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Moving ideas about moving bodies : teaching physical theatre as a response to violence and the violated body

Includes bibliographical references. / Includes abstract. / In this thesis I explore my obsession with teaching the physical theatre body over the past twenty-five years.Two sets of questions are proposed: How does the teaching of physical theatre respond to violence and the violated body; and how does pedagogy change when it moves from one context to another? Firstly, I argue that the pedagogy developed by Jacques Lecoq in Paris responded like a pendulum to the extreme violence perpetrated on bodies during the Second World War. I argue that my own practice, influenced by my two years of study at École Jacques Lecoq (1984-1986), continued this tradition by responding to what, I propose, existed as a ‘culture of violence’ in South Africa from the period of colonialism through the apartheid era and into the present. I analyse the impact of violence on the body by focusing on three consequences - stillness, erasure and rupture - and come to an understanding of how the teaching of physical theatre, as per Lecoq and myself, counters all three with a focus on the moving, articulate, individuated body capable of transformation. Secondly, I propose that pedagogy responds to geographic, philosophical and historical contexts and is subject to modification when context changes. The methodology has included conventional research, a comparative analysis of the two contexts, and an analysis of my own experiences - from notebooks that I have kept - as a student and teacher.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/11377
Date January 2012
CreatorsReznek, Jennie
ContributorsPather, Jay
PublisherUniversity of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Drama
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeMaster Thesis, Masters, MA
Formatapplication/pdf

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