EUGENIO BARBA
The Moon Rises from the Ganges
My Journey Through Asian Acting
Techniques
The Moon Rises from the Ganges: My Journey through
Asian Acting Techniques
presents Eugenio Barba's most
important texts on his research into
the technical knowledge of Asian performers. Weaving together
encounters,
detailed descriptions, theoretical reflections, anecdotes and
travels, the author
unfolds the changing phases in a passionate inquiry which has been
a constant
reference in his more than fifty-year career.
The book deals with the various aspects of Barba's collaboration
with tradi-
tional actors and dancers from the East. It describes their
frequent meet-
ings and their work exchanges, which contributed to the
comparative analysis
of their know-how. The result of this extensive cooperation has
opened up
the new field of Theatre Anthropology, defined by Barba as the
study of
the technical pre-expressive principles at the root of stage
presence in any
actor/dancer. The pragmatic activity of the International School
of Theatre
Anthropology (ISTA), founded in 1979, is illustrated through the
procedures
and variations arising from questions and demonstrations. What is
rhythm,
improvisation, flow, presence?
In this 'performers' village' that is ISTA, Asian, Western and
Afro-Brazilian
actors/dancers scrutinise each other's work, relating and mapping
out the
similar technical principles underlying their different ways of
thinking and
working. The autodidactic practice of Odin Teatret actors together
with the
training methods of the European theatre reformers of the
twentieth century
are continuously confronted with the results of this research from
the per-
spective of a performer-'s 'scenic anatomy'.
Edited by Lluis Masgrau, The Moon Rises from the
Ganges: My Journey
through Asian Acting Techniques includes some of
Barba's well-known articles
which have already become classics, as well as relatively unknown
and un-
published texts. The result is a valuable guide for practitioners,
an account of
pure research into the know-how of the performer, and an important
chapter
of East-West dialogue in twentieth-century theatre.
