2nd Edition

A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology The Secret Art of the Performer

By Eugenio Barba, Nicola Savarese Copyright 2005
    320 Pages 100 Color & 550 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    320 Pages 100 Color & 550 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    First Published in 2005. A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology subtly juxtaposes visual demonstrations of the performer’s craft, from a wealth of Eastern and Western sources. More than just a dictionary, this is a handbook for theatre practitioners and a guide for students and scholars of transcultural performance. It is the result of many years of research conducted by Eugenio Barba and the International School of Theatre Anthropology (ISTA) based in Denmark, and is now a classic foundational text. Whereas most Western research is concerned with naturalism and psychological realism in acting, the Dictionary focuses on the actor’s arduous and eclectic craft. The Dictionary aims to expand our knowledge of the possibilities of the scenic body, and of the spectator’s response to the dynamics of performance. The Dictionary has practical sections on balance, opposition and montage among other techniques, and discusses issues including The Text and the Stage, The Dilated Body and Energetic Language. This revised edition includes: three new chapters on Eurasian Theatre, Exercises and Organicity; 50 new photographs showing the performer’s craft in black and white and colour; and, for the first time, a useful bibliography and index.

    Introduction; Part 1 A Z; Chapter 1 Anatomy; Chapter 2 Apprenticeship; Chapter 3 Balance; Chapter 4 Dilation; Chapter 5 Dramaturgy; Chapter 6 Energy; Chapter 7 Equivalence; Chapter 8 Eurasian Theatre; Chapter 9 Exercises; Chapter 10 Face and Eyes; Chapter 11 Feet; Chapter 12 Hands; Chapter 13 Historiography; Chapter 14 Montage; Chapter 15 Nostalgia; Chapter 16 Omission; Chapter 17 Opposition; Chapter 18 Organicity; Chapter 19 Pre-Expressivity; Chapter 20 Restoration of Behaviour; Chapter 21 Rhythm; Chapter 22 Set and Costume Design; Chapter 23 Technique; Chapter 24 Text and Stage; Chapter 25 Training; Chapter 26 Views;

    Biography

    EUGENIO BARBA (1936) Italian born, emigrated to Norway in 1954 where he worked as a welder and seaman. From 1961 to 1964, he followed Jerzy Grotowski’s work in Poland, publishing the first book about him, In Search of a Lost Theatre (1965). In 1963, after spending 6 months in India, he published an essay on kathakali, a theatre form previously unknown in the West. In 1964 he founded Odin Teatret in Oslo, transferring it in 1966 to Holstebro (Denmark) as the Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium. He has directed 32 productions which have been regularly presented in Europe, Asia, North and South America. In 1979 he founded ISTA, the International School of Theatre Anthropology, an itinerant institution with actors, dancers, musicians and scholars interested in investigating the principles of scenic presence. He has written many books and articles, amongst which The Paper Canoe. A Guide to Theatre Anthropology (Routledge 1994), Theatre: Solitude, Craft, Revolt (Black Mountain Press 1999) and Land of Ashes and Diamonds. My Apprenticeship in Poland (Black Mountain Press 1999). He has received numerous international awards and honorary doctorates.

     

    Nicola Savarese was born in Rome. Professor at the University Romatre (Rome), he teaches History of Theatre and Performance at Department of Performing Arts. His studies deal with the complex dynamic of the meetings between Asian theatres and Occidental theatre and the contemporary performers in different contex. He as travelled widely in Asia and particularly in Japan, where he lived for two years. On the relationship between Oriental and Occidental theatres he has published, among many other works, Teatro e spettacolo fra Oriente e Occidente (Theatre and Performance Beyond the Sea, Roma 1992, translated in Spanish), Parigi/Artaud/Bali (L’Aquila 1997), Training (Roma 2004). He is permanent member of ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology) since its foundation and he is editor of review Teatro e storia. He was guest scholar at Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles in 1999.

    'The entries in the Dictionary are fascinating flashbulbs, shedding light on myriad ways of performing – breathing in noh, eye movement in kathakali, balance in Indian bharatanatyam ... For actors grounded in 20th-Century American realism, this plethora of body-based ... information could prove (literally) eye-opening. Particularly persuasive is Schechner's essay on "restoration of behavior".' – American Theatre