Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one An illusion is a distortion of the senses revealing how the Brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation The ComBat was an Aluminium Cricket bat and the subject of an incident that occurred at the WACA cricket ground in Perth in December 1979. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Ballet is a formalized form of Dance with its origins in the French court further developed in France and Russia as a Concert dance The term is also used informally to describe fight choreography for other production media including film and television. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic It is a common field of study for actors and dancers and is closely related to the practice of stunts. An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or any act requiring a special skill performed for artistic purposes in TV, Theatre, or cinema
Contents |
History
The history of staged fight and mock combat can be traced to antiquity, or indeed to the origins of the human species and primate display behaviour. Human evolution, or anthropogenesis, is the part of biological Evolution concerning the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct Species A primate is a member of the biological order Primates ( Latin: "prime first rank" the group that contains Lemurs the Aye-aye Display is a form of animal behaviour, linked to survival of the species in various ways Display of martial aptitude is a natural occurrence in warrior societies, and ritualized forms of mock combat often evolve into war dances. According to the Random House Dictionary, the term warrior has two meanings A war dance is a dance involving Mock combat, usually in reference to Tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a Ritual connected with Fights staged for entertainment may also be in earnest for the combatants, as was the case with the Roman gladiators, and any public duel, such as the judicial duel of the European Middle Ages. Gladiators (gladiatores "swordsmen" or "one who uses a sword" from la ''gladius'' "sword" were professional fighters in Ancient Rome who fought As practiced from the 11th to 20th centuries in Western societies a duel is an engagement in combat between two individuals with matched weapons in accordance with their combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of Depiction of violence in theatre can also be traced to Antiquity, with Aristotle quoted as noting that "conflict is the essence of comedy". Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. It was often used in the Roman times as romans were great fans of theatricle combat.
The medieval tournament and joust are a classical examples of competitive ritualised mock combat. This article is about the tournaments of the Middle Ages For the general article on tournaments see Tournament. The joust from the time of Maximilian I developed into a sport with enormous cost involved for each knight and correspondingly high prestige attached, comparable to contemporary Formula 1 races, while at the same time minimizing the danger of injury with highly specialized equipment. Maximilian I may refer to Maximilian I Emperor of Mexico Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I Duke of Bavaria Sport is an Activity that is governed by a set of rules or Customs and often engaged in competitively
In the Late Middle Ages, staged fencing bouts, with or without choreography, became popular with fencing schools. The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries (AD 1300–1499 The German school of fencing ( de Deutsche Fechtschule) is the historical system of Combat taught in the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Medieval The German combat manuals have sections dedicated to flashy techniques to be employed in such Klopffechten, which would be impractical in serious combat, and the Late Medieval German masters distinguish mock fights (fechten zu schimpf) and real combat (fechten zu ernst). Martial arts manuals are instructions with or without illustrations detailing specific techniques of Martial arts.
In Asia, stylized stage combat has been a staple feature of traditional Japanese (Kabuki tachimawari), Chinese (Beijing Opera) and Indian performing arts for centuries. is a form of traditional Japanese theatre. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate Make-up worn by some of its performers Beijing opera or Peking opera ( is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music vocal performance mime dance and acrobatics The history of European theatrical combat has its roots in medieval theatre, and becomes tangible in Elizabethan drama. Medieval theatre refers to the theatre of Europe between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance. English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. It is speculated that Richard Tarleton, who was a member of both William Shakespeare's acting company and of the London Masters of Defence weapons guild, was among the first fight directors in the modern sense. William Shakespeare ( baptised
