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Tělo jako „pohyblivá socha“ v díle francouzského mima Étienna Decroux - přednáška Petry Kolářové
The body as a "moving sculpture" in the work of French mime Étienne Decroux - lecture by Petra Kolářová
Event by: Městská knihovna v Praze, Národní institut pro kulturu, Teatrologická společnost
Location: Municipal Library of Prague, Mariánské náměstí 98/1, Praha 1
Talks & discussions
About event
Actor and mime Étienne Decroux (1898—1991) was often heard saying: "If I were not a mime, I would be a sculptor." As the creator of the so-called body mime (mime corporel) put the body expression in the center of attention, at the expense of the face and hands, as was customary in traditional pantomime. He was inspired not only by the ideas of theater reformers Jacques Copeau and Edward Gordon Craig, but also by sculpture, especially the works of Auguste Rodin.
The lecture will focus on Decroux's concept of the body as a "moving sculpture" (statuaire mobile), which is key in his work. He will recall the older theatrical tradition of the actor's relationship to sculpture (Denis Diderot), and will point to sculptural inspirations that appear not only in the form of adopting bodily postures from concrete sculptures, but also in the level of metaphors personifying the creative principles of bodily mime. Last but not least, it will point to the role of photography and film in Decroux's visual thinking about the body on the stage.
PhDr. Petra Kolářová, Ph.D. she is an art historian and curator. In 2015, she defended her dissertation on Étienne Decroux prepared as part of her doctorate under dual supervision at Charles University in Prague (Institute for the History of Art, Faculty of Arts, UK) and at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Doctoral School of Art History). Since 2019, she has been working as a curator of the Collection of Graphics and Drawings of the National Gallery Prague, where she participated in several exhibition projects, including is the author of the exhibition In rings of smoke. Portrait of a Modern Artist (2022).
12. 12. 2024 | 17.00 h | Prague
City Library in Prague | Mariánské náměstí 1 | Free admission
The lecture will focus on Decroux's concept of the body as a "moving sculpture" (statuaire mobile), which is key in his work. He will recall the older theatrical tradition of the actor's relationship to sculpture (Denis Diderot), and will point to sculptural inspirations that appear not only in the form of adopting bodily postures from concrete sculptures, but also in the level of metaphors personifying the creative principles of bodily mime. Last but not least, it will point to the role of photography and film in Decroux's visual thinking about the body on the stage.
PhDr. Petra Kolářová, Ph.D. she is an art historian and curator. In 2015, she defended her dissertation on Étienne Decroux prepared as part of her doctorate under dual supervision at Charles University in Prague (Institute for the History of Art, Faculty of Arts, UK) and at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Doctoral School of Art History). Since 2019, she has been working as a curator of the Collection of Graphics and Drawings of the National Gallery Prague, where she participated in several exhibition projects, including is the author of the exhibition In rings of smoke. Portrait of a Modern Artist (2022).
12. 12. 2024 | 17.00 h | Prague
City Library in Prague | Mariánské náměstí 1 | Free admission