{"id":525,"date":"2017-05-10T17:55:47","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T17:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/15\/?p=525"},"modified":"2023-06-03T07:59:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T07:59:28","slug":"presence-significance-and-radiation-in-acting-creating-the-psychophysical-foundation-for-working-on-chekhovs-atmospheres1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/15\/presence-significance-and-radiation-in-acting-creating-the-psychophysical-foundation-for-working-on-chekhovs-atmospheres1\/","title":{"rendered":"Presence<\/em>, Significance<\/em> and Radiation<\/em> in Acting: Creating the Psychophysical Foundation for Working on Chekhov\u2019s Atmospheres[1]<\/sup>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sol Garre<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n

Approaching Acting Theory, Practice and Professional Knowledge<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do actors learn to act? How do they cultivate their ability to create tangible characters? How do they radiate presence and significance on stage? These are some of the questions that I have been asking myself over the past twenty years of teaching and coaching actors. In this essay, I explore how Chekhov\u2019s principles of\u00a0radiation\u00a0<\/em>and atmospheres<\/em> can be used to work on the actor\u2019s presence on stage. Presence<\/em>, significance<\/em> and radiation <\/em>were three concepts identified by Chekhov when introducing the Staccato<\/em>\/Legato<\/em> movement exercise.<\/p>\n

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Manuela Morales in\u00a0Gestos para Nada<\/em> (Gestures for Nothing<\/em>). Director: Sol Garre.\u00a0The production featured fourteen individual performances of the fourth-year movement-based theatre acting students at RESAD, in 2013. Similarly to the pictures in an art exhibition, the production was an invitation to follow a series of territories, atmospheres and presences.
Manuela\u2019s picture was entitled La Ducha<\/em> (The Shower<\/em>). Texts from Pablo Neruda (Sexual Water<\/em>) and Dario Fo (The Rape<\/em>).
Photo: Ernesto Serrano. Courtesy of RESAD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staccato<\/em>\/Legato<\/em> is a foundational exercise that helps the actor develop a deeper kinesthetic awareness of body-in-space through directed and purposeful movement, and the coordination of breath and voice. Practising Staccato\/Legato <\/em>awakens in the body a deeper connection to surrounding space that is both sensorial and imaginary, and which prepares the actor for Chekhov\u2019s Atmospheres<\/em>, a technique for creating fictional but tangible spaces in the world of the play. My goal is to introduce into this essay these three main concepts, as Michael Chekhov did in his own practice in the 1930s, and, also, to illustrate how these three concepts have been transformed after practice into concrete, tangible experiences through which actors can articulate their acting.<\/p>\n

The approach to acting that I have developed through my career brings together two very different techniques: Michael Chekhov\u2019s psychophysical technique, which emphasises using one\u2019s imagination instead of the affective memory of method acting, and the actor training developed by Phillip Zarrilli, which draws on the principles and practice of yoga and martial arts. As an actor, these two approaches became the foundation of my personal technique, as well as the lenses through which I view the work of others.<\/p>\n

With my students in the physical theatre branch at the conservatory Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dram\u00e1tico de Madrid<\/em> (RESAD), I began to document and research this integrated practice, in order to understand why these two approaches worked so well together in performance. My words here reflect on the personal knowledge my students and I have derived from this practice, and examine how that knowledge has been acquired (Garre 2003, 2013). I believe this practice may open the perspective from where an actor may look at the imagination in her acting work.<\/p>\n

