Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen

Expressive Movement for Performers

Annette Lust

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9780810881259
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Acting & Auditioning

As stage and screen artists explore new means to enhance their craft, a new wave of interest in expressive movement and physical improvisation has developed. And in order to bring authenticity and believability to a character, it has become increasingly vital for actors to be aware of movement and physical acting. Stage and screen artists must now call upon physical presence, movement on stage, non-verbal interactions, and gestures to fully convey themselves.

In Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen, Annette Lust provides stage and screen artists with a program of physical and related expressive exercises that can empower their art with more creativity. In this book, Lust provides a general introduction to movement, including definitions and differences between movement on the stage and screen, how to conduct a class or learn on one's own, and choosing a movement style. Throughout the book and in the appendixes, Lust incorporates learning programs that cover the use of basic physical and expressive exercises for the entire body. In addition, she provides original solo and group pantomimes; improvisational exercises; examples of plays, fiction, poetry, and songs that may be interpreted with movement; a list of training centers in America and Europe; and an extensive bibliography and videography.

With 15 interviews and essays by prominent stage and screen actors, mimes, clowns, dancers, and puppeteers who describe the importance of movement in their art and illustrated with dozens of photos of renowned world companies and artists, Bringing the Body to the Stage and Screen will be a valuable resource for theater teachers and students, as well as anyone engaged in the performing arts.

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Goals and Objectives for Learning to Move Expressively
• Part I: Physical and Expressive Exercises
• Chapter 1: Definitions of Stage and Screen Movement, Mime, Pantomime, Corporeal Mime, Stage Combat, Physical Theatre, and Physical Improvisation
• Chapter 2: Conducting a Class and Practicing on One’s Own
• Chapter 3: Basic Physical and Expressive Exercises
• Chapter 4: Utilizing Movements to Create a Visual Image
• Part II: Subjects for Improvisation, Pantomimes, Nonverbal Acting, Physicalizing the Word, and Mime and Text
• Chapter 5: Improvisation
• Chapter 6: Pantomimes and Scenes for Nonverbal Acting
• Chapter 7: Physicalizing the Word
• Part III: Interviews and Essays
• Chapter 8: A Conversation with Bill Irwin on Mime and Acting
• Chapter 9: Interview with Bernie Schürch and Floriana Frassetto of the Swiss Mummenschanz Company
• Chapter 10: Interview with Geoff Hoyle on the Mime-Clown-Actor’s Art
• Chapter 11: Etienne Decroux and the Contemporary Theatre: Decroux Corporeal Mime
• Chapter 12: Interview with Joanna Sherman and Michael McGuigan on the Bond Street Theatre
• Chapter 13: On Movement Training for the Actor
• Chapter 14: Dance and the Female Body
• Chapter 15: Interview with Liebe Wetzel on Movement in Puppetry
• Chapter 16: Images and Body Expression in Film
• Chapter 17: Theatrical Dance
• Chapter 18: The Clown Conservatory Teaching of Professional Clowns in the Twenty-first Century
• Chapter 19: Movement for Puppeteers
• Chapter 20: Too Much Geniality: Notes and Quotes on a Reappraisal: Stage versus Screen Acting
• Chapter 21: The Body of Theater
• Chapter 22: How Charlie Chaplin Spun Stagecraft into Cinematic Gold
• Epilogue
• Appendix A: Creating a Movement Training Program: Ten Sample Lessons
• Appendix B: Resources for Mime Plays, Pantomimes, Themes for Improvisation, and Scenes with and without Words
• Appendix C: Constructing a Mime Piece or Mimodrama
• Appendix D: Schools and Movement Training Centers
• Appendix E: Publications, Organizations, Festivals, and Resource Centers
• Appendix F: Selected Videography and DVDs
• Selected Bibliography
• About the Author