For me it is surely his words, tout est possible that will drive me on along whichever path I choose to take, knowing that we are bound only by our selves, that whatever we do must come from us. Brilliantly-devised improvisational games forced Lecoq's pupils to expand their imagination. He arrives with Grikor and Fay, his wife, and we nervously walk to the space the studios of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Later we watched the 'autocours'. Bring Lessons to Life through Drama Techniques, Santorini. He saw them as a means of expression not as a means to an end. His eyes on you were like a searchlight looking for your truths and exposing your fears and weaknesses. Many things were said during this nicely informal meeting. Jacques Lecoq. What he offered in his school was, in a word, preparation of the body, of the voice, of the art of collaboration (which the theatre is the most extreme artistic representation of), and of the imagination. Jacques Lecoq always seemed to me an impossible man to approach. In working with mask it also became very clear that everything is to be expressed externally, rather than internally. It is more about the feeling., Join The Inspiring Drama Teacher and get access to: Online Course, Monthly Live Zoom Sessions, Marked Assignment and Lesson Plan Vault. He founded cole Internationale de Thtre Jacques . He was clear, direct and passionate with a, sometimes, disconcerting sense of humour. Through his pedagogic approach to performance and comedy, he created dynamic classroom exercises that explored elements of . He believed that to study the clown is to study oneself, thus no two selves are alike. Who is it? I cry gleefully. This exercise can help students develop their physical and vocal control, as well as their ability to observe and imitate others. He has shifted the balance of responsibility for creativity back to the actors, a creativity that is born out of the interactions within a group rather than the solitary author or director. Required fields are marked *. Keep the physical and psychological aspects of the animal, and transform them to the human counterpart in yourself. On the other hand, by donning a mask, the features of which were contorted in pain, downcast in grief, or exultant in joy, the actor had to adjust his body-language to that facial mood. Please, do not stop writing! When five years eventually passed, Brouhaha found themselves on a stage in Morelia, Mexico in front of an extraordinarily lively and ecstatic audience, performing a purely visual show called Fish Soup, made with 70 in an unemployment centre in Hammersmith. Here are a few examples of animal exercises that could be useful for students in acting school: I hope these examples give you some ideas for animal exercises that you can use in your acting classes! He was born 15 December in Paris, France and participated and trained in various sports as a child and as a young man. Let your arm swing backwards again, trying to feel the pull of gravity on your limbs. To share your actions with the audience, brings and invites them on the journey with you. Your feet should be a little further apart: stretch your arm out to the right while taking the weight on your right bent leg, leading your arm upwards through the elbow, hand and then fingers. In mask work, it is important to keep work clean and simple. He taught us accessible theatre; sometimes he would wonder if his sister would understand the piece, and, if not, it needed to be clearer. The end result should be that you gain control of your body in order to use it in exactly the way you want to. The great danger is that ten years hence they will still be teaching what Lecoq was teaching in his last year. He was best known for his teaching methods in physical theatre, movement, and mime which he taught at the school he founded in Paris known as cole internationale de thtre Jacques Lecoq. To actors he showed how the great movements of nature correspond to the most intimate movements of human emotion. The excitement this gave me deepened when I went to Lecoq's school the following year. Games & exercises to bring you into the world of theatre . Unfortunately the depth and breadth of this work was not manifested in the work of new companies of ex-students who understandably tended to use the more easily exportable methods as they strived to establish themselves and this led to a misunderstanding that his teaching was more about effect than substance. This is the first time in ten years he's ever spoken to me on the phone, usually he greets me and then passes me to Fay with, Je te passe ma femme. We talk about a project for 2001 about the Body. He only posed questions. It is necessary to look at how beings and things move, and how they are reflected in us. Jacques Lecoq, In La Grande Salle, The body makes natural shapes especially in groups, where three people form a triangle, four people a square, and five or more a circle. Last year, when I saw him in his house in the Haute Savoie, under the shadow of Mont Blanc, to talk about a book we wished to make, he said with typical modesty: 'I am nobody. London: Methuen, Hi,Oliver, thank you for you blogging, you have helped me understand Lecoqs work much much better ! Get your characters to move through states of tension in a scene. flopped over a tall stool, Jacques Lecoq's influence on the theatre of the latter half of the twentieth century cannot be overestimated. Required fields are marked *. Who is it? Its a Gender An essay on the Performance. Jacques Lecoq was a French actor and acting