Start off with some rib stretches. I'm on my stool, my bottom presented Marceau chose to emphasise the aesthetic form, the 'art for art's sake', and stated that the artist's path was an individual, solitary quest for a perfection of art and style. Special thanks to Madame Fay Lecoq for her assistance in compiling this tribute and to H. Scott Helst for providing the photos. Moving beyond habitual response into play and free movement, highlighting imagination and creativity, is where Lecoq gets the most interesting and helpful, particularly when it comes to devising new work. 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). 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. To meet and work with people from all over the world, talking in made-up French with bits of English thrown-in, trying to make a short piece of theatre every week. Jacques Lecoq - Wikipedia We also do some dance and stage fighting, which encourages actors to develop their use of space, rhythm and style, as well as giving them some practical tools for the future. In this country, the London-based Theatre de Complicite is probably the best-known exponent of his ideas. Instead you need to breathe as naturally as possible during most of them: only adjust your breathing patterns where the exercise specifically requires it. 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. Some training in physics provides my answer on the ball. We visited him at his school in Rue du Faubourg, St Denis, during our run of Quatre Mains in Paris. Lecoq's influence on the theatre of the latter half of the twentieth century cannot be overestimated. For me, he was always a teacher, guiding the 'boat', as he called the school. He was genuinely thrilled to hear of our show and embarked on all the possibilities of play that could be had only from the hands. There are moments when the errors or mistakes give us an opportunity for more breath and movement. The mirror student then imitates the animals movements and sounds as closely as possible, creating a kind of mirror image of the animal. Repeat until it feels smooth. So next time you hear someone is teaching 'Lecoq's Method', remember that such things are a betrayal. I have been seeing him more regularly since he had taken ill. Jacques was a man of extraordinary perspectives. For him, there were no vanishing points, only clarity, diversity and supremely co-existence. Seven Levels of Tension - Drama Resource For example, the acting performance methodology of Jacques Lecoq emphasises learning to feel and express emotion through bodily awareness (Kemp, 2016), and Dalcroze Eurhythmics teaches students. Dipsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona: La Escuela Jacques The Saint-Denis teaching stresses the actor's service to text, and uses only character masks, though some of Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Lecoq's guiding principle was 'Tout bouge' - everything moves. The breathing should be in tune with your natural speaking voice. I met him only once outside the school, when he came to the Edinburgh Festival to see a show I was in with Talking Pictures, and he was a friend pleased to see and support the work. Your arms should be just below your shoulders with the palms facing outwards and elbows relaxed. This is where the students perform rehearsed impros in front of the entire school and Monsieur Lecoq. We plan to do it in his studios in Montagny in 1995. When creating/devising work, influence was taken from Lecoqs ideas of play and re-play. He was not a grand master with a fixed methodology in which he drilled his disciples. [3][7] The larval mask was used as a didactic tool for Lecoq's students to escape the confines of realism and inject free imagination into the performance. [3], In 1956, he returned to Paris to open his school, cole Internationale de thtre Jacques Lecoq, where he spent most of his time until his death, filling in as international speaker and master class giver for the Union of Theatres of Europe. Philippe Gaulier writes: Jacques Lecoq was doing his conference show, 'Toute Bouge' (Everything Moves). Dipsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona; Tesis Doctorals; Tesis Doctorals - Departament - Histria de l'Art [1], As a teenager, Lecoq participated in many sports such as running, swimming, and gymnastics. He offered no solutions. After a while, allow the momentum of the swing to lift you on to the balls of your feet, so that you are bouncing there. However, the two practitioners differ in their approach to the . Repeat. The Animal Improv Game: This game is similar to the popular improv game Freeze, but with a twist: when the game is paused, the students must take on the movements and sounds of a specific animal. Jacques Lecoq was known as the only noteworthy movement instructor and theatre pedagogue with a professional background in sports and sports rehabilitation in the twentieth century. It would be pretentious of us to assume a knowledge of what lay at the heart of his theories on performance, but to hazard a guess, it could be that he saw the actor above all as the creator and not just as an interpreter. Required fields are marked *. He had a unique presence and a masterful sense of movement, even in his late sixties when he taught me. And if a machine couldn't stop him, what chance had an open fly? Dick McCaw writes: September 1990, Glasgow. While theres a lot more detail on this technique to explore, we hope this gives you a starting point to go and discover more. I remember attending a symposium on bodily expressiveness in 1969 at the Odin Theatre in Denmark, where Lecoq confronted Decroux, then already in his eighties, and the great commedia-actor and playwright (and later Nobel laureate) Dario Fo. Brawny and proud as a boxer walking from a winning ring. Lee Strasberg's