The Ideographic Image of Tai Chi Chuan Movement score as a training resource for the actor

Abstract

The conception of the actor as a living being who keeps his body engaged in a fictional time to create a scenic truth, is related to the real, present and above all trained body. This body, generator of signals meant to be understood by the observer, involves an inner understanding of signs and images that originate beyond its boundaries. The objective of this reflexive article is to propose a “form”2 type of Tai Chi Chuan as a limited and instinctive process, using its ideographic imagery as a guide for the creation of a “movement score”3 , a resource for the actor to scrutinize the action that this imagery engenders and the relationship it establishes with his or her body language. The methodology is premised on an initial consideration that fans out into different possible analyses, until finally culminating in a “meta-reflection”4 , based on prior knowledge and experience in both theater and Tai Chi Chuan. The above includes theoretical and practical aspects that allow dealing with the analysis of Tai Chi Chuan ideograms as images for their representation, to create a movement score from them. The didactics discovers those elements which might potentially help capture Tai Chi Chuan through its calligraphy and vice versa, adapting and reinterpreting understood aspects to the actor’s physical training, which will be evaluated and implemented in the future in the stage environment.