Lovely conservation about Dance and theatre and everything inbetween. Lerman considers the different ways we watch theatre and dance, and examine where we find strength and resonance as art-makers and art-watchers.
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I just finished reading this book which I found throughly engaging. One thing that I found it really useful for way the general overview of a variety of practitioners. It was interesting about the movement away from the term " physical theatre" with the referral to the idea that all theatre is physical. I enjoyed the first 3 chapters. It is a good reference book as well as an interesting read.
Just started another free on line course about Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing with the Royal Shakespeare Company, University of Birmingham and Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust. Again a really well organised course. It is over four weeks and I am into week three. A lot of good resources and information.
Just finished an excellent on line course run through the University of Leeds and Future Learn on Meyerhold's Biomechanics. A 3 weeks course - which is free and really well constructed. So I have just signed up for a free online course - just one the first unit - excellent stuff. So I am examining Exploring play - which I think is vital for Drama. This is a good book to introduce students to some of the key principles of clowning. Gives a basic over - very simple terms. Could be accessed by Secondary students easily. Good outline of activities and theory behind aspects of clowning.
Key ideas:
Why is that so funny? I found to be a very good resource. It has a good mix of theoretical ideas with discussions on the various types of laughter. There are series of exercises through out the book that can be used to investigate physical comedy. John Wright talks about the distinction in theatrical circles between drama and comedy and how comedy is often not valued as much. It is true through my teacher training - it was more from a Stanislavski point of view. This is a refreshing look at comedy. Also the "games" exercises that John explains are games that can be used in dramatic scenes but allows for a new way of looking at events. John trained with Lecoq and this has influenced his way of working. He gives a strong outline for his version of the States of Tension and I enjoyed the sections looking at Clowning - Parody, Satire, Pastiche, Caricature, Burlesque and Buffoon. I have already used these exercises with my classes to some success. What really surprised me was how well come of the complicity games worked with my Grade 5 and 6s. It is a good book for any IB student who needs some ideas or theoretical underpinning.
Just finished reading -Devising Theatre - a practical and theoretical guide by Alison Oddey. It was an interesting read. She comes from the British system and what I most enjoyed was the insight into the way different groups devise. Good book for students researching devising and might be useful for the IBDP theatre course in the Collaborative theatre project when students need to look at different ways of devising. Also a nice section on practical ideas and suggestions. It is funny when you read these and people mention the theory behind the exercises and as a drama teacher I already had so much in my repertoire already.I ran my first IB DO theatre workshop in Singapore on the weekend of the 15-17th August. It was a great experience - I loved running the workshop and it felt so good. I think the new guide is strong and I was lucky to be on a great team that helped in creating it. I was able to work with the wonderful Dinos Aristidou who was running the cat 1 workshop. Thanks to ISTA for asking me to run it. LOVE IT!!!!
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Catherine Rankin
Drama/Theatre/Dance teacher for 30 years; Currently teaching at International School Manila. Archives
November 2021
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