What does the "inner spectator" perceive? Multimodality of (self)perception in acting improvisation
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Human communication is multimodal. Multimodality in the case of the discipline Dialogical Acting with the Inner Partner (prof. Ivan Vyskočil), a specific kind of acting improvisation in which the actor/student plays out a dialogue with himself, can be examined from the point of view of the inner partner. This alter-ego can also be understood as an "inner spectator" (see Mikhail Chekhov’s On the Technique of Acting). Dialogue proceeds as negotiation and response, action and reaction. But what does the inner spectator react to? Is it only speech and its semantic meaning? In my paper I will focus on the variability of perceived impulses that are meaning making: the melody of the voice, the intonation line of sentence units, gesticulation and mimicry, movement sequences, body tension/relaxation and body memory. These impulses, which are the stimulus for the development of improvised play (receiving and responding to an impulse), appear in different intensities. They can have a strong expressive charge, as well as take the form of a fleeting impression. I argue, therefore, that the "inner spectator" perceives both distinct shapes and those that emerge in the course of the act, separating like a figure from the ground. Multimodality in theatre and theatrical acting must therefore be understood not only as multisemiotic but also as dynamically variable in terms of perceptual intensity. |