Action Theatre is an

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

al performance technique developed by the American

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

ist, Ruth Zaporah. Action Theatre is defined by its focus on embodied awareness, the tracking of the present moment through sensory experience, and by a structured training that uses exploration to build the performer's 'formal dexterity and the ability to “listen” to oneself and one’s acting partners'. This

physical theatre Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that encompasses storytelling primarily through physical movement. Although several performance theatre disciplines are often described as "physical theatre," the genre's characteristic aspe ...

technique is documented in Zaporah's 1995 book, ''Action Theatre: The Improvisation of Presence''.

Origin

Action Theatre evolved from the explosion of interdisciplinary performance in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s, which included Contact Improvisation performance groups and

Anna Halprin Anna Halprin (born Hannah Dorothy Schuman; July 13, 1920 – May 24, 2021) was an American choreographer and dancer. She helped redefine dance in postwar America and pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to hers ...

. Zaporah is described as one of the 'leading lights of the Bay Area's thriving experimental theater scene of the 1970s and '80s' and as a 'master teacher ... whose work blurs the edges between modern dance and mime'. She trained in modern dance (with Merce Cunningham,

Alwin Nikolais Alwin Nikolais (November 25, 1910 – May 8, 1993) was an American choreographer, dancer, composer, musician, teacher. He had created the Nikolais Dance Theatre, and was best known for his self-designed innovative costume, lighting and production d ...

and

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

) and participated in the theater and movement experiments of the '60s; it is said she 'embodies play that's dead serious'.Off the cuff: Ruth Zaporah proves that preparation isn’t always best. (2006, September 13). ''Santa Fe Reporter''. Retrieved from http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/article-927-off-the-cuff.html Action Theater is a training technique and practice that Ruth Zaporah developed over a twenty-year period in the San Francisco Bay Area.

References

External links

Action Theatre
Improvisational theatre Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area {{Dance-stub