Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Lecoq (born December 15, 1921 in Paris , † January 19, 1999 ibid) was a French theater pedagogue, acting teacher and pantomime. The École Internationale de Théâtre he founded in Paris, or École Jacques Lecoq for short , has been a point of contact for drama students from all over the world since the 1960s. He was one of the representatives of modern pantomime and played a major role in its development.
Life
Lecoq was initially a professional swimmer and gymnast before finding his way to the stage and body language. In 1937 he began to study physical education and sport, which he also taught from 1941 to 1945 and received several diplomas from French swimming and athletic associations. His interest in physical education and expression brought him together with Jean-Marie Conty , a then master in the field and friend of Antonin Artaud and Jean-Louis Barrault .
In 1945 he formed a dramatic group with Daniel Cousin and began acting. From 1946 to 1948 he was a teacher at the Éducation pour jeu dramatique and was accepted by the Comédiens de Grenoble, where he taught young actors in physical training and movement. During this time he discovered the use of masks and made acquaintance with the ideas of the actor, director and theater reformer Jacques Copeau .
In 1948 he moved to Italy for eight years, where he initially taught pantomime at the University Theater in Padua and discovered the Commedia dell'arte and its masks. Invited by Giorgio Strehler and Paolo Grassi , he first became a teacher at the theater school at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano in 1951 , and later also took over the direction. There he worked a. a. also with Dario Fo and Anna Magnani .
In 1956 he went back to Paris and founded a school for facial expressions and theater and his own theater group . From 1968 to 1988 he was a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, where in 1977 he set up the “Laboratoire d'étude du mouvement” department, which dealt with the human body, its movements and the dynamics of facial expressions .
His work has taken him around the world: he was a guest teacher and gave lectures, gave master classes, screenings and guest performances, choreographed in the Opera House in Rome , worked on various productions in Europe and was a member of the Union des Théâtres de l'Europe / Union of Theaters of Europe (UTE). His students include artists as diverse as Luc Bondy , Christoph Marthaler , Ariane Mnouchkine , Yasmina Reza , Andreas Vitásek and Mummenschanz .
A few days before his death, he was still teaching at his own school in Paris. This is still managed today by his wife Fay Lecoq.
Goals of Lecoq's training method
Jacques Lecoq describes part of his training as “a journey within”. This leads to an encounter with "materialized life", to what he calls "the common poetic ground":
“This is an abstract dimension of rooms, light, colors, materials and sounds that everyone carries within themselves. These elements of our various experiences, our sensations and all that we have seen, touched, tasted, are stored in us. All of this remains in our body and forms the common ground from which the drive and the desire to create something will arise. Pedagogical work has to penetrate into this common poetic ground in order to get beyond life as it is or appears. Only in this way will the students find their own personal creativity "
He continuously documented his work on video. He also produced two documentaries for French television and in 1999 ARTE produced Les deux voyages de Jacques Lecoq by Jean-Noel Roy and Jean-Gabriel Carasso.
Works
- The poetic body - a lesson in theater creation. In collaboration with Jean-Gabriel Carasso and Jean-Claude Lallias, translated from the French by Katja Douvier. Alexander, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89581-042-8 .
literature
- Roland Matthies: Paths to a new acting training - Paths to a new theater? From the Vieux Colombier school to the Etienne Decroux and Jacques Lecoq schools. Haag and Herchen, Frankfurt 1996, ISBN 3-86137-513-3 .
- Theater lexicon . 2nd Edition. Henschel, Berlin 1978.
Web links
- Literature by and about Jacques Lecoq in the catalog of the German National Library
- Jacques Lecoq in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq (French and English)
- Review of The Poetic Body. A theatrical lesson at perlentaucher.de
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lecoq, Jacques |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French theater pedagogue, acting teacher and pantomime |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 15, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 19, 1999 |
| Place of death | Paris |