Art Science Studies

Artistic Foundations And Basic Principles Of German Expressionist Theatre And Film Direction

2023-03-02T15:17:15+04:00

The creation of artistic principles of expressionism and its formation as a modernist movement began in the early 20th century. Profound socio-political shifts in Europe, which resulted in the irreversible events of World War One and other revolutionary transformations, laid the basis for the emergence and development of a new artistic movement. Expressionism originates from German poetry and art. It utilizes various creative forms to depict the catastrophic feeling of the end of the world, the collapse of humanism, and the loss of individualism amongst humans trapped in a chaotic, soulless, and impersonal society. At this moment, the artist preserving his own 'I' becomes a priority. Who, in his works, depicts tragic faces, the crisis of an upcoming century, and the conflict between the individual and the mass. Where the sole hero left alone confronts a hostile, faceless crowd. Sharp epochal socio-political changes had a significant impact on contemporary artistic thinking, which was unevenly manifested in different fields.

Expressionists, furthermore, strengthened the role of the stage director. They emphasized the unusual kind of creativity used in the directive process. In their perspective, the director is a free and independent creator and sort of a stage demiurge. Richard Weichert wrote in this regard that ‘The director’s task from now on is to implement the author’s idea, make his visions clear, become a mouthpiece for his ideas, or even take on the role of his lawyer. Only he can direct the performance as he was able to penetrate the holy essence of play; He is assigned the role of a mediator between the author and the performer; He is no longer a detached observer, but an artist whose imagination and sensibility can alter the imagination into reality, henceforth from now on he becomes a full-fledged stage demiurge.’

What are the tasks of the director-expressionist? He denies the naturalistic principle of an embodiment of action and psychology. He attempts to understand the true essence behind the play, to distinguish the major themes of the work, and the main motive (Groundmotiv), and to highlight not only the development and sequence of the events themselves but the leitmotif within them.

Expressionists believed that it is the director’s task to convey the contents of the performance as perfectly and expressively as possible. To cause it to directly touch the viewer’s feelings, to emphasize all components of the staging (acting, scenery, elements of broad impact on the viewer), through which they will become the ultimate bearers of certain ideas. Expressionist directors of naturalist and impressionist poetics used all available means, to destroy the illusion of reality. However, they were doing so in diverse ways, pursuing a common goal.

The theatric direction of German Expressionism had a considerable influence on the German cinematography of the time. Experimental approaches to spatial and artistic solutions are widely seen in German Expressionist cinematography, which at the time begins a new stage of development and shares the artistic principles and ideological and stylistic features of expressionism. Film directors such as F. Murnau, R. Vines, G. V. Pabst, and F. Lang bring expressionism to the screen through the depiction of mortifying, sometimes morbid, and depressed faces. Although the theatre was honored for this innovation, some critics believe that such nature of movie production has its uniqueness and inherent independence.

Both modern and classical plays were equally perceived by the directors, as a means to identify contemporary challenges and issues. Apart from rejecting the traditional perception of classical dramaturgy, expressionists disapprove of the usual naturalistic stage decorations. English director Edward Gordon Craig, as a prominent representative of the artistic branch of symbolism, offered tragic symbolic constructions of geometry. This was later continued within the conditional German theatre of expressionism.

German expressionistic film of the 1920s combines the reality of living with theatric abstraction, plays with symbols, and forms its authentic style. After the period of ‘Caligarism’ (the 1910s) passed, where the directors were fascinated by the mystics of human existence and fantastic stories, the film industry was introduced to the period of ‘New Expressionism’ (1920s-1930s). Detail, symbol, concentration on a hero - all these remain. Nevertheless, the director now is not attracted to the mysticism of the surroundings, but to the secrecy of everyday life, in which an ordinary person lives and dies, where the protagonist still disputes a hostile reality.

In expressionist cinematography, based on its specific abilities, the importance of the actor’s role in the overall creative process significantly increases. The expressionist actor, as already mentioned, is no longer a center of action in the performance; rather is one of the expressive means of the director. According to the very concept of expressionism, the hero is separated from the world, the directors separate him with a beam of light, forcing him to differ from the crowd, moving him like a pawn. Filmmaking also had a specific technical feature, with the help of which the directors were able to guide the audience’s attention and emotions. The main object of the screen may represent not only a point light but also a large cast view. A sudden dynamic burst is no longer enough for the expressionism of the actor. And wherever the film character differs from the theatrical one, expressionism acquires the properties of realism.

