Comparing Body Awareness Between Actors And Drama Teachers

Abstract

The teacher's role in drama is to facilitate the pupils' work. The teacher has to use strengthened ways of vocal and visuospatial interaction in order to obtain the attention of the pupils when needed, to inspire the pupils in their drama work and to encourage the pupils to find their own creative solutions. At the same time, the teacher must keep the process under control. The teacher's presence plays an important role in the drama teaching (see Toivanen, Mikkola & Ruismäki 2012, Toivanen & Pyykkö 2012a, 2012b). Voice, gestures, facial expressions, body posture and use of space may together be understood as constituting avisuospatial modality (Stivers & Sindell, 2005) or as we call it in this article-psychophysical actions (e.g. Stanislavski 2008; Zarilli 2004). The purpose of the study is to introduce theater perceptions of the body awareness from psychophysical point of view. What are the connections between the work of an actor and a drama teacher in field of body awareness?

Body awareness in acting – a case study of TRE as a supporting tool for drama students’ personal and professional development

“…Afterwards they are encouraged to reflect on their work and share experiences with their classmates and the instructor. By using their own body awareness, the teacher facilitates empathy and understanding of the student's processes through all sequences (Toivanen & Kaasinen 2013), Theatre, Dance and Performance Training observing and supporting the students both physically through different types of touch and by creating a safe environment using the voice.…”

Investigating pupils’ group creativity in drama - Teacher trainees fostering a creative classroom environment

“…Strict adherence to the lesson plan can lead to a lack of presence and spontaneity in pedagogical interaction between the teacher and the pupils. When teachers do not interact responsively to the pupil's proposals but ignores, interprets, or dominates their activity (Sawyer 2004(Sawyer , 2006(Sawyer , 2012Toivanen & Kaasinen 2013b;Toivanen et al, 2012b), the teacher does not create a learning atmosphere that supports creativity. The challenges for teacher education are: How can we prepare future teachers to teach drama creatively and support pupils' creativity?…”