Jacques Lecoq, a French actor and movement coach who was trained in commedia dell'arte, helped establish the style of physical theater. Invisible Ropes - The Art of Mime Thank you Jacques, you cleared, for many of us, the mists of frustration and confusion and showed us new possibilities to make our work dynamic, relevant to our lives and challengingly important in our culture. He taught us to make theatre for ourselves, through his system of 'autocours'. Fay Lecoq assures me that the school her husband founded and led will continue with a team of Lecoq-trained teachers. The training, the people, the place was all incredibly exciting. Jacques Lecoq. Along with other methods such as mime, improvisation, and mask work, Lecoq put forth the idea of studying animals as a source of actor training. This use of tension demonstrates the feeling of the character. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. One way in which a performer can move between major and minor would be their positioning on the stage, in composition to the other performers. [4] The expressive masks are basically character masks that are depicting a very particular of character with a specific emotion or reaction. In that brief time he opened up for me new ways of working that influenced my Decroux-based work profoundly. Sit down. He will always be a great reference point and someone attached to some very good memories. There can of course be as many or as few levels of tension as you like (how long is a piece of string?). Teachers from both traditions have worked in or founded actor training programs in the United States. By owning the space as a group, the interactions between actors is also freed up to enable much more natural reactions and responses between performers. Don't let your body twist up while you're doing this; face the front throughout. Great actor training focuses on the whole instrument: voice, mind, heart, and body. He believed that was supposed to be a part of the actor's own experience. Lecoq was a pioneer of modern theatre, and his work has had a significant influence on the development of contemporary performance practices. That is the question. But to attain this means taking risks and breaking down habits. His influence is wider reaching and more profound than he was ever really given credit for. So she stayed in the wings waiting for the moment when he had to come off to get a special mask. Because this nose acts as a tiny, neutral mask, this step is often the most challenging and personal for actors. Jacques said he saw it as the process of accretion you find in the meander of a river, the slow layering of successive deposits of silt. Each of these movements is a "form" to be learnt, practiced, rehearsed, refined and performed. an analysis of his teaching methods and principles of body work, movement . He regarded mime as merely the body-language component of acting in general though, indeed, the most essential ingredient as language and dialogue could all too easily replace genuine expressiveness and emotion. Jacques Lecoq, who has died aged 77, was one of the greatest mime artists and perhaps more importantly one of the finest teachers of acting in our time. L'cole Internationale de Thtre Jacques Lecoq, the Parisian school Jacques Lecoq founded in 1956, is still one of the preeminent physical training . Who is it? I cry gleefully. No ego to show, just simply playful curiosity. And if a machine couldn't stop him, what chance had an open fly? As a matter of fact, one can see a clear joy in it. This is the Bear position. Andrew Dawson & Jos Houben write: We last saw Jacques Lecoq in December last year. He became a physical education teacher but was previously also a physiotherapist. You need to feel it to come to a full understanding of the way your body moves, and that can only be accomplished through getting out of your seat, following exercises, discussing the results, experimenting with your body and discovering what it is capable - or incapable - of. What a horror as if it were a fixed and frozen entity. Fine-tune your body | Stage | The Guardian I can't thank you, but I see you surviving time, Jacques; longer than the ideas that others have about you. Tap-tap it raps out a rhythm tap-tap-tap. He only posed questions. His own performances as a mime and actor were on the very highest plane of perfection; he was a man of infinite variety, humour, wit and intelligence. With a wide variety of ingredients such as tension states, rhythm, de-construction, major and minor, le jeu/the game, and clocking/sharing with the audience, even the simplest and mundane of scenarios can become interesting to watch. Compiled by John Daniel. Lecoq believed that actors should use their bodies to express emotions and ideas, rather than relying on words alone. He was not a grand master with a fixed methodology in which he drilled his disciples. Last edited on 19 February 2023, at 16:35, cole internationale de thtre Jacques Lecoq, cole Internationale de thtre Jacques Lecoq, l'cole Internationale de Thtre Jacques Lecoq - Paris, "Jacques Lecoq, Director, 77; A Master Mime", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jacques_Lecoq&oldid=1140333231, Claude Chagrin, British actor, mime and film director, This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 16:35. The excitement this gave me deepened when I went to Lecoq's school the following year. I use the present tense as here is surely an example of someone who will go on living in the lives, work and hearts of those whose paths crossed with his. The ski swing requires you to stand with your feet hip-width apart, your knees slightly bent and your upper body bent slightly forwards from