From sweat and tears towards sweat and harmony

Abstract

This article uses an auto-ethnographic approach to explore the ways in which the teaching of movement has changed in the Finnish Theatre Academy's actor training programme from the 1980s to the twenty-first century. For Jouko Turkka, the former headmaster of the Theatre Academy, extreme competition between, and the testing of, students echoed the demands the neo-liberal society of the 1980s made of a successful actor. The ethical conflict caused by these demands led to a critical learning incident involving the falsifying of Cooper test results for the benefit of the students. The article reflects on how this critical learning incident affected the development of the author's pedagogic approach. After Turkka's period, TeaK's actor training programme has developed in a direction that emphasises co-operation and the students' autonomy. Based on the students' wishes, the Cooper test, now a voluntary entry ritual, has become a part of the comprehensive physical training done in the course on voice and movement. The course now has a more exploratory nature, and it respects the students' own understanding of their bodies. The change in the role of the Cooper test is proposed as a good example of the creation of a professional practice, or lore, as a result of community interaction.