For him, there were no vanishing points. Decroux is gold, Lecoq is pearls. The school was also located on the same street that Jacques Copeau was born. They enable us to observe with great precision a particular detail which then becomes the major theme. (Lecoq, 1997:34) As the performer wearing a mask, we should limit ourselves to a minimal number of games. He insisted throughout his illness that he never felt ill illness in his case wasn't a metaphor, it was a condition that demanded a sustained physical response on his part. It is a mask sitting on the face of a person, a character, who has idiosyncrasies and characteristics that make them a unique individual. By putting on a bland, totally expressionless mask, the actor was forced to use his whole body to express a given emotion. Workshop leaders around Europe teach the 'Lecoq Technique'. Indeed, animal behavior and movement mirrored this simplicity. The white full-face make-up is there to heighten the dramatic impact of the movements and expressions. When your arm is fully stretched, let it drop, allowing your head to tip over in that direction at the same time. [4] The goal was to encourage the student to keep trying new avenues of creative expression. That distance made him great. To share your actions with the audience, brings and invites them on the journey with you. If you look at theatre around the world now, probably forty percent of it is directly or indirectly influenced by him. I had asked Jacques to write something for our 10th Anniversary book and he was explaining why he had returned to the theme of Mime: I know that we don't use the word any more, but it describes where we were in 1988. Because this nose acts as a tiny, neutral mask, this step is often the most challenging and personal for actors. The main craft of an actor is to be able to transform themselves, and it takes a lot of training and discipline to achieve transformation - or indeed just to look "natural". The building was previously a boxing center and was where Francisco Amoros, a huge proponent of physical education, developed his own gymnastic method. He was equally passionate about the emotional extremes of tragedy and melodrama as he was about the ridiculous world of the clown. The breathing should be in tune with your natural speaking voice. He offered no solutions. For this special feature in memory of Jacques Lecoq, who died in January, Total Theatre asked a selection of his ex-students, colleagues and friends to share some personal reminiscences of the master. The big anxiety was: would he approve of the working spaces we had chosen for him? These changed and developed during his practice and have been further developed by other practitioners. Release your knees and bring both arms forward, curve your chest and spine, and tuck your pelvis under. Magically, he could set up an exercise or improvisation in such a way that students invariably seemed to do . Help us to improve our website by telling us what you think, We appreciate your feedback and helping us to improve Spotlight.com. You know mime is something encoded in nature. This unique face to face one-week course in Santorini, Greece, shows you how to use drama games and strategies to engage your students in learning across the curriculum. Founded in 1956 by Jacques Lecoq, the school offers a professional and intensive two-year course emphasizing the body, movement and space as entry points in theatrical performance and prepares its students to create collaboratively. I went back to my seat. (Extract reprinted by permission from The Guardian, Obituaries, January 23 1999.). (Extract reprinted by permission from The Guardian, Obituaries, January 23 1999. We draw also on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais, who developed his own method aimed at realising the potential of the human body; and on the Alexander Technique, a system of body re-education and coordination devised at the end of the 19th century. Carolina Valdes writes: The loss of Jacques Lecoq is the loss of a Master. 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? [4], One of the most essential aspects of Lecoq's teaching style involves the relationship of the performer to the audience. Someone takes the offer The exercise can be repeated many times. He taught us accessible theatre; sometimes he would wonder if his sister would understand the piece, and, if not, it needed to be clearer. 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. He came to understand the rhythms of athletics as a kind of physical poetry that affected him strongly. This is a list of names given to each level of tension, along with a suggestion of a corresponding performance style that could exist in that tension. This vision was both radical and practical. f The Moving Body: Teaching Creative Theatre, Jacques Lecoq (2009), 978-1408111468, an autobiography and guide to roots of physical theatre f Why is That So Funny? [1] In 1941, Lecoq attended a physical theatre college where he met Jean Marie Conty, a basketball player of international caliber, who was in charge of physical education in all of France. Lecoq opened the door, they went in. Lecoq's guiding principle was 'Tout bouge' - everything moves. If everyone onstage is moving, but one person is still, the still person would most likely take focus. Dick McCaw writes: September 1990, Glasgow. Lecoq is about engaging the whole body, balancing the entire space and working as a collective with your fellow actors. He