The actor's secret art

The dear reader can get his hands on the basic work written in the form of dictionary articles by Eugenio Barba, the founder of the Odin Teatret based in Denmark and the international school, the International School of Theater Anthropology (ISTA), and Nicola Savarese, professor at the Universitá degli Studi Roma Tre in Rome. The Dictionary of Theater Anthropology elegantly juxtaposes the various visual manifestations of acting skills, drawing from a rich collection of Eastern and Western sources. Richly illustrated with over 650 photographs and illustrations, this source work is a tribute to the secret art of performers: actors and dancers. It is not just a dictionary, but a handbook for theater professionals, actors, dancers, directors and dramaturgs, a guide for those dealing with the topic of transcultural performances. It is the fruit of many years of research work, which, unlike the majority of Western research, provides an empirical approach to performing arts "so that it can rise above the specializations of various disciplines, techniques and aesthetics". The aim of the manual is to expand our knowledge about the possible appearances of the stage body and the audience's responses to the dynamics of the performance. Practical chapters on balance, contrast, montage and other stage techniques are followed by theoretical articles such as Text and Stage or Expansion. The authors place the complex craft and secret art of performers at the center of their research.