Amy James, Assessment Blog 1

1.“It has been argued that any account of contemporary forms of body-based theatre is at the same time a history of devised work generated through various models of collaborative theatre” (Murray & Keefe; 2007, pg17) ‘Physical theatre’ is an amalgamation of a vast range of performance types. The performance practice partly originates from ballet, and has been influenced heavily by modern dance, popular in the early 1920’s, as the genre has grown. It is continuously adapting and progressing from simple pedestrian gestures into surrealism and almost grotesque theatre. The physicality of ones body is superior to ones verbal abilities. The message the performance is portraying to the audience is mostly conveyed through gestures and stylised movements, Sanchez- Colberg elaborates on this further. Physical theatre is “[…] commonly understood to be one which focuses on the unfolding of a narrative through physicalized events and which relegates verbal narrative- if at all present- to a subordinate position” (Sanchez- Colberg in keefe & Murray; 2007, Pg.21) This performance practice does not work from a set script, such a conventional theatres, but works from impulses within the body, allowing the performer to be as expressive and creative as possible. Within this type of theatre there is no right or wrong to ones devised piece.

2.“The term itself – ‘physical theatre’ – denotes a hybrid character[…]” (Sanchez- Colberg in Keefe & Murray; 2007, pg.21) To express on this further, the term used by Sanchez-Colberg ‘hybrid character’ suggests that Physical theatre is a collaboration of performance types, most obvious being ‘conventional theatre’ and ‘art theatre’. Physical theatre incorporates the movement element of ‘dance’. A ‘dance’ piece relies on music to give rhythm and guidance, where as physical theatre uses music as merely a layer to the structure, the performers movements do not tend to work in conjunction with the rhythm of the music unlike ‘dance’, but they do use choreographed movements like the dance genre. It also uses gesture and can be intentionally expressionistic, it takes these elements from ‘drama’, although it does not usually work from a script and become a play unlike ‘drama’. Combining these two genres leaves physical theatre in a ‘grey area’, which makes it unquestionably a ‘hybrid’ performance genre.

3. DV8 is a British physical theatre company formed in 1986.
DV8 Physical Theatre's work is about taking risks, aesthetically and physically, about breaking down the barriers between dance, theatre and personal politics and, above all, communicating ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously
DV8 combine modern and classical dance to give their pieces a more contemporary outlook. They use gestures, taken from ‘traditional theatre’. They ‘break the boundaries’ of every day society through their physicality rather than spoken dialogue, allowing their bodies to create the language rather than creating it verbally. They use stylised chorography taken from ‘art theatre’ to give originality to their piece, which are mostly abstract allowing them to covey the meaning of the piece subtly rather than directly addressing it, as most of their pieces brake many social boundaries that people refuse to confront. DV8 is certainly a physical theatre company as it is an amalgamation of both ‘dance’ and ‘drama’.

Bibliography
Keefe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader London: Routledge
Keffe, J & S Murray (2007) Physical Theatres: A Critical Introduction Canada: Routledge
Anderson, J. (1997) The World Of Modern Dance: Art Without Boundaries London: University of Lowa Press
Website Source
Retrieved February 24, 2009, from http://www.dv8.co.uk/about.dv8/artistic.policy.html