Animal Exercise VS Animal Exercise in Jacques Lecoq. The fact that this shift in attitude is hardly noticeable is because of its widespread acceptance. In many press reviews and articles concerning Jacques Lecoq he has been described as a clown teacher, a mime teacher, a teacher of improvisation and many other limited representations. Like a gardener, he read not only the seasonal changes of his pupils, but seeded new ideas. Kenneth Rea writes: In the theatre, Lecoq was one of the great inspirations of our age. September 1998, on the phone. ), "Believing or identifying oneself is not enough, one has to ACT." As part of his training at the Lecoq School, Lecoq created a list of 20 basic movements that he believed were essential for actors to master, including walking, running, jumping, crawling, and others. Carolina Valdes writes: The loss of Jacques Lecoq is the loss of a Master. Think about your balance and centre of gravity while doing the exercise. Jacques Lecoq. Like an architect, his analysis of how the human body functions in space was linked directly to how we might deconstruct drama itself. This neutral mask is symmetrical, the brows are soft, and the mouth is made to look ready to perform any action. After the class started, we had small research time about Jacques Lecoq. He beams with pleasure: Tu vois mon espace! We looked at the communal kitchen and were already dreaming of a workshop, which would devote equal attention to eating and to working. This vision was both radical and practical. by David Farmer | Acting, Directing and Devising, Features. Acting Techniques: Lecoq with Sam Hardie - Spotlight Your email address will not be published. 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. By focusing on the natural tensions within your body, falling into the rhythm of the ensemble and paying attention to the space, you can free the body to move more freely and instinctively its all about opening yourself up to play, to see what reactions your body naturally have, freeing up from movements that might seem clich or habitual. [1] In 1937 Lecoq began to study sports and physical education at Bagatelle college just outside of Paris. L'cole Internationale de Thtre Jacques Lecoq, the Parisian school Jacques Lecoq founded in 1956, is still one of the preeminent physical training . I see the back of Monsieur Jacques Lecoq 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 will always be a great reference point and someone attached to some very good memories. Thousands of actors have been touched by him without realising it. The Animal Character Study: This exercise involves students choosing a specific animal and using it as the inspiration for a character. Other elements of the course focus on the work of Jacques Lecoq, whose theatre school in Paris remains one of the best in the world; the drama theorist and former director of the Royal Shakespeare . For the actor, there is obviously no possibility of literal transformation into another creature. His eyes on you were like a searchlight looking for your truths and exposing your fears and weaknesses. Contrary to what people often think, he had no style to propose. Through his hugely influential teaching this work continues around the world. Lecoq believed that mastering these movements was essential for developing a strong, expressive, and dynamic performance. 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. But there we saw the master and the work. Lecoq strove to reawaken our basic physical, emotional and imaginative values. The Mirror Exercise: This exercise involves one student acting as the mirror and another student acting as the animal. The animal student moves around the space, using their body and voice to embody the movements and sounds of a specific animal (e.g. This is the Bird position. This is the Bear position. The word gave rise to the English word buffoon. Jacques Lecoq: Exercises, Movements, and Masks - Invisible Ropes He had a special way of choosing words which stayed with you, and continue to reveal new truths. This teaching strategy basically consists of only focusing his critiques on the poorer or unacceptable aspects of a student's performance. Brilliantly-devised improvisational games forced Lecoq's pupils to expand their imagination. The great danger is that ten years hence they will still be teaching what Lecoq was teaching in his last year. London: Methuen, Hi,Oliver, thank you for you blogging, you have helped me understand Lecoqs work much much better ! No, he replied vaguely, but don't you find it interesting?. [4] The mask is automatically associated with conflict. Lee Strasberg's Animal Exercise VS Animal Exercise in Jacques Lecoq The actor's training is similar to that of a musician, practising with an instrument to gain the best possible skills. Workshop leaders around Europe teach the 'Lecoq Technique'. Enacting Lecoq: Movement in Theatre, Cognition, and Life | SpringerLink This book examines the theatrical movement-based pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq (1921-1999) through the lens of the cognitive scientific paradigm of enaction. Repeat and then switch sides. Lecoq's wife Fay decided to take over. Through his pedagogic approach to performance and comedy, he created dynamic classroom exercises that explored elements of . I am only a neutral point through which you must pass in order to better articulate your own theatrical voice. He was certainly a man of vision and truly awesome as a teacher. But the most important element, which we forget at our peril, is that he was constantly changing, developing, researching, trying out new directions and setting new goals. Jackie Snow is head of movement at RADA. David Glass writes: Lecoq's death marks the passing of one of our greatest theatre teachers. Lecoq was a pioneer of modern theatre, and his work has had a significant influence on the development of contemporary performance practices. The clown is that part of you that fails again and again (tripping on the banana peel, getting hit in the face with the cream pie) but will come back the next day with a beautiful, irrational faith that things will turn out different. L'Ecole Jacques Lecoq has had a profound influence on Complicit's approach to theatre making. These exercises were intended to help actors tap into their own physical instincts and find new ways to convey meaning through movement. He taught us to be artists. Lecoq did not want to ever tell a student how to do something "right." While Lecoq was a part of this company he learned a great deal about Jacques Copeau's techniques in training. Compiled by John Daniel. 