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Claudia Gir\u00e1ldez in\u00a0Asfixia<\/em>, RESAD, 2005. A research-project led by Sol Garre in RESAD with five acting students. This practice-based research was also part of Garre\u2019s PhD documentation, a first attempt to combine and introduce psychophysical training
and Chekhov\u2019s techniques into performance. A devised piece was finally produced for the students\u2019 graduation.
Photo: Ernesto Serrano. Courtesy of RESAD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staccato\/Legato<\/em><\/strong>: Three Concepts in One Exercise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Staccato\/Legato<\/em> has its origin in Rudolf Steiner\u2019s Eurythmy. The exercise consists of doing a series of lunges in six principal directions: right\/left, up\/down and forward\/backward. Each sequence is repeated several times, with the individuals in the group working together in unison. The sequences of the lunges are performed in two different ways: staccato<\/em> and legato<\/em>. Performing the lunge in staccato<\/em> involves doing rapid, explosive movements in which each new direction is clearly separated from the next, thus creating the effect of a slight accent. Legato<\/em> lunges flow slowly and smoothly, without any interruptions between directions. By contrasting the staccato<\/em> and legato<\/em> qualities of their physical movements, actors become aware of the energy or internal force of the movement, while it is being executed. By doing this exercise, actors reinforce their awareness of movement in space through the projection of gesture and voice\u2014they say out loud the name of the direction, \u201cright\u201d . . .\u00a0 \u201cleft\u201d . . .\u00a0 \u201cup\u201d . . . , etc., as they release their bodies into each lunge.<\/p>\n

When teaching this exercise to his students, Chekhov defined the three main concepts I mentioned earlier: presence<\/em>, significance<\/em> and radiation<\/em>. He refers to the degree of visibility, purpose and luminosity that the actor achieves while acting in a state of inspiration. By becoming aware of radiating meaning through her presence, the actor nourishes the appropriate mental\/psychological state that is necessary for acting. He further explains that through the practice of presence<\/em>, significance<\/em> and radiation<\/em>, the actor prevents the appearance of gratuitous movements and actions, the \u201cunnecessary \u2018dancing\u2019 business on the stage\u201d (Chekhov 1939: S1\/21).<\/p>\n

Through training in Chekhov\u2019s psychophysical exercises such as Staccato<\/em>\/Legato<\/em>, the actor develops an expanded awareness that allows the emergence of presence<\/em>, significance<\/em> and radiation<\/em> in the moment of performance. These three tangible aspects of acting come together to recreate a corporeal psychology that is expressed through the body, voice and imagination of the actor. Chekhov\u2019s assistant, Deirdre Hurst Du Prey, recalls how he often emphasised that the purpose of his method was to cultivate a creative and personal relationship with the material the actor works with (19). For Chekhov, this cultivation was essential for the actor\u2019s professional identity as an artist.<\/p>\n

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Sof\u00eda Cruz in\u00a0Gestos para Nada<\/em> (Gestures for Nothing<\/em>), RESAD, 2013. Director: Sol Garre.\u00a0Sof\u00eda\u2019s picture was entitled
El Columpio<\/em> (The Swing<\/em>). Texts by Sof\u00eda Cruz, a devised piece based on autobiographical material about Cuban migration.
Photo: Ernesto Serrano. Courtesy of RESAD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How Does Chekhov Develop the Professional Identity of the Actor? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Chekhov begins this process of cultivation by focusing on the actor\u2019s attitude towards her own body. It is true that many young and inexperienced actors have body image issues: some are overly critical, whilst others are too vain. Chekhov\u2019s answer to this was to develop sensibility and objectivity related to the pleasure of the body in movement. This process is gradually learned over time through three phases:<\/p>\n

In the first phase, the actor distinguishes between the subject (\u201cI\u201d) and the object (\u201cmy body\u201d). The body can transform on the stage because the actor\u2019s relationship to it is not an ordinary \u201csitting in the body\u201d (Chekhov 1939: S1\/9), as if the body were \u201clying lazily and heavily on the earth\u201d (2000: 58), but rather the body is an active tool which depends on the actor\u2019s will to remain vibrant and present on stage.<\/p>\n