Theatre for the Very Young in Europe

2023-03-02T15:25:53+04:00

As we know, professional theater for children or TYA (Theatre for a Young Audience) originated and developed in Europe, the USA, and Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, and later in the entire Soviet Union. Theater for the very young is a relatively new direction, which was created about three decades ago and is a purely European phenomenon. This type of theater has developed well in many European countries and is gradually gaining popularity in independent troupes in large cities of Russia and the post-Soviet space.

Starting from the 20th century, in the countries of Europe and the post-Soviet space, theaters for children usually divide the repertoire into some specific age groups: preschool - 4-6, primary school - 6-9, middle school - 10-13, youth/ Teens 13-15 and 16+. Active children's theaters always try to have performances suitable for all age categories in their repertoire. The classic model of dividing the audience into age groups has undergone a gradual change since the end of the twentieth century - creative troupes began to work for the audience of preschool and early age (from 6 months to 6 years inclusive).

The theorists and practitioners of contemporary TYA divide the audience of early childhood into age groups of 0-3 and 3-6 years. In different countries, this age division may vary in different ways, but it does not go beyond the framework of 0-6 years. It is significant that even in the first decade of the 21st century, performances created for this age group caused a kind of skepticism of the theater troupes themselves and some part of the adult audience, although today this type of theater is no longer a surprise to anyone.

In this research, I discuss several models and important projects of theatre for the very young in Europe, such as the „Babydrama“ staged by the Swedish director Susanne Osten - a performance for 6-12-month-olds, the Italian theater „La Baracca“, the projects „Glitter Bird“ and „Small Size“, troupes working in Great Britain, Scotland, Hungary, Denmark, and other European countries, working specifically for the very young audiences, etc.

From birth, a child is a small person with feelings, emotions, ability to know the world and perceive beauty, different from adults. To create art for the youngest child, one must first perceive him as a person - this is the starting point for creators who stage performances for this age group. A necessary condition for performances intended for very young audiences is privacy, and the proximity of the audience and performers, such kind of a performance cannot be attended by a large number of children. Based on these features, this kind of theater develops in different ways in different countries - theater for early ages is trendy and widespread in countries with a high level of social security and educational system, where the state supports parents with long-term paid leave, daycare centers, and nurseries.

In the research process, several interesting aspects were revealed: artistic features characteristic of European children's theater for the very young, the specificity of dividing the audience into age groups, financial, social, organizational, and legislative issues, the importance of professional studies, and many more.

Through these models and examples, we can see that children's theater is an integral part not only of culture but also of the country's politics and educational system. Caring for a child begins from the moment of its birth, and it is manifested not only in meeting its physiological needs but also in recognizing the rights and freedoms of the child as an individual and providing corresponding services (including educational and artistic).

The theater for the very young is one of the logical stages in developing TYA in the world. The process of refinement and development of art forms will continue in the future and will be even more interesting for professionals interested in this field, as well as for the direct addressee of these performances - the children's audience.

Scenic Interpretation of Prose Work On the example of Temur Chkheidze’s Performance “Duel”

2023-03-02T15:31:57+04:00

Both the performance “Duel” and the story realistically are represented consecutive development and transformation of characters’ natures. Even though the characters live in the same time and space, they have different ideologies and even diverse moral and ethical values. Stage director Temur Chkheidze demonstrates in the performance “Duel” some human, super-epochal, specific problems not within time-space and the relations. Accordingly, he provides us with artistically and creatively comprehended versions of certain events as a provoker of humanization processes.

The tragedy of existence, human comprehensive intension, melancholy, and ephemera of psychological balance and relation, not exactly action as an outward factor of narration, but of internal dynamism, accentuation of spiritual movement, transfer of detail and nuance within creative vision is singlehandedly reflected with the stage director. The story that did not make and even today does not make indifferent its reader is also agitating its spectator even at the time of its performance to the stage. The principal purpose is not lost in staging. The mood and philosophy of the story are even maintained in the theatrical performance. This performance staged by Temur Chkheidze once more demonstrated to our diversity, ambivalence, and dramatism of the human inner world that the initial authentic, archetypic struggle and intolerance of human individual problems lead mankind even to tragic, dehumanized, and sometimes even delirious ideas.