coach who developed a unique approach to acting based on movement and physical expression principles. The first event in the Clowning Project was The Clowning Workshop, led by Nathalie Ellis-Einhorn. [6] Lecoq also wrote on the subject of gesture specifically and its philosophical relation to meaning, viewing the art of gesture as a linguistic system of sorts in and of itself. But Lecoq was no period purist. (By continuing to use the site without making a selection well assume you are OK with our use of cookies at present), Spotlight, 7 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7RJ. He emphasized the importance of finding the most fitting voice for each actor's mask, and he believed that there was room for reinvention and play in regards to traditional commedia dell'arte conventions. Jacques was a man of extraordinary perspectives. The aim is to find and unlock your expressive natural body. Repeat on the right side and then on the left again. He saw through their mistakes, and pointed at the essential theme on which they were working 'water', apparently banal and simple. His own performances as a mime and actor were on the very highest plane of perfection; he was a man of infinite variety, humour, wit and intelligence. This is a list of names given to each level of tension, along with a suggestion of a corresponding performance style that could exist in that tension. You are totally present and aware. He believed that everyone had something to say, and that when we found this our work would be good. Lecoq was particularly drawn to gymnastics. You can buy Tea With Trish, a DVD of Trish Arnold's movement exercises, at teawithtrish.com. Finally, the use of de-constructing the action makes the visual communication to the audience a lot more simplified, and easier to read, allowing our audience to follow what is taking place on stage. The word gave rise to the English word buffoon. This exercise can help students develop their character-building skills and their ability to use research to inform their actions. Curve back into Bear, and then back into Bird. The use of de-construction also enables us to stop at specific points within the action, to share/clock what is being done with the audience. You can train your actors by slowly moving through these states so that they become comfortable with them, then begin to explore them in scenes. Fay Lecoq assures me that the school her husband founded and led will continue with a team of Lecoq-trained teachers. [4] The goal was to encourage the student to keep trying new avenues of creative expression. But for him, perspective had nothing to do with distance. And then try to become that animal - the body, the movement, the sounds. As part of this approach, Lecoq often incorporated animal exercises into his acting classes, which involved mimicking the movements and behaviors of various animals in order to develop a greater range of physical expression. Lecoq was a visionary able to inspire those he worked with. These changed and developed during his practice and have been further developed by other practitioners. Wherever the students came from and whatever their ambition, on that day they entered 'water'. Think M. Hulot (Jacques Tati) or Mr Bean. Focus can be passed around through eye contact, if the one performer at stage right focused on the ensemble and the ensemble focused their attention outward, then the ensemble would take focus. In that brief time he opened up for me new ways of working that influenced my Decroux-based work profoundly. His Laboratoire d'Etude du Mouvement attempted to objectify the subjective by comparing and analysing the effects that colour and space had on the spectators. Any space we go into influences us the way we walk, move. Side rib stretches work on the same principle, but require you to go out to the side instead. I turn upside-down to right side up. When the moment came she said in French, with a slightly Scottish accent, Jacques tu as oubli de boutonner ta braguette (Jacques, you for got to do up your flies). Compiled by John Daniel. But to attain this means taking risks and breaking down habits. Bring your right hand up to join it, and then draw it back through your shoulder line and behind you, as if you were pulling the string on a bow. This led to Lecoq being asked to lecture at faculties of architecture on aspects of theatrical space. Teaching it well, no doubt, but not really following the man himself who would have entered the new millennium with leaps and bounds of the creative and poetic mind to find new challenges with which to confront his students and his admirers. And again your friends there are impressed and amazed by your transformation. But this kind of collaboration and continuous process of learning-relearning which was for Marceau barely a hypothesis, was for Lecoq the core of his philosophy. This make-up projects the face of Everyman during the performance, which enables all members of the audience to identify with the situation. For him, there were no vanishing points. What is he doing? David Glass writes: Lecoq's death marks the passing of one of our greatest theatre teachers. Think about your balance and centre of gravity while doing the exercise. He has invited me to stay at his house an hour's travel from Paris. . We visited him at his school in Rue du Faubourg, St Denis, during our run of Quatre Mains in Paris. He had a vision of the way the world is found in the body of the performer the way that you imitate all the rhythms, music and emotion of the world around you, through your body.