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Julia Nicolau in\u00a0Gestos para Nada<\/em> (Gestures for Nothing<\/em>), RESAD, 2013. Director: Sol Garre. Julia\u2019s autobiographical project was entitled Bloqueo<\/em> (Blocked<\/em>). Photo: Ernesto Serrano. Courtesy of RESAD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the second phase, the actor learns to enjoy \u201chaving a body\u201d with which to express all kind of emotions. Thus, the actor nourishes the relationship of her body to what she is doing and experiencing (the dramatic action and her emotions) whilst performing, and this allows her to discover a certain distance between herself and what she does.<\/p>\n

Finally, the third phase turns \u201chaving a body\u201d into \u201cI am a body.\u201d In fact, here Chekhov eventually reduces this \u201cI am a body\u201d to a further, and more essential, notion of \u201cI am.\u201d This is an expression of being which can be found in the Hindu practices of yoga and meditation and which points to a total unity of body and mind in a nondualistic bodymind. For Chekhov, the result of developing this \u201cI am,\u201d this integrated feeling of one\u2019s awareness and body as centred and present on stage, is that actors become \u201cartists in the highest sense of this word\u201d (1939: S1\/9).<\/p>\n

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From left to right: Jeungsook Yoo, Sol Garre and Tray McConnell. Summer intensive psychophysical training
in Tyn-y-Parc CVN Kalari\/Studio, West Wales, 2011. The elephant<\/em>, an animal pose in Kalarippayattu<\/em>,
South Indian Martial Art. Photo: Kaite O’Reilly. Courtesy of Phillip Zarrilli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Actor\u2019s Experience of \u201cI am\u201d: Presence<\/em>, Significance<\/em> and Radiation<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to understand this sense of \u201cI am,\u201d Chekhov suggests the Staccato\/Legato<\/em> exercise to examine what he called \u201cpsychological\u201d presence<\/em>, by first embodying and then abandoning a way of being present to oneself as an actor while doing the exercise (1939: S1\/21). It is not about expressing presence to the audience, but, instead, about the feeling of being present (or dropping of that feeling) to oneself and with others. Chekhov says: \u201cDo not imitate with your body this presence on stage\u2014it is very wrong and kills our inner life when the body tries to replace the functions of our spirit\u201d (Chekhov 1939: S1\/21).<\/p>\n

Following this practice of modulating \u201cpsychological presence,\u201d Chekhov develops what he calls radiation<\/em>: the ability to be both present and to radiate that presence until they become just one and the same thing (Chekhov 1939: S1\/21). For Chekhov, \u201cthere is nothing within the sphere of our psychology which cannot be radiated\u201d (Chekhov 1953: 12).<\/p>\n

Finally, both presence<\/em> and radiation<\/em> lead us to the notion of significance<\/em>: \u201cIf we are present on the stage, if we are radiating, we are significant without trying to persuade<\/u> the audience that we are significant\u201d (Chekhov 1939: S1\/21; originally underlined). Here, significance<\/em> does not mean doing something extraordinarily meaningful in order to convince the audience of the importance of what is being done, but rather it is the realisation that, when actors are present for themselves and for the audience, they are able to suggest meanings (for further understanding of this term, see also Chekhov 1985: 129). Therefore, being present, radiating and being significant happens through<\/em> the awareness of feeling and sensation, and does not require any excess effort. It is the awareness of the sense \u201cI am\u201d being aware of itself.<\/p>\n

For me, the fact that the psychological aspects of acting are being essentially related to becoming present on stage has several implications in theatre practice and teaching actors. To begin with, the term \u201cpsychophysical\u201d is so much more than the simple correspondence between the physical and psychological manifestation of emotions, or the psychological traits and the physical features of the character. Rather, Chekhov describes a specific \u201cattitude\u201d the actor has toward her own work, which supposes an expansive and empathic artistic awareness that looks beyond the quotidian, away from the fears and biases of daily life. More than once, Chekhov describes this attitude towards what is being performed as emanating from a higher realm of human consciousness. This \u201cI am,\u201d concludes Chekhov, can only be achieved through concentration and a harmonic and integrated bodymind.<\/p>\n

