Body and movement : ponders about physicality in theatre

Abstract

This thesis is a study about human body, gestures and movements. Especially I'm interested in how we use our body to create expressions in performing arts and in physical theatre. The starting point to this was to discover my own interest in movements and physicality as a performer -how much do we express ourselves through body language?

The study will start from the physical body and how gestures and movements grow into us through the environment. I will also present some basic movement studies made by Jacques Lecoq. From the movement study I will move to physicality in theatre and to physical theatre. In the end I will make a small presentation of four theatre traditions which can be called physical theatre; mime, mask, clown and bouffon.

The most relevant source materials include my own learning journal (2014-2015) and books from Jacques Lecoq; Theatre of Movement and Gesture (1987) and The Moving Body (1997), Rudolf Laban; The Mastery of Movement (1980) and Helen Thomas; Dance, Gender and Culture (1993).