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, fight scenes in touring theatrical productions throughout Europe, the British Commonwealth and the USA were typically created by combining several widely known, generic routines. At about the same time, fencing masters in Europe began to research and experiment with historical fencing techniques, with weapons such as the two-handed sword, rapier and smallsword, and to instruct actors in their use. Fencing is the art of armed Combat involving Cutting, Stabbing, or slapping bludgeoning Weapons directly manipulated by hand HEMA redirects here See HEMA (disambiguation for other uses Historical European Martial arts are Martial arts of European origin A rapier is a relatively slender sharply pointed Sword, used mainly for thrusting attacks mainly in use in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, fr épée de cour or dress sword) is a light one-handed Sword designed for thrusting Notable amongst these were George Dubois, a Parisian fight director and martial artist who created performance fencing styles based on gladiatorial combat as well as Renaissance rapier and dagger fencing. Gladiators (gladiatores "swordsmen" or "one who uses a sword" from la ''gladius'' "sword" were professional fighters in Ancient Rome who fought A rapier is a relatively slender sharply pointed Sword, used mainly for thrusting attacks mainly in use in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries Egerton Castle and Captain Alfred Hutton of London were also involved both in reviving antique fencing systems and in teaching these styles to actors. Egerton Castle (1858 – 1920 was a Victorian era author antiquarian and swordsman and an early practitioner of reconstructed Historical fencing. Alfred Hutton (1839–1910 was a Victorian officer of the King's Dragoon Guards, antiquarian and swordsman
Cinematic fencing has its roots in the 1920s, with the movies of Douglas Fairbanks. Staged fights in Cinema include performances of Classical fencing, Historical fencing, Martial arts, Close combat and Douglas Fairbanks ( May 23 1883 – December 12 1939) was an American Actor, Screenwriter, director Martial arts movies emerge as a distinct genre from the 1940s, popularized by Bruce Lee from the 1960s. For other uses see Martial arts (disambiguation Martial arts film is a Film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim. Bruce Lee ( November 27 1940 – July 20 1973 was an American-born Martial artist, Philosopher, instructor, Martial arts actor and the
By the mid-to-late 20th century, due partly to the confluence of theatrical disciplines being taught at drama schools around the world, these two "streams" had combined with skills drawn from professional wrestling, mime, modern fencing, Asian martial arts and similar disciplines to form the basis of modern stage combat. Professional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is a non-competitive professional Sport, where all matches are scripted by the promotion's booking staff Fencing is the art of armed Combat involving Cutting, Stabbing, or slapping bludgeoning Weapons directly manipulated by hand Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for Combat.
Informal guilds of fight choreographers began to take shape in the 1970s with the establishment of The Society of British Fight Directors,1969 to 1996. More formal training was established with the formation of the Society of American Fight Directors in 1977. The British Academy Of Stage & Screen Combat and Fight Directors Canada in 1993, the Society of Australian Fight Directors Inc. in 1994,the New Zealand Stage Combat Society in 1995 and the British Academy of Dramatic Combat in 1996.
Techniques
Stage combat training includes unarmed combat skills such as illusory slaps, punches, kicks, throwing and holding techniques; theatrical adaptations of various forms of fencing such as rapier and dagger, smallsword and broadsword, as well as the use of other weapons, notably the quarterstaff; and more specialised skills such as professional wrestling and different styles of martial arts. HEMA redirects here See HEMA (disambiguation for other uses Historical European Martial arts are Martial arts of European origin A rapier is a relatively slender sharply pointed Sword, used mainly for thrusting attacks mainly in use in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries A dagger (from Vulgar Latin: 'daca' - a Dacian Knife) is a typically double-edged blade used for Stabbing or thrusting The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, fr épée de cour or dress sword) is a light one-handed Sword designed for thrusting A quarterstaff is a medieval English Weapon, consisting of a shaft of hardwood, sometimes with metal-reinforced tips Professional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is a non-competitive professional Sport, where all matches are scripted by the promotion's booking staff Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for Combat. However, stage combat can include any form of choreographed violence and the options are limited only by safety concerns, and the ability of the participants involved. As a note, most of these techniques are drawn from actual fighting techniques, but modified to be safer for actors. For example, although there are a number of ways of creating the safe illusion of a slap to the face (which is obviously something that could really be done in combat), none of these involve making actual contact with the victim's face.
The over-riding concern is for the safety of the actors and audience. This requirement has led to the adaptation of many standard martial arts and fencing skills specifically for performance. For example, many basic sword attacks and parries must be modified to ensure that the actors do not bring the points of their weapons past their partner's face or otherwise inadvertently risk the other actor's health and well-being. Attacking actions in stage combat are extended past the performance partner's body, or aimed short of their apparent targets. Likewise, whereas their characters may be trying to violently twist each other's limbs, slap, or punch, or grapple, and engaging in vicious unarmed combat, the actors must operate at a high level of complicity and communication to ensure a safe, exciting fight scene. Considerable professional judgement is called upon to determine what technical level may be appropriate for a given performer, taking into account allotted rehearsal time, and the expectations of the director.
