Sculptolinear kintinuum : a theater art piece

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Earlynn J. Miller (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Virginia Moomaw

Abstract: The dissertation was a performance of a theater art piece, Sculptolinear Kintinuum. The concert presentation took place March 13, 14, 1969, at Taylor Theatre on the University of North Carolina at Greensboro campus. It is recorded in a l6mm film. The theater art piece is supported by a written documentation which is a development and validation of the directing artist's personal experiences resulting from the dissertation. In Sculptolinear Kintinuum some of the sculptural aspects of the human body and the human body in combination with others were explored as stimulus for the choreographed motion and design. This statement was further motivated by the influence of a particular group of sculptural objects used at different times in the theater piece to: change the shape of the human body; restrict and augment the possibilities of motion; delineate space in ways not possible with the human body alone or in a group; and connect, relate, and isolate the performers in their relationship to one another and to the sculptural forms. The sculptural forms were used at different times as sets, props, costumes, or a combination of these. The intent of all work with the sculptural forms and with the human bodies was to elicit motion that was inherent in the new form resulting from the union of the performers and the sculptural forms, or of the performers as a small group or mass. The integration of the theater elements of color, sound, light, time, shape, space, and motion into a visual and auditory continuum made up the statement which is this work. The piece was presented as a kinetic continuum of sculptural form and linear statement. Intensive training sessions in improvisation preceded actual rehearsals. The objectives of these sessions were to increase individual sensitivity, to establish group awareness and rapport, and to encourage compatibility and ease of working relationships between the performing and directing artists. The training sessions were a series of experiences designed to increase awareness of relative body position, shape, space, phrasing, focus, rhythm, kinetic flow, resistance, and counterbalance. The students were trained not only to become aware of these elements as they worked individually, but as they worked with another person, two other people, and so on up to seven—the total number of Sculptolinear Kintinuum performers. Improvisation was allowed to affect all aspects of the statement, the title, the collaboration with other artists, the costuming, the color selection, and the development of the motion passages with the performers. The belief that the artist can and must train himself to think beyond the obvious, to find many solutions to everything, to formulate his own criteria of judgment, to develop a flexible and fluent mind, to be ultrasensitive to perceptual stimuli and to make technical discoveries that lead him to new avenues of exploration, became the guiding ideal for this dissertation and led to the performing and directing of the theater art piece, Sculptolinear Kintinuum.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 1969
Subjects
Improvisation in dance
Art and dance

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