Research Paper By: Sujith Vigneshwar.
Film/Theatre Director|Writer|Actor| Acting Coach.
The research indicates how actors alter their consciousness to higher level during time of performance, and how actor training systematically facilitates that alteration. Thus I direct my enquiry in to analyzing how during performance the actor physical energy alters from his daily level of distribution. For the purpose of my research I take kathakali and Koodiyatom as a model of performance, as the training process of these performances is highly codified.
In order to evaluate the energy practices I need to explore a range of practical and theoretical aspect, both Indian and western related to the actors training, primary to establish what my research is contributing to this field. I refer to the practical aspect of actor training and acting in order to examine how physical actions enhance energy inside body, and I identify theoretical methodologies as the predominant approach in previous comparable studies
Pre-expressivity
Eugenio Barba’s theatre anthropology is the study of the pre-expressive scene behaviour upon which different genres, styles, roles and personal or collective traditions are all based. The term anthropology is not used in the sense of cultural anthropology but refers to a field of investigation in to the pre-expressive behaviour of the human being in performance. From his analysis of the performance among cross-culture traditions. Barba identified some of the rearing principles common to performance across various cultures and disciplines and devised performers in to two categories..North pole performers and South Pole performers and then identified the relevant performance for both. The terms that barba coined are essentially related to physique and its physicality he does not directly address the issues related to actor’s consciousness. However, a second reading of some of his principles suggests subtler implication of such principles on the actors consciousness.
DAILY AND EXTRA DAILY
Daily and extra daily is the first theory that Barba postulates in his effort to analyse performance; the rest of the principles he proposes as governing performance are based on this fundamental principles. His observation of the northpole perfomers, mimers of the detrox school and also those from Asian tradition reveals that they possess a quality of energy that draws the spectators onwards them. Even when they are involves in giving a technical demonstration as he explains
“The body is used in a substantially different way in daily life than in performance situation. In this context, technique is conditioned by culture, sound status and profession. There exist a different body technique it is therefore possible for possible to distinguish between a daily technique and extra-daily technique.”
He explains that daily techniques are rather unconscious and functional and that the extra-daily techniques do not respect the habitual conditioning of the use of the body. Also the daily body techniques generally follow the principles of minimum effort that is obtaining. A maximum result with a with a minimum expenditure of energy. Extra daily techniques on the other hand are based on the wasting of energy. Daily techniques can be culturally specific whether people walk with or without shoes or whether they kiss with their nose or lip for intense.diffrent from the incredible body of a character, extra daily techniques literally put the body in to form, rendering it critical artistic but believable.
It is noticeable that barba infact does not define extradaily, all he says is that he derived this dichotomy of daily and extra daily from two words that the Indian doctrine sanjukta panigrahi said him, lokha dharmi means daily life and natyadharmi means behaviour in dance. These two terms are found in the natya sastra.when bharatha the author of this fact explains rasa as he says lokhadharmi and natyadharmi there are two dharmis as remembered. Later in the natya sastra bharatha details what lokadharmi and natyadharmi are.
1) Only normal or ordinary activities of our lives.
2) That which is devoided of any beautification of physical action (the series of the physical movement as normally found in Indian perfomace).
3) Expressing only the performers own thoughts and not of a character.
PRESENCE OF AN ACTOR?
WHAT IS CALLED THE PRESENCE OF AN ACTOR?
The concept of presence is found over and over in Barba’s writing. Though he does not clearly describe what presence is, it can be understood as a quality of the performer’s body that is changed with energy. Presence is also used to donate the readiness of the performer or that quality in him which makes a making impact on the audience.
Barba’s findings, through from the perspective of an on lookers, are highly significant for various reasons. Primarily these were the first of their kind in the genre of performance studies. Secondly most of these are derived from his close interaction with eastern performers. But most importantly these are closely related to the questions addressed by consciousness studies in terms of the actor and consciousness. Barba often leaves some of his terms inadequately explained presence and pre-expressivity for instance.barba’s terms some time are parallel to those of schecner’s pre-expressivity.but at the same time barba’s form mark a stark difference to that of shechner is based firmly in the methodology of cultural anthropology through anthropological in nature does not borrow terminology from anthropology: on the other hand it is nessesrly performance based.
Finally in this section I examined the approach to actor’s consciousness particularly from the perspective of theatre practitioners Stanislavski and grotowisky. Arthaud is another name that is important from a consciousness studies. Perspective but he has not developed any actor training method comparable to Stanislavski and grotowisky’
The actor’s consciousness from the perspective of theatre practitioners.
