Day 10, great friends and a Tuscan view
Sweetest thing I heard was Patrick saying I put trust in you
My comedy's delivered with hammers to crush a mood
Of negativity, don't weigh yourself down, there's so much to do
21 in 4 days
All I can think of is do I have to board planes?
Yes I do, once I'm back it's back to more plays
It's in my veins like cursing in the Lord's name
I wish I could spell a word
to truely showcase my meaning
Like dancing the Tarentella
When heaven and earth are meeting
Through you
Because you are the conduit, the glue that makes them bond a bit
Speaking to Mother Earth with Dionysus in my consulate
By observing a face, you can view someone's character. Indentations of the brow, laugh lines, the presence or lack of angular features, these are just a few key tools in the observer's bag of tricks. The mask you wear is like a car, it is the driving force-the motivation-behind a character's actions. It leads you. Relationships and movement start from the body, not the other way around
Commedia Dell'Arte has a few defining characteristics
*Charactersitics
- Professional companies
- Itinerate
- Utilized stock characters
- Improv. acting
- Mask theatre
- Multi-lingual-Grammalo (fake language)
- Secular/Popular/Comic
- HIGH ENERGY!!!!!!!!
The first character we will discuss is Pantalone. Pantalone is ,usually an old, but always a rich, merchant from Venice. His name means to literally plant the lion, another allude to Venezia. This character is very obsequious and false-faced. He has visible power in the volume of his voice and his sumptuous clothing. He has internal power from his self-knowledge, both of factual information and of the large sum sitting at home in his foot-locker.
The second character we will discuss is Capitano. He has a swagger, an arrogance to his bearing. His is a very visible power and if he doesn't intimidate immediately, he loses his edge. He'll boast of gettin' with twenty women a night and killing 300 dudes. However, this is all to compensate for his internal weakness and cowardice. He usually has a long, phallic nose with very aware, shifty eyes.
Finally we will end with the Lovers. They usually wore no masks. Romanticizing obvious truths was their gimmick, think prostitute to princess. They don't know what to do with themselves. Love and its false morality is mocked.
There are no fixed characters as society creates them. The body always asserts itself over mental notions. Body tells truth against what society imposes. Belief that humans can progress and achieve perfection. You can invent yourself. Makes fun of real-world power structures. Commedia dell'Arte declines because its caricatures are not applicable to real world people any longer.
We finished out the day with a lesson in the Tarantella by Mr.Gianni. He emphasized the folkloric nature to the movements. Characterized by a fast, upbeat tempo, the dance and it's motions revolve around stepping on and being stung by a spider. In the Italian Taranto, the bite of a locally common type of wolf spider named "tarantula" after the region, was popularly believed to be highly poisonous and to lead to a hysterical condition known as tarantism. The stated belief in the 16th and 17th centuries were that the victims needed to engage in a frenzied dance to prevent death from the disease using very rhythmic music. This became known as the Tarantella. Other of the moves feature stomping to kill the spiders and a general bouncing nature permeates every second.
Here's a visual for ya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDt0mWbFHM0
The dance also symbolizes man as the conduit between earth and the cosmos, a rather Renaissance idea. Dionysus is referenced frequently as he himself was of both the earth and the cosmos, having a mortal mother.
The second character we will discuss is Capitano. He has a swagger, an arrogance to his bearing. His is a very visible power and if he doesn't intimidate immediately, he loses his edge. He'll boast of gettin' with twenty women a night and killing 300 dudes. However, this is all to compensate for his internal weakness and cowardice. He usually has a long, phallic nose with very aware, shifty eyes.
The third character we will discuss is Dottore. This character believes the importance of his words to be ultimate. Speaks endlessly and obliviously because he wants you to believe his intelligence. He's a glutton and a drunk; his body is in conflict with the image he attempts to present.
Next we'll holler at ya boy Arlecchino. His origin is unknown but it has something to do with the devil. Some masks employ a little horn or bump on the brow as an homage. He's not necessarily a stock character, chameleon type, helps others plans. Masters must employ power through the servant. Power interpreted through this mouthpiece. Irony is this guy's power.
Finally we will end with the Lovers. They usually wore no masks. Romanticizing obvious truths was their gimmick, think prostitute to princess. They don't know what to do with themselves. Love and its false morality is mocked.There are no fixed characters as society creates them. The body always asserts itself over mental notions. Body tells truth against what society imposes. Belief that humans can progress and achieve perfection. You can invent yourself. Makes fun of real-world power structures. Commedia dell'Arte declines because its caricatures are not applicable to real world people any longer.
We finished out the day with a lesson in the Tarantella by Mr.Gianni. He emphasized the folkloric nature to the movements. Characterized by a fast, upbeat tempo, the dance and it's motions revolve around stepping on and being stung by a spider. In the Italian Taranto, the bite of a locally common type of wolf spider named "tarantula" after the region, was popularly believed to be highly poisonous and to lead to a hysterical condition known as tarantism. The stated belief in the 16th and 17th centuries were that the victims needed to engage in a frenzied dance to prevent death from the disease using very rhythmic music. This became known as the Tarantella. Other of the moves feature stomping to kill the spiders and a general bouncing nature permeates every second.
Here's a visual for ya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDt0mWbFHM0
The dance also symbolizes man as the conduit between earth and the cosmos, a rather Renaissance idea. Dionysus is referenced frequently as he himself was of both the earth and the cosmos, having a mortal mother.
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