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Pour explorer les liens entre techniques de corps, techniques de représentation et techniques de connaissance, un certain nombre de pratiques artistiques contemporaines (performances, vidéos) sont revisitées par l'entremise d'une confrontation à d'autres disciplines, physiques et filmiques, sportives et burlesques. Cet élargissement du champ d'investigation permet, en particulier, de moins interroger les techniques dans leur effectivité ordinaire qu'à partir de leurs moments décisifs : instants « t » de l'invention, ou de la soudaine obsolescence, points de bascule d'une incompétence en compétence, de l'illégalité à la légalité. [résumé de l'éditeur]

L'arte, in qualunque forma si manifesti, richiede un pubblico, ma il primo spettatore di un'opera è sempre il suo artefice. Questo doppio movimento dell'artista, da creatorea spettatore, risulta ancora più complicato quando artista e opera sono coincidenti. Nell'arte del mimo e del funambolo, il corpo è la materia prima dell'espressione. Conclusa la presentazione, dove prima erano il mimoe il funambolo non resta altro che un palcoscenico vuoto o un filo teso vicino al cielo. Il vuoto, però, è per entrambi il luogo della rivelazione di se stessi e del mondo. L'autore, critico d'arte, docente di Storia dello Spettacolo e Antropologia dell'Arte a partire dalle esperienze raccontate da Étienne Decroux e Philippe Petit (un grande mimo e un grande funambolo), con questo libro delinea l'arduo percorso che l'uomo artista compie grazie alla sua opera, chiamato da una necessità espressiva ad affrontare dolori e paure alla costante ricerca di una verità, non solo dell'arte ma anche della vita. [riassunto dell'editore]

Daniel Deardorff knows otherness firsthand. This highly regarded “singer” in the old sense of that word—musician, storyteller, maker of ritual—had polio as an infant and has used a wheelchair most of his life, giving him a lived perspective that deeply informs his views on this subject. In The Other Within, Deardorff starts with a radical notion: to disclose the blessings of outsiderhood, the many gifts and insights contributed to culture by the marginalized and outcast. Unlike studies that stress the plight of the outsider, this one asserts that to be cast down and out of the consensus-worldview affords a difficult yet significant opportunity: to encounter oneself, not as defined by society but as one actually is. An eloquent spokesman for “the man or woman on the weird road,” Deardorff presents dozens of powerful examples from myth and literature to illustrate his message in a richly allusive, complex series of essays. Drawing on the work of mythologians, poets, psychologists, and scholars, The Other Within takes readers on an initiatory journey, uncovering the roots of human identity and imagination and offering insights–including “trickster wisdom”—revealing the mythic underpinnings of everyday life. [editor summary]

Mikhail Berkut's ability to tackle every subject from practical as well as an analytical point of view is always remarkable. Be it in his many publications, his excellent and lively Videos on Character and Historical Dance or his approach to choreography and to the many dance students he taught over decades, his refreshing spontaneity and his ultimate knowledge paired with an instinctive way, to make himself understood, are outstanding and are dictated by the rare determination, always to get to the roots of any specific subject within his enormous span of interests.|Therefore, it goes without saying that his newest publication, an extensive investigation of every possible aspect of the origin of mime and dance, covers this complex and far reaching subject matter with incredible detail, with a thorough knowledge of anthropology and all related facts and with the ability to come to fascinating conclusions. Encouraged as early as 1957 by his mentor and teacher Prof.Shatin A.V. at the Moscow Theatre Institute, this work is the culmination of his life long interest for ?the phylogenetic transformation of natural everyday movements, gestures and mimicry into the motions of body language and the performing arts?. His scientific mind created an overall structure of two parts: Natural Motion dealing with the Genesis of Communication and the Evolution of Mimetic Culture and Artificial Motion dealing with Sacred Ceremonies and Secular Events as well as Ritual Dance as a Key Social Activity. This allows him to confront the reader with the tiniest detail in an ingenious and logical order. Well illustrated and despite the nature of the subject matter easily accessible and based on the newest scientific evidence, this comprehensive work fills an important gap within the relevant literature. It is a must for all dance related organisations as well as for scientists in various fields.?|http://www.berkutdance.com/books.html

La légèreté semble être devenue, insidieusement, l’objet d’un nouveau culte, propre à renouveler notre mythologie. Le light se vend bien. la légèreté fait rêver et bien au-delà de ce qu’elle nous promet… le « plaisir sans le mal ». L’aspiration nostalgique à la légèreté n’est pas nouvelle ; elle est contemporaine de la chute. De Socrate à Nietzsche, en passant par Thérèse d’Avila et Don Juan, elle n’a cessé de nous fasciner. Mais il semble qu’aujourd’hui le rêve se soit enfin matérialisé par la grâce de la technique : nouvelle cuisine, nouveau corps, nouvel habitat, nouvelles valeurs, nouveaux modes de rencontres et de loisirs, nouveaux sports,nouveaux métiers. Et dans le même temps où la matière s’allège, au point de s’immatérialiser, nous avons changé de manière d’être, d’aimer, de vouloir, de croire. L’état d’apesanteur psychique auquel nous donnent accès toutes les formes d’ivresse, d’oubli, de zapping et de scepticisme, s’est constitué comme nouvel idéal, en même temps qu’il s’avère à certains « insoutenable ». car le projet de perdre du poids n’est pas sans ambiguïté. Quand tout cesse d’être grave, le sujet lui-même se trouve exposé au risque de la dissolution. Les références à la philosophie, mais aussi à la musique, au cirque, à la danse, à l’architecture, à l’écriture, à l’humour, au libertinage nous conduisent à penser que la « bonne » légèreté n’est ni oubli ni déni de la pesanteur, mais mise en œuvre des forces d’élévation en vue de la constitution d’un contre-poids. La légèreté dont nous souffrons aujourd’hui apparaît comme le symptôme d’un manque de poids. résumé de l'éditeur]