In this section I am looking at the actor training methods developed by Stanislavsky and grotowiski mainly because of emphasis on taking acting to higher level of consciousness.
Stanislavski system is largely aimed at reaching the subconscious mind in order to tap the reservoir of our imagination. This is to allow the actor to feel and live the character as fully as possible every time he she portrays the character.Stanislaviski is not aware of or with the higher level of consciousness in acting. However Sharon maire carnike argues that stasnislaviski influenced by his knowledge of yoga, imagines communication as the transmitting and receiving of rays of energy. Much like psychic radio waves, our berating put us in touch with these rays. With every exhalation, we send rays. With every exaltation, we send rays out in to the environment and with every inhalation, we receive energy back in to our bodies. Note the stress on the relation between breathing and rays of energy. Later Arthaud considered theatre as a fright full transfer of force from body to body.
Stanislavski argues in the context of the non-verbal communication of the subtext (described as anything that a character thinks or feels but cannot put in to words.)And states very clearly that actors communicate subtext through body language, the cast of eyes in to-nations and pauses.
Stanislavski appeals to his actor to improvise on situations that involve naturally silent moments in their effort to refine the non verbal communication. The importance here is on the meditative quality an actor should develop that contributes to his pre-expressivity, a transitory level which is beyond the subconscious.
Grotowiski
Grotowiski did not believe in teaching actors acting techniques which he considered mere bags of tricks that block the actor’s true expression poor theatre, also known as via negative aims to eradicate the blocks. Rather grotowiski demands that the actor sacrifices himself completely to the theatre.grotowiski considered this as the integration of all the actors psyche and bodily powers which emerge from the most intimate layers of his being and his instincts in a sort of transmutation.
Grotowiski’s theatre laboratory considered the care of the theatre to be the personal and scene technique of the actor. He believes that theatre existed in the direct communication or flex between actor and spectator. The avoiding of dichotonomy was a very important aspect of grotowiski’s production. Theatre was necessarily a journey in to one’s own self in to the truth of life and a process in which what is dark in us slowly become transparent.
All these positions imply a sacred element in Grotowiski theatre. He appeals to his actor to be holy a type of secular saint to accomplish an act of self-penetrate spectators for Grotowiski were equally part of the process. He expected them to have spiritual needs and expected them to always analyse themselves through the performance. In this sense spectators also will expected to be holy.
The psychological and spiritual level of actor training.
The psychological level of actor training has been the paradigm for the past hundred years. The modes of training we have today are as varied as the number of actors. They range from the inward centered “Method,” to the outer directed Miesner technique, from psychological methods, such as Michael Chekhov’s psychological gesture, to physical ones as developed by Meyerhold, Artaud, Grotowski, or Bogart, to the psycho-physical techniques as proposed by Bella Merlin in her book The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit. “All conscious systems in the field of acting,” Grotowski said, “answer the question, ‘How can this be done?’” Actor training, then, becomes a continual struggle of the actor to reveal his/her inner spirit so that he/she might transform the spectator. Historically, the theatre has been re-inventing itself over and over again. At the turn of the 20th century, the traditional constraints against showing feeling were being questioned. Freud’s discovery of the psyche opened a previously closed door. With the emergence of the field of psychology, Realism, and the Stanislavsky “system” in the late 1800s, acting and actor training began to evolve in a new direction. For the past hundred years, actor training has delved deeply into the psychological, archetypal, metaphoric, social, and symbolic levels of acting. However, there is a growing movement in the world today for a deeper spiritual connection, a desire for consciousness and awakening to a higher level of awareness. I believe this call of spiritual longing is in actors; that the next step in the evolution of acting and actor training is to address that call. I believe the mission of actors today is to transcend the Psycho-physical Actor training in order to reach the spiritual while at the same time including the best of what has gone before. What I propose is not new. It is old knowledge seen anew. Today, actors are trained in body work, voice work, and various methods for connecting to themselves, their characters, and their partners.
Every actor develops a set of tools to use for his craft no matter what technique he trains in, and every actor’s toolbox is as unique as the actor himself. The physical training helps release tension, removes blocks, and physical restrictions. Many theorists such as Michael Chekhov, Artaud, and Grotowski believed that through the physical we attain the spiritual. The psychological level of actor training delves into relationship dynamics, character development, actions based on the desires of a character, and script analysis. These methods help actors gain understanding and insight into symbolic and archetypal meaning.
Energy and energy practices are not foreign to the process of acting. The roots of modern acting can mostly found in our traditional art forms but in a way it was not specified. As a researcher, for me the transmission of energy is a bridge between the world of reality and the world of creation.
