41 research outputs found
The Way of Transformation (The Laban-Malmgren System of Dramatic Character Analysis)
No full textThe dissertation is a 'critical edition' of a system of actor training based on three main sources: a vocabulary of movement analysis developed by Rudolf Laban in the last years of his life; C. G. Jung's theory of psychological functions and types; and the acting system of C. Stanislavski and his main followers. The three strands were brought together by the dancer and acting teacher Yat Malmgren (1916-2002), who taught his system for over forty years to some of the major figures of world theatre and film: Peter Brook, Pierce Brosnan, Simon Callow, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Adrian Noble among others.
The dissertation is presented in two volumes:
- Volume I sets the system in context, historically as well as in terms of current discourses about the nature of acting. It includes a survey of its origins, followed by an in-depth examination of its three main sources, focusing on the central concept of energy in acting. Further chapters describe:
a. a systematic, step-by-step psychophysical approach to analysing character, the actor's own self and to ways of bridging the two in the process of transformation. The author captures the salient features of a method of work which informs aspects of Western acting practice.
b. the light thrown by the system on the idea of theatre character. The author puts forward the idea of a character 'independent' of both actor and text.
c. the applications of the system in training and professional practice, based on interviews with a number of prominent British actors and directors.
- Volume II consists of a detailed, annotated description of the system. It is based on a free transcript of recordings of Yat Malmgren's teaching and amounts to a 'manual' for those interested in studying and/or teaching the system. The volume is illustrated throughout.
Appendices include original materials derived from Laban's last years of work, published here for the first time
Re-imagining Indigenous knowledge in a post-COVID-19 social work in Uganda
No full textLocal responses to Covid-19 pandemic in Uganda have included the revamping of Indigenous knowledge and practices like Ryemo Gemo and creative arts to reach the communities. However, the resistance against these practices by a section of political actors aligned to pushing the Ministry of Health and WHO messages, coupled with the clear push for Covid-19 messages packaged and communicated in a biomedical and western package, reveals the strong influence of the western hegemony. We show how the pandemic presents an opportunity to revamp the debate about decolonisation in the context of emergency response. While steering clear of linear solutions, we argue that the pandemic is a reminder for social workers to challenge the predominant enlightenment modernity thinking and western colonialism that devalues Indigenous practices, knowledges, and languages
Probabilistic LMA-based human motion analysis by conjugating frequency and spatial based features
No full textThis paper presents an approach to analyse human motions using Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) system. LMA is a known descriptor for analysing human body motion by using different components that it has. We attempt to present how the frequency and spatial-based features can be applied in LMA concepts, and then we present that how the conjugating of these two kinds of different domains features can be fused by a Bayesian Network (BN). The point is that, the human motions based on the type of body parts motion, can be recognized by some aspects or features better than the others. By combining those different aspects (LMA components) or features, more precise estimation for more various human motions can be obtained. The results approve that our idea to recognize human motion is very successful
Performativities, Virtualities, Abstractions, and Cunningham's BIPED
No full textThis thesis explores the complex relations between subjective perception and dance movements, mainly exemplified by drawing on two short extracts from Merce Cunningham's choreography BIPED (1999). The central aim of the study is to formulate a performative phenomenological inquiry, which moves beyond an identification of essences, and towards an understanding of the lived experience of a dance performance as being grounded on iterations of the "abstract". The concept of the abstract primarily signifies an alternative mode of understanding Henry Bergson's notion of duration. Considering Gilles Deleuze's reading of Bergson's intuition as a method to divide the experience of a lived present into a temporal difference in kind between the virtual and the actual, this thesis suggests a complementary division of duration into virtual and actual kinds of abstraction.
In addition to Bergson's method of intuition, the discussion is phenomenologically rooted in Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concept of the body image and Gaston Bachelards idea of non-causal reverberation. As with the case of intuition, those phenomenological concepts are applied unconventionally. Rather than serving as a pre-objective ontological basis for an analytical and scientific understanding of subjective embodiment, the notion of a reverberating body image is here treated as a form of mimesis, performatively constituted through symbolic and representational practices. Hence, in phenomenological terms, the rationale of the thesis is predominantly sustained by the philosophy of Ernst Cassirer, arguing that reality cannot be approached directly, but only through the concept of the symbol.
