Towards the 'Receptive' Body: an Exploration of the Principles of Korean Traditional Sources for Contemporary Psychophysical
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Towards the ‘Receptive’ Body: An Exploration of the Principles of Korean Traditional Sources for Contemporary Psychophysical Performer Training Submitted by Bonghee Son to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Performance Practice December 2014 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. .......................................... (signature) 1 Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to explore the principles of selected Korean training sources for contemporary psychophysical performer training towards the development of a performer’s ‘receptive’ body. Those training sources are including Ocheubub, a martial art Taekkyun, and Bongsan Masked Dance training. More specifically this thesis explores the following questions: What is the meaning of a performer’s ‘receptive’ body as understood through an exploration of selected Korean source traditions (Ocheubub, a martial art Taekkyun, and Bongsan Masked Dance training)? How can the practices and principles of the training sources be understood and transmitted from ‘traditional’ to ‘contemporary’ theatre practice in Korea? How has the notion of a performer’s ‘receptivity’ been understood or used by key theatre practitioners including Grotowski, Barba, Suzuki, Lee, Oida, and Zeami in their training? The practical investigation was carried out as a series of three projects which focused on the performer’s ‘being in the moment on stage’ as a point of departure to work as a performer. The principles of the training sources have been used to facilitate the performer’s internal readiness or preparation centering on being from 2 the invisible (Sang, portent or sign) to the visible (Hyoung, a form or style) in working with improvisation and generating material for performance. In adapting the original source training, this thesis has developed a set of devised exercises and practices which examine and develop those underlying key principles as a framework for training, improvisation, and performance. 3 List of Contents Title Page………………………………………………………………………………… 1 Abstract………..……………………………………………………….…..….……..….. 2 List of Contents……………………………………………………………….………… 4 List of Illustrations................................................................................................. 9 Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………..… 12 Part I…………………………..…………………………………………..….………..... 14 Introduction……………………………….……………………………….....………... 14 Rationale and Research Questions………………....…..........................…….. 14 Literature Review…………………………………………………….…….……... 21 Research Methods……………………………………………………….…......... 33 Outline of the Thesis…................................................................................... 43 Chapter I: Practical Project I: The ‘Receptive’ Body as a Beginning Point for the Performer……….……………………………………………………………….…. 47 Introduction………………………………………………………………...…….... 47 The Discourse of the Bodymind Dichotomy among Contemporary Korean Performers...................................................................................................... 57 4 Ocheubub Training–BodyMind Integration: Listening to the Body in ‘Purifying’ and Perceiving the Performer’s Breathing………………………....…..……….. 61 The Application of Devised Practices……………………………....……..…….. 66 A Martial Art Taekkyun Training: Inhabiting Psychophysical Readiness….… 75 Bongsan Masked Dance Training: the Engagement of the Performer’s Body in a Structural Improvisation…………………...…………………………...……….. 88 Conclusion………………………………………………………………….....…… 97 Chapter II: Practical Project II: Exploring the ‘Receptive’ Body in Rehearsal towards Solo Performance…………………………..…………………..………… 100 Introduction………………………..……………………………………………… 100 Exploring My Practices……………………….………………...…………….…. 106 The Embodiment of My Practices in Solo Performance: from a State of Sang (Invisible) to Hyoung (Visible)……………….....………...…………………..… 122 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...… 134 Chapter III: Practical Project III: Developing the ‘Receptive’ Body in Group Devising, Rehearsal and Performance………………….…….……………….… 138 Introduction…………………………………………....………………………..… 138 Introduction to My Practices: Towards the Development of a Performer’s Receptive Body……………...………………………………………………….... 143 The Embodiment of a Performer’s Receptive Body in Scenes from The Water Station…………………………………………………………………………...… 170 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...………… 192 5 Part II………………..………………………………………………………...……….. 