I would like to make a distinction here between psychological and spiritual levels, specifically for actor training. A general definition of psychological is mental or emotional as opposed to physical in nature, while the spiritual means pertaining to the spirit or soul. Spirit is the essence of who we are. When we talk about a spiritual level, we are asking, “How is this in service to Spirit, to my soul?” One definition of Spirit is “that which transpires behind that which appears.”
We can also define Spirit as consciousness. It is our consciousness, our spirit, our soul that decides the meaning in the Where action and awareness merge, destroying a dualistic perspective: a performer becomes aware of his action but not of the awareness itself. The more conscious we are, the more we can hold a container for Spirit to move through us. How does this serve to help the world become more awake, more conscious? More importantly, what does this have to do with acting and training actors? Few of the current techniques actively, openly, and concretely engage Spirit and spirituality in the dialogue. I surmise that, of the various acting techniques mentioned above, Spirit and spirituality are seen as a by-product. I do not want to infer that any of these methods should be thrown away or in any way pushed aside for something else to emerge. Each of these techniques is viable and creates the space to allow Spirit to come through. I am asking, can we use whatever method works for us and then actively and consciously engage Spirit and spirituality with it? Can we be present to Spirit in ourselves, in our training, and on stage? If we bring acting and actor training to the level of energy, what happens? Does it deepen our connection to ourselves, our partners, our character, the play, and the audience?
My journey started towards the energy practices started when I have interaction with sreenath Nair and Ramesh verma; two well know theatre practitioners concentrating in keralan traditional training methods.
I was inspired by how deeply and powerfully these practitioners connected to the students in a very short period of time. The message I took from these meeting was, “What would I do as an actor? How do I want to build energy to my acting?” I hoped to find a method of training that would allow my peers to become shamans in acting. In teaching basic acting processes, I had struggled with Dr. Sreenath Nair as a guide and teacher. I asked, as many others have, “Where’s the heart? Where does that authentic self come into play? How do you bring ENERGY to acting? How does practice help students bring their authentic selves to the stage?” Our Authentic Self is our innate, authentic,
The basic principles of “going after a want”, “what’s your objective”, “overcoming an obstacle”, creating “beat objectives” for every line of text kept so many of my peers locked in their heads that it produced acting “from the neck up”. If the goal of a beginning acting class is to teach students how to “play an action”, then, when actors arrive, we need to find a way to get them to give up their belief that there is a roadmap to acting, a set of steps outlined for them. They need to give up the belief that all they need to do is learn those steps and they will know how to act. Martha Graham says, “There is vitality, a life force, energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one you in all this time, this expression is unique.”Michael Chekhov, in his book To the Actor, said that the actor and the audience are in co-creation and that to attempt acting requires “a certain openness to the great forces of the universe”. I believe acting is a spiritual pursuit and, as actors, we are shamans, a spiritual conduit for the workings of God, Creator, and Spirit. Whatever we want to call the life force of the Universe, I believe that through acting we tap into that invisible force and acting then becomes spiritual practice. Although some actors, teachers, and theatre technicians acknowledge that acting can be a spiritual practice or experience, there is still a lot of emphasis on psychological/metaphoric/symbolic methodology in modern actor training. With this resonance, actor training can become result-oriented instead of process-driven, which can make it difficult to include the spiritual. In looking at this, I discovered I had been throughout the rest of this paper, I will use the term “energy” to mean whatever your image or concept for a universal life force is. In Chinese philosophy, it is called Chi, a life-force and energy that flows through all things both animate and inanimate. This is a comparable idea to Native American philosophy. compartmentalizing two areas of my life: my acting self and my research self When I asked, “What is my part in the evolution of theatre,” I brought together my two greatest passions, my love of acting and my love towards exploring new sources in energy concept. Spirituality belongs in acting and actor training. We can use spiritual practices and physical training to bring both acting and actor training to the level of Spirit.
Does the spirit to performance means energy?
To find a way to include mental training and physical training in acting and actor training,
I set out to explore the questions: Does any type of energy is building during the process of training actors or was post training process build energy in actor?
Can actors actively engage the spirit of energy in both training and performance in acting and actor training?
- Can acting be spiritual practice?
- As modern day actors, can actors bring the energy without training through a character and a play? Is it helpful, needed, and valuable?