At the very beginning of the performance, the stage director informed spectators about the character Laevski. He represented Laevsk as a nervous romanticist, who migrated to the province of the Russian empire, the province of Black Sea beach for finding ideals. In the very first event, the stage director showed us the dialogue speech of characters naturalistically represented by the writer from the visual-verbal prism. Exactly from the beginning of the performance is already presented a scenic image of two different prototypes – a romanticist (Laevski) and a military doctor (Samoilenko) serving during tsarist Russia. The stage director’s attitude towards each character is found in the performance. As if there are deleted limits between the first-rate and episodic roles. Stage director Temur Chkheidze equally emphasizes each character, as the development of a plot with the unity of characters and ensemble is important for him. The performance of actors and actresses surpasses the visual image of performance as the stage director pays significant importance to the actor’s mastery. Temur Chkheidze in detail studies the function of characters and represents psychological and literary analysis on the stage. Laevski’s transformation into an honest citizen and culminating transformation takes place on the previous night of the duel. This time he grants his dreams liberty. He candidly wishes to return home alive. When the seconds appeal Laevski and Fon Coren for reconciliation, Laevski even expresses his desire for conciliation, though Fon Coren replies negatively. If not for the appearance of the deacon in such a tragic condition, the bullet aimed by Fon Coren would cause a fatal result. The deacon’s personality is interesting as both the performance and story represent the final word of the deacon – “neither visible nor heard”. These words are conclusive phrases of the play’s plot. To my mind, the deacon’s deed both in the story and at the same time even in the performance the principal word as he saved the future of characters with two different ideologies. The deacon was the mediator between Fon Coren and Laevski. Thus I would like to state that the deacon’s words have a significant role in the creation offstage director and writer.

There is to be also noted stage designer of performance, who is adequately associated with the environment of the second half of the nineteenth century in the performance “Duel”. Similarly, the costumes also form a color set appropriate to the time. Musical determination of performances is also impressive changing epoch after epoch and independently narrates the story. It is to be noted that before launching work on staging the prose, Temur Chkheidze searches for effective dialogues in literary texts. The culturological value of performance was revealed by maintaining and more evidently providing ideal, psychological, or aesthetic accents selected upon the theatrical performance of literary texts both with verbal and conceptual potentials applied so skillfully by the stage director. So, itself authenticity of the text, its conceptual and psychological status, and position is a determinative factors for the stage director to work on the text that further provides the precondition of exact apprehension of time and space (chronotype) both for the author (like the original) and theatrical performance and creative and collective process of occupation with the actors/actresses participating in the performance. The author (Tamaz Goderdzishvili) of the theatrical performance of 125 paged story “Duel” minimized the story to 42 paged play. Despite of decrease in text, the theatrical performance maintained the thematic axis of the story – the plot. The story “Duel” is divided into 21 chapters and the play is composed of total 15 episodes. In some places, we find the shift in the episodes’ sequence. For example, the fifth chapter of the story is the third episode of the play. Also, in the eighteenth chapter of the story provided by the author the description of the deacon, is deleted in the play, though the author of the theatrical performance managed and merged the performance of the deacon in the performance of the duel. On the one hand in the urban (based on their interior, non- renovated walls) and on the other hand in the chamber space, the performance staged by stage director Temur Chkheidze at Royal District Theatre made me associate the feeling of documentary film and at the same time the feeling of drama theater. While consideration of the performance I once more got assured about the actuality of social, political, and religious contexts of work carried out within this space as this space maintains that already existing urban and inviolable authentic environment that especially indicates these unplastered and ruined walls. It is not possible to state as to which system or aesthetics influenced the creation of the stage director as his stage manner is revealed even in Aristotle’s and not Aristotle’s expressive forms of theater. Thus, like the variety of his list of performances, also aesthetics of the stage director offers us a variety of choices of visual interpretation of the search process. Though the principal point of art maintained by Chkheidze everywhere and always covers the presentation of such characters on the stage that personification is based on in-depth knowledge and study of human psychology.