7 Movement Techniques for Actors. Jacques Lecoq, born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting . We then bid our farewells and went our separate ways. Lee Strasberg's Animal Exercise VS Animal Exercise in Jacques Lecoq 5,338 views Jan 1, 2018 72 Dislike Share Save Haque Centre of Acting & Creativity (HCAC) 354 subscribers Please visit. I was very fortunate to be able to attend; after three years of constant rehearsing and touring my work had grown stale. He received teaching degrees in swimming and athletics. 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? In the workshop, Sam focused on ways to energise the space considering shape and colour in the way we physically respond to space around us. For the high rib stretch, begin with your feet parallel to each other, close together but not touching. Lecoq's Technique and Mask - Some thoughts and observations Observation of real life as the main thrust of drama training is not original but to include all of the natural world was. We thought the school was great and it taught us loads. The mask is essentially a blank slate, amorphous shape, with no specific characterizations necessarily implied. People can get the idea, from watching naturalistic performances in films and television programmes, that "acting natural" is all that is needed. The excitement this gave me deepened when I went to Lecoq's school the following year. So the first priority in a movement session is to release physical tension and free the breath. Help us to improve our website by telling us what you think, We appreciate your feedback and helping us to improve Spotlight.com. Lecoq believed that actors should use their bodies to express emotions and ideas, rather than relying on words alone. And from that followed the technique of the 'anti-mask', where the actor had to play against the expression of the mask. [9], Lecoq wrote on the art and philosophy of mimicry and miming. 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. August. PDF KS3/4 - Rhinegold [4] The expressive masks are basically character masks that are depicting a very particular of character with a specific emotion or reaction. Focus can be passed around through eye contact, if the one performer at stage right focused on the ensemble and the ensemble focused their attention outward, then the ensemble would take focus. The Moving Body by Jacques Lecoq - Goodreads We sat for some time in his office. The communicative potential of body, space and gesture. Monsieur Lecoq was remarkably dedicated to his school until the last minute and was touchingly honest about his illness. Your email address will not be published. - Jacques Lecoq In La Grande Salle, where once sweating men came fist to boxing fist, I am flat-out flopped over a tall stool, arms and legs flying in space. Lecoq also rejected the idea of mime as a rigidly codified sign language, where every gesture had a defined meaning. This text offers a concise guide to the teaching and philosophy of one of the most significant figures in twentieth century actor training. 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. The aim of movement training for actors is to free and strengthen the body, to enliven the imagination, to enable actors to create a character's physical life and to have at their disposal a range of specialist skills to perform. We use cookies where essential and to help us improve your experience of our website. Jacques Lecoq. They will never look at the sea the same way again and with these visions they might paint, sing, sculpt, dance or be a taxi driver. Lecoq surpassed both of them in the sheer exuberance and depth of his genius. His approach was based on clowning, the use of masks and improvisation. All quotes from Jacques Lecoq are taken from his book Le Corps Poetique, with translation from the French by Jennifer M. Walpole. Great actor training focuses on the whole instrument: voice, mind, heart, and body. Try some swings. Shn Dale-Jones & Stefanie Mller write: Jacques Lecoq's school in Paris was a fantastic place to spend two years. Lecoq is about engaging the whole body, balancing the entire space and working as a collective with your fellow actors. The use of de-construction also enables us to stop at specific points within the action, to share/clock what is being done with the audience. 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. It was nice to think that you would never dare to sit at his table in Chez Jeannette to have a drink with him. Keep balancing the space, keep your energy up Its about that instinct inside us [to move]. 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. Required fields are marked *. He clearly had a lot of pleasure knowing that so many of his former students are out there inventing the work. Lecoq viewed movement as a sort of zen art of making simple, direct, minimal movements that nonetheless carried significant communicative depth. 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. It was amazing to see his enthusiasm and kindness and to listen to his comments. 