Theatre, performance and cognition : languages, bodies and ecologies edited by Rhonda Blair and Amy Cook.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Blair, Rhonda, 1951-

Cook, Amy.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theater--Psychological aspects.

Theater.

Physical Description:

x, 243 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2016.

Summary:

Cognitive science has presented new questions and suggested new answers for those engaged in theatre and performance: how do bodies onstage capture our attention and how can we use that understanding to adjust performer training? What can we learn from the extraordinary cognitive feats performed by a dancer reproducing choreography night after night? How does a performance event work as an ecosystem - what drives the system of performer and environment? Theatre, Performance and Cognition introduces readers to the key questions such as these, considering applications of the cognitive sciences to theatre and performance. It showcases the most exciting work being done at the intersection of the fields, under three areas of focus and methodology; Languages, Bodies and Ecologies. Each section begins by familiarizing the reader with central principles, followed by essays that demonstrate some of the uses of the cognitive sciences to actor training, the rehearsal room and the realm of performance more generally, and concludes with a response from a scientist. A further set of After Words - interviews with theatre practitioners who have integrated cognitive science into their work - and an appendix containing brief abstracts of key scientific and philosophical works equips readers to apply insights to their own practice and do delve further into this dynamic area. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 Cognitive Linguistics, Theatre and Performance

1 Multimodality and Theatre: Material Objects, Bodies and Language / Barbara Dancygier Dancygier, Barbara 21

2 Doth Not Brutus Bootless Kneel? Kneeling, Cognition and Destructive Plasticity hi Shakespeare's Julius Caesar / Laura Seymour Seymour, Laura 40

3 Performance, Irony and Viewpoint in Language / Vera Tobin Tobin, Vera 54

A Response: The Performing Mind / Mark Turner Turner, Mark 68

Part 2 Bodies in Performance

4 The Olympic Actor: Improving Actor Training and Performance Through Sports Psychology / Neal Utterback Utterback, Neal 79

5 Becoming Elsewhere; ArtsCross and the (Re)location of Performer Cognition / Edward C. Warburton Warburton, Edward C. 93

6 Training, Insight and Intuition in Creative Flow / Christopher J. Jackman Jackman, Christopher J. 107

A Response: The Body in Mind / Catherine J. Stevens Stevens, Catherine J. 122

Part 3 Situated Cognition and Dynamic Systems: Cognitive Ecologies

7 Distributed Cognition, Mindful Bodies and the Arts of Acting / Evelyn B. Tribble Tribble, Evelyn B. 133

8 The Historical Body Map: Cultural Pressures on Embodied Cognition / Sarah E. McCarroll McCarroll, Sarah E. 141

9 Another Way of Looking: Reflexive Technologies and How They Change the World / Matt Hayler Hayler, Matt 159

A Response: Mapping the Prenoetic Dynamics of Performance / Shaun Gallagher Gallagher, Shaun 174.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

147259178X

9781472591784

OCLC:

908990405