Musical Dramaturgy of Movement: Integrating Rhythm and Structure in Physical Theatre
(2025)
author(s): Eliška Vavříková
published in: Research Catalogue
This paper discusses the teaching method I apply in the course of Authorial Creation at HAMU, where students develop as authors and performers of physical theater. Alongside traditional approaches to dramaturgy, I aim to convey applied dramaturgy through movement, space, and music. My methods are inspired by working with Viliam Dočolomanský and are based on perceiving movement and action on stage as music. Movement is music, and music is movement. (Both are vibrations in space that propagate through air or surfaces.) Therefore, I strive to awaken and cultivate a sense of musicality in students, encouraging them to search for meanings and perceive dramaturgy in action, among other things, through rhythm and tools of musical dramaturgy and interpretation.
En søken etter en utvidet fysisk tolkning av vokal samtidsmusikk og av opera
(2019)
author(s): Silje Marie Aker Johnsen
published in: Research Catalogue
"En søken etter en utvidet fysisk tolkning av vokal samtidsmusikk og av opera" er Silje Aker Johnsens kunstneriske doktorgradsarbeid ved Operahøgskolen, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo.
Det kunstneriske doktorgradsarbeidet fokuserer på kombinasjonen av bevegelse og vokalutøvelse i forskjellige sammenhenger og i ulike uttrykk. Silje Aker Johnsen har bakgrunn fra det klassiske musikkfeltet, opera og samtidsmusikk, men også som danser og i tverrkunstnerisk scenekunst.
Hovedlinjene i prosjektet følger prosesser og refleksjoner rundt material- og verkutvikling og den tverrfaglige utøverens potensielle roller i ulike utviklingssituasjoner. Refleksjonsarbeidet diskuterer ulike plasseringer i sjangere, grader av medskapende virksomhet, aspekter av forberedelse, trening og improvisasjon i utviklingen av en praksis.
Disposisjonen beskriver, og reflekterer rundt, prosessene i hovedverkene i prosjektet:
Her
av Erik Dæhlin og Silje Aker Johnsen.
Dette verket har gått som en rød tråd gjennom doktorgradsarbeidet og blitt bearbeidet og vist i flere versjoner. "Her" er også en del av komponist og regissør Erik Dæhlins kunstneriske doktorgradsarbeid ved Norges Musikkhøgskole, "Shared Space - mot en relasjonell, prosessuell og intermedial kompositorisk praksis."
Her, KHiO, 2017
Her, Scene 2, Den Norske Opera og Ballett, 2018
Her, utdrag, KHiO, 2018, som en del av Aker Johnsens avsluttende presentasjon av sitt doktorgradsarbeid, forestillingen "En søken.. "
I forestillingen "En søken…" arbeidet Aker Johnsen med tre ulike samarbeidspartnere og innganger til sammenføyningen av vokalutøvelse og bevegelse: I tillegg til samarbeidet med komponist og regissør Erik Dæhlin, inkluderte dette et verk i samarbeid med koreograf Mia Habib og en adapsjon av et koreografisk partitur av Janne-Camilla Lyster:
Sedimenter
av Mia Habib og Silje Aker Johnsen
Tulipan
Koreografisk partitur av Janne-Camilla Lyster, Adapsjon av Silje Aker Johnsen
Opera:
Ballerina
kammeropera, av komponist Synne Skouen, librettist Oda Radoor og regissør Hilde Andersen, er blant hovedverkene innen opera. Operaen ble bestilt av Den Norske Opera og Ballett og oppført ved Den Norske Opera og Ballett i 2017.
Disposisjonen benytter en kombinasjon av ulike tekster og videorefleksjoner, samt videodokumentasjon av utvalgte verk, til å kommunisere refleksjonsarbeidet.
Basic Bitch, a theatrical midlife crisis introspective
(last edited: 2025)
author(s): Nanna Gunnarsdóttir
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
This is an overview of the research behind the making of a final project by Nanna Gunnars, an MA student in Performing Arts at Iceland University of the Arts. The final project culminates in a stage performance titled Basic Bitch in January 2026, but this research is presented a month earlier.
The research shows the continuous change that takes place during the creative process. How many tumbles and changes does the creative process go through during the making of a devised theatre performance?
The performance is yet to be finished, so readers are placed in the midst of the thought process and given an insight into the author's thinking process and devising methods.