pushed back the boundaries between theatrical styles and discovered hidden links between them, opening up vast tracts of possibilities, giving students a map but, by not prescribing on matters of taste or content, he allowed them plenty of scope for making their own discoveries and setting their own destinations. Jacques Lecoq. Lecoq's wife Fay decided to take over. He has shifted the balance of responsibility for creativity back to the actors, a creativity that is born out of the interactions within a group rather than the solitary author or director. Lecoq's theory of mime departed from the tradition of wholly silent, speechless mime, of which the chief exponent and guru was the great Etienne Decroux (who schooled Jean Louis-Barrault in the film Les Enfants Du Paradis and taught the famous white-face mime artist Marcel Marceau). 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? Allow opportunities to react and respond to the elements around you to drive movement. With mask, it is key to keep just one motor/situation/objective, such as a prisoner trying to gain the keys from the police officer and push the situation beyond the limits of reality. (Lecoq: 1997:34) When the performer moves too quickly through a situation, or pushes away potential opportunities, the idea of Lecoqs to demonstrate how theatre prolongs life by transposing it. is broken. Repeat until it feels smooth. Its a Gender An essay on the Performance. First stand with your left foot forward on a diagonal, and raise your left arm in front of you to shoulder height. But one thing sticks in the mind above all others: You'll only really understand what you've learnt here five years after leaving, M. Lecoq told us. [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. We needed him so much. But there we saw the master and the work. Beneath me the warm boards spread out like a beach beneath bare feet. But to attain this means taking risks and breaking down habits. Next, by speaking we are doing something that a mask cannot do. Jacques Lecoq was a French actor, mime artist, and theatre director. The actor's training is similar to that of a musician, practising with an instrument to gain the best possible skills. However, it is undeniable that Lecoq's influence has transformed the teaching of theatre in Britain and all over the world if not theatre itself. In a time that continually values what is external to the human being. [1] He began learning gymnastics at the age of seventeen, and through work on the parallel bars and horizontal bar, he came to see and understand the geometry of movement. Through his pedagogic approach to performance and comedy, he created dynamic classroom exercises that explored elements of . One game may be a foot tap, another may be an exhale of a breath. Last year, when I saw him in his house in the Haute Savoie, under the shadow of Mont Blanc, to talk about a book we wished to make, he said with typical modesty: I am nobody, I am only a neutral point through which you must pass in order to better articulate your own theatrical voice. The excitement this gave me deepened when I went to Lecoq's school the following year. For example, a warm-up that could be used for two or three minutes at the start of each class is to ask you to imagine you are swimming, (breaststroke, crawling, butterfly), climbing a mountain, or walking along a road, all with the purpose of trying to reach a destination. [1] Lecoq chose this location because of the connections he had with his early career in sports. De-construction simply means to break down your actions, from one single movement to the next. So she stayed in the wings waiting for the moment when he had to come off to get a special mask. cole internationale de thtre Jacques Lecoq, History of Mime & Timeline of Development. this chapter I will present movement studies from Lecoq and Laban and open a bit Jacques Lecoq's methods and exercises of movement analysis. Jacques Lecoq said that all the drama of these swings is at the very top of the suspension: when you try them, you'll see what he meant. Lecoq described the movement of the body through space as required by gymnastics to be purely abstract. He had a vision of the way the world is found in the body of the performer the way that you imitate all the rhythms, music and emotion of the world around you, through your body. Get on to a bus and watch how people get on and off, the way that some instinctively have wonderful balance, while others are stiff and dangerously close to falling. He had a special way of choosing words which stayed with you, and continue to reveal new truths. Steven Berkoff writes: Jacques Lecoq dignified the world of mime theatre with his method of teaching, which explored our universe via the body and the mind. Sit down. 