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Physical Performance

Module description

In this practice-led module, you do not need to have previous experience in physical performance to succeed. Every. Body. Is welcome.

Through practical experimentation, research and play you will develop your performing range and physical presence. Embracing the many uses of the word ‘physical’, you will explore practitioners as diverse as Kidd Pivot, DV8, Gecko, Jaivant Patel, SITI, Theatre Ad Infinitum, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Frantic Assembly, Freddie Opoku-Addaie, Complicité and Pina Bausch.

You will consider the different possibilities of structuring physical performance. You will have the opportunity to select from a variety of practical approaches that will serve your growth and creative interests as you work towards performance. Through individual and group tasks, you will be encouraged to develop your own physical language, scoring techniques and compositional skills. You will investigate the full range of your body’s expressive qualities– rhythm and dynamics of movement, posture, gesture, action and spatial relationships.

After the final performance, the module concludes with a one to one tutorial that discusses a point of growth and challenge, your future ambitions and the written Portfollio.

*This module is ideal but not limited to those wanting to develop the possibility of their physicality and to experiment in a supportive studio environment. It may also be useful to those interested ensemble dynamics, acting through physical action, movement direction, physical/dance theatre, physical comedy, physical storytelling, composition, facilitation, Total Theatre and to consider their physical presence in a range of professional contexts.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to engage you in an exploratory and practical  approach to devising physical performance. It aims to consider and understand the various contemporary paradigms and practices related to the body – movement, rhythm and composition. You will learn how to use spatial, dramaturgical and scoring elements to map out and create original work.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate confidence in physical performance making and design; employ an improved range of the body’s expressive qualities – rhythm and dynamics of movement, posture, gesture, effort actions-in creating practical work
• 2. Demonstrate secure understanding and application of a) presence, embodiment and corporeality b) compositional skills. To successfully employ diverse sources as devising methodologies
• 3. Utilise peer to peer working processes with intention and care; draw on experimentation through sustained practice; apply a range of trial and error methodologies in your creative processes.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. To work imaginatively, reliably and generously when initiating and sustaining creative, analytic and interpretative work.
• 5. Contribute research and feedback,, to evaluate and to develop confidence in the ability to analyse, critique and generate original material
• 6. To develop and structure thoughtful creative processes, demonstrate an understanding of physicalisation in performance and the capacity to articulate that understanding in appropriate ways (in practical and in written assignments)

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Give and receive constructive critical feedback, and to improve communication skills and advanced analytic abilities in discussions
• 8. Express and communicate creative ideas and images. To initiate and sustain creative work; set personal objectives that are linked to a sense of challenge; to identify and evaluate personal learning strategies that are self-reflexive.
• 9. Adapt and design working methods for each new situation, self-management, problem solving, acknoledging own and others' ideas and contributions. Developing skills to create a respectful and constructive working environment

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following:

During the term you will take part in physical practical workshops and engage with the compositional, choreographic, rhythmical and dramaturgical approaches to physical theatre making. You will encounter a variety of theatre making processes and methodologies of inspiration. Apart from this, you will be asked to respond to improvisational stimuli and creative tasks on a weekly basis. This process based learning will help you create your own body of work, encourage your peers in collaboration and develop useful methodologies, whilst working towards a set of micro performances/presentations.

*Each student will keep a Process Journal, which will enable creative, reflective and critical means of recording processes as they unfold from the perspective of a creative artist. This will not be marked but may be used as a basis for discussion in the final tutorial

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, either you will normally be deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic Reading

• Akinleye, Adesola, Narratives in Black British Dance: Embodied Practices. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
• Baird, Bruce, Hijikata Tatsumi and Butoh: Dancing in a Pool of Gray Grits. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillain, 2012.
• Climenhaga, R, Pina Bausch. London: Routledge 2009
• Callery, Dymphna, Through the Body: A Practical Guide to Physical Theatre. London: Nick Hern,2001.
• Dennis, Anne, The Articulate Body. London: Nick Hern, 2002.
• Evans, Mark and Kemp, Rick, Routledge Companion to Jacques Lecoq. London: Routledge, 2016.
• Murray, Simon and Keefe, John, Physical Theatres: a Critical Introduction. London: Routledge 2007.
• Marshall, Lorna, The Body Speaks. London: Methuen 2008.
• Oida, Yoshi, The Invisible Actor. London: Methuen 2002.

Library-based videos/Digital Archives

• DV8 Physical Theatre: The Cost of Living
• Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis
• Freedom Series: Kidd Pivot Dance Theatre
• Practitioners on Practice, Talawa Theatre Compnay: interview with Michael Buffong
• Pina Bausch: Bluebeard

Key words search

Performer Training, Physical Theatre, Dance Theatre, Ensemble, Movement Direction, devising composition, mimodynamics, improvisation, collaboration, Physical Actor, Choreography, performer presence, performance-making, embodiment and psychophyscial trainings