What makes an actor compelling on stage? This question has been an obsession for me, first as an actress and then as a researcher and movement educator. When we attempt to answer this question, we invariably use the expression "talent": something immaterial, mysterious and innate. Another word that is often used: presence. Presence, however, is not just a noun. Being present is an action and can be exercised. The performer’s body is a present body, one which the actor not only inhabits, but deliberately stimulates, molding it in order to transform it into a creator of meaning. It is one of the fundamental parts of the poetics of theatre, enhancing the performance’s narrative. The dramaturgy of the actor's body speaks directly to the viewer who, even unconsciously, registers and responds organically to what he or she sees. I have spent the last ten years as an actress and movement researcher developing a training methodology for actors that addresses the different principles that regulate the actor’s scenic presence, informed by theories developed by Eugenio Barba and Nicola Savarese, Jerzy Grotowski, Etienne Decroux and other theatre masters. It is an ongoing research that started taking shape during my Master's degree in Movement Studies at the University of London and continues through my experience in the training and rehearsal rooms and on the stage, along with theoretical studies where I seek to find the links between movement techniques, classical mechanics and cognitive neuroscience.
Bruna Longo, October 2020
To learn more about training, workshops and movement directions, click the button below.
Bruna Longo, October 2020
To learn more about training, workshops and movement directions, click the button below.