The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough; Musicality of Movement approach (Virág Dezsö) for singers; connecting the physicality of singing, body awareness, performative skills, and improvisation [Charlotte Riedijk, The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough, Musicality of Movement for singers - 2025-07-12 15:20] [Charlotte Riedijk, The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough, Musicality of Movement for singers - 2025-08-01 11:06]
(last edited: 2025)
author(s): Charlotte Riedijk
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Abstract
The incentive for this research was to explore ways of integrating the physicality of singing into vocal education by means of the Musicality of Movement (MoM) approach. Musicality of Movement is a physical performance training program designed for musicians. Traditionally the importance of the physicality of singing is recognized, yet it remains underexposed in vocal training, which eventually can lead to inhibited vocal freedom and wooden or awkward performances. The Musicality of Movement approach (MoM) opens ways to freer, more imaginative stage presence, better physical awareness and more expressive singing.
The working hypothesis was:
Integrating the Musicality of Movement approach into classical voice education will offer singers tools to enhance stage presence, imaginative expression, clarity of performative skills and can create ways to find physical and mental wellbeing on stage.
The hypothesis was confirmed by the results of the three interventions—consisting of MoM lessons and workshops—that were executed during the academic year 2023-2024, with three groups of voice students, in three different settings. Interviews and questionnaires were analysed to give an impression of how working with the MoM approach supported performative skills and stage presence. Positive results were obtained from relatively small groups of students which shows a need for future research over a longer period and with a larger research population.
Most mentioned keywords to indicate what the MoM-lessons brought the students were body awareness, better breathing, performance skills and playfulness. The practicality of the approach was shown by the fact that participants mentioned to use the exercises in their individual vocal practice.
The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough; Musicality of Movement approach (Virág Dezsö) for singers; connecting the physicality of singing, body awareness, performative skills, and improvisation [Charlotte Riedijk, The Eiffel tower, the frog and the dough, Musicality of Movement for singers - 2025-07-12 15:20]
(last edited: 2025)
author(s): Charlotte Riedijk
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Abstract
The incentive for this research was to explore ways of integrating the physicality of singing into vocal education by means of the Musicality of Movement (MoM) approach. Musicality of Movement is a physical performance training program designed for musicians. Traditionally the importance of the physicality of singing is recognized, yet it remains underexposed in vocal training, which eventually can lead to inhibited vocal freedom and wooden or awkward performances. The Musicality of Movement approach (MoM) opens ways to freer, more imaginative stage presence, better physical awareness and more expressive singing.
The working hypothesis was:
Integrating the Musicality of Movement approach into classical voice education will offer singers tools to enhance stage presence, imaginative expression, clarity of performative skills and can create ways to find physical and mental wellbeing on stage.
The hypothesis was confirmed by the results of the three interventions—consisting of MoM lessons and workshops—that were executed during the academic year 2023-2024, with three groups of voice students, in three different settings. Interviews and questionnaires were analysed to give an impression of how working with the MoM approach supported performative skills and stage presence. Positive results were obtained from relatively small groups of students which shows a need for future research over a longer period and with a larger research population.
Most mentioned keywords to indicate what the MoM-lessons brought the students were body awareness, better breathing, performance skills and playfulness. The practicality of the approach was shown by the fact that participants mentioned to use the exercises in their individual vocal practice.
From paper to performance: nonverbal communication as a vehicle for expression
(last edited: 2019)
author(s): Renato Dias Peneda
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
This artistic research project focuses on the use and role of nonverbal communication as a means to effectively communicate narratives and display characters in modern percussion works, with particular emphasis on visual cues, i.e. physical appearance and kinesics – facial expressions, posture, and body and ocular movement. Research into this topic was motivated by the author’s desire to become a more expressive performer and had the added benefit of expanding the author’s solo percussion repertoire. The research strategy applied was the realisation of two case studies, on Cie. Kahlua’s Ceci n’est pas une balle and F. Sarhan’s Home Work. The mixed methods approach to the topic included literature research, analysis of the scores and videos of performances, interviews, coaching by experts in music, theatre and dance, quasi-experiments, and autoethnography. The interventions resulted in the author’s own versions of the compositions, each with its own narrative and corresponding characters, which are made clear by the use of nonverbal cues. In addition, the author designed a general method for preparing engaging performances that can be followed by other musicians and thus provides a contribution to the field. By the end of the research process, the author had improved his body awareness, stage presence, and nonverbal communication skills to the point where he could effectively communicate his artistic ideas to the audience.