4 from ritual to theater and back: the efficacy ... - AAAARG.ORG

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toward a poetics of performance
Figure 5.6
Note
The ecstatic flight of the shaman leaves the body empty and transparent: absolutely
vulnerable. Cieslak travels by means of subtraction toward ecstasy when he plays the
Prince in The Constant Prince. The trance dancers of Bali are possessed or “taken
over” by whomever or whatever possesses them. Olivier travels by means of addition
toward possession; he systematically converts the “as if” of his Hamlet into a
“becoming of” Hamlet. Those techniques of performer training which begin with a
movement toward ecstasy – psychophysical exercises, yoga, etc. – help the
performer “follow impulses,” that is, yield and become transparent. In this state a
performer may suddenly “drop into” his role because the vulnerability of ecstasy can
be suddenly transformed into the totality of trance possession.
of the Polish Laboratory Theater were totally without “noise.” Such
clarity of signal evoked anxiety as well as pleasure.
No performing is “pure” ecstasy or trance. Always there is a shifting,
dialectical tension between the two (figure 5.6).
REHEARSAL PROCEDURES
Every aspect of gathering/performing/dispersing needs careful examination
both from the point of view of the performers and that of the