Casting – History Features

2023-03-02T15:40:01+04:00

The art of acting often exposes the negative results of casting. This won’t take place if we act accordingly to the meanings of the following questions whilst making a choice: Who is the character? Where and when do they live? What kind of past did they have and where do they come from? What do they want and why? Defining the final results of casting is an important but overlooked, less analyzed step in Georgian cinema. In the history of film around the world, the principles of casting are linked with finding one or several traits of a character in a drama actor according to physical features. This is a broad and difficult process from casting to voiceover.

In Robert Bresson’s book „Notes on Cinematography“ the author often compares professional and amateur actors. Bresson worked with non-professional actors and explained it in his way, François Truffaut in his „Le Plaisir des Yeux“ offers his personal experience to professionals. Also, in „Hitchcock\Truffaut“, which he wrote in 1966, we can read the analysis of Hitchcock’s famous quote: „Really the novelist has the best casting since he doesn’t have to cope with the actors and all the rest“. Sidney Lumet in the book „Making Movies“ talks a lot about the actors’ behavior and motivation.

One of the most important works about interacting with actors is “Bialon about Filmmaking” written by Georgian director, playwright, and painter, Rezo Esadze. One of the chapters is named “Film and Theatre Actor – Similarities and Differences While Working on a Role”. Here, seeing the example of the author’s own experience, we get some clarity about the practical results of casting.

Video lectures from different directors and actors on www.masterclass.com (Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Werner Herzog, Spike Lee, Ron Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, Helen Mirren, Kevin Spacey, Jodie Foster, Natalie Portman) tell us about the specifics and difficulties of casting.

To portray negative traits, artists from the B.C era and actors would look for simple mimic qualities which would be seen in an actor of similar characteristics. Resemblance could also have been achieved with features common in animals. This is a rather easy and quite famous method that directly serves to create straightforward characteristics and moods.

Later, paintings and literature managed to gain experience in other, alternative ways of „describing“ the artistic portrait and mood. What is the meaning of a character who was being looked for according to their traits by the cinema during its entire history and the art of uncovering the typical qualities and features gathered in a professional actor? This is a unity of a few thousand psychological and distinctive details, nuances dependent on each other that are being searched by professionals who want to achieve different goals.

Andre Bazin, a researcher of cinema, an author of several theoretical works, and an analyst wrote in his research called „The Myth of Total Cinema“, that film is an idealistic creation. The beginnings of its existence lived in a human’s mind, the imagination of centuries identified the idea of cinema and its starting point with a unified reflection of reality.[1]

The process continued and became more fascinating as professional actors entered the spotlight of film. The cinematic characters of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks contained different standards of visual traits. Chaplin’s little tramp created a new characteristic that didn’t exist before. Whilst a new stream of cold faces which seem to have no emotion during different eras of cinema’s development is associated with a wish to run away from standards and it was wanted by almost all directors.

The stage of looking for a character’s images is quite an interesting process.

Still, no matter how symbolic or metaphorical is a character’s personality, it still looks for the main support point even during casting. To be specific, the authors of the film are looking for it, a unity of feelings that will persuade, and convince the viewer in the fact that what they see is real and does exist.

The existence of several traits in one character means finding and realizing a specific type of resource in the performer from the beginning. When speaking about such collective faces, we must mention an important issue which is cinema and reality. It means that every form and way of portraying the truth must be interesting and of course, honest.

According to different opinions by French theoretics, a cinematic creation depends on three different components – the viewer, the author, and reality.[2] The viewer perceives the choice of the author – the author chooses and reality allows the recognition of resources hidden in both the character and the performer.

Based on the nature of cinema, a portrait discovered by the painter, a director, and of course, the screenwriter needs a vision and it’s not necessary to use it as an exact portrayal of reality during casting.

The cinematic avant-garde of the 1920s’ changed and weakened such approach towards the search for easily understandable quirks of an artistic profile. Such movements as surrealism and German expressionism changed the practice of choosing the performer – minimal emotional expression in appearance replaced expressive characters and on the contrary, bold strokes in mimics and looks gained meaning.

After some time, unexpected strokes existing in behavior got lost in the standards and traits of appearance of entertaining cinema in the 1940s’.

