Viewpoints: Difference between revisions

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'''Viewpoints''' is a movement-based pedagogical and artistic practice<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Overlie |first=Mary |title=Standing in Space: The Six Viewpoints Theory & Practice |publisher=Fallon Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-5136-1361-1 |edition=1st |___location=Billings, Montana |pages=vii |language=English}}</ref> that provides a framework for creating and analyzing performance by exploring spatial relationships, shape, time, emotion, movement mechanics, and storytelling. Rooted in the ___domain of [[Choreography (dance)|dance composition]], the Viewpoints operate as a medium for thinking about and acting upon [[Motion (physics)|movement]], [[gesture]], and the creative use of space.<ref name="BogartLandau2004">{{cite book |author1=Bogart |first=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yk_6CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |title=The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition |author2=Landau |first2=Tina |date=1 August 2004 |publisher=Theatre Communications Group |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-5593-6241-2 |___location=New York |pages=7–12}}</ref>

Viewpoints practice and theory profoundly enables access to inspiration and creativity through its distinct focus on the materiality of the actor's body, as well as the elements of the theatrical event.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Perucci |first=Tony |date=16 February 2015 |title=Dog Sniff Dog |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2015.991598 |journal=Performance Research |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=109 |via=Tandfonline}}</ref> The Viewpoints, if practiced and conceptually integrated in performance composition, isare found to be indescribably powerful and effective in all areas of investigation of, and for making art. In the simplest form, it is a theatrical practice for improvisation.

== Background ==

The Six Viewpoints was originally developed in the 1970s by master theater artist and educator [[Mary Overlie]], later conceptualised in her book ''Standing in Space: The Six Viewpoints Theory & Practice'' (2016)''.'' Overlie's Viewpoints and practice are seen to contribute greatly to the [[Postmodernism|postmodern movement]] in theatre, dance, and choreography, grounded in its opposition against [[Modernism|modernism's]] emphasis on hierarchical structure in performance creation, fixed meaning, and linear narratives.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Perucci |first=Tony |date=19 December 2017 |title=On Stealing Viewpoints |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2017.1384188 |journal=Performance Research |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=121-123 |via=Tandfonline}}</ref>

A key principle of the Viewpoints practice is [[Horizontalidad|horizontalism]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Perucci |first=Tony |date=16 February 2015 |title=Dog Sniff Dog |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2015.991598 |journal=Performance Research |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=105 |via=Tandfonline}}</ref>, wherea distinct focus on a non-hierarchical organisation of the performance elements, suchmeaning asshared engagement with elements like space, body, text, time, shape, and emotion, is at its forefront. The practice subsequently constitutes a shared agency of creation amongst performers and creators in working through the individual body and its surrounding material environment as part of a collective ensemble. The Viewpoints thus encourages the performer to incorporate their own bodily impulses and personal experiences in the act of creation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Perucci |first=Tony |date=31 August 2021 |title=The Viewpoints and the Secret of the Original Anarchist: Mary Overlie and the Undercommons |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2020.1930784 |journal=Performance Research |volume=25 |issue=8 |pages=95-100 |via=Tandfonline}}</ref>

The Six Viewpoints theory was adapted by directors [[Anne Bogart]] and [[Tina Landau]], ultimately resulting in the delineation of nine "physical" and five "vocal" Viewpoints. Bogart and Overlie were on the faculty of the Experimental Theatre Wing at [[New York University Tisch School of the Arts|NYU Tisch School of the Arts]] in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during which Bogart was influenced by Overlie's innovations. Overlie's Six Viewpoints are considered to be a methodology to examine, analyze, and create performance in non-hierarchised and deconstructed way, whilst Bogart's Viewpoints are considered practical in creating staging with actors.