Hndrc Presentation PDF

University Challenge -The Beginning of Theatre

by Samuel Black, Charley Alsop-Parry and

Connor Stoddart

Street Theatre

Circus

HND(RC)the things we found interesting

greek amphitheatres Epidaurus

Semi circular Amphitheater - 340 Bc

Possibly one of the greatest amphitheaters in Greece the Theater at Epidaurus on the Peloponnese in Greece, the ancient mystery surrounding the great acoustics has been solved. Its all to do with the seats researchers and the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered that is is the limestone, it provides a filtering effect, suppressing low frequencies of voices, therefore it minimizes background noise. The limestone seats reflect high-frequencies back towards the audience. They researchers originally suspected that it was to do with the slope of the theater, but after further development into the research undergoing experiments with ultrasonic waves and numerical models indicated that frequencies up to 500 hertz where lowered, and frequencies higher then 500 hertz went unheard of.

Acoustic trapsThe corrugations on the seats act as a natural acoustic trap. Though this effect would seem to also remove the low frequencies from the actors voices, listeners actually fill in the missing portion of the audio spectrum through something known as virtual pitch. The human brain reconstructs the missing frequencies, producing the virtual pitch phenomenon, for example when youre listening to someone speaking on a telephone with a weak signal.

Incredibly the Greek builders of the theater did not themselves understand the principles that led to the exceptional sound created from the stage. There have been many attempts to recreate the Epidaurus, but they have never quite matched the original design. In some recreations of the theatre they have used different materials, such as wood for the benches, this is an approach which may have ultimately derailed the design duplication effort.

more about the placeEpidaurus was a small city in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. Epidaurus wasnt independent of Argos and was not included in Argolis until the time of the romans. With its supporting territory, it formed the small territory called Epidauria. It was widely known to be founded by or named for the Argolid Epidaurus, and to be the birthplace of Apollos son Asclepius the healer, Epidaurus was known for its sanctuary situated about five miles from the town, aswell as its theater, which is once again in use today.

Roman Amphitheatres the Colosseum

Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater) - Elliptical Amphitheater - 80 AD

Situated in the centre of Rome in Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it is the largest amphitheater in the world, and is considered one of the greatest works of architecture and engineering. Construction started in 70 AD and was finished in 80 AD, but further modifications were mad during the reign of Domitian (81-96 AD). These three emperors are known as the Flavian Dynasty, and the amphitheater was named in Latin for its association with her family name (Flavius). The colosseum was estimated to be able to hold between 50,000-80,000 spectators, and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

what its used for today

They now do a lot of tours around the Colosseum where they speak about all of the gladiator fights that happened there, they also mention about the sand that was used to soak up the blood from the fights, which was a lot of the time a fight to the death.

performing insideThe arena itself was 83 meters by 48 meters. It comprised a wooden floor covered by sand (the Latin word for sane is arena) covering an elaborate underground structure called the hypogeum (underground). Little now remains of the original arena floor, but the hypogeum is still clearly visible. The Roman Gladiators were usually slaves, prisoners of war or condemned criminals. Most were men, but there were a few female gladiators. These combats were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself. As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience around the Roman Colosseum. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with blood, it was covered with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on. The games continued until Christianity progressively put an end to those parts of them which included the death of humans. This was used mainly for entertainment but also instead of prisons they were able to use this as a way of killing off all of the bad people they had in society.

circus Cirque de soleil

When thinking of circus, the first thing that comes to mind is Cirque de Soleil, that is what you call Circus I saw them about 7 years ago in Florida and it is truly incredible, the spectacle they have, and the precision of moves is outstanding. From a personal experience watching Circus such as this going from little performances on the streets of London, it is very different due to the place in which they are performing, but also I feel as though the training that the performers do on the streets will be very different from the training that a circus performer has done to get into the Cirque du Soleil company.

Cirque de Soleil (Circus of the Sun) is a Canadian entertainment company. It is the largest theatrical producer in the world, it was founded in 1984 by two former street performers Guy Lalibert and Gilles Ste-Croix. They both recognised the talents of the buskers from the Fte foreign de Baie-saint-paul which is where it all began. The company consists of 5020 people, that ranges from the performers all the way to the people looking after the finance to the choreographers, it is such a vast growing company. Cirque de Soleil was originally set up as a one year project. However, the government of Quebec wanted a touring event that would perform in other provinces.

There company was initially named Les chassiers (The Waders), they toured Quebec in 1980 as a performing troupe. Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil was a success in 1984, and recently after Lalibert hired Guy Caron from the National Circus School to re-create it as a proper circus. This relates back to my point of street circus being very different to the circus that you see in arenas, as Lalibert and Ste-Croix both realised that what they were doing wasnt proper circus as they got a professional to help them out. Its theatrical, character-driven approach and the absence of performing animals helped define Cirque du Soleil as the contemporary circus that it remains today.

