Meyerhold

Background

Vsevolod Meyerhold is considered one of the most 20th Century's greatest theatres innovators. He was born in Russia and studied law for two terms at Moscow Uni. He had a wife and three daughters. He became an actor at Moscow Art School Theatre between 1898 and 1902, and was in a few of their performances.

He then became a stage director and was very successful as he was a stage director for 37 years. He earliest work was a lot to do with the realism that had started to become successful. In 1905 he changed completely from realism and had a completely unique style of performing. He was the first Russian to develop a symbolist style of theatre representation. Many of his plays went completely in the opposite direction of realism.

Meyerhold started to use Commedia Dell'Lartes work, and then adapt it into the symbolistic approach therefore it is similar to Commedia Dell'Larte. He also started combining art with theatre, having artists such as Alexander Golovin and Leon Bakst create striking sets for his productions. Meyerhold also started to direct opera's, he developed new nd distinctive ideas for masterpieces such as Wagner and Gluck.

In 1912 he also produced in Paris, therefore going outside Russia. 

He was arrested in Russia because of his so called 'anti-government political activities' and was executed.

Meyhold believed in, 'every reaction had a reaction'.

What is Meyerhold like?

Meyerhold is like commedia because of the big gestures, there is also hardly any props... Like mime..
Meyhold is also like mutuality as it is like reaction and action... You have to know your partner really well for this to work. 

Meyerhold is also similar to Mime as you are basically creating a mime except you are reacting to each other, rather than props, and yourself. Therefore lots of facial expressions is used in Meyerhold, again similar to Mime.

What did we do during the lessons?
- 

we worked with sticks, one of meyerholds techniques, so that we could understand the concept of reacting to every action. For the lesson I was in, we used a story given to us by. Andy, with four characters, and we had to react to the actor who was acting in an exaggerated way.. I found the first lesson really difficult because the concept of acting to every action was very difficult for me to get my head around.

- in another lesson of meyerhold we learnt some of his techniques including the shake, the slap and the tap dance. In these excersizes we worked in partners and I worked with Hayley. By learning these techniques we got to understand meyerholds ideas and get to grasp with them... I found that they were very choreographic and so the people who had natural rhythm understood it more... 

- in another lesson we got given our meyerhold stimuli, and andy told us we had to act using meyerholds techniques scene 2... This scene was about the main character being given money, we focused on the different money rather than the types of reaction to the main character reacting, again. I found this lesson really tough to get my head around the concept of meyerholds ideas.

- the final lesson of meyerhold we again went through the different techniques of Meyerhold, then went into groups and this time we got to choose which scene we were going to perform and choose how we were going to do it. We decided to do the scene were the main character gets drunk, and we included lots if reacting with the acting of the main character. This was the first lesson I felt that I understood meyerholds techniques and why he used them. However, in some circumstances, I felt that this could be used in other dramas, but this type of drama wasn't for me. 

Bibliography

http://www.meyerhold.org/

Mirrors developing

We decided to use the idea of the angel and devil.
The idea of the good against evil inside yourself and then the main person deciding to be good.
We felt that we should do this because it would work effectively as there are three people.

We decided to make this a mime piece. We decided to make the piece a more literal mime than a slapstick style mime, as originated from the Bohemian acrobatic family member Jean Gaspard Batiste Deburau. We decided that it would be easier and more effective to tell the story of the character having to do what is good for her, and being tempted by the devil.

We decided that the angel will want the character to do a dance piece, this was influenced by the idea that some teenagers want to dance, and the video we watched to 'Man in the Mirror' Mime. We want to make this related as much as we can to teenagers, as this is who we are performing it to.

The devil is also going to be influenced by mime, using movements that are very sharp to show this. also, we have decided to use the technique of the character being pulled by string to the devil. We decided to do this because we felt that it would look really affective on the audience. Also, the devil was going to tempt (adam and eve being tempted by the snake) into drinking and smoking, as we wanted to get across that it is wrong to drink and smoke. We made this look very literal as well inspired by the change of mime into the modern century.

We then decided to use the track 'Disturbia' by Rhianna, as well it it being a song that the audience will be able to relate to, it is also able to get across the craziness of the character when drunk.

By mixing 'man in the mirror' with 'disturbia' it has got across to the audience that many different people can still unite and be one.

Throughout the piece, contact improvisation was used, this was to incorporate different aspects of what we have learnt so far throughout this module. We decided to have the character picking up the angel, to make the character look against the world, so that when the main character is tempted, it is a shock to the audience. We also decided that the devil should climb over the character, to show that the devil was in control of the situation, although he was appearing like he wasn't.

We used actions for the main 'chorus' mime as you would do getting ready to go out. This is because the audience we were aiming this at would do these actions, and therefore be able to relate to this. Such as the 'brushing the hair' movement, every person does this usually.

