In my transcultural studies digital document I have included my research, creative journey and the final performance.
Mask research
Mask research
“Film actors have long recognised that a great deal of their innermost thoughts can be revealed through the minute changes in speed and rhythm that their bodies can portray. But on stage, this visual, physical understanding is so often ignored. People seen terrified of silence. And yet our world is filled with sound that is not text. The sound of a knife placed on a table, a chair scraped back, the distant hum of traffic or an approaching storm- all atmospheric, dynamic colour that contributes to our understanding of an event. And then silence can be used for what it is, a powerful tool, a dramatic punctuation mark.” (2007). The Mask Handbook. Oxon: Routledge, Page 29.
Firstly my original idea was to use a character that was influenced by the china doll. This character would be used with a china doll face and have an extraordinary costume, so beautiful that it would turn every bodies head. Firstly, the process had to begin by looking in to mask characterisation. I wanted to paint my face white with features that characterize china dolls. Contact lenses were one of the props that I looked into, as I wanted to create an entirely different character to myself. So I had to learn how to characterize the mask for a street performance. What is wonderful about mask is that there is a lot of work that is needed to allow the audience to perceive the character and understand its narratives without the terrifying silence. The audience is the key aspect and for manipulating the mask, in my case the paint and costume which is my mask, these ingredients needed for a successful performance would need to be carefully used and devised with movement, to draw in the full attentions of passersby.
It is important for the performer to work with their mask, from the beginning of their creative process, to help create a believable and realistic character, yet still allow the mask to be something out of the ordinary.
For me, the mask allows the performer to both create something which they are not, or portray something which they are.
Using the China Doll as a stimulus was a great choice for me, as it would allow me to explore mask, something which I have not done much of before, and combine it with dance, a discipline which I am extremely confident in and have practised several times before.
“The human eye can focus on only a very small area at one time- about a centimetre. Everything around it is out of focus. Therefore the eye flickers about taking in small amounts of detail. An audience will always focus their attention on the face of the performer, and in detail they will try and focus on his or her eyes. But in a mask in a mask the human eye is not seen, so our brains readjust to take in a slightly larger area of interest- the whole face. This widening of focus therefore makes the brain more aware of the neck and torso, and it is this awareness that leads the audience to connect directly with the masked actor, since it is principally the relationship between the head and torso that expresses the most in mask theatre. Small readjustments of the head, breath, suspensions in movement etc. all inform the audience of the characters innermost thoughts, as if the way that we carry our heads- the centre gimbal that is the neck joint, with its myriad of possible positions, enables the head-torso relationship to have a vast vocabulary at its disposal, in reaction to the speed and rhythm of its movement, and in spatial positioning.” (2007). The Mask Handbook. Oxon: Routledge, Page 31.
After researching a lot into mask work, and Iearning that the mask is the eye, small and more detailed movements were needed to slowly show the relationship between the head and torso. This is a process that all performers need to go through to make sure that they are creating the whole character, rather than just the face. For a solo masked character, it takes a lot more detail to achieve this, as the eye of the audience will be focused on one soul thing, the solo performer. They will only be adjusting to see the one figure and so a stronger amount of detail will need to be used.
I found the easiest way to widen my knowledge and research on mask was to wear a neutral mask. This allowed me to do whatever I wanted with my body, as the mask itself had no character. I was able to move about through the space, and still seem neutral, as my face was not telling a story. I found that even though my mask was neutral, I was still able to portray emotions with gestures alone. With the china doll idea, I immediately have a character without even trying. The mask itself will tell the audience how I move without me having to do a thing.
“Gestures that happen below the waist are usually offhand gestures, not important as they are far away from the centre of intellect, the brain. But if these gestures are strong gestures then become very earthy and animalistic- very sexual.”(2007). The Mask Handbook. Oxon: Routledge. page 50
“Gestures from the stomach area are truthful gestures- the gut reaction. They are warm and embracing, soft and motherly. But if you harden them up they become desperate for truth, with a yearning desperate quality.”(2007). The Mask Handbook. Oxon: Routledge. page 50
“Gestures from the chest are heartfelt and personal, pleading, often emotional.”(2007). The Mask Handbook. Oxon: Routledge. page 50
“Gestures from the face are sensual and sensuous, immediate and tactile. Think of the Italian gesture from the mouth.”(2007). The Mask Handbook. Oxon: Routledge. page 50
“Gestures from above the eyes to above the head are mad, wild, uncomprehending or exasperated. They are often jubilant or tragic.” (2007). The Mask Handbook. Oxon: Routledge. page 50
Having already learnt small parts of manipulation I found this process not so hard, but I was able to learn so much and strengthen my knowledge by reading books and using the internet for research. I knew that less is more and it was not about losing yourself. It was about being in control of the mask, and using that would help manipulate the character. It does not matter whether you have a strong ability to act and draw in an audience, but it is what you can do behind the mask, whether you have the ability to be the mask and being able to take in the surroundings, the atmosphere and the sounds around you.
“Work for yourself.” “Stay in your own private space.” “Use the space.” Libby Apperel (1982). Mask Characterization. USA. Page 6.
