Physical Theatre - Research Task -

DV8

DV8 physical theatre is a amalgamation of contemporary body movement which creates multiple themes and creative interpretations and assembled in 1986 situated in London. DV8 work with the fact that they place their importance on their pieces being creatively real rather than financially rewarding and to gain fame.
The company have gone through many stages so that they can receive money in which they use for research so that they are free to make the pieces however they desire and are not restricted by anything. They are really into making meaning and representation within dance the main feature in their pieces as they feel it has been diluted through time. In my opinion I think that this is really good because I've always felt that there should be more meaning with many things in life, dance just being the starting point. I also love the fact they're trying to be more original but for the fact of creativity and not just what will get the most views.
Within their aesthetics they push the boundaries of creativity by not wanting to settle for original genres of dance like ballet they go further intertwining elements of different styles to create more contemporary movement, this is clever and creative as it draws in a wider and newer audience as well as inspiring wanna be choreographers or just people to try something new. DV8 has been led by Lloyd Newson since the beginning, and is an important influence for the fact that the moral is more significant than the medium used, and with regards to the theme he said "I only create when I have something to say" I like this as I always want to portray either a story, emotion or meaning when I create something whether its art, dance or a video; I think that if you have some sort of motive or vision then it makes it easier to construct material I also think it generates a more successful outcome. To add to this I think that this theme is influential to people who don't know how to voice either their feelings or opinions.
In 1995 they produced a piece called Enter Achilles based on the stage production Enter Achilles. It is an analysis of the male mind, it is positioned in a stereotypical old pub with 8 men who are just socialising, having a beer, watching the football and the usual. From watching this I feel that the main theme of this dance is insecurity, by this I mean that the men are conforming to their gendered identities and that those who don't conform to their perceived ideal image of masculinity are ridiculed and teased; this would be why they are doing things like watching the football and drinking beer to cover the behaviours they may prefer. This could be represented within the mirror section as they are all competing for space in the mirror to check that they were giving off the 'correct' male image. To add to this the different behaviours suggested are also shown throughout the piece by the use of tension between the men when they dance and their close juxtaposition like the fight scene in which the two men are on top of each other on the floor fighting over the beer.


Les Enfants Terribles

Les Enfants Terribles is a theatre company who use a lot of physical theatre. They use physical theatre to make their productions more dynamic and lively as their target audience is children. Their artistic director is Oliver Lansley who founded the company in 2001. Their artistic policy is to create theatre they love and theatre that excites them and hopefully as a result excites their audiences. I like this artistic policy as I think it shows that they are passionate about the theatre they create and as a performer myself  I know that if you don't like what your performing then you can't perform to your best ability, so it shows that they really care about what they are producing.
Their working methods are usually change to do with the piece they are creating as they usually base their pieces on children's stories. They don't really talk about their working methods much but I think from their artistic policy, productions and from doing devising before, they probably come up with an initial idea and play around with it by improvising and playing around with different ideas, as their outcomes are very charismatic and energetic. I also think they probably do research to find some influences or ideas that they can incorporate or expand on.
As for their aesthetics due to them being a children based, they are very bright and dynamic, perfect for a kid audience, They run with a circus like aesthetic, which is very fun and complements their name, with their name being in french it makes them more original and out there which attracts their audience as well. Having this aesthetic allows them to be as big and creative as they want as audience members will expect it.
One of their productions is called Marvellous imaginary menagerie, it was directed by Oliver Lansley, Emma Earle and James Seager. It is about a group of exciting travellers who come into your town with a Zoo of sorts with crazy made up creatures and to tell their amazing stories and make you use your imagination more than you ever thought was possible. They usually start with a song called Imaginary Menagerie after watching some of the performance I think that they have had influences from the film Moulin Rouge not just with the aesthetics of the production but their starting song has similar elements to the song Spectacular Spectacular, they have just taken the greatness of the films themes and made them suitable for children. They use a lot of repetition within the piece which I think is effective for their target audience as children remember things more that way also if it makes it more catchy they feel like they can join in with the performance making it more fun for them.