If we use Keralan form of practices in our acting work? How does one combine it to a modern character, to them work, and the traditional methods of actor training in concrete, practical ways? Symbols of specific kinds of energy we are manifesting and aligning with in our lives. Characteristics and activities of these totems reveal much about our own innate powers and abilities as well as what we have denied or buried about ourselves. By studying the totem, we are able to call upon its arche typed energy whenever needed. How can that then be applied to the dramatic action in a text? If we can find a dynamic way to connect to our self through the use of energy practices does that have value to us as actors?
To explore this content.
I designed a workshop to test the efficacy of using energy practices with non trained actors and how the few students felt with their experience during the workshop and I lived the above questions on a weekly basis.
The workshop was held over the course of five weeks, meeting twice a week for three hours each night. The first week involved exercises on basic kalari movements and yoga practice and “observation”; the second week on “relationship” to self, others, characters; in the third week, “given circumstances”; the fourth week “dramatic action”; the fifth, our presentation To this structure I applied the question, what would it look like with spiritual elements and meditation added? Does it enhance the energy level of an actor? The dramatic text I used to experiment with in this process was bhasas “oorubhangam”.
I wanted them to express their thoughts, ideas, and any significant experiences they had had in that journal. I also gave them questions to write about after each session, as well as homework, which I called “heart-work” the exercises we used to explore this new work, what we found, and the participants’ reactions as we moved through this process.
I use the term “Heart-work” because it helps remind the participants to engage their hearts and authentic selves as well as their intellectual, academic minds. I briefly include my responses to what I was going through personally as a researcher of this work. As an art form evolves, it takes previous knowledge and includes the best it has within the next level. With the emergence and refining of the field of psychology, the evolution of the modern theatre has followed that path for the past hundred years or so. Actor training has grown in archetypal, symbolic, metaphorical traditions. We are on the cusp of the next evolution of acting. Through this project, I will illustrate a spiritual and meditative approach to deepening our understanding of evolution, relationship
Dynamics and conflict within the dramatic action of a text in actor training. Among the benefits of drawing a parallel between the actor and the energy is the need for a simple awareness of a deeper self and how to open this self up to an audience on the stage to create empathy and truth. Can we as actors hold the physical, psychological, metaphoric, archetypal levels as well as the spiritual? Can we be the container for energy in our acting and allow energy to move through us?
I liken the journey of an actor to the journey through energy practises. If we adopt the premise that actors are, that actors connect on many levels simultaneously, then through our personal connection to motivation, acting and actor training becomes more of internal practice, like that of the applying physical training in to the different souls. The energy is the “stimulator of the collective imagination, the one who makes sense of experience and puts into perspective the lives and deaths of his community. This is also the contemporary role of the artist today.”
We, as actors, let go and surrender in the moment to the desires of the character, allowing our thoughts, our authentic self to guide us. This then allows a deeper connection with our partner, which allows us transformation, our partner’s transformation, and the audience’s transformation. It is the truest form of what Stanislavsky called Communion.
The Actors Consciousness.
Indian approaches to actor training and acting with particular reference to kathakali and Koodiyattom. I have discussed and analyzed the different aspects of actors training and consciousness from a western perspective found a range of philosophical and theoretical approaches but considering the practical aspects was limited. Parallel to this the traditional Indian approach to actor consciousness as expected as explored and argued is conventional. Indian scholarship also needs to be examined here in order to set a complete picture of this complex enquiry. Along with the theatrical discussion of traditional Indian scholarship in this context am also examining the actor training and acting conventions of kathakali and koodiyattom to a great detail.
BODY TRAINING
Body training of kathakali and Koodiyattom are quite similar in practice it comprises of three important elements. Posture training, body strengthening exercises (jumps, various stretches etc) gesture training. The most important aspect of physical training is the basic posture of kodiyattom.the bend knee posture while applying breath on the spine. Posture training is initially started by standing close to one wall and body pressing against it. Also practiced during the early morning hours, the student stands keeping approximately half a foot distance his feet distance and turning them out ward. And also bend knee posture; approximately there is one to one and a feet distance between the floor and the knees.
Sometimes the master keeps a stick between the knees so that they do not come any closer and the teacher squats in front of the student and extend his arms. Focused training with perseverance and concentration for long years is required for training the body if a performer for being able to perform vigorous movements requiring physical stamina and emotional concentration. More over it is easier to mould a performer to the required level of proficiency if the apprentiship is stated at a young age. Basically because this is the age when students are quick in learning new skills through they might cultivate a deeper understanding of them only at a later age.
