Performance Pod 210: Prof Ramsay Burt on Katherine Dunham
Professor Ramsay Burt thinks the African-American dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham’s work has been radically under-valued and under-explored. He talks about her life and work in the latest Performance Pod.
I wrote a chapter for Body and Performance (Ways of Being a Body), published by Triarchy Press. My chapter, ‘The Resilient Body’, is about using the Feldenkrais Method and related somatic approaches to cultivate awareness of the body’s natural resilience. The book includes a range of interesting material about embodied practice in performance. Check it out: http://www.triarchypress.net/body-and-performance.html
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Following the amazing recent success of the extraordinary theatre company Punchdrunk, I am applying to the Arts Council and various corporate sponsors for a couple of million pounds. This will pay for 100 skilled craftspeople to create an enormous, magical wood in a huge abandoned warehouse.
No expense will be spared in crafting perfect autumn leaves, moss and ancient oak trees, all bathed in a haze of perpetual moonlight.
During the performances, lucky participants will be invited to explore the amazing forest world before a live grizzly bear is released into space. Following one of history’s most famous stage directions to its logical creative conclusion, participants will quickly attempt to exit the building.
Anyone who succeeds in avoiding being mauled and eaten by the bear (a former student of Sanford Meisner at the Neighbourhood Playhouse) will win a luxury weekend break with an erotic marble statue of his/her choice.
Tickets will be auctioned at ludicrous prices to discerning buyers in secret and glamorous locations.
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http://www.hulltruck.co.uk/whats-on?action=view&id=639
Punctum at Hull Truck
My one man show show is on at the Hull Truck in May. It’s kind of a monologue, with chatting to the audience and a spot of movement/dance thrown in for good measure. I talk about Roland Barthes’ Camera Lucida, Walter Benjamin and the death of my father, all while making an egg-salad sandwich… so there’s something for everyone.
I am a sceptic, but I think James Thompson from the University of Manchester does a brilliant job advocating the work of Augusto Boal in the latest Performance Pod.
Theatre and Animals Performance Pod
A new Performance Pod is up: Lourdes Orozco from the University of Leeds discussing animals in contemporary performance.
Just after the final dress rehearsal last night, I remembered my Aikido teacher, Inaba Minoru Sensei, questioning how one might use budo (martial arts) against natural disasters. He was questioning what we were training for. I wondered if I would be happy if this was the last show I made. I wondered if the piece spoke meaningfully about my experience of the world – if it fought against my frustrations and attempted to communicate my deepest concerns. Thinking about that made me nervous. But I’m glad I did.
Campbell Edinborough 