Jacques Lecoq

Lecoq was a French actor as well as acting instructor and mime known for his work with Physical theatre techniques. Lecoq has inspired many as well as Physical theatre itself, he was able to spread his methods upon others by creating a school of physical theatre in 1956 in Paris. However all of this started through sport and gymnastics. By having an interest in these he learnt the math of movement and that athletes moves were dynamic and abstract and he said to him it was like physical poetry.
His working methods were based on getting others to learn the way of physical theatre but to not lose their own creativity, never telling them what was right so that they explored all the different ways in which they could be expressive with physical theatre.  He did a lot through the uses of masks, he had a thing called the 'Neutral Mask' this was where they wore the mask so that the performer as well as the audiences main focus was oh the physical movement eventually they would obtain the skill of the neutral mask and make the way down to wearing the smallest of masks for example a red nose. I really like this method because I think it starts the performers with the roots or tools you could say,  that they can then use to create material that means something to them and use every emotion within the movement, which is exactly what I think Lecoq was going for, it also then creates stronger material.
Within his work he taught he didn't exclude the use of spoken word he just wants to reiterate how important communication through the body is and how it has been forgotten, also like I said earlier with the physical poetry if he were to use spoken word it would be to create a rhythm between the words and movement not due to word interpretation. I really like this because to create the movement they have they have to have some sort of inspiration/interpretation from a source so adding more to it may take away the beauty of the original movement as well as starting point and meaning to the creator.
Through his school Lecoq has had many students a lot of them have gone on to big things, many notable alumni of his school could be Geoffrey Rush (well known actor), Isla Fisher (Actress), Toby Sedgwick (Director/actor who choreographed War Horse), Simon McBurney (actor director and founder of the Theatre de Complicite) and many more alumni. This shows that his teaching is effective and has been very successful. I think that starting from focusing on movement is the best way also with letting them discover how they like to create movement is very good because it allows people to learn early on their strengths and then use them as their foundation for everything else.

How Lecoq influenced modern practioners
From all of his work I think that his ways and methods have extremely influenced more modern physical theatre companies such as Complicite, DV8, Les Enfants Terribles. How? Well with his techniques Lecoq makes his students focus on the base of movement as well as creativity. He teaches that you should embrace your own creative side as well as incorporate your own personality at the same time, this as a result generates originality. Looking at all the modern physical theatre companies they are all so different and unique but all successful, and all have appealed to their own target audiences. To add to this the majority of the new companies are very much movement and rhythm based which is a big element of Lecoqs methods.
Complicite were very much influenced by Lecoq due to the fact that a few alumni of Lecoq work within Complicite. Therefore the actors a part of it will be introduced to the ways of Jacques Lecoq. We see this through a lot of their work, using the techniques that displays communication with the body are seen in works such as Shun-Kin, A Disappearing Number, The Elephant Vanishes and more. A lot of Complictes works are to do with thought and the mind I think that this element really complements Lecoqs traits as they show what is occurring in the mind through movement more so than word. Also I think with these modern times people have become more visual with things like youtube and twitter, so I think it is effective that they primarily use movement to express their themes as it will attract more modern audiences which is another upside to Lecoqs methods as their results can adjust to any situation and captivate a wider audience.