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. For example, if the actor has always stood with a displaced spine, a collapsed chest and poking neck, locked knees and drooping shoulders, it can be hard to change. He was known for his innovative approach to physical theatre, which he developed through a series of exercises and techniques that focused on the use of the body in movement and expression. He is survived by his second wife Fay; by their two sons and a daughter; and by a son from his first marriage. Lecoq was particularly drawn to gymnastics. Jacques Lecoq (15 December 1921 19 January 1999) was a French stage actor and acting movement coach. Think of a cat sitting comfortably on a wall, ready to leap up if a bird comes near. This book examines the theatrical movement-based pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq (1921-1999) through the lens of the cognitive scientific paradigm of enaction. In fact, the experience of losing those habits can be emotionally painful, because postural habits, like all habits, help us to feel safe. Think, in particular, of ballet dancers, who undergo decades of the most rigorous possible training in order to give the appearance of floating like a butterfly. John Wright (2006), 9781854597823, brilliant handbook of tried and tested physical comedy exercise from respected practitioner. This was a separate department within the school which looked at architecture, scenography and stage design and its links to movement. Required fields are marked *. In working with mask it also became very clear that everything is to be expressed externally, rather than internally. The only pieces of theatre I had seen that truly inspired me had emerged from the teaching of this man. Don't let your body twist up while you're doing this; face the front throughout. This use of de-construction is essential and very useful, as for the performer, the use of tempo and rhythm will then become simplified, as you could alter/play from one action to the next. Lecoq himself believed in the importance of freedom and creativity from his students, giving an actor the confidence to creatively express themselves, rather than being bogged down by stringent rules. While theres no strict method to doing Lecoq correctly, he did have a few ideas about how to loosen the body in order to facilitate more play! Raise your right arm up in front of you to shoulder height, and raise your left arm behind you, then let them both swing, releasing your knees on the drop of each swing. (Reproduced from Corriere della Sera with translation from the Italian by Sherdan Bramwell.). His training was aimed at nurturing the creativity of the performer, as opposed to giving them a codified set of skills. He was known for his innovative approach to physical theatre, which he developed through a series of exercises and techniques that focused on the use of the body in movement and expression. He believed that masks could help actors explore different characters and emotions, and could also help them develop a strong physical presence on stage. Think about your balance and centre of gravity while doing the exercise. While we can't get far without vocal technique, intellectual dexterity, and . You move with no story behind your movement. He arrives with Grikor and Fay, his wife, and we nervously walk to the space the studios of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He has invited me to stay at his house an hour's travel from Paris. It was nice to think that you would never dare to sit at his table in Chez Jeannette to have a drink with him. Lecoq, Jacques (1997). It's probably the closest we'll get. These movements are designed to help actors develop a strong physical presence on stage and to express themselves through their bodies. Kenneth Rea adds: In theatre, Lecoq was one of the great inspirations of our age. Lecoq viewed movement as a sort of zen art of making simple, direct, minimal movements that nonetheless carried significant communicative depth. What he offered in his school was, in a word, preparation of the body, of the voice, of the art of collaboration (which the theatre is the most extreme artistic representation of), and of the imagination. Lecoq believed that actors should use their bodies to express emotions and ideas, rather than relying on words alone. . 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. As a teacher he was unsurpassed. During World War II he began exploring gymnastics, mime, movement and dance with a group who used performance . This make-up projects the face of Everyman during the performance, which enables all members of the audience to identify with the situation. In 1956 he started his own school of mime in Paris, which over the next four decades became the nursery of several generations of brilliant mime artists and actors. Every week we prepared work from a theme he chose, which he then watched and responded to on Fridays. This exercise can help students develop their physical and vocal control, as well as their ability to observe and imitate others. This is because the mask is made to seem as if it has no past and no previous knowledge of how the world works. Alternatively, if one person is moving and everyone else was still, the person moving would most likely take focus. Repeat. Lecoq believed that this mask allowed his students to be open when performing and to fully let the world affect their bodies. Lecoq's emphasis on developing the imagination, shared working languages and the communicative power of space, image and body are central to the preparation work for every Complicit process. They can also use physical and vocal techniques to embody the animal in their performance. Throughout a performance, tension states can change, and one can play with the dynamics and transitions from one state to the next. H. Scott Heist writes: You throw a ball in the air does it remain immobile for a moment or not? His techniques and research are now an essential part of the movement training in almost every British drama school. Monsieur Lecoq was remarkably dedicated to his school until the last minute and was touchingly honest about his illness. as he leaves the Big