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

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.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Drama

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Reznek, Jennie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Pather, Jay

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11377

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11377