Butoh

Background
Butoh originated in 1959 in Japan. This is post WW2. Influences are from the Japanese living after WW2, they wanted to get out of the stereotypical view of Japan. Also there are influences from Western countries.  It is contemporary and avant-garde. It is not meant to be taken apart, as its about the gut instinct, therefore not about the thinking behind it and the reason why. Lots of improvisation is used, the main sole of it is improvisation and what you act at the time. This means that we do not repeat the same performance, as every performance should be slightly different. Dance is also incorporated, especially German Expressionist Dance (Neue Tanz) and it created a controversial yet universal expression. It is highly unique to itself. It is now an international art form and groups around the world perform and teach it. New Zealand, East and South Asia, Europe, North and South America and Hawii are the main continents/countries that perform/teach this. Butoh has survived mainly due to Western Practitioners.


Butoh is designed to express the shadow within ourselves; the repressed side of ones self. Also, it uses Stock characters (like Commedia) to improvise from. However, these stock characters include, the wise old man, trickster, the devil and the great mother. These characters have influenced many things today, 'mother nature' could be the great mother. The Devil is a character that has always been around, but the wise old man could have been influenced by such characters like 'Winnie the Pooh''s Wise old Owl possibly. That is down to interpretation.


What did we do during the lessons?
Japanese believe in 'Out of death comes new light' showing the the cycle of life is important to the Japanese and therefore Butoh. Often in Butoh performances, the circle of life is the storyline, becoming nature and animals also help express this storyline that continues throughout most performances.
To start with the process of Butoh was quite difficult to grasp as you were out of control yourself, you go into a different mind set which was a mind set that I had never been into before (except during Le Coq)


In the lesson we used Hiroshima imagery to show the violent imagery that was first used and still used today in Butoh. I find the imagery used in Butoh possibly quite scary in some circumstances.


In the lesson I took part in, we were forces of nature. Andy put on some music to get ourselves into the mind set. I really love the music because its so different compared to the mainstream music I listen to and its all very dramatic. We were told to imagine that we were flowers who wilted  and died, then came back to life. I found it a very surreal experience because you were on your own in your head, there was no-one to act with and be supported by. In the end I really loved it although it was very surreal.


Is it like any other topics we have studied?
I believe it is like Jacque Le Coq because you go into the subconscious when you perform. You also perform on instinct, which is like Jacque Le Coq. However, Jacque Le Coq is improvised a lot of the time like Kazuo Ohno techniques. Tatsumi Hijikata used movement vocab which differs from Jacque Le Coq but this praticsioner decided to do this so that although none of the performances where the same, some where similar.
It also uses stock characters like Commedia Dell'Larte. Commedia Dell'Larte although did use a storyline, was also often improvised as to when to include a Lazzi sketch. This is like Tatsumi Hijikata style as he also used stock movements.


Bibliography
http://www.butohuk.com/
http://www.butoh.net/butoh/Home.html
http://artsbymalia.com/j15/images/yootheme/yoogallery/portfolio/In%202002-2003%20I%20Lived%20In%20Osaka%20For%20A%20Year%20Teaching%20English%20And%20Studying%20Butoh%20Dance.%20Photo%20By%20Kanae%20Terachi.jpg

mirrors responding

After we were learnt practitioners (more will come in later blogs) Andy told us that we have to create a piece using one of the practitioners to create a piece of drama. Our stimuli for this was the word Mirror.

We were first set the task to write down our responses to the word Mirror, words, songs, feelings etc.

• One of the first things I thought of were fairytales, with reference to snow white. 'Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all' being the catch phrase with the bad guy throughout that particular fairytale. The idea of good verses evil could be shown throughout the performance. You could perform about a bad person wanting to put on a mask to show that actually he/she is a good person. Using conventions such as thought track and freeze frame to change the character. Going into the fantasy land would be essential. You could go into a performance of mime using abstract mime, like in Alice in Wonderland. Where there is no storyline, but you go into the characters thoughts and feelings and the portrayal of the character. This could also be shown through Commedia, having a complete spin, and almost turning it into a Pantomime, using exaggerated movements and the Pantilone walk could show the evilness of the character saying these lines.
• Shows the inside of yourself, the person who you are compared to the image you put on.

• Reflection..

- where... in water? in the mirror? in yourself? in others?

- so many questions.

- This photo (Taken by Sian Drew of Beccy Drew) could represent black and white culture, and how someone's personality is 'black and white' yet they are trying to break through becoming themselves as human beings. You could portray this through a mime, having two people play the same person. It could be an abstract mime, just showing clear viewpoints of how each part of that person is feeling. It could also be very improvised, and having contact improvisation to show that they are one person working in view points, but its completely different characteristics. This could show mutuality. For example, the black and white person could be quite sad and depressed and the happy person be very happy and full of life. This person is also reflecting themselves through a mirror.

- who are you reflecting to? and why? could be to the audience, or to yourself? are you reflecting your true colours? why are you reflecting? do you need to? do you need to make a decision?