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. During the 1968 student uprisings in Paris, the pupils asked to teach themselves. He believed that everyone had something to say, and that when we found this our work would be good. Stand up. [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. 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. 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. After all, very little about this discipline is about verbal communication or instruction. And it wasn't only about theatre it really was about helping us to be creative and imaginative. Repeat on the right side and then on the left again. As part of this approach, Lecoq often incorporated animal exercises into his acting classes, which involved mimicking the movements and behaviors of various animals in order to develop a greater range of physical expression. He emphasized the importance of finding the most fitting voice for each actor's mask, and he believed that there was room for reinvention and play in regards to traditional commedia dell'arte conventions. Summer 1993, Montagny. Jacques, you may not be with us in body but in every other way you will. Allow opportunities to react and respond to the elements around you to drive movement. Bring Lessons to Life through Drama Techniques, Santorini. To release the imagination. They contain some fundamental principles of movement in the theatrical space. Introduction to Physical Theatre | Theatre Lab There can of course be as many or as few levels of tension as you like (how long is a piece of string?). He was equally passionate about the emotional extremes of tragedy and melodrama as he was about the ridiculous world of the clown. This is supposed to allow students to live in a state of unknowing in their performance. 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. I am only there to place obstacles in your path, so you can find your own way round them.' He saw them as a means of expression not as a means to an end. Last of all, the full body swing starts with a relaxed body, which you just allow to swing forwards, down as far as it will go. In that brief time he opened up for me new ways of working that influenced my Decroux-based work profoundly. Through exploring every possibility of a situation a level of play can be reached, which can engage the audience. He enters the studio and I swear he sniffs the space. Shortly before leaving the school in 1990, our entire year was gathered together for a farewell chat. I have always had a dual aim in my work: one part of my interest is directed towards the Theatre, the other towards Life." 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. [8], The French concept of 'efficace' suggesting at once efficiency and effectiveness of movement was highly emphasized by Lecoq. He was best known for his teaching methods in physical theatre, movement, and mime which he taught at the school he founded in Paris known as cole internationale de thtre Jacques Lecoq. Whether it was the liberation of France or the student protests of 1968, the expressive clowning of Jacques Lecoq has been an expansive force of expression and cultural renewal against cultural stagnation and defeat. He turns, and through creased eyes says He believed that to study the clown is to study oneself, thus no two selves are alike. [1] Lecoq chose this location because of the connections he had with his early career in sports. Like a gardener, he read not only the seasonal changes of his pupils, but seeded new ideas. He was born 15 December in Paris, France and participated and trained in various sports as a child and as a young man. Reduced to this motor, psychological themes lose their anecdotal elements and reach a state of hightened play. Start to breathe in, right down inside your ribcage, let your weight go on to your left leg and start lifting your left arm up, keeping your arm relaxed, and feeling your ribcage opening on that side as you do. Allow your face to float upwards, and visualise a warm sun, or the moon, or some kind of light source in front of you. Jacques Lecoq, born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting instructor. Pursuing his idea. This process was not some academic exercise, an intellectual sophistication, but on the contrary a stripping away of superficialities and externals the maximum effect with the minimum effort', finding those deeper truths that everyone can relate to. 29 May - 4 June 2023. In life I want students to be alive, and on stage I want them to be artists." When your arm is fully stretched, let it drop, allowing your head to tip over in that direction at the same time. Lecoq's Technique and Mask. with his envoy of third years in tow. Not mimicking it, but in our own way, moving searching, changing as he did to make our performance or our research and training pertinent, relevant, challenging and part of a living, not a stultifyingly nostalgic, culture. 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. Acting Technique, Jacques Lecoq and Embodied Meaning But acting is not natural, and actors always have to give up some of the habits they have accumulated. Magically, he could set up an exercise or improvisation in such a way that students invariably seemed to do . Jacques Lecoq was a French actor and acting coach who developed a unique approach to acting based on movement and physical expression principles. Everything Moves - Jacques Lecoq, 1921-1999, A Tribute But to attain this means taking risks and breaking down habits. In a time that continually values what is external to the human being. Lecoq believed that this would allow students to discover on their own how to make their performances more acceptable. 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.