Key Work:
Dead Dreams Of Monochrome Men - DV8 -
Dead Dreams Of Monochrome Men is a physical theatre piece by DV8, in this piece they delve into the themes trust, passion and seclusion however elements are relatively based on the story of serial killer Dennis Nilsen.
Dennis Nilsen is a British Serial killer as well as necrophiliac, between 1978 and 1983 he had murdered around 12 young men within London. He would deceive them to come back to his place and then kill them; Nilsen became known as the 'Kindly Killer' this was because he thought his way of killing them was nice compared to other murderers. Nilsen would strangle his victims and sometimes drown them as well, after this he would wash them and dress them until he had had enough of them, he would then sever their bodies before either burning them or flushing them down a toilet. Nilsen got put to life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years in 1983 he is still currently confined at a prison in Yorkshire, England.
This showing that social homophobia can be not just the cause of internal pain but can have catastrophic ramifications. Because of this I think that this work really sends the message of equality and how maybe rejecting one person because of their sexuality can have bigger consequences.
Within this piece they use a lot of contact work which is a key feature of physical theatre, however it is a fundamental aspect to this particular piece. I think that it really effective with the main three themes as they use it to showcase each one individually; what I mean by this for each of the main three themes they have created a contact section to represent it. For example for trust there is the section in which one man is climbing a ladder before falling trusting that the other man will be there to catch him. I think that this section is really showing the testing of one another's trust, but trusting them in the case of if they will help each other against the situation they are in.
I think the desire theme is shown mainly at the beginning but is also hinted throughout by the use of the men's close proximity. Using the close proximity helps establish the scenario at the beginning of the piece so the audience know straight away what the situation is. Although, I think in the beginning they use the fact from Nilsen's story that he ensnared and tricked them into coming with him and show this through the use of jealousy between the different guys. To add to this at the beginning there is desire present within all the men, but nearer the end a lot of the desire is lost, one guy repeats a contact motif from the beginning, I think this is the guy trying to remind and recreate the passion from the beginning with a victim. I like the use of repetition as it restates the different themes as well as what level they are on. It also shows how sometimes people can be blinded by desire and trust and desperation. 
The first version of this piece was choreographed for the stage by Lloyd Newson in 1988 and then made into a film in 1990, Dead Dreams Of Monochrome Men was the first filmed work for DV8 but most definitely wasn't the last. I think it is amazing how dance can be so flexible with what medium it is displayed upon, however I think in this particular case it is extremely effective as it adds more to the story as well as atmosphere. The aesthetics for this piece in the film version work well as they all add something to the piece. For example it would be obvious with the name including 'Monochrome' that they use a black and white filter throughout, the music throughout is dependent on what is occurring in that shot so it was a climax section the music would peak in some way. The music stops at a section in the middle as one of the characters does a monologue it then continues once movement restarts. Right at the end of the piece when there is only one guy left standing he plays a song on a vinyl player which is Stay Awhile by Dusty Springfield, this is clever, here are some of the lyrics Stay awhile, let me hold you, Stay awhile, 'til I've told you, Of the love that I feel tonight, the contrast of the upbeat song to the situation on film is very effective and makes the audience kind of reflect on what has happened and how that throughout all this all they wanted was to feel accepted and loved and because of the way society is this is how they had to go about getting it.

Overall:
I think that with Physical Theatre people expect them all to be the same but they're not which is why I chose very different practioners to show the diversity between them all. They will all have similar qualities but that's because they're all coming from the same basis the same rules. I think that with something like this it can only get bigger and better and that comes from inspiration, I think that they all do inspire one another, and if they weren't inspired by someone or something they wouldn't be as fantastic as they are now because in all cases they all have to start from  somewhere. Obviously Jacques Lecoq will have a big influence throughout the physical theatre domain for years to come, this is because his methods are so different and original it can only have good results.  When it comes to things like ideas and subject matter there will always be time where people will have the same however with these practioners that I've looked at they could all have the same subject matter but their finals outcomes would be completely different but all still amazing, which is what is so clever about physical theatre that it can create so many varied aspects to one situation.

references:
http://www.ecole-jacqueslecoq.com/en
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Lecoq
https://prezi.com/tu-ci60blspt/jacques-lecoq/
https://www.dv8.co.uk/
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/oct/21/dance
http://www.biography.com/people/dennis-nilsen-17169676
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfkmUSEqG9c
http://lesenfantsterribles.co.uk/