MUSICAL DRAMATURGY OF MOVEMENT:

INTEGRATING RYTHM NAD STRUCTURE IN PHYSICAL THEATRE   

Eliška Vavříková                                   


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 director 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.

PREPARATION

  1. Rhythm – tuning, synchronizing, perceiving time. Rhythm can be clapped, stomped, accented with voice or various body parts, spread through movement into space.
  2. Resonance – voice as the vibration of the body. Exercises involving voice, imagination, body, and space.
  3. Song – text and melody of the song. Choral singing. A song sung with the voice and a song expressed through the body (without voice). Switching between voice and body. Through this exercise, the song enters the body.

                    Basic Structural Elements of

                  Musical Dramaturgy of a Song

                             Performing Tools

                          of Musical Dramaturgy

  • Intro: The introductory part that prepares the listener for the main theme. / Introduction of character, basic situation, language in which the performance will be narrated.
  • Verse: Telling a story, presenting textual content; often changing text while maintaining the musical motif.
  • Chorus: The most prominent and often the most memorable part. Summarizes the main idea and melody of the song.
  • Bridge: A contrasting section of the song that provides tension or transition between two sections.
  • Outro: The conclusion that gives closure to the song.

Dynamics are key to maintaining attention and creating emotional tension.

  • Gradation: Gradual increase in intensity – can manifest as changes in volume, sound density, adding instruments or harmonies.
  • Contrasts: Alternating quiet and loud moments, faster and slower passages.
  • Climax: The peak section of the song where emotional and musical tension usually converge.
  • Rhythm: Basic rhythmic patterns (e.g., regular beat, syncopation) influence dynamics and flow.
  • Tempo: Speed affects character.

EXAMINATION

Sung improvisation – a student improvises with a song using tools of musical dramaturgy: making pauses, changing tempo, rhythm, intensity, creating contrasts, etc. They observe how different elements alter the meaning of the song.


Conducting – one student acts as a conductor while singing with others. The conductor indicates with their body where there will be pauses, where to speed up or slow down, when to quiet down, etc. Others are connected to them and follow their lead.

Joint improvisation in space – students collectively improvise with a song using both movement and voice. The structure of the song provides a framework within which they move, creating a new structure – action.

Analysis and New Structure – Analysis of chosen structural elements and how they change the meaning of action. Repeating and exploring further possibilities for restructuring actions.

CREATION


Process of Assembling Physical Score and Song:

Physical score based on the text of the song.

Singing of the song.

Adjusting the tempo of the physical score to match that of the song.

Chronological arrangement of physical scores according to the text of the song along with singing.

The use of the physical score in the performance.

DRAMATURGY

The use of musical dramaturgy in physical theater represents one way to deepen understanding of dramatic structures and movement patterns. Utilizing songs allows students to perceive and internalize dramaturgical principles through bodily experience. Songs – particularly their clear structure (e.g., intro, verse, chorus) – facilitate memorization and create strong memory traces due to a combination of sound and rhythmic elements. They represent a clearly framed shape that has a beginning and an end. Typically, one verse does not exceed 40 seconds in length, making it easier to perceive the whole and providing a clear idea of how action evolves from beginning to end. Through exercises, students learn to perceive dramatic twists and flow, strengthening their ability to analyze structural functionality primarily from the perspective of rhythm and dynamics. The physical score then becomes an analogy for musical composition, allowing for dynamic structuring of actions while responding to rhythmic stimuli. In this way, a specific musical dramaturgy of physical action emerges that differs from traditional dance choreography or acting. In conclusion, I would like to add that according to my colleague Eva Dvořáková, this method may not work with every song. I use Ruthenien songs that derive from everyday speech; they mimic dialects, accents, rhythms, and stresses of language (as do all unaltered folk songs). Unlike Czech folk songs that have undergone collection processes and adjustments into forms (Baroque - classical harmonies), Ruthenian songs exhibit a certain incompleteness and freedom in rhythm. They do not display an artificial harmonic refinement known from Czech folk songs.

Thanks to my students from HAMU, Tereza Černá, Matěj Výborný, Jakub Pešek, and Ivana Kalová, for their experimentation and video recordings. I also appreciate my colleagues Eva Dvořáková and Jaroslava Šiktancová for engaging in discussions on this topic with me.