Green, Debbie and O'Brien, Ita (2012) From Grounded Foot to Leaping Foot. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 3 (1). pp. 99-118. ISSN 1944-3927

Abstract

This research project developed from a realisation that there was a missing link between movement work for grounding and the next demand on the student to jump. Debbie Green and Ita O'Brien began their research, ‘From grounded foot to leaping foot’ in February 2009, proposing the statement ‘grounding is a pre-requisite’ as the premise from which to start the investigation into how the use of the feet can be developed to take the actor from this deeply grounded place to jump and leap safely. The work is explored within the context of fundamental movement for the acting student with the aim of maximising the actor's physical choices within her/his expressive work. From being grounded to leaping is quite literally a big ‘leap’ for acting students to make. Following nine months of research (March–December 2009), Green and O'Brien led a series of six practical sessions with nine volunteer actors between January and March 2010 to develop the progression from the ground, through the rigour and preparation required to take the body into a jump and leap, to the strength and articulation required to land safely. The work was then presented as a Practice and Pedagogy Forum, to an invited audience within the Research Events programme at Central School of Speech & Drama on 26 October 2010. The work has subsequently been taken back into the classroom. This article is the culmination of the research into the progression of work, ‘From grounded foot to leaping foot’.