the hips, keeping your spine erect throughout. He was interested in creating a site to build on, not a finished edifice. Your email address will not be published. Actors need to have, at their disposal, an instrument that, at all times, expresses their dramatic intention. Photograph: Jill Mead/Jill Mead. However, the ensemble may at times require to be in major, and there are other ways to achieve this. He taught us respect and awe for the potential of the actor. The embodied performance pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq His work on internal and external gesture and his work on architecture and how we are emotionally affected by space was some of the most pioneering work of the last twenty years. Whilst working on the techniques of practitioner Jacques Lecoq, paying particular focus to working with mask, it is clear that something can come from almost nothing. Special thanks to Madame Fay Lecoq for her assistance in compiling this tribute and to H. Scott Helst for providing the photos. It is right we mention them in the same breath. Moving in sync with a group of other performers will lead into a natural rhythm, and Sam emphasised the need to show care for each other and the space youre inhabiting. My gesture was simple enough pointing insistently at the open fly. But acting is not natural, and actors always have to give up some of the habits they have accumulated. The Animal Character Study: This exercise involves students choosing a specific animal and using it as the inspiration for a character. Not only did he show countless actors, directors and teachers, how the body could be more articulate; his innovative teaching was the catalyst that helped the world of mime enrich the mainstream of theatre. His techniques and research are now an essential part of the movement training in almost every British drama school. I am only there to place obstacles in your path, so you can find your own way round them.' His training involved an emphasis on masks, starting with the neutral mask. Everybody said he hadn't understood because my pantomime talent was less than zero. Kenneth Rea adds: In theatre, Lecoq was one of the great inspirations of our age. His techniques and research are now an essential part of the movement training in almost every British drama school. Philippe Gaulier (translated by Heather Robb) adds: Did you ever meet a tall, strong, strapping teacher moving through the corridors of his school without greeting his students? When performing, a good actor will work with the overall performance and move in and out of major and minor, rather than remaining in just one or the other (unless you are performing in a solo show). Next, another way to play with major and minor, is via the use of movement and stillness. Every week we prepared work from a theme he chose, which he then watched and responded to on Fridays. Think M. Hulot (Jacques Tati) or Mr Bean. Jacques Lecoq. Then take it up to a little jump. So the first priority in a movement session is to release physical tension and free the breath. Repeat. Franco Cordelli writes: If you look at two parallel stories Lecoq's and his contemporary Marcel Marceaus it is striking how their different approaches were in fact responses to the same question. Table of Contents THE LIFE OF JACQUES LECOQ Jacques Lecoq (1921-99) Jacques Lecoq: actor, director and teacher Jacques Lecoq and the Western tradition of actor training Jacques Lecoq: the body and culture Summary and conclusion THE TEXTS OF JACQUES LECOQ He believed that masks could help actors explore different characters and emotions, and could also help them develop a strong physical presence on stage. David Glass writes: Lecoq's death marks the passing of one of our greatest theatre teachers. However, before Lecoq came to view the body as a vehicle of artistic expression, he had trained extensively as a sportsman, in particular in athletics and swimming. People from our years embarked on various projects, whilst we founded Brouhaha and started touring our shows internationally. In working with mask it also became very clear that everything is to be expressed externally, rather than internally. Lecoq doesn't just teach theatre, he teaches a philosophy of life, which it is up to us to take or cast aside. Jacques Lecoq View on Animal Exercises Jacques Lecoq was a French actor, mime artist, and theatre director. He had a special way of choosing words which stayed with you, and continue to reveal new truths. JACQUES LECOQ EXERCISES - IB Theatre Journal Exploration of the Chorus through Lecoq's Exercises 4x4 Exercise: For this exercise by Framtic Assembly, we had to get into the formation of a square, with four people in each row and four people in the middle of the formation. [4] The aim was that the neutral mask can aid an awareness of physical mannerisms as they get greatly emphasized to an audience whilst wearing the mask. Through his pedagogic approach to performance and comedy, he created dynamic classroom exercises that explored elements of . No, he replied vaguely, but don't you find it interesting?. H. Scott Heist writes: You throw a ball in the air does it remain immobile for a moment or not? Like a poet, he made us listen to individual words, before we even formed them into sentences, let alone plays. ), "Believing or identifying oneself is not enough, one has to ACT." Shn Dale-Jones & Stefanie Mller write: Jacques Lecoq's school in Paris was a fantastic place to spend two years. So how do we use Jacques Lecoqs animal exercises as part of actors training? It is the same with touching the mask, or eating and drinking, the ability for a mask to eat and drink doesnt exist. It was amazing to see his