197 Chapter IV: What is the ‘Receptive’ Body in ‘Traditional’ Culture, Acting and Training in Korea?…………….………………………………………………….…. 200 Introduction…….……………….………………………………………………… 200 What is the understanding of the ‘Receptive’ Body in Traditional Korean Culture and Theatre, and the Source Traditions?......................................... 202 The Notion of a Performer’s ‘Body’ in a Context of Korean Source Tradition…..................................................................................................... 202 Ki (기, 氣) in a Context of Korean Source Traditions from the Concept of Non- Western Philosophy and Medicine…...........………………................….....… 218 Introduction to Korean Training Sources: Ocheubub, Taekkyun and Bongsan Masked Dance…………………………..……………………..……………….... 232 Ocheubub Training: the Bodymind’s Oneness through Breathing………..... 232 Taekkyun Training: a Passive Readiness by means of One’s Internal Cultivation…………………………………………………………………………. 244 Psychophysical Elements of Taekkyun Training…………..………..……....… 251 Bongsan Masked Dance Training.................................................................. 261 The Principles of Bongsan Masked Dance: ‘Tying’ and ‘Untying’ One’s Respiration………………………………………………………………………... 265 Chapter V: The ‘Receptive’ Body in Contemporary Culture, Acting, and Training in Korea………………………………………………………….……. 270 6 Introduction…………………………........………………………………………. 270 The Performer’s Body in Twenty-first Century Korea: the Transition from Direct Bodily Encounter to the Embodiment of Realistic Acting ……………...…..... 272 The Meaning of Realistic or Naturalistic Acting in Korea……………...…….. 277 Issues of Body/Mind Dualism in West…………..…………………………..… 288 Returning to the Roots of the Korean Mode………………………......……… 292 Use of Traditional Training Sources in Contemporary Korean Theatre….… 301 ‘Tradition’ and ‘Receptivity’ in Contemporary Theatre………………..……… 305 Conclusion.................................................................................................... 314 Chapter VI: Towards the ‘Receptive’ Body: Intercultural Perspectives….... 319 Introduction…………………………………………………………….……….... 319 Key Concepts/Terminology from Western and Non-Western Theatre Practice to Develop the ‘Receptive’ Body in Performer Training...………….………… 323 Conclusion……………………………………………………………….......…… 342 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………. 344 Overview of Thesis………………………………………………………………. 344 Outcomes of Thesis and Future Directions….……………………………...… 351 Appendixes…………………………………………………………………………… 359 Appendix I: Scene 1. A Girl (Boyd 2006: 171-174).……………………..…… 359 7 Appendix II: Scene 4. A Married Couple (Boyd 2006: 182-187)……………. 361 Appendix III: Scene 5. An Old Woman (Boyd 2006: 188-191)……………... 364 Appendix IV: Contents of DVD..................................................................... 366 Appendix V: Glossary................................................................................... 369 Bibliography………………………...……………………………………........…….. 372 8 List of Illustrations Figure 1, A Summary of Practical Projects…………………….………………….… 35 Figure 2, ‘The Roses of an Althea have Blossomed’ Exercise……….………...…. 67 Figure 3, ‘The Key Protector’ Exercise………………………..………………......…. 69 Figure 4, My Practices………………………………………………....…………….. 108 Figure 5, A Girl (the author) Confronts the Watering Place................................. 132 Figure 5:1, The sky in the girl’s (the author’s) eyes………………...………..…… 134 Figure 6, My Practices and Devised Exercises………...………….………..…….. 145 Figure 7, ‘The War’ Exercise………..……….…..……………….………………..… 150 Figure 8, ‘Escaping from a Chair’ Exercise…...……………...….…………..…….. 157 Figure 9, ‘Podahnjoen and Simple Movement’ Exercise……..……...…………… 163 Figure 10, ‘Guarding the Keys’ Exercise…………....……………….………...…… 165 Figure 11, Scene 4, ‘A Married Couple,’ Photo by Bonghee Son……………...... 185 Figure 11:1, Scene 4, ‘A Married Couple,’ Photo by Bonghee Son…………...… 187 Figure 12, Scene 5, An Old Woman, Photo by Bonghee Son…………..……….. 189 Figure 13, Mooneyoshinmoo (무녀신무, 巫女神舞) by Yeounbok Shin, 1805....… 210 Figure 14, Samtaegeuk (삼태극, 三太極, the relation of coexistence)……………. 212 9 Figure 15, Taegeuk (태극, 太極, the Korean flag)………………….……...…….…. 213 Figure 16, The author practicing the beginning of Ocheubub. Photo by Sangwoong Han……………..………………………………....… 235 Figure 16:1, The author practicing the second part of Ocheubub. Photo by Sangwoong Han……………………………………………..…… 238 Figure 17, Mural Paintings of Taekkyun in the Goryeo period (안악 3 호분, tumulus)…...……...…………………………………………… 244 Figure 18, Daequedo (大快圖, 대쾌도) in the Joseon Dynasty by Sook Yoo….… 245 Figure 19, The author practicing the initial part of Taekkyun. Photo by Sangwoong Han……………………..……………………..….… 252 Figure 19:1,