The combat phase of a play rehearsal is referred to as a fight rehearsal. A rehearsal is a preparatory event in Music and Theatre (and in other contexts that is performed before the official public Performance, as a form of Choreography is typically learned step by step, and practiced at first very slowly before increasing to full speed. Fights are not normally performed at "full speed", but rather at "three-quarter speed. " Even stage combat is risky, and it is preferable for actors to have as much training and experience as possible. The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge skills and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge Experience as a general concept comprises Knowledge of or skill in or Observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or A "fight call" or a brief rehearsal before the show is performed each time, is set aside for the actors to "mark" through the fight to increase their muscle memory.
A show which includes a great deal of fighting will typically be trained and supervised by a professional fight choreographer and may also include a fight captain, who runs fight calls and ensures that actors are remaining safe throughout the duration of the show.
"Realism" in fight choreography
Fight choreography can vary widely from true realism to outright fantasy depending upon the requirements of a particular production. Realism in the Visual arts and Literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in Everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting
Fight choreographers note that an unusual aspect of live stage combat, such as in a play, is that audiences will react negatively to even simulated violence if they fear the actors are being harmed: for example, if an actor is really slapped in the face, the audience will stop thinking about the character and, instead, worry about the performer. Audiences may also fear for their own safety if large combat scenes seem to be out of control. Therefore, stage combat is not simply a safety technique but is also important for an audience to maintain uninterrupted suspension of disbelief. Suspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is an aesthetic theory intended to characterize people's relationships to art
Types of choreographed fights
In theatre
Having its roots in Medieval theatre, stage combat enters classical theatre choreography with Elizabethan drama (Shakespeare's they fight). Medieval theatre refers to the theatre of Europe between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance. English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. William Shakespeare ( baptised
Classical plays with fight scenes:
- Romeo and Juliet (1597)
- King Henry IV (1597)
- Troilus and Cressida (1609)
- Die Räuber (1781)
- Cyrano de Bergerac (1897)
On film
Cinema inherited the concept of choreographed fights directly from the theatrical fight. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the Henry IV may refer to Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor, the first monarch styled as King of the Romans, signifying he had not yet been anointed and crowned Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602 The Robbers (Die Räuber was the first Drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand based on the life of the real Cyrano de Bergerac. Staged fights in Cinema include performances of Classical fencing, Historical fencing, Martial arts, Close combat and
Douglas Fairbanks in 1920 was the first film director to ask a fencing master to assist the production of a fencing scene in cinema. Douglas Fairbanks ( May 23 1883 – December 12 1939) was an American Actor, Screenwriter, director [1] A second wave of swashbuckling films was triggered with Errol Flynn from 1935. Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn ( June 20, 1909 &ndash October 14, 1959) was an Australian Film Actor, most
Renewed interest in swashbuckling films arose in the 1970s, in the wake of The Three Musketeers (1973). The Three Musketeers ( Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a Novel by Alexandre Dumas père. Directors at this stage aimed for a certain amount of historical accuracy, although, as the 2007 Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, "movie fencing remains a poor representation of actual fencing technique". The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc The Star Wars films, the fights for which are choreographed by Bob Anderson & Peter Diamond (Episodes IV, V & VI) and Nick Gillard (Episodes I, II & III), tend to portray its lightsaber combat using swordsmanship techniques drawn from existing martial arts, but performed with fantasy weapons such as lightsabers or The Force, whereas the action featured in the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy employed specifically designed fantasy weapons and fighting styles, created by Tony Wolf. Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded The lightsaber is a Fictional weapon that plays a key role in the Movies, games and Novels that constitute the Star Wars The Force is one of the main concepts in the fictional Star Wars universe, created by George Lucas. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy consists of three Live action Fantasy Epic films The Fellowship of the Ring ( 2001
