A Forum of Senior Movement Educators

A panel of senior movement educators, presented at ATHE's 1998 conference in San Antonio, brought together four individuals who have made important contributions to the development of theatre movement pedagogy over the past thirty-plus years. ¹ During this time, the study of theatre movement has evolved substantially, in part due to the contributions of these individuals.

Prior to the 1960s, the idea of teaching the actor's body was explored almost exclusively through dance and mime. During the 1960s, changes began to take place in the academy, as acting programs searched for more inclusive approaches to their curriculums in order to solve problems not easily addressed through recognized acting methodologies. The actor's voice and body increasingly became viewed as necessary pedagogical tools, and, as a result, voice and movement education emerged as specialties in their own right. By the end of the decade, voice and movement began to emerge as teaching areas distinct from each other. Although initially there were more positions available for voice than movement, increasing demand for teachers of movement education gradually justified movement's split from voice. The Movement Program of the American Theatre Association (ATA) was established in 1969.

The growing reality of movement as a distinct discipline was underscored, over the next ten years, by two landmark publications in movement research. Nancy King's Giving Form to Feeling (1975) documented an overall approach to movement training. Lucille S. Rubin's Movement for the Actor (1980) became the first collection of writings by American movement educators.

With the demise of ATA in 1986 and the subsequent birth of ATHE, movement education took on a new form through the establishment of an independent organization for movement specialists, the Society of Theatre Movement Specialists, a group connected to ATHE but also operating independently in order to serve those in the field not associated with a college or university. In 1993, the Society of Theatre Movement Specialists became the Association of Theatre Movement Educators (ATME), a not-for-profit organization.

This thirty-year organizational history of theatre movement education has paralleled the increasing growth of theatre movement in acting programs across the country. Most actor training programs (BFA and MFA) now employ movement educators as members of their acting faculty, while many liberal arts-based theatre departments feature either a movement educator or a person capable of teaching both voice and movement.

The participants on this panel represent different aspects of this trajectory, as their careers parallel the growing professionalization and specialization of movement. Jim Hancock is known for incorporating into his teaching mind/body techniques that help actors increase their self-awareness, ease, and economy in a way that has become known as "self-use." Jennifer Martin has been instrumental in applying historical styles of movement and dance to the arena of actor training. Richard Nichols has influenced stage combat training and introduced the application of Asian martial arts to Western acting. Jewel Walker is recognized for an approach that reflects years of formal training in mime.

--Bruce Lecure

BRUCE LECURE: Due to the eclectic background of movement educators in our country, as well as the fact that no single method or technique is recognized as the definitive training tool for the actor's body, I'm intrigued by the course title so common in theatre curriculums today: "Movement for the Stage." What does this title mean to you? What should it mean in actor training?

JIM HANCOCK: "Movement for the Stage" means I'm preparing the actor to communicate. One of the major means of communication is the body. If the body is in line with the mind, and the character has been investigated by the actor, then it seems to me there must be some way to put that on the stage. When I first started--more years ago than I want to tell you about!--dance was...