Rhythm in Acting and Performance

Yet what is meant by this term and how it is approached and applied in this context are subjects seldom discussed in detail

Sub-titled Embodied Approaches and Understandings, Rhythm in Acting and Performance explores the meanings, mechanisms and metaphors associated with rhythm in this field, offering an overview and analysis of the ways rhythm has been, and is embodied and understood by performers, directors, educators, playwrights, designers and scholars

From the rhythmic movements and speech of actors in ancient Greece, to Stanislavski's use of Tempo-rhythm as a tool for building a character and tapping emotions, continuing through to the use of rhythm and musicality in contemporary approaches to actor training and dramaturgy, this subject finds resonance across a broad range of performance domains

In these settings, rhythm has often been identified as an effective tool for developing the coordination and conscious awareness of individual performers, ensembles and their immediate relationship to an audience

This text examines the principles and techniques underlying these processes, focusing on key approaches adopted and developed within European and American performance practices over the last century

Interviews and case studies of individual practitioners offer insight into the ways rhythm is approached and utilised within this field

Each of these sections includes practical examples as well as analytical reflections, offering a basis for comparing both the common threads and the broad differences that can be found here

Unpacking this often mystified and neglected subject, this book offers students and practitioners a wealth of informative and useful insights to aid and inspire further creative and academic explorations of rhythm within this field

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART ONE Establishing a Pulse

Chapter 1 - What Is Rhythm? An Open Question

Chapter 2 - An Epoch of Rhythm: Now & Then

PART TWO - Stanislavski on Rhythm

Chapter 3 - Tapping Emotions: The Ins and Outs of Tempo-Rhythm

PART THREE - Structure and Spontaneity

Chapter 4 - Suzanne Bing: Music and Games in Actor Training

Chapter 5 - Vsevolod Meyerhold: Rhythm Not Metre

Chapter 6: John Britton: Smashing the Ensemble Groove

Chapter 7: Anne Bogart and Tina Landau: A Horizontal Viewpoint

PART FOUR - The Ecstatic Performer

Chapter 8: Rhythm and Altered States of Consciousness: Entrainment & Communitas

Chapter 9: Jerzy Grotowski: Seeking Pulse, Movement and Rhythm

Chapter 10: Nicolás Núñez: Becoming Present

Chapter 11: Eilon Morris: Cultivating Simultaneity

PART FIVE - A Plurality of Voices

Chapter 12 - Rhythming Words: Where, How & Why

Chapter 13 - Creating Spaces: Conversations with Judith Adams And Karen Christopher

Chapter 14 -The Poetry of the Breath - Conversations with Bruce Myers and Kate Papi

Chapter 15 -The Tune is a Framework - A Conversation with Chris Coe & Frankie Armstrong

PART SIX - Reflections Glossary of Terms Notes