Action Theater : The Improvisation of Presence - Ruth Zaporah

Action Theater

The Improvisation of Presence

By: Ruth Zaporah

Paperback | 15 June 1995 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


$53.25

or 4 interest-free payments of $13.31 with

 or 

Aims to ship in 15 to 25 business days

Each chapter of this book presents a single day of the twenty-day training which Ruth Zaporah developed into Action Theater, her investigation into the life-reflecting process of improvisation. This book shows through exercises, stories, anecdotes, and metaphors how to focus attention on the body's awareness of the present moment, moving away from preconceived ideas. Improvisations move through fear, boredom, laziness, and distraction to a sustained awareness of creative options.
Industry Reviews
"Action Theater is a true path to liberation: from self-binding and limiting concepts, from fear and mistrust. Working within the framework of Ruth's instructions, we can practice being spontaneously alive in a world that has not already been formed, where no script exists." - Edward Espe Brown, Zen teacher and author of The Tassajara Bread Book "Improvisation by its very nature is impossible to capture in words. There are few competent practitioners left in this cynical materialistic era. The need for "winging it" both on and off stage, of going out on a limb, "suspending disbelief," is of supreme importance particularly at this time. This is the value and healing property of improvisation, whether you're an artist or a business person. Ruth Zaporah is a master of this elusive and transformative art form. At last, after all these years we have a compendium of her exercises. This is a book of spells for your enchantment." -John O'Keefe, playwright and actor, founding member, Blake Street Hawkeyes

"Those of us lucky enough to see Ruth Zaporah perform have anticipated this book with great eagerness. How has this genius of authenticity, this brilliance of spontaneity come into being? How does she do it? As countless students will tell you, Ruth Zaporah has been leading students in the direction of what she knows for a long time; she is an extraordinary teacher. And now, in a simple and wonderfully evocative telling, she has given us a record of how her work and its teaching takes place. This book will very soon become an indespensible classic, not only for studies in theater, but also inthe nature of life." -Susan Griffin, author of A Chorus of Stones and The Eros of Everyday Life

More in Choreography

Shirley Clarke : Thinking Through Movement - Karen Pearlman
The Meaning of Tango : The Story of the Argentinian Dance - Christine Denniston
Dance Composition : An Interrelated Arts Approach - Janice Pomer

RRP $103.00

$55.75

46%
OFF
Shirley Clarke : Thinking Through Movement - Karen Pearlman
Merce Cunningham : Common Time - Fionn Meade
Choreography : Creating and Developing Dance for Performance - Kate Flatt
Keep It Moving : Lessons for the Rest of Your Life - Twyla Tharp
Shelley Lasica : WHEN I AM NOT THERE - Hannah Mathews

RRP $49.00

$39.95

18%
OFF
Dance (Welcome to the Arts) : Dance - Alistair Spalding
Unworking Choreography : The Notion of the Work in Dance - Zachary D. Kaufman
Choreography : A Basic Approach Using Improvisation - Sandra Cerny Minton
Kinesthetic City : Dance and Movement in Chinese Urban Spaces - SanSan Kwan
Dancefilm : Choreography and the Moving Image - Erin Brannigan

RRP $297.00

$205.75

31%
OFF