<\/u>The Actor\u2019s Experience of Being Present: A Question of Awareness <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Claudia Gir\u00e1ldez in\u00a0Asfixia<\/em>, RESAD, 2005. Claudia\u2019s research theme was \u201cTrying to be in two places at the same time.\u201d
Photo: Ernesto Serrano. Courtesy of RESAD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Phillip Zarrilli\u2019s approach to bodymind training focuses on cultivating the experience of energy in the body through breathing and movement, which helps the actor to be present on stage. When practising the fixed movement sequences of yoga, tai chi and the South Indian martial art, Kalarippayattu<\/em>, the actor is already working on techniques that will be recognised and further developed through Chekhov\u2019s Staccato\/Legato<\/em> exercise.<\/p>\n

The actor manages her attention during each movement in the sequence, remaining centred, balanced and concentrated for as long as necessary until the action is completed. She discovers and controls the energy of each impulse in an effective way, as it unfolds in a concrete time and space. Lastly, through concentration, she keeps her attention focused, both internally and externally, at all times. She focuses some of her attention on her breathing, whilst also following the direction of the movement as it unfolds. She also develops an \u201coutside eye,\u201d a sense of what the others see as she acts. She directs her awareness both inwardly and outwardly at the same time, in a kind of intersubjective state or dialectical commitment (Zarrilli 2009:96). The way to achieve such a state of consciousness is through practice, through repetition, perseverance and time. The actor needs time to listen to the sensations that breathing awakens in the body, that the moving body generates in relation to the space and that this concrete living space recreates in the body.<\/p>\n

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Jeungsook Yoo and Sol Garre (front), Victor Ramirez Ladr\u00f3n De Guevara and Claire Lindsay (back). Summer intensive psychophysical training in Tyn-y-Parc CVN Kalari\/Studio, West Wales, 2011. Beginning the Vanakkam<\/em>, a breath and movement coordination sequence in Kalarippayattu<\/em> training.
Photo: Kaite O’Reilly. Courtesy of Phillip Zarrilli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Therefore, an actor\u2019s awareness of her own presence is related to her capacity to receive and remain open to her perception of space and the sensations that the body discerns in relationship to space. This capacity eventually evolves over time, through a process of discipline and training that is a continuous repetition of principles and goals. Through ongoing training, the actor needs to allow herself the time to really understand how to use and experience the principles of presence<\/em>, significance<\/em> and radiation<\/em> in performance. In time, the actor\u2019s ability to perceive this bridge between imagination and perception, between body and space, begins to nurture in her a confidence in her creative capacities, since she can fully articulate with self-awareness and purpose whatever she wishes to communicate on the stage.<\/p>\n

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Sol Garre training in Kalarippayattu<\/em>, working with weapons: short stick. Summer Intensive at Tyn-y-Parc CVN Kalari\/Studio, West Wales, 2011. Photo: Kaite O’Reilly. Courtesy of Phillip Zarrilli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Atmospheres<\/em><\/strong>: Communicating with the Audience <\/strong><\/p>\n

The atmosphere is what impacts the movement and imagination of the actor. However, it is also being affected by the actor\u2019s presence and behaviour on stage. A strong ambience can seem ineffable and transcendent and, at the same time, be a real palpable quality of space for both the actor and the audience. The atmosphere is the way an actor fills the dramatic space with her imagination, making it a real and meaningful space.<\/p>\n

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From left to right: Juan Ceacero, Cristina Cerezo, Ivana Heredia, Miguel de Miguel and Claudia Gir\u00e1ldez in Asfixia<\/em>, RESAD, 2005. Director: Oscar Miranda. Movement director and research: Sol Garre. Photo: Ernesto Serrano. Courtesy of RESAD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A synergy of presence<\/em>, significance<\/em> and radiation<\/em> is being developed both in Zarrilli\u2019s training and in the Staccato\/Legato<\/em> exercise. It stands upon the students\u2019 growing spatial and corporeal awareness, the same awareness that will root their exploration of Chekhov\u2019s technique of Atmospheres<\/em>. They begin by doing a series of movement improvisations and compositional tasks in order to grasp that tangible quality of an essence, or emotional tone, which penetrates the space of the performance. They imagine a layer of air surrounding them, so that they can explore the sensory world of the play. Placing their awareness outside themselves\u2014up, down, front, back, right, left, all around\u2014opens them up to a palpable experience of Atmospheres<\/em> as a meaningful relationship between the imagination, the body and the space around them.<\/p>\n

