Week 9: T&L and Dance Flashcards
Theatrical Thinking vs Dramaturgical perspective
Theatrical Thinking: social behaviour as dramatic performance
“All the World’s a stage” –men/women are characters, have their exits/entrance, one man plays many parts
Dramaturgical perspective: social life as theatre and performance
“All the world is not, of course, a stage, but the crucial ways in which it isn’t are not easy to specify.”
The devices of stagecraft
STATIC: setting, costumes, props
DYNAMIC: posture, gestures, manner of speaking
Impression Management
When an individual plays a part, he implicitly
requests his observers to take seriously the
impression that is fostered before them. They are
asked to believe that the character they see
possesses the attributes he appears to possess, that
the task he performs will have the consequences
that are implicitly claimed for it, and that, in general,
matters are what they appear to be.
Front & Back Regions
Front: performance space
Back: where performers can relax their front persona b/c no audience is present
EX: Restaurant
front –where serving customers
back –kitchen, can relax, have a smoke
Everyday Role Playing (3)
Scripts:
Protocols of interaction
EX =>Restaurant: ”how many today?”; “where would you like to be seated?”
Friends and foes:
We are the protagonist in our own life’s tory
- Friend enablers
- Antagonist obstacles
Misrepresentation:
Licensed (acting—value this misrepresentation b/c aware of it) vs unlicensed (imposter –person who pretends to be a doctor when the patient believe they are)
- License –mutual awareness
- Unlicensed –not that mutual awareness
Dramatic Acting MAWA
Acting is an art-specific function
Double consciousness (2)
Double consciousness for the AUDIENCE:
Real world –where actor exists
Storyworld –where character exists
Perceiving the Actor <=> Perceiving the Character
Double consciousness for the ACTOR:
Being the actor <=> Being the Character
How does an actor get into character? (2)
Gestural acting:
Externalize the character thru mimicry of their gestures
“OUTSIDE-IN”
- EX: facial expression, low tone, slumped body language
Psychological acting:
Internalize the character thru self-identification
“INSIDE-OUT”
- EX: sympathize with the character and their emotions
Dance Characteristics
The coordinative arts: arts of interpersonal coordination
- Synchronize movements with others
Dance can also be related to pantomime (narrated performance) and narrative dance & mime theatre (acted out performance)
- Group rituals
- Reciprocity
- Behavioural coordination
Dance as a group DISPLAY behaviour
2 parallel systems for coordination
Dance: The body
A group moving as if w one body
Music: The voice
A group speaking as if w one voice
Coordination in SPACE vs TIME
Coordination in SPACE:
* Spatial patterns
* DANCE
Coordination in TIME:
* Entrainment
* DANCE & MUSIC
The 4P’s of Dance
1) Patterning –movement of single dancers/of the group
2) Pacing—timing/rhythm
3) Partnering –social interaction in a group of 1 or more ppl
4) Person –role playing, impersonation
Person–>Patterning–>Partnering
Patterning & Partnering –>Pacing
Bipedalism
Bipedalism preceded the emergence of stone tools and the expansion of brain size
Dates back ~4 millions yrs ago (predates stone tools by 1.5 million yrs)
Bipedalism in humans is unique locomotor style among all living mammal
Why did humans evolve to bipedalism?
Freeing the hands for carrying
Energy efficiency
Did bipedalism emerge in terrestrial or arboreal environment? (2 Hypotheses)
Savannah hypothesis (terrestrial model): mass deforestation leads to massive open planes –developed to move thru these spaces on 2 feet, not going thru trees
Postural feeding hypothesis (arboreal model): reaching for food in high
Anatomical features associated w bipedalism
Head sits on top of vertebral column
Vertebral column sits over the pelvis
Rib cage is flatter and broader
The thigh bones are angled inward (centre of mass over the feet)
The knees are closer to the midline
The human foot is a platform. The ape foot is a grasping organ from climbing trees.
Bipedalism and Dance
Laterality Effects
1) There is a right-leg bias for initiating locomotion
2) There is a right-foot bias for kicking a ball
3) There is a left-leg postural preference
4) There is a slight left bias for turning
Bipedalism creates an _____ _____ rhythm
Bipedalism creates an intrinsic duple rhythm.
- Duple rhythm =2 beat rhythm
It is a rhythm that is felt.
It is also heard: the sound of locomotion produces body percussion
Movement Patterns of Dance (egocentric vs allocentric)
Egocentric space: the kinesphere
- Core is fixed, what I can reach with arms and legs in a fixed spot
Allocentric space: path of movement
- Moving throughout space
Flexion Extension at joints
Joint angle gets smaller when flex; larger when relax
Classifying Dance (4)
Active vs fixed body parts in a dance
- Ballroom: wrist is fixed; flamingo: wrist is active
Functional joints
- Flamingo –wrists and fingers
- Tango—move your hips
Body trajectory
- Linear
- Rotation
The energy
- Tempo (speed)
- Articulation –steps more smooth vs steps more disconnected
Every dance consists of a sequence of: (3)
Movement patterns
That are done in time
Often times to a musical beat
Intra vs Inter-individual coordination
Intra-individual coordination:
- Synergies
- Intra-limb
- Inter-limb: bimanual (playing a piano –coordination b/w 2 hands), bipedal (walking)
Inter-individual coordination:
- Interpersonal synergy (2 partners in a dance –holding each other, the other becomes part of your body -extension of your arm)
Stance vs Swing Phase
Movement of Arms
Stance vs swing phase of walking (one leg in stance, one leg in swing for each step)
Stance phase: extension –leg is extended
Swing phase: flexion –leg is bending
Countermovement of the arms:
Right leg forward, left arm forward
Left leg forward, right arm forward