Guy LalibertA Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker players, space tourist, co-founder and the current CEO of Cirque de Soleil. A very busy man it would seem, he was born in 1959 in Quebec. His interest in show business began at a relatively young age. While he was still in school, Guy produced several performing arts events that attracted everyone to come and support him. After school, he entered the world of street performance, playing the harmonica and accordion on the streets of Quebec. He then went on to join a performing troupe called Les chassiers, which included fire-breathers, jugglers, and acrobats who hitched around the country from show to show. He later returned to Quebec trying to get a steady full-time job but soon after his employment began, the company's employees went on strike. He took the opportunity to return to his life as a street performer. Guy came up with the name Cirque de Soleil when he was in Hawaii, it reflects his notion that the sun stands for energy and youth and that the circus is about those two words. It is said that Lalibert is the father and Ste-Croix is the grandfather of Cirque de Soleil.

Since 1984, Lalibert has participated in the creation of every Cirque de Soleil show. As well as being the founder of cirque de Soleil he finished fourth in the World Poker Tour and won $696,220. In 2011 Lalibert announced the Big One, a $1 million dolar buy-in tournament which was featured and the 2012 World Poker Series. Part of the prize pool was donated to his philanthropic organisation One Drop Foundation. The tournament raised $5,333,328 for One Drop foundation.

He announced the official launch of One Drop Foundation in October 2007 to fight poverty in the world by giving everyone access to water. Cirque du Monde, inspired by Cirque de Soleil, makes use of circus acts, folklore, popular theatre, music, dance and the visual arts to promote education.

Gilles ste-croixWhen he first told his parents he wanted to go into show business they said Anything but that! Ste-Croix grew up in rural Quebec, but was determined not to stay there. He became a hippie, living in communes and making the obligatory 60s pilgrimage to the West Coast where he lived in communes and audited some drama classes. Ste-Croix did they to conform, even working in an architects office for a while, but he knew in his heart that he wasnt cut out for conventional business career. He says that from his teens he always had a strong drive to succeed and an equally strong desire to entertain. However is entrance into show business came about in a most unusual and unpredictable way.

In the late 1970s Ste-Croix was living in a commune in Victoriaville, picking apples to make money. One day he thought that the job would be a whole lot easier if he could attach the ladder to his legs and devised his first set of stilts. A friend mentioned the Bread and Puppet Theater in Vermont, which used stilt walking as the basis of many of its performances. He went to see the company and realised that his apple-picking skills might actually be in demand in the wider-world of entertainment. Ste-Croix designed and performed many stilt acts in Cirque de Soleil. In 1988 he became Cirque;s Artistic Director, as well as coordinating a talent search that extended to the four corners of the globe. He was director of Creation for all productions from 1990-2000. he also directed the groundbreaking dinner/cabaret show Pomp Duck and Circumstance.

In 2000, while continuing to act as a consultant for Cirque de Soleil, set-croix decided to realise one of his greatest dreams: Driven by his passionate interest in horses, he founded his own company to produce the 2003 show Cheval-Theatre, which featured 30 horses and as many artist-acrobats under canvas and toured ten cities in North America.

the development of Circushe first circuses took place in ancient Rome in a huge arena called "the Circus Maximus (Greatest Circus). It is by far the largest stadium in Ancient Rome and could accommodate over 250,000 spectators. It was designed as a Chariot racing Stadium and mass entertainment venue. Between the races acrobats, tightrope walkers and horsemen entertained the crowds. The circus was Romes largest venue for Ludi, public games connected to Roman religious festivals. Most were held annually or at annual intervals on the Roman Calendar. Others might be given to fulfil a religious view, such as the games in a celebration os a triumph. Ludi ranged in duration and scope from one-day or even half-day events to spectacular multi-venue celebrations held over several days, with religious ceremonies and public feasts, horse and chariot racing, athletics, plays and recitals, beast-hunts and gladiator contests. These greater ludi at the Circus began with a flamboyant parade, which marked the purpose of the games and introduced the participants.

Ludi were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people. Audi were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also presented as part of the cult of state. The earliest ludi were horse races in the circus. Animal exhibitions with mock hunts and theatrical performances also became part of the festivals. Days on which Ludi were held were public holidays, and no business could be conducted. Remarkably it has been noted, considering that in the imperial era more then 135 days might be spent at these entertainments curing the year.

It wasnt until about 1860 that circuses began to resemble the kind we know today. Tents began to be used, candles on a frame around the centre pole enabled to give shows at night, the number of performers and animals increased, and fresh attractions were always being added. P.T. Barnum started to take his circus around the country by rail and the modern circus was born.

Phineas Taylor P.T. Barnum was an American showman and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Although Barnum was also an author, publisher and a philanthropist he said of himself I am a showman by profession and all the gliding shall make nothing else of me and his personal aim was to put money in his own coffers. Barnum is widely, but erroneously, credited with coining the phrase Theres a sucker born every minute.

The circus business was the source of much of his enduring fame. He established P.T. Barnums Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome, a travelling circus of freaks, which adopted many names over the years: P.T. Barnums Travelling Worlds Fair, Great Roman Hippodrome, Greatest Show on Earth and after 1881 merger with James Bailey and James L. Hutchinson, "P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show On Earth, And The Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and The Grand International Allied Shows United, soon shortened to Barnum and Baileys. this entertainment phenomenon was the first circus to display 3 rings, which made it the largest circus the world had ever seen. The shows first primary attraction was Jumbo, and African Elephant he purchased in 1882 from London Zoo. The Barnum and Bailey still contained similar acts as to his Traveling Menagerie: acrobats, freak shows, and the world famous General Tom Thumb. Despite more fires, train disasters, and other setbacks, Barnum plowed ahead, aided by circus professionals who ran the daily operations. He and Bailey split up again in 1885, but came back together in 1888 with the "Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth," later "Barnum & Bailey Circus," which toured the world.

street theatre street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves and street corners. They are especially seen in outdoor spaces where there are large numbers of people. The actors who perform street theatre range from buskers to organised theatre companies or groups that want to experiment with performance spaces, or to promote their mainstream work. Sometimes performers are commissioned, especially for street festivals, children's shows or parades, but more often street theatre performers are unpaid or gather some income through the dropping of a coin in a hat by the audience.

Street theatre is arguably the oldest form of theatre in existence: most mainstream entertainment mediums can be tracked back to origins in street performing, including religious passion plays and many other forms. More recently performers who a hundred years ago would have made their living working in variety theatres, music halls and in vaudeville now often perform professionally in the many well-known street performance areas throughout the world.

One of the most interesting points about modern street theatre is its unique socio-political place. People who might not have ever been to, or been able to afford to go to, the legitimate theatre can watch a street show. By virtue of where the show takes place, their audience is made up of anyone and everyone who wants to watch. If an audience member can not afford it, then its free.

Different practitioners will have different motivations for using the street as a space for performance. For some it is simply because their work is not accepted by the mainstream channels, and for others it is because they have taken a clear decision to do so.

Performance artists with an interest in social activism may choose to stage their work on the street as a means of directly confronting or engaging the public. For example, multimedia artist Caeser Pink and his group of performers known as The Imperial Orgy staged a piece titled Our Daily Bread that brought performers onto the streets of the New York's financial district to ceremoniously lay loaves of Wonder Bread along the sidewalks, each with an advertisement from Satan offering to buy people's souls in exchange for material possessions. The performance caused an uproar when police were called out and bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to inspect the loaves of bread for explosives.

Carros de-foc

A street theater company founded by Miguel ngel Martn based in Spain. Their unique traits in the shows are the Giant mobile Sculptures that are combined with different artistic disciplines in order to create surprising shows. The company has represented Spain in different street theater festivals around Europe and Africa. Their shows combine different artistic disciplines such as air acrobatics, dance, hoop acrobatics, theater performance with the Giant Mobile Sculptures to create unique and unbelievable atmospheres. The Giant Mobile Sculptures are big seized original creations which seem to come to life; they are jointed and provided with mobility, reaching 12 meters tall. Their realistic looks make them surprising and they represent animals or fantastic characters. The scenic design where the company structures their performances is both own designed and produced and is at exhibitions service in order to create a complete visual experience. The characters portrayal, the costumes and the body make up, which have latex details, are all combined to join the different artistic disciplines and be the core of their exhibitions, composing a nonpareil and creative force product.

Miguel ngel Martn, founder and artistic director of the company, has a career spanning more than 20 years and has directed many urban street theatre projects. Since 1994 his productions have been seen in many different cities all over the world representing Spain in many different street festivals. An example of this was when we took part in the 10th anniversary of the Festival Mawazine, the most important festival in Magreb, celebrated in Rabat. In 1994, Miguel Angel Martin founded Carros de Foc. Since then as artistic director he has managed multitude street theatre projects along his more than 20 years of experience. His works have been able to be seen in different countries in the World like: Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Morocco, China or Chile, where he has developed the creation, the design, the production and artistic management of itinerant street theater shows. Recently, in 2012 he was confided in Chile with the artistic management of the Paris Parade, with a total audience of 600.000 people, in addition in more than 130.000 homes, the show was displayed through the TVN.

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