Focal Press The Physical Actor: Contact Improvisation from Studio to Stage

The Physical Actor from Focal Press is a comprehensive book of exercises for actors. It is carefully designed for the development of a strong and flexible physical body able to move with ease through space and interact instinctively on-stage. Annie Loui draws on her training with Etienne Decroux, Carolyn Carlson, and Jerzy Grotowski to bring Contact Improvisation into the theatrical sphere. She explains how it can be used to develop alert and embodied listening skills in the actor, and how to apply it to working with texts on stage.

This book will guide the reader through a full course of movement skills, including partnering skills, spatial awareness for groups and individuals, fine motor control through mime, and heightened coordination and sustained motion. New for this second edition are additional partnering exercises, in-depth applications of contact improvisation to monologues and scenes, and a chapter on devising physical theatre performances.

Annie Loui works as a director/choreographer, and is the Artistic Director of Counter-Balance Theater. Her original physical theater pieces have been seen in France, Monaco, West Germany, Italy, and the United States. She runs the Movement Program for MFA Actor Training at the University of California, Irvine.