During the 1970s and 1980s, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, who are famous for both choreographing and acting in martial arts action films, were influential in the development of stage combat on film. Bruce Lee ( November 27 1940 – July 20 1973 was an American-born Martial artist, Philosopher, instructor, Martial arts actor and the Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE (born Chan Kong Sang, 陳港生 on 7 April 1954 is an Actor, action choreographer, Film director
Hong Kong based fight choreographer Yuen Wo-ping is famed for his work on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Matrix trilogy, in which the often unrealistic fighting techniques are complemented by directorial techniques such as bullet time. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Yuen Woo Ping ( born 1945 in Guangzhou, China) is a Chinese martial arts choreographer and Film director, renowned Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon ( is a Chinese-language Film in the Wuxia ( chivalric and martial arts) style Bullet time (or bullet-time) is a computer enhanced simulation of variable speed (ie Ching Siu-tung is particularly noted in the field of Hong Kong action cinema for his use of graceful wire fu techniques. Tony Ching Siu-Tung ( (born 1953 is a Hong Kong action choreographer, Film director, Actor and film producer, who has directed over Hong Kong action cinema is the reason why Hong Kong film industry 's is so well known Wire fu is an element of Hong Kong action cinema, exemplified by the work of Tsui Hark, Yuen Woo-ping, and Jet Li, that has been appropriated By contrast, films such as The Duellists, fight directed by William Hobbs, Once Were Warriors, fight directed by Robert Bruce and Troy, fight directed by Richard Ryan are widely famed for including gritty, realistic combat scenes. The Duellists is a 1977 film which was Ridley Scott 's first Feature film as a director Once Were Warriors is 1994 film based on New Zealand author Alan Duff 's bestselling 1990 first novel of the same name. Troy is an epic movie released on May 14, 2004 concerning the Trojan War.
With the possibilities of cutting and of filming outdoors, films have a much wider palette of possibilities to depict violence, including single combat, brawls and melees as well as full-blown battles.
Combat reenactment
Combat reenactment is a side of historical reenactment which aims to depict events of battle, normally a specific engagement in history, but also unscripted battles where the 'winner' is not predetermined. For other uses see Martial arts (disambiguation Martial arts film is a Film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim. The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. War film is a Film genre concerned with Warfare usually about naval, air or land battles sometimes focusing instead on Combat reenactment is a side of Historical reenactment which aims to depict historical forms of Combat. The early history of Martial arts is difficult to reconstruct "Reenactment" redirects here For the 1968 Romanian film see The Reenactment.
References
- ^ 2007 Britannica, s. v. fencing.
- Jenn Boughn, Stage Combat: Fisticuffs, Stunts, and Swordplay for Theater and Film, Allworth Press (2006), ISBN 1581154615.
- Keith Ducklin and John Waller, A Manual for Actors and Directors, Applause Books (2001), ISBN 1557834598.
- Dale Anthony Girard, Actors on Guard: A Practical Guide for the Use of the Rapier and Dagger for Stage and Screen, Theatre Arts Book (1996), ISBN 0878300570.
- Michael Kirkland, Stage Combat Resource Materials: A Selected and Annotated Bibliography, Praeger Publishers (2006), ISBN 0313307105.
- Richard Lane, Swashbuckling: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Art of Stage Combat and Theatrical Swordplay, Limelight Editions (2004), ISBN 0879100915.
- J. D. Martinez, The Swords of Shakespeare: An Illustrated Guide to Stage Combat Choreography in the Plays of Shakespeare, McFarland & Company (1996), ISBN 0899509592.
- J. Allen Suddeth, Fight Directing for the Theatre, Heinemann Drama (1996), ISBN 043508674X.
Video
- Basic Stage Combat DVD, Educational Video Network (2004).
- Traditioneller Schaukampf für Anfänger nach Dreynschlag, Agilitas TV (2007).
See also
- Hand to hand combat
- Swashbuckler
- Martial arts film
- Hong Kong action cinema
- Kung Fu Theater
- Stunt
- Professional wrestling
- Tournament species
- Weapon dance
External links
- Academy of Dramatic Combat
- Society of American Fight Directors
- British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat
- Fight Directors Canada
- The British Academy of Dramatic Combat
- The Academy of Theatrical Combat
- The Sydney Stage Combat School
- The School of Stage Combat
- Dueling Arts International
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic