Butoh: Recultivating the Body

The third section within the dance is entitled ‘black’. The main inspiration for this section was male energy and men’s ‘’business’’. This section links to yellow as it shows 2 contrasts – night and day/women and men. The section is solely based around hunting and protecting the male spirit. There is a stick dance near the beginning of the section which represents a war dance that shows the men competing for hunting grounds and to have the right over landmarks and knowledge. The section is performed by four male dancers dressed in black long pants with props such as traditional weapons and camouflage. The colour black represents Death which is then linked to hunting or could also be linked to mourning. The emotion shown through the colour black could often be depressing and sad as a life is lost or a battle is lost but also happiness as one life is lost to save another. The specific movements that show black through a non literal interpretation include hiding as to not disturb their prey. As the colour black is linked to death and hunting the section shows many parts where the men are hiding in camouflage as not to disturb or startle their prey. The use of weapons as a prop also shows this. There are also many moments of animal mimicry including mimicking a kangaroo, through jumps of easy, effortless motion, the swatting of flies throughout the section and also the acting of butterflies. Animals are linked to the

Constantin Stankislavski and Uta Hagan are considered to be two greats in the art of acting. After reading the excerpts from the packet, and the chapters in the book it is really understandable as to why they are so respected in this art. When taking a look into their work there are some similarities about their craft and technique, however there are also some differences, as Utah Hagen branched out as did many others. In this paper, I’ll be taking a look at where these pioneers of their craft share similar methods, and where they differentiate in the use of their technique.

Theatre is a complex art that attempts to weave stories of varying degrees of intricacies with the hope that feelings will be elicited from the audience. Samuel Beckett’s most famous work in the theatre world, however, is Waiting for Godot, the play in which, according to well-known Irish critic Vivian Mercier, “nothing happens, twice.” Beckett pioneered many different levels of groundbreaking and avant-garde theatre and had a large influence on the section of the modern idea of presentational theatre as opposed to the representational. His career seemingly marks the end of modernism in theatre and the creation of what is known as the “Theatre of the Absurd.”

French impressionists such as Gaugin, Manet and Monet are some of the many who were overcome by this bombardment of Asian art. Morimura has introduced wit into this work by substituting rose leaves in the place of fig leaves to hide his genitals. This can be seen as a form of revenge on Manet for he was a ‘pupil’ of Japanese art. This mystery of sexual identity also leads to a sense of intertextuality that stems from Morimura’s role as an androgynous critic.

"A Philosophy of Theater « " East of Mina. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011.

"Nowadays the plays' meaning is usually blurred by the fact that the actor plays to the audiences hearts. The figures portrayed are foisted on the audience and are falsified in the process. Contrary to present custom they ought to be presented quite coldly, classically and objectively. For they are not matter for empathy; they are there to be understood and politely added

Kristoffer Diaz’s play, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, is a play that revolves around a character named Mace, and his career as a wrestler in “The Wrestling” league, as Diaz so refers to the American Wrestling Association within the play. Bertolt Brecht, a theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet, was a teenager during World War I in Nazi Germany. He was disgusted by the world around him, as he witnessed many of his friends sent off to die in the war. Because of Brecht’s opinions on the world around him, he negatively viewed the classical form of theater, what he called ‘dramatic theater’, and created a new idea of theater known as ‘epic theater’. I believe Kristoffer Diaz’s play, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, to be closely

For thousands of centuries, Japanese artists had been breaking the boundaries with their relentless creations of shocking pieces that made people question if there was a life after death. The popular subject of restless spirits or dark beings drove many artists from the Heian Period to modern-day times to express their stylistic techniques and narrative stories through woodblock printing and other alternative forms of art. Unlike most Western art, Japan’s disturbing representations of decaying bodies and death did not promote unrealistic, commercial expectations of death that commonly exists in art today. While handling such abstract ideas of the afterlife alongside the uncensored authenticity of death, each piece arouses fear and empathy for

Takita emphasises the flaws of the human condition through Daigo as he starts his first day working with a rotting corpse. Medium shots are employed to highlight Daigo’s body language where he forces himself to close his eyes and tries to stray away from the body. Such techniques strongly suggest distaste and disturbance as systematic responses whilst illustrating the extent of which the impacts of discovery can be provocative in confronting world values. Takita’s manipulations with camera work effectively triggers automatic disfigured expressions in the audience, reminding them of their weaknesses whilst encouraging consideration for actions in response. This perspective of weakness and violation is further emphasised with the utilising of close shots where it captures Daigo washing himself like someone who has a cleaning disorder. Daigo’s sense of affliction fully encompasses the concept confrontation instigates a process of emotional discovery as inevitable actions for attempts to accept universal truths of weakness and the inevitability of death. Thus positioning us to view such conflicts with sympathy as while securing in emotional troubles, consider confrontations to be a vessel for overriding. Through the exploration of such examples, it can be seen that hostilities with the unexpected result in emotional

In the words of Gay McAuley, “for an activity to be regarded as a performance, it must involve the live presence of the performers and those witnessing it…” (McAuley, 2009, cited in Schechner, 2013, pp.38). This statement recognises the importance of both the actor and the audience for something to truly function as a performance. In addition, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones highlights the significance of the theatrical space and how it can influence an audience stating that “on entering a theatre of any kind, a spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a certain reaction or series of responses” (Llewellyn-Jones, 2002, pp.3). The relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space is no less important today than it was at the time of theatre during the Spanish Golden Age and the creation of Commedia dell’arte in Italy. Despite being very close geographically with theatre thriving for both in the same era, sources that explore the social, cultural and historical context of these countries and the theatre styles will bring to light the similarities and differences. This essay will analyse the staging, the behaviour of the audience as well as the challenges the actors faced, and how this directly influenced the relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space.

In subsequent years following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China came a revolutionary new approach to not only producing films, but also film’s very role in communist society. During this period the state gained complete control of the filmmaking industry, decreeing that the utilitarian functions of art and literature were to become a powerful weapon in serving the revolutionary struggle. In an otherwise artistically stifling period in which socialist realism pervaded all creative outlets, Xie Jin managed to retain some autonomy and emerged as one of the cleverest Chinese directors in the early 1960s. In his 1961 film Red Detachment of Women, Jin provides a classic revolutionary melodrama, yet also displays elements of formalism so that the viewer becomes conscious of the manipulations of his film technique. To analyze this film, I will use Mao Zedong’s 1942 “Talks at the Yan 'an Forum on Literature and Art,” clip #10 “Landmark 2,” and clip #6 “We are joining the red army” to elaborate on the major themes and cinematic style that distinguish Xie Jin’s work from his contemporaries.

Matsukaze is one of the most popular Noh plays of the third category, originally written by Kan’ami and revised by Zeami Mototkiyo. Matsukaze tells the story of two lingering sister spirits, Matsukaze, which means Pine Wind, and Murasame, which means Autumn Rain. The play begins with a traveling priest asking about the memorial for the girls and we soon learn all about their life story. As with other Ancient Japanese Noh theatre, this play shows us one prevailing emotion throughout the text. The most noticeable emotion found in the text of Matsukaze is the overwhelming sense of melancholy. Through text and Japanese Noh conventions, I can convey the emotion of melancholy in Matsukaze.

Vanhellemont, Rhea. Martin McDonagh's freewheeling and slightly surreal Irish national theatre, in-yer-face! . Universitait Gent, 2009

Dramatic arts became an essential and esteemed form of entertainment during the Song Dynasty. The Chinese theater ran the gamut of all possible kinds of play or composition. A testament to the Song’s work toward variety in entertainment “the drama made quite a feature of short farcical scenes, acrobatic turns and satirical

This idea is relevant because on the stage, the Restoration actress, is nothing but an ornament in the male gaze. This attitude is apparent as Thomas Shadwell links the new phenomenon of female performers with painted theatrical scenes, both innovative commodities for audience consumption: