Movement and Creativity

Abstract

The topic of this master thesis is to explore the methods and principles of movement education at the Department of Authorial Creativity and Pedagogy (KATaP). The Authorial Acting program in English started in 2015. Throughout the span of two years, movement classes are taught by three professors. All of them have different approaches, yet they strive towards the same goal – that students gain a higher awareness of their body and can attain better control over their everyday movement habits as well as their movement on stage. Though the study program is designed as a mirror of the Czech program, changes were made due to the different cultures, temperament and skills of the English program students. This represents a great opportunity to revise how movement is being taught at the department.

The body of this thesis is divided into three major chapters dealing with: posture, space and imagination. Each chapter includes a description of exercises that we did in KATaP movement classes related to a specific topic. Sources for the exercise descriptions as well as my reflection on how I felt and what changes I experienced during and after the exercise are taken from my class notes and semester reflections. At the same time, each topic is explored through published theory to give the movement classes a theoretical perspective. The last chapter is devoted to exploring the connection between imagination and movement and how this affects an actor's creativity.

The main motivation for writing this thesis is my appreciation for the transformation my body has undergone during my studies at KATaP. That is why I believe that many can benefit from its content be it theoreticians, teachers or other practitioners in the world of performing arts as well as people who are simply interested in learning something new about their bodies.