Movement
Movement was something which I knew I would have to work on to help create my china doll character, so I looked into how dolls move. I found a video on youtube which really helped me to understand the movements of dolls, and allowed me to look at how I could choreograph this performance. Below I have inserted the video which inspired me:
As I had already created a doll like performance before, in my first year of street arts, I felt that this idea was a good one to attempt. After a long while of having my character almost complete I had to begin making the costume, the only problem was I didn’t have enough time to complete the costume. Then after a long hard discussion and talking to Ashleigh, Chloe, jess, Zoe and Callum I had decided to take the opportunity to be a part of their puppetry group and postpone my china doll for a future performance. I would rather create something truly spectacular and small scale, than something of a large scale which I could never complete fully.
Because of the direction that the group were going down, for example, studying puppetry, it meant that I also had to research into puppetry, as I wasn’t too sure on it myself, and it was one of the main disciplines for the performance.
Catafly, research and it's process
This is an image from our rehearsal
When becoming a part of the Catafly I knew that not only did we have a lot of organising to do, but the process of making a puppet to fit on six of us was going to be a struggle. The creative process of making the puppet took time and lots of effort. But during the process I enjoyed the team work and I also began to understand that there are similarities between a puppet and a mask. We could use this to take over an audience’s imagination; we could make it into whatever we wanted. We could give it a personality that suited us and then it would then develop into a personality that would suit the puppet.
The idea was to create a caterpillar that transformed into a butterfly. We used to dome shaped pieces of foam to create the two halves of the circle, and then each made our own wings which we would then hold up behind the caterpillar body which would create the butterfly. Originally we wanted the foam to open up into the butterfly, but due to time, and after talking to Nigel, we realised that it wouldn’t be possible. It was fortunate that each of us had completely different looking wings as we were all able to portray different characters when we separated off into the butterflies.
“The elements that create rhythm in movement are regarded as its timing, its various embodiments of stress through manipulation of weight and force, and the fluidity or abruptness of the change from one thing to another.” V.P.Dunlop and A.S.Colberg (2002). Dance and the Performative. London: Verve Publishing. Page 92
We were going to need to rehearse frequently and work hard on the movement aspect, as this would be one of the trickiest parts in forming the performance. The upside to this hard job was that I had an understanding of the detail of movement as I already knew what gestures would work and why. However when we were devising, the movement we had often struggles with the speed and synchronisation. I and Callum were at the front of the Catafly and were in sync with each other, but as we could not see the other performers behind of us we couldn’t see that they were having problems with this. We had to realise that stepping all at the same time or in an order was just not working. We did not have the puppet complete so at some points this became an excuse, so when we did have everything finished the process was even tougher. We had to focus on the positioning of the arms and hands and focus on them at all times, but also on the group and how each of us were moving, so trying to walk in a tight pack together was practically impossible. We decided to compromise and use hand and arm movement s whilst being still and only using our feet and legs when we were walking.
“Embodiment of movement involves the whole person, a person conscious of being a living body, living that experience, giving intention to the movement material. It involves perceiving oneself in the space and hearing one’s sound, with kinaesthetic awareness of creating and controlling movement.” V.P.Dunlop and A.S.Colberg (2002). Dance and the Performative. London: Verve Publishing. Page 7.
After having African dance lessons, it also helped our group to understand tightness of movement and to help listen to each other. Our movements began to come together when we were working together and giving each other feedback. Sakoba, a company created by Bode Lawal, the dancer who came in to teach us African Dance, explained to us that African dance always tells a story.
I researched a bit into Bode Lawal and his company as I was interested in how they move together. I noticed that even though, sometimes they may not be doing the same movement, they still look like they are doing the same thing a telling the same story. Below I have inserted a video which I found, which showed me how well African Dance tells a story:
I think that Bode Lawal’s practise is transcultural as he mixes dance and music from different cultures, however he’s main focus is clearly on African Dance.
Given the time, I would have liked to create a story for the caterpillar, looking at its journey from caterpillar to butterfly, like African Dance does. It was just a shame that the time spent on the module, was not as much as I would have liked.
This is an image from the final performance
We were all feeling a slight bit nervous because we had not had enough rehearsals. If we could have had 2 more days we could have used that time to improve the Catafly walk some more, we could have also worked on the head of the Catafly and explored how we could used the head to interact to the fullest. I think that we achieved what we wanted to achieve but there was a lot more potential than we thought. Although, we did have a successful outcome and the audience seemed to enjoy the piece, it was made specifically for children and it most certainly pout smiles on their faces and this is how Catafly came to life.
Bibliography:
Books-
Francesca Castaldi (2006). Choreographies of African Identities. USA: Francesca Castaldi.
V.P.Dunlop and A.S.Colberg (2002). Dance and the Performative. London: Verve Publishing.
Valerie Preston-Dunlop (1998). Looking at Dances. London: Verve Publishing.
Libby Apperel (1982). Mask Characterization. USA
Karialu Welsh Asante (1994). African Dance. .: Karialu Welsh Asante
Central School of Speech and Drama (.). Puppetry into Perfomance.
(2007). The Mask Handbook. Oxon: Routledge
Websites-
www.youtube.com, Last accessed June 14th 2011
www.Google.com/images, Last accessed June 14th 2011