enthusiasm and kindness and to listen to his comments. This teaching strategy basically consists of only focusing his critiques on the poorer or unacceptable aspects of a student's performance. Once done, you can continue to the main exercises. The audience are the reason you are performing in the first place, to exclude them would take away the purpose of everything that is being done. June 1998, Paris. In life I want students to be alive, and on stage I want them to be artists." During the 1968 student uprisings in Paris, the pupils asked to teach themselves. After all, very little about this discipline is about verbal communication or instruction. Yes, that was something to look forward to: he would lead a 'rencontre'. Magically, he could set up an exercise or improvisation in such a way that students invariably seemed to do their best work in his presence. Lecoq believed that mastering these movements was essential for developing a strong, expressive, and dynamic performance. Practitioner Jacques Lecoq and His Influence - University of Lincoln To release the imagination. [8], The French concept of 'efficace' suggesting at once efficiency and effectiveness of movement was highly emphasized by Lecoq. His concentration on the aspects of acting that transcend language made his teaching truly international. In a time that continually values what is external to the human being. PDF BODY AND MOVEMENT - Theseus Lee Strasberg's Animal Exercise VS Animal Exercise in Jacques Lecoq. This method is called mimodynamics. Simon McBurney writes: Jacques Lecoq was a man of vision. While Lecoq still continued to teach physical education for several years, he soon found himself acting as a member of the Comediens de Grenoble. Your email address will not be published. He taught there from 1956 until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1999. Later we watched the 'autocours'. Pascale, Lecoq and I have been collecting materials for a two-week workshop a project conducted by the Laboratory of Movement Studies which involves Grikor Belekian, Pascale and Jacques Lecoq. Jacques Lecoq developed an approach to acting using seven levels of tension. John Martin writes: At the end of two years inspiring, frustrating, gruelling and visionary years at his school, Jacques Lecoq gathered us together to say: I have prepared you for a theatre which does not exist. The idea of not seeing him again is not that painful because his spirit, his way of understanding life, has permanently stayed with us. Naturalism, creativity and play become the most important factors, inspiring individual and group creativity! As a teacher he was unsurpassed. As a young physiotherapist after the second world war, he saw how a man with paralysis could organise his body in order to walk, and taught him to do so. His desk empty, bar the odd piece of paper and the telephone. This is the case because mask is intended to be a visual form of theatre, communication is made through the physicality of the body, over that of spoken words. 18th] The first thing that we have done when we entered the class was checking our homework about writing about what we have done in last class, just like drama journal. In a way, it is quite similar to the use of Mime Face Paint. Unfortunately the depth and breadth of this work was not manifested in the work of new companies of ex-students who understandably tended to use the more easily exportable methods as they strived to establish themselves and this led to a misunderstanding that his teaching was more about effect than substance. While we can't get far without vocal technique, intellectual dexterity, and . During dinner we puzzle over a phrase that Fay found difficult to translate: Le geste c'est le depot d'une emotion. The key word is 'depot deposit? The objects can do a lot for us, she reminded, highlighting the fact that a huge budget may not be necessary for carrying off a new work. [4], In collaboration with the architect Krikor Belekian he also set up le Laboratoire d'tude du Mouvement (Laboratory for the study of movement; L.E.M. Like a gardener, he read not only the seasonal changes of his pupils, but seeded new ideas. Seven Levels of Tension - Drama Resource I cannot claim to be either a pupil or a disciple. Lecoq opened the door, they went in. Also, mask is intended to be a universal form of communication, with the use of words, language barriers break down understanding between one culture and the next. Major and minor, simply means to be or not be the focus of the audiences attention. Dipsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona; Tesis Doctorals; Tesis Doctorals - Departament - Histria de l'Art Dressed in his white tracksuit, that he wears to teach in, he greeted us with warmth and good humour. Games & exercises to bring you into the world of theatre . All actors should be magpies, collecting mannerisms and voices and walks: get into the habit of going on reccies, following someone down the road and studying their gait, the set of their shoulders, the way their hands move as they walk. - Jacques Lecoq The neutral mask, when placed on the face of a performer, is not entirely neutral. (Extract reprinted by permission from The Guardian, Obituaries, January 23 1999.). Working with character masks, different tension states may suit different faces, for example a high state of tension for an angry person, or a low state of tension for a tired or bored person. Not only did he show countless actors, directors and teachers how the body could be more articulate; his innovative teaching was the catalyst that helped the world of mime enrich the mainstream of theatre.
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