themselves both students of Turner at the University of Virginia, and Richard Schechner share recollections of the Turners’ vision and set forth a humanistic pedagogical agenda for the future. A detailed appendix provides an implementation plan for ethnographic performances in the classroom.