- the person you become, is it a reflection. are you inside yourself

- what do you see in the reflection? anger, hunger, the angel/devil. conscience. influencing decisions in life?
- You could have a storyline of butoh, having the angel and devil influencing you constantly and you don't know where you are going.

• Eating disorders
• Disorders in general

• Man in the mirror - Michael Jackson

The chorus:

'I'm starting with the Man in the Mirror

I'm asking him to change his ways

And no message, could have been any clearer

if you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make that change'

I feel these lyrics say a lot about mirrors, and how people look inside themselves. This song could be a great backing track to a piece of mime about mirrors. as seen in video. (http://abbiphysicaltheatre.blogspot.com/2010/11/video.html). You can really use the lyrics to create a mime from 'Message' 'Clearer' 'World'. Creating a clear picture to the audience of the storyline.

• Paparazzi
• Depression
• Erised - to get what you need, not what you want.
• Twins

This is one of many photo's I could have chosen to represent 'Twins' (taken by Rebecca Brown: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckie0/)

This could mean anything, it could represent the idea of how two people could not want to be a like any more, and they have completely different personalities. This could be shown by mime, and in parts the actors are mirroring each other, yet at other parts they are reaching out, doing completely different things to show that they are still individual, even though they look the same. They could be arguing with each other. also, contact improvisation could be used as twins know each other very well therefore they could use it affectively.

• “Every beautiful girl sees a monster in the mirror.”

I felt that this was a really really beautiful photo (unknown photographer). It says a lot about how mirrors can have an affect on people. With the quote, I believe that EVERY girl sees a monster in the mirror. I also thought the hand being on the mouth although lipstick is being put on, its quite significant and I would like to put it into the performance. I also like the idea of it being out in the public, as the setting is public toilets I believe.
You could go into a Butoh performance using this picture by having the monster become you as the storyline. You are trying not to become the monster but in the end the monster wins. You could use a mixture of solid, sharp movements and flowy movements to get this idea across to the audience.

Video

This mime I felt was really clever.

- The costume was great, it really worked with the piece as its black and white, hiding the true mime person. Obviously the person of mime, but the mask hiding the person was significant. And breaking into the mirror and becoming someone else also showed the confusion of personality, happening a lot in teenage girls. Using normal things that happen in life (reading the newspaper) to get the idea of normality across would be something to consider putting into the performance. I feel that I would only want the chorus of the song though to have Michael Jackson singing, the rest to be the background, because it could distract from the performance.

Simalarities and Differences between Jacque Lecoq and Commedia Dell'Larte

Similarities

•  They both use masks
•  Exaggerated movement is necessary.
• The work is a lot improvised.

Differences

• Jacque lecoq uses this technique as a training method. Whereas Commedia is a performance..
• Jacque Lecoq uses masks to create neutrality, therefore they have no personality. Their personalities are not already known. There is also hardly any speech used. Jacque Lecoq uses masks to create characters with already known characteristics and personality.
• Jacque Lecoq uses facial expressions for their character masks and not their neutral masks.
• Commedia Dell'Larte uses the facial expressions to create teh characters.
• Commedia Dell'Larte masks are used to create the already known stock characters.

Jacque Lecoq

Background
The theatre practisioner Jacque Lecoq was born in Paris, December 15, 1921.
He was most famous for his method on physical theatre, movement and mime taught at l'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq since 1956.  He founded the school.
He first began to learn the art of Commedia Dell'Larte as he lived in Italy for 8 years. Whilst in Italy, he met up with a sculptor Amleto Sartori to which then they created the neutral mask.
When he came back to France, he opened a school of mime. He did also do some television work, but his school was such a big success he focused all his time on teaching. During when he was alive, he developed a teaching programme, and he also founded the stage design department of the school, making the name l'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. Jacque Lecoq died in January 19th 1999 but he was known to have been teaching a few days before. His wife now continues his successfull school and continues to teach students his techniques.

His main focus is to create the neutral mask, using techniques, his students learn to become neautral, adopt neutral features. This is to help the students become neutral, so then they can adopt other styles.

What did we do in the lesson to understand Jacque Lecoq

We were given a mask to help others become neutral. We were told to make our facial expressions fill the mask, to help us with the neuteal character we were becoming. Personally, this part was difficult because I had a full mask on, other did have half masks therefore they were able to complete this. Then, we had to let the mask become ourselves, by picking out an object we coudl create a character. We watched others perform and performed ourselves with the object. We then took the masks off and then explained how we felt. I felt really exhilarated from it. Then we went into partners, and one of the partners put on the mask whilst the other looked after them. The person wearing the mask let themselves go in a sense. Then, we had to think of a word that the character we have on the spot, and one that suited our character. My character's 'chosen' word was 'hair'. Joe was asking questions then I had to reply with the word hair. I felt this lesson I totally became out myself, and although this happened. I throughorly enjoyed the lesson because it made me think about how I act and how it signifies me, aswell as others characteristics signify them.