Room It developed the red hues of claret, lots of dense, vigorous, athletic humps from all the ferreting around, with a blooming fullness, dilations and overflowings from his constant efforts to update the scents of the day. For me it is surely his words, tout est possible that will drive me on along whichever path I choose to take, knowing that we are bound only by our selves, that whatever we do must come from us. Thus began Lecoq's practice, autocours, which has remained central to his conception of the imaginative development and individual responsibility of the theatre artist. So the first priority in a movement session is to release physical tension and free the breath. This is the first book to combine an historical introduction to his life, and the context . Like a poet, he made us listen to individual words, before we even formed them into sentences, let alone plays. Larval masks - Jacques Lecoq Method 1:48. The influence of Jacques Lecoq on modern theatre is significant. To actors he showed how the great movements of nature correspond to the most intimate movements of human emotion. His desk empty, bar the odd piece of paper and the telephone. Lecoq's Technique and Mask. You can train your actors by slowly moving through these states so that they become comfortable with them, then begin to explore them in scenes. Let your arm swing backwards again, trying to feel the pull of gravity on your limbs. 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. The great danger is that ten years hence they will still be teaching what Lecoq was teaching in his last year. Brilliantly-devised improvisational games forced Lecoq's pupils to expand their imagination. 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. Jacques Lecoq always seemed to me an impossible man to approach. I cannot claim to be either a pupil or a disciple. Jacques Lecoq was a French actor and acting coach who developed a unique approach to acting based on movement and physical expression principles. Keeping details like texture or light quality in mind when responding to an imagined space will affect movement, allowing one actor to convey quite a lot just by moving through a space. Dressed in his white tracksuit, that he wears to teach in, he greeted us with warmth and good humour. Jacques was a man of extraordinary perspectives. He was the antithesis of what is mundane, straight and careerist theatre. Among the pupils from almost every part of the world who have found their own way round are Dario Fo in Milan, Ariane Mnouchkine in Paris, Julie Taymor (who directed The Lion King) in New York, Yasmina Reza, who wrote Art, and Geoffrey Rush from Melbourne (who won an Oscar for Shine). Tension states, are an important device to express the emotion and character of the performer. He challenged existing ideas to forge new paths of creativity. 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. He was interested in creating a site to build on, not a finished edifice. In the presence of Lecoq you felt foolish, overawed, inspired and excited. What idea? Shn Dale-Jones & Stefanie Mller write: Jacques Lecoq's school in Paris was a fantastic place to spend two years. Like a gardener, he read not only the seasonal changes of his pupils, but seeded new ideas. 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 only clarity, diversity, and, supremely, co-existence. Nothing! Jacques Lecoq obituary Martin Esslin Fri 22 Jan 1999 21.18 EST Jacques Lecoq, who has died aged 77, was one of the greatest mime artists and perhaps more importantly one of the finest. 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. We thought the school was great and it taught us loads. But Lecoq was no period purist. The documentary includes footage of Lecoq working with students at his Paris theatre school in addition to numerous interviews with some of his most well-known, former pupils. And besides, shedding old habits can also be liberating and exciting, particularly as you learn new techniques and begin to see what your body can do. 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. On the other hand, by donning a mask, the features of which were contorted in pain, downcast in grief, or exultant in joy, the actor had to adjust his body-language to that facial mood. However, rhythm also builds a performance as we play with the dynamics of the tempo, between fast and slow. Major and minor is very much about the level of complicite an ensemble has with one another onstage, and how the dynamics of the space and focus are played with between them. Another vital aspect in his approach to the art of acting was the great stress he placed on the use of space the tension created by the proximity and distance between actors, and the lines of force engendered between them. depot? This is the Bird position. [1] In 1937 Lecoq began to study sports and physical education at Bagatelle college just outside of Paris. Perhaps Lecoq's greatest legacy is the way he freed the actor he said it was your play and the play is dead without you. But this kind of collaboration and continuous process of learning-relearning which was for Marceau barely a hypothesis, was for Lecoq the core of his philosophy. However, the ensemble may at times require to be in major, and there are other ways to achieve this. The 20 Movements (20M) is a series of movements devised by Jacques Lecoq and taught at his school as a form of practice for the actor. The training, the people, the place was all incredibly exciting.