Blog Asssesment 1.

1) The Physical theatre genre consists of a cast of collaborative performers who devise work through improvisation and the use of intense body movement/contact/pressure, pedestrian and stylised movements as well as powerful eye contact. A prominent feature of the physical theatre performance genre is the ability of the performers to express characters and narrative through the prime use of the body. There is also a strong sense of being able to focus and lose all inhibitions by finding a neutrality within each individual performer. Neutrality is the '...state of 'being' untrammelled by personal idiosyncrasies, a state where the actor attains an energised stillness' (D, Callery, 2001, p32). This neutral stance then prepares a performer to become aware of impulses in which can provoke creativity through the body. The movement within physical theatre is associated with impulse, and reacting and transporting as a result of impulses received from a character and their emotional response. 'Movement is the result of a first inner intention of the body- what Laban defined as inner motivation- as it desires to project itself into space' (Sanchez-Colberg in Keefe, Murray; 2007, p 24). Physical theatre does not necessarily have a linear path in which the audience are able to follow and make sense of, which may give the spectators difficultly in gaining understanding and meaning.



2) Many people find it hard to distinguish and pinpoint a specific definition to what physical theatre is and Sanchez-Colbelg's referring to physical theatre as a 'hybrid genre' implies that it is a kind of theatre that combines more than one type of performance genre - of which are theatre and dance theatre. Anna Sanchez-Colbelg indicates that a 'hybrid character' within the genre of physical theatre may consist of performers who are able to use a combination of dance and drama elements simultaneously to portray a range of characters, emotions and situations to a contemporary audience. I would agree with Sanchez-Colbelg's views on physical theatre characters being described as 'hybrid' as physical theatre productions generally consist of mass choreographed sequences and repetition which is typical of dance productions as well as portraying a range of characters and emotions known predominately through the genre of theatre and drama.



3) The Jasmin Vardimon Theatre Company are a contemporary British theatre group which show some features of physical theatre. Their work is highly based on the movement and the physicalities of characters with the creation of relationships and bonds. The company are well known for the exploration of 'human experience and social relevance' with their productions being described as '...beautifully detailed movement, insightful humour and engaging drama' (http://www.jasminvardimon.com/about.html) The performers within the company are given stimuli and ideas from the founder of the group Jasmin Vardimon, in order to improvise and devise particular parts of the production with direction from Jasmin which is typical of physical theatre. What is different from the way in which I described physical theatre above is that the Jasmin Vardimon Company have included small extracts of speech within the performances which may help the audience gain a certain level of understanding and meaning of the productions.



Bibliography.



Anon. About Us. Available: http://www.jasminvardimon.com/about.html. Last accessed 22 February 2009.

Callery, D (2001). Through The Body. London: Nick Hern Books Limited.

Keefe, J & Murray, S (2007). Physical Theartres: A Critical Reader. London: Routledge.


Leyna Bansal.