Análisis comparativo de la gramática corporal del mimo de Etienne Decroux y el análisis del movimiento de Rudolf Laban.

Abstract

The aim of the following PhD thesis is to define the common elements and principles of corporal grammars created by RUDOLF LABAN and ETIENNE DECROUX and to prove to what extend they can be related to the corporality’s field of the XX’s Century’s theatrical renovation._x000D_ The thesis is focuses on corporal grammar and movement analysis on stage and therefore at a pre-expressive level focus on the technique’s construction. I have taken Theatrical Anthropology as conceptual framework for my thesis; it studies the pre-expressive human being’s behaviour in a situation of organised representation. Theatrical Anthropology studies the extra-everyday use of body-mind, what we call technique._x000D_ Theatrical Anthropology has focused on the transcultural analysis of different techniques and has been able to isolate some returning-principles that applied to the weight; the balance and the use of the vertebral column produce pre-expressive physical tensions. These principles and tensions have been fundamental to explain my comparative analysis between the Corporal Mime and LABAN’s Movement Analysis._x000D_ This thesis is a comparative analysis consisting in several chapters:_x000D_ - To contextualise the work performed both by LABAN and DECROUX, I wanted to analyse the changes through which the performing arts have underwent during the XX Century. Changes that stem from the exhaustion of models of the XVIII and the XIX Centuries. One of the most important characteristics of this change is the realization of the importance of corporality on stage._x000D_ - A chapter in which I summarise the life and work of ETIENNE DECROUX and a synthesis of the Corporal Mime grammar._x000D_ - A Chapter in which I summarise the life and work of RUDOLF LABAN and a synthesis of the Movement’s Analysis System created by him. I have not deepen so much in this summary as in the Corporal Mime because I believe that LABAN himself synthesised_x000D_ the foundations and basic concepts of his system in the books: The mastery of movement3 and Modern Educational Dance4._x000D_ - A chapter in which I compare DECROUX’s Corporal Mime Grammar with LABAN’s Movement’s Analysis System._x000D_ To develop the research I have consulted a large bibliography, in addition to LABAN’s and DECROUX’s manuscripts. I have also consulted works of reference on each of the masters and also on the corporal languages created by them. I have also taken into account more generalist works, related with the theatrical renovation of the beginning of the XX Century, and focused on the corporality on stage. I have also done some research through Internet that has provided me information._x000D_ Consulting living sources has been essential to my research; thanks to people who work on DECROUX Corporal Grammar and LABAN’s Movement Analysis has enabled me to complete my thesis with outstanding inputs and different points of view. Furthermore, I would like to highlight the importance of my personal experience learning Dramatic Corporal Mime in the training and creation centre Moveo in Barcelona._x000D_ As an appendix of my PhD thesis I have included complementary information and I believe that it can help the comprehension of LABAN and DECROUX’s work; a vocabulary in which I include the basic terms of DECROUX’s Corporal Grammar and another referring to LABAN’s Movement Analysis basic terms and a series of exercises created by LABAN, DECROUX and some of his students and collaborators.

Date of Award	21 Nov 2013
Original language	Spanish
Supervisor	Lluís Masgrau Peya (Director)