One of the books on my shelf is entitled "Teatro E Boxe." Theatre and Boxing. Its by Franco Ruffini, a man with a brilliant mind who happened to be a great scholar of Stanislavsky as well. But in this case, his topic is the relationship between "The Sweet Science" and Actors and Directors of the Theatre. Ruffini was my kind of guy.
One of the short introductory chapters in the book is entitled "Georges Carpentier: la boxe orchidea." George Carpentier was a French boxer who fought in the early part of 20th Century, 1910's - 1920's. His nickname was Orchid Man - not very macho, but it implies the grace and balance and beauty with which he delivered his fisticuffs. You can see a fight of his sometimes on the ESPN Classics channel, an old black and white film that sometimes seems to speed up.
Carpentier is important in theatre circles because he was the inspiration for Etienne Decroux, the inventor of modern Corporeal Mime. Decroux wanted actors to embody or personify on stage the same type of rhythm, grace, speed, power, relaxation, concentration, balance, and beauty of physical skill and movement that Carpentier did in the ring.
Many people know of mime through people like Marcel Marceau, or those guys on the steet with the stripped shirts - the cliche stuff. Training in Corporeal Mime however is rigorous stuff, and very interesting in its concepts and ideas. I have see Decroux on tape teaching.
The people who studied directly with Decroux, people like Marcel Marceau, who became masters of the work, are referred to as "first generation." And of course those who study with a student or master of Decroux's are called "second generation." By good fortune we are lucky enough to have in Tucson at least one "first generation" and one "second generation," both extremely talented men. Someday I will do a post specifically about their work and connection but I am referring to Reed Gilbert and Grant Bayshore. Reed used to come to Actor's Gymnasium on Saturday and moderate the sessions for us. In addition to his incredible skills and training in Corporeal Mime, he has a wonderful and detailed knowledge of Asian Theatre traditions and principles, including work with masks. He is a true gentleman, an artist with high ethics and discipline, and great teacher. The work he did with us in Actor's Gymansium was influencial, lasting.
Back to Boxing: One of the most popular, in terms of attendance, Saturdays at Actor's Gymnasium was when we brought in Stacy Smith, a former top ranked womens boxer, hometown here in Tucson. Stacy is as "old school" as it gets. One trainer, Coach as mentor, and Stacy as student and practitioner. And the fruits of their commitment and labor were/are evident. Save for a bad hip injury I have no doubt Stacy would be knocking out Laila Ali even as we speak. But anyway, Stacy came and worked with us just as she would kids or anyone coming to learn the first thing about boxing. It was all footwork, in which concentration and balance and timing are key. Foundation. Fundementals. It is a stylized way of motion, of movement, but through practice, it becomes second nature, and easy, and then hopefully beautiful.
One of the short introductory chapters in the book is entitled "Georges Carpentier: la boxe orchidea." George Carpentier was a French boxer who fought in the early part of 20th Century, 1910's - 1920's. His nickname was Orchid Man - not very macho, but it implies the grace and balance and beauty with which he delivered his fisticuffs. You can see a fight of his sometimes on the ESPN Classics channel, an old black and white film that sometimes seems to speed up.
Carpentier is important in theatre circles because he was the inspiration for Etienne Decroux, the inventor of modern Corporeal Mime. Decroux wanted actors to embody or personify on stage the same type of rhythm, grace, speed, power, relaxation, concentration, balance, and beauty of physical skill and movement that Carpentier did in the ring.
Many people know of mime through people like Marcel Marceau, or those guys on the steet with the stripped shirts - the cliche stuff. Training in Corporeal Mime however is rigorous stuff, and very interesting in its concepts and ideas. I have see Decroux on tape teaching.
The people who studied directly with Decroux, people like Marcel Marceau, who became masters of the work, are referred to as "first generation." And of course those who study with a student or master of Decroux's are called "second generation." By good fortune we are lucky enough to have in Tucson at least one "first generation" and one "second generation," both extremely talented men. Someday I will do a post specifically about their work and connection but I am referring to Reed Gilbert and Grant Bayshore. Reed used to come to Actor's Gymnasium on Saturday and moderate the sessions for us. In addition to his incredible skills and training in Corporeal Mime, he has a wonderful and detailed knowledge of Asian Theatre traditions and principles, including work with masks. He is a true gentleman, an artist with high ethics and discipline, and great teacher. The work he did with us in Actor's Gymansium was influencial, lasting.
Back to Boxing: One of the most popular, in terms of attendance, Saturdays at Actor's Gymnasium was when we brought in Stacy Smith, a former top ranked womens boxer, hometown here in Tucson. Stacy is as "old school" as it gets. One trainer, Coach as mentor, and Stacy as student and practitioner. And the fruits of their commitment and labor were/are evident. Save for a bad hip injury I have no doubt Stacy would be knocking out Laila Ali even as we speak. But anyway, Stacy came and worked with us just as she would kids or anyone coming to learn the first thing about boxing. It was all footwork, in which concentration and balance and timing are key. Foundation. Fundementals. It is a stylized way of motion, of movement, but through practice, it becomes second nature, and easy, and then hopefully beautiful.
No comments:
Post a Comment