Action Theatre (Ruth Zaporah)

Action Theatre is an improvisational performance technique developed by the American performance artist, Ruth Zaporah.[1] Action Theatre is defined by its focus on embodied awareness, the tracking of the present moment through sensory experience, and by a structured training that uses exploration to build the performer's 'formal dexterity and the ability to “listen” to oneself and one’s acting partners'.[2] This physical theatre technique is documented in Zaporah's 1995 book, Action Theatre: The Improvisation of Presence.[3]

Origin

Action Theatre evolved from the explosion of interdisciplinary performance in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s, which included Contact Improvisation performance groups and Anna Halprin.[4] Zaporah is described as one of the 'leading lights of the Bay Area's thriving experimental theater scene of the 1970s and '80s' and as a 'master teacher ... whose work blurs the edges between modern dance and mime'.[5] She trained in modern dance (with Merce Cunningham, Alwin Nikolais and Martha Graham) and participated in the theater and movement experiments of the '60s; it is said she 'embodies play that's dead serious'.[6]

Action Theater is a training technique and practice that Ruth Zaporah developed over a twenty year period in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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References
  1. Kourlas, G. (2011, October 31). Improviser With a Touch of “I Love Lucy.” The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/arts/dance/ruth-zaporah-at-danspace-project-review.html
  2. Morrow, S. (2011). Psyche meets Soma: accessing creativity through Ruth Zaporah’s Action Theater. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 2(1), 99–113. doi:10.1080/19443927.2010.543987
  3. Zaporah, R. (1995). Action Theatre: the improvisation of presence. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.ISBN 978-1556431869
  4. Morrow, S. (2011). Psyche meets Soma: accessing creativity through Ruth Zaporah’s Action Theater. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 2(1), 99–113. doi:10.1080/19443927.2010.543987
  5. Hurwitt, R. (2009, July 10). Date Lines: News from the Bay Area arts scene. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Date-Lines-News-from-the-Bay-Area-arts-scene-3226067.php
  6. Off the cuff: Ruth Zaporah proves that preparation isn’t always best. (2006, September 13). Sante Fe Reporter. Retrieved from http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/article-927-off-the-cuff.html


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