It is not necessary to approach the artistic process of searching and finding the artist, or performer with this measure, but one thing is clear from Nietzsche’s view: a worldview, no matter what it’s like, how primitive even, must be visible in the portrait of the character at least by a simple sign. Just like a mark of their conscience – no matter what it’s like, it must be seen in external traits in the first stage of expressing the character.

[1] Kuchukhidze, „Screen and Time“, Tbilisi, 2009. Page 45.

[2] Kuchukhidze, There, page 35.

Using A Variety Of Approaches In Teaching Inclusive Dance

2023-03-02T15:44:22+04:00

In dance lessons, in many cases, teacher-choreographers find it difficult to correctly determine the student's learning style and use diverse teaching approaches, which should ensure equal involvement of all students in the group.

In response to the mentioned challenges, we have developed an original innovative model of an inclusive dance lesson and teaching approaches based on choreographic pedagogy, inclusive education methodology, and four years of our pedagogical practice in integrated dance groups.

The developed lesson model is social, primarily focused on developing students' basic dance skills (14 skills) and implementing choreographic performances. In addition, we also use a synthetic therapeutic approach in the teaching process, where the techniques of music therapy and dance/movement therapy are combined.

By teaching dance in the inclusive dance class, we try to achieve harmony of mind, soul, and body, improve students' general skills and emotional sphere, and promote socialization and integration into society.

To achieve the mentioned work goals, it is necessary to consider each student’s learning style in the inclusive dance class.

"Learning style is a characteristic of a person and a preferred way of understanding, acquiring, processing, storing, and retrieving information that facilitates the process of acquiring knowledge and skills. For many, any method of delivery is acceptable, but we prefer one or the other. There are many models for classifying learning styles, but the most common among them is the VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic) model, which categorizes according to three main learning styles and methods: visual (visual), auditory (auditory), and kinesthetic (bodily).

The VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic) teaching model fully corresponds to the form of the inclusive dance lesson. It is important to consider each style to accommodate students of different dance abilities in the teaching process.

In the process of an inclusive dance lesson, the teacher should determine which learning style to guide with a particular student and then apply teaching approaches.

We use a variety of approaches when teaching inclusive dance classes. These are:

holistic approach;
development-oriented approach;
capacity-based approach;
an approach focused on emotional and cognitive involvement;
multimodal approach;
synthetic therapeutic approach (music therapy and dance/movement therapy).

Let's briefly consider each of them in the context of teaching inclusive dance.

A holistic approach “emphasizes the whole growth of the learner, rather than emphasizing only specific parts of the human experience. It emphasizes materialism and promotes human experience in all areas: intellectual, emotional, social, and more."
Development-oriented approach (multifaceted and harmonious education): In the inclusive dance class, great importance is attached to the student's multifaceted and harmonious education development. This means: 1) psychomotor development; 2) cognitive development; 3) development of emotional intelligence and social skills; 4) aesthetic and moral development.
Ability-based approach: "Every student is unique with their individual physical and mental characteristics, abilities, emotions, interests, personal experiences, academic needs, and learning styles, which must be taken into account during instruction."
Emotional and cognitive engagement-oriented approach: Emotional and cognitive engagement is a prerequisite for physical engagement. The expression of positive emotion by the teacher-choreographer in the dance group leads to an increase in motivation and the implementation of the desired behavior. The feeling of enjoying dancing is related to the positive mood created in the group. The role of the teacher in this case is immeasurably great.
Multimodal approach: when overcoming difficulties in an inclusive dance lesson, the multimodal (multisensory) learning-teaching method is a kind of strategy and "golden key", during which two or three modalities of sensation are involved. A multimodal approach allows for the activation of different sensory channels. "If a student has a weakly developed modality when using multisensory strategies, it is compensated by a stronger modality."
Synthetic therapeutic approach (music therapy and dance/movement therapy): In inclusive dance classes, we use different directions established in music therapy in synthetic activities, namely: a) analytical music therapy; b) cognitive behavioral music therapy (CBMT) and c) Nordoff-Robbins music therapy. Let us briefly describe all three directions.

Based on the discussion of the present issue, we can confidently say that when determining the student's learning style, when we are guided by the VAk model, it will help us to use a variety of teaching approaches in a targeted manner. This ensures equal participation of all students in the inclusive dance class.