The practice of starting physical training at a very early age is a unique future of most of the Indian performance forms and martial arts traditions. Early years of any person are ideal for beginning any performance training. More over it is easier to mould a performer to the required level of proficiency if the apprentice is started at a young age when students are quick in learning new skills through they might cultivate a deeper understanding of them only at a later age. The characteristic of a performing body are thus inscribed in the physique of an Indian performer in a highly systematic way at a age.
Koodiyattom training is also started at a very young age.Traditionally, a chakyar and a nangyar girl are indicated to training at the very early age of 7 or 8 and an actor becomes an actor by birth in the sense that they are not offered a choice to decide otherwise. According to the duties and rites of their cast acting is tough to be mandatory or dharma for them. Traditionally the young students were initiated by their guru who was ideally a close relative and under took eight to ten years of training coupled with occasional performance opportunities.
EGO AND SELF OF AN ACTOR
The quest for identity.
Who are we? What is the self behind the mind? Sensory impressions rely on our sensory instruments, the eyes ears and other sense organs. Similarly emotions and thoughts rely upon our mental instrumentality-the mind. The thoughts itself is an instrument if knowing, such instruments require a subject who operates them, just as a microscope or telescope depends up one who uses them. The field of thought is a median thought which our subjectivity works. Behind all three layers of consciousness intelligence and mind, there is a sense of self that determine their action. All thoughts rest upon the thoughts of self.
All of our thoughts refer back to our own identity. All that we do depends upon who we understand ourselves to be. The key to understanding the mind and how it works is to know our selves. However, who were much deeper than what we think, or society tell us what we are.just as most of our potential consciousness is unknown to us, so most of our potential –self identity. When ultimately includes the entire universe is not known though. This ignorance of our time self is the basis of all our problems in life, whether psychological or spiritual. As we examine the mind and how it works, we are led to the deeper issue of the self and who we are.
Actor-ego-the separate self.
What human problem can we not easily solve if no one’s ego is involved? Ego is the root of our entire social and how can we deal with it? Is egoism an inevitable part of human nature that cannot be changed, or is there a way to transcend it? Ayurveda tells us that, however deep-seated the ego may be it is not our true nature. Our true self stands above all mental and physical forms and conditions, and is ever detached, free and aware. The ego arises from the I thought!!
The stands behind all other thoughts” whatever thoughts of I or self for it to exist. Ego introduces the principle of division, through which consciousness is fragmented and strife become possible. It keeps the subject aspect of our being (self) trapped in some objective from our quality. Various bodily sensations or mental state in which there is change and sorrow.
Ego is the primary function of consciousness directed externally. It brings about the entirety out ward development of consciousness through the mind and body which is all fragmentation of the mind. Everything we do is based on the self and its motivation.ego persuades all levels of consciousness and all the bodies of the soul, which require a self –sense for their function. Normally we only know the physical or walking ego. But subtler levels of our nature have their respective ages that allow for their various activities.
Energy and ego
Ego relates to the heavy matters that accumulate in our consciousness and so has an energy of inertia(thamas).it relates to Apana vayu or the downward moving prana that brings about disease and decay.ego drives us to fragmentation and ultimately to self distruction,unless we learn how to control it. Its energy is negative or entropy, and leads to eventual loss of energy.
The three main layers of the mind-consciousness, intelligence and sense-mind-function between ego or false self, on one side and the true self on the other. Their actions vary according to the direction in which they are oriented. Directed towards the self, their higher functions emerge.
Directed towards the ego and external world, their higher potential remains latent and they conflict with one another. Consciousness (chitta) is closer to the self, while the sense –mind (Manas) is closer to the ego. Intelligence (budhi), which is placed between them, is the key factor in how we orient our awareness. Because of its capacity for descesive perception, intelligence has a power of spiritual transformation greater than either the sense –mind or deeper consciousness. It can empty consciousness of its conditioning and control the sense-mind.it can question the ego and discriminate between the lower and the higher self.
True intelligence discerns our higher self-identity that leads to our true nature. This is the identity of consciousness, not the self image awareness to the field of consciousness as a whole by the upward and inward movement of intelligence. The soul works through the higher aspect of intelligence, which is its development of the mental field according to the light of truth. The true self awakens when we bring our or ego which depends for its being upon an object or quality.
For the next six month I will be concentrating in to the psychological and physical techniques of non trained actors through a series of workshops implementing the basic training techniques of kalari, kathakali /koodiyattom and yogic meditation. As the subject itself need a lot of time to research and study the findings in my research might be a scattered due to the vastness in the subject. Though the study is leading to a development in the process of training techniques and I have some good connections and growth in the study I am trying to make the implementation part to put up in a production so that I can get an idea how it works in the real scenario.
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