Moving into Practice: Garc\u00eda Lorca\u2019s Blood Wedding<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Two preliminary improvisations that may help the actor towards their own exploration of the play, its atmosphere and their acting are outlined below. These movement improvisations consist of doing simple tasks, such as walking, standing and creating, or transforming, spatial relationships. Eventually, students will apply everything they have explored in their training towards the concrete creative process of staging Garc\u00eda Lorca\u2019s Blood Wedding<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The first improvisation is built on an exercise that I learned from David Zinder (2002: 64). The actors start walking slowly through the space, gradually increasing tempo and peaking in a run, before gradually decreasing tempo and coming to a complete stop. Together they explore their pacing, paying attention to their use of weight, gravity and strength through four basic qualities of movement: molding (heavy with muscle opposition), flowing (heavy but smooth), flying (light and unopposed) and radiating (light but strong). Once the actors can articulate these qualities of movement and their control of tempo, I lead them through their process of applying this work to the creation of concrete atmospheres. For the actors, the surrounding air is substantial and has specific qualities. Actors perceive these qualities, but now they do so as \u201coutside\u201d themselves, as if the surrounding air had density and moved with its own particular strength and quality. It is not about imitating but rather about relating to these qualities, being affected by them. The question is how this knowledge is being transferred into their own relation to space, the use and the sense they make of inhabiting it.<\/p>\n

The second improvisation starts with The Flow<\/em> exercise, from the SITI Company\u2019s Viewpoints<\/em> training (Bogart 2005: 66). The Flow<\/em> introduces different points of awareness, based on certain spatial and temporal premises. This exercise evolves towards free improvisation, while still emphasising spatial relationships and composition patterns. Eventually, the actors fully commit to what they are doing in the here and now, deepening their sense of spatial and temporal composition. They awake a keen sense of both creating and doing at the same time, enjoying the continuous flow of creativity. It is then that images come into play, once the actors are immersed in the continuous flow of improvisation. In such a state, the actors\u2019 awareness becomes extraordinarily expansive and they feel free to play with anything that emerges from their imagination. Different dynamics and physical sensations evoked by their imagination become the source of their working material (text or action) at each coming moment. The atmosphere is the tool with which each actor explores the sensorial world of the play, transforming the surrounding air into a rich and creative \u201cdramatic\u201d substance. The actor is imagining the play when embodying the sensations that arise from its physical places, concrete scenes or characters in the here and now.<\/p>\n

The actor\u2019s discovery of Garcia Lorca\u2019s Blood Wedding<\/em> begins by working with the senses and movement in space, whilst improvising. The stage becomes a real instrument for the actor. By limiting their options of movement within the framework of improvisation, the actors are able to experience the power of the images in the atmosphere around them. They notice how images alter their relationship with the space, their movement, the other actors and the audience. They do not think about how to create a pre-supposed atmosphere of Lorca\u2019s play: it is happening in the here and now, evolving through the spatial relationships being created. Through her imagination, the actor creates an \u201cin-between\u201d reality that necessitates its own experience. Sounds, colours, smells, light, temperature, places, substances, etc., multiple sensations appear and intermingle with spatial awareness, providing new possibilities for action. Awareness of space becomes a conductor of creative responses. The actor learns to make the dramatic stage concrete, to articulate movement and presence through space, thanks to sensorial and perceptual information.<\/p>\n

Video<\/h6>\n