The viewpoint from where I speak has performative cybernetic characteristics, continuously and dynamically transgressing boundaries and reconstituting itself through iterative and citational practices. Additionally, as I move between the analytical and the intuitive, as well as between the virtual and the actual, the formal structure of the thesis corresponds to a liminal transformation of the speaking subjectivity
Integrating somatic awareness into a classical physical education curriculum to promote successful movement experiences
No full textThe research study explores the effectiveness of incorporating the somatic movement approaches of Laban Movement Analysis and the Bartenieff Fundamentals into the elementary physical education curriculum. Specifically the study uses these methods for students for grades K-2. The study took place during the 2008-2009 school year. The study includes a literature review and culminates in a 10-lesson unit plan that was taught in the spring of 2009. Each lesson includes: learning objectives; a warm-up; main activity; cool down; and an automatic assessment. Two of the researchers' colleagues observed the unit plan and a checklist was completed throughout each lesson. The study also includes an in depth discussion written by the author and a personal statement written by an observer. The discussion reflects that the author felt she reached her goal of implementing somatic educational techniques in the physical education setting. Through the use of somatic awareness she successfully provided her students with multiple opportunities for movement exploration
Mada'in Salih, a Nabataean town in north west Arabia: analysis and interpretation of the excavation 1986-1990
No full textThis research concerns Mada'in Salih, an archaeological site in north-west Saudi Arabia. Historically, it was part of the Nabataean kingdom which flourished in northwest Arabia (Jordan, parts of Syria, Palestine and some parts of Saudi Arabia), with Petra in Jordan as its capital. The Nabataeans were famous for their trading role, as they transported frankincense and myrrh and exported balsam and bitumen. They built monumental tombs in Petra and Mada'in Salih as well as other public buildings such as temples theatres and baths. They were also famous for their skills in hydraulic engineering and the production of very thin, distinctively painted pottery. Mada'in Salih was an important station on the trade route which linked south Arabia with Mediterranean countries. The main feature of the site is the monumental tombs, which are about eighty in number, some of them dated and bearing inscriptions. Those inscriptions are in Aramaic and usually contain information about the owner name, legal rights, and occasionally the mason's name. Little was known about the site's history and other aspects such as the economy, culture, society and religions prior to the excavation. Various questions were raised which the thesis attempts to address. The archaeological work conducted on the site included a survey, several trenches around the town wall and in front of some of the tombs as well as an excavation in the settlement area. The excavation revealed a private house which furnished us with information regarding house planning, building techniques and materials. A large amount of pottery, small finds and coins were recovered, studied and classified. The results added some information to what was already known about the Nabataeans in general and Mada'in Salih in particular. The site had witnessed its peak during the first century A.D. As most previous archaeological work had been carried out in the northern parts of the Nabataean kingdom, the results of this excavation are important for comparative studies between this, the largest Nabataean settlement centre in the south, to the centres of the north. The trade which had been an important factor in the establishment of the site declined when the trade route was shifted from land to sea by the Romans during the last half of the first century A.D
Deconstructing the psychosexual myths of female circumcision among the Pokot in Eastern Uganda: hints for public health campaigns
No full textSexualization of the woman’s body has for years been used to promote the
practice of female circumcision in practicing communities. In this study, we
provide an insight into the constructive psychosexual experiences of uncir-
cumcised Pokot women in Eastern Uganda. This phenomenological study
was based on thirty-five In-depth interviews with uncircumcised women.
A thematic analysis revealed six constructive psychosexual experiences;
less exposure to early marriages, fewer complications during menstrual
periods, amplified sexual pleasure, ease to reach orgasms, less exposure to
sexually transmitted infections, and good reception by men from non-female
circumcision communities. These experiences provide grounds for public
health campaigns against female circumcision and fighting stigmatization
of uncircumcised women
Comparing condom use with different types of partners : evidence from national HIV surveys in Africa
No full textBased on nationally representative samples from 13 Sub-Saharan African countries, this paper reinforces and expands previous findings that condom use in general is low in this region, men report using condoms more frequently than women, and unmarried individuals report they use condoms more frequently than married individuals with their spouse. Based on descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses, the authors also demonstrate to a degree not previously shown in the current literature that married men from most countries report using condoms with extramarital partners about as frequently as unmarried men. However, married women from most countries included use condoms with extramarital partners less frequently than unmarried women. This result is especially troubling because marriage usually ensures regular sexual intercourse, providing more opportunities to pass HIV from extramarital partner to spouse than an unmarried person who may also have multiple partners but not as regular sexual intercourse.Population Policies,Gender and Health,Adolescent Health,HIV AIDS,Gender and Law
Representations of the postcolonial state in the childhood metaphor in selected postcolonial texts
No full textIn the analysis of postcolonial literature, there is no systematic construction of a framework to factor in childhood as a metaphor. Postcolonial criticism has not been engaged further in the enterprise of literary analysis, particularly on form. Consequently, this research fills the need to recast the focus of postcolonial criticism to the analysis of form in literature†(through the use of metaphor of childhood). Hawley picks out one author, Salman Rushdie who is often studied under postcolonial criticism. He singles out that postcolonial critics look only for Rushdie-like characteristics. It is in the interest of this research to apply childhood as a different set of characteristic or criterion to profit the agency of postcoloniality. This research also, therefore, contributes to this critique by establishing further that postcolonial criticism embodies a wider canon and that postcolonial texts are not a ‘handful and recurring’. This research introduces pericolonial zones as well as exposing further ‘the list’ to include the selected texts; Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, in addition to The God of Small Things and Nervous Conditions. A sifting of childhood metaphor, in relation to postcoloniality, engenders further appreciation on the analysis of the literary context and beyond
Stock Assessment of Lates niloticus in Upper Victoria Nile and its Impact on Uganda’s Economy
No full textThis study investigated the growth, mortality, recruitment, and catch estimates of Nile perch, Lates niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758), in Upper Victoria Nile, basing on total catches and length-frequency data collected between 2008 and 2018. The asymptotic length (L∞) had a value of 93.45 cm TL, growth curvature (K) was 0.446 year-1, total mortality (Z) was 1.85year-1, natural mortality (M) was 0.79 year-1, fishing mortality (F) was 1.09 year-1, exploitation rate (E) was 0.59 and growth performance index(ᴓ) of (L∞) was 3.604. There were two peaks recruitment period, a minor one in March and a major one in August. These respectively accounted for 12.8 and 26.3 percent of the total catch. The optimum sustainable yield (E0.5), maximum sustainable yield (Emax) and, economic yield (E0.1) was 0.278, 0.421 and 0.355 respectively. The findings suggest that there is a decline in the population of Lates niloticus in Upper Victoria Nile. Therefore, strict management of the fishery by adhering to the recommended slot size of 50-85 cm TL and curtailing use of illegal gears is needed. This will be possible through enforcement of regulations, monitoring, control and surveillance in order to ensure sustainability of the Nile perch fishery and ecosystem restoration in the Upper VictoriaNile.Keywords: Lates niloticus; Catch rates; Growth parameters, Upper Victoria Nile
