Presentness: Developing Presence Through Psychophysical Actor-Training

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dc.contributor.advisorLevin, Laura
dc.creatorRavid, Ofer
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-15T20:29:09Z
dc.date.available2014-07-15T20:29:09Z
dc.date.copyright2014-03-24
dc.date.issued2014-07-09
dc.date.updated2014-07-09T16:54:17Z
dc.degree.disciplineTheatre and Performance Studies
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractAbstract There is a variety of understandings of the notion of presence in theatre and performance studies as well as in the field of actor-training. Presentness, an aspect of presence, is the experience of the emerging here and now as shaped by the performer’s psychophysical engagement with his or her surrounding. It is, thus, a tangible aspect of presence that can be enhanced and developed through training. Presentness developed through training is an acting skill although it does not necessarily determine how actors act in terms of style or form. Rather, techniques of presentness are meant to develop and fine-tune the actor’s instrument as a psychophysical whole that can be used for any style and type of acting. This dissertation examines processes of developing presentness in the practice of three prevalent psychophysical acting techniques in North American actor-training: Viewpoints, Suzuki, and Lecoq. It is based on three years of practice-based research as participant and observer in various training sites with these techniques. Building on detailed descriptions of practiced moments accompanied by interviews and conversations with practitioners and teachers, various emerging manifestations of presentness are exposed to make a complex and deep understanding of this term. Using Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology alongside theories from the emerging field of cognitive neuroscience grounds the experiential accounts of ephemeral processes within concrete existing constructs of motility, perception, and cognition.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/27660
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectTheateren_US
dc.subjectPerforming artsen_US
dc.subjectPedagogyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsPractice-based researchen_US
dc.subject.keywordsTheateren_US
dc.subject.keywordsPerformanceen_US
dc.subject.keywordsActor-trainingen_US
dc.subject.keywordsPresenceen_US
dc.subject.keywordsPsycho-physical acting techniquesen_US
dc.subject.keywordsEmbodimenten_US
dc.subject.keywordsPhenomenology of actingen_US
dc.subject.keywordsCognitive studiesen_US
dc.titlePresentness: Developing Presence Through Psychophysical Actor-Trainingen_US
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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