PARIP 2005

International Conference | 29 June - 03 July 2005

Calderón: Sebastián | USA

The practice as research model we are presenting at this conference, known as the Six Viewpoints, has been pervasively categorized within U.S. performing arts higher education institutions as an “acting technique.” However, the true potential of this work lies beyond its current institutional limitations within traditional conservatory programs.

The Six Viewpoints addresses theoretical concerns through specific bodily practices, which redefine the actor-dancer’s role, as not only that of an effective performer, but that of a rigorous researcher.

As Six Viewpoint’s originator Mary Overlie points out, "the types of knowledge developed through The Six Viewpoints relates to rebalancing our understanding of the nature of knowledge itself.  In this work all experience is placed on equal footing thus creating perceptual and conceptual fluidity.  Heightening this new approach to knowledge, The Viewpoints work affirms that all the materials of theatre and life, that is: spaces, shapes, emotions, timings, movement, logics, all have their own languages and knowledge.  Furthermore this work acknowledges that these materials can be powerful teachers without the need of translation through the ego of human interpretation.  This type of study is necessarily research, for nothing is ever fixed in this system of learning.  The outcome of this work is a fluid way of perceiving, interacting, problem solving that balances contemplation and action coming from an entirely different part of the brain".

Ultimately, these ways of knowing are located in the body of the actor-dancer and in the case of ensemble work, in the collective body-memory of the group. It is only through rigorous improvisation, training and physical work that these kinds of knowledges can be understood in their full capacity, which itself points to the difficulties of language when it attempts to represent or embody certain performance practices.

A somatic approach is key to comprehending the nature of this work. Consequently, written or verbal representations of a process-oriented practice such as the Six Viewpoints usually fail to convey the wealth of highly specific information that is available through this type of research-learning process. As a result, in the Six Viewpoints these ways of knowing are communicated through specific physical practices. These practices help the actor-dancer locate their own line of investigation. Funnily enough, the independence of the actor-dancer’s investigation results in a lively collective interaction and dialogue.

Like certain aesthetic practices in the history of 20th century art, the Six Viewpoints is a study in awareness and consciousness. It is art about how we perceive art; it is about the consciousness of the aesthetic moment.

Mary Overlie and Sebastián Calderón-Bentin