On the shoulders of tradition from East and West: a conversation between Paul Allain and Frances Barbe

Abstract

Paul Allain and Frances Barbe teach together on two modules at Kent that incorporate aspects of intercultural practice: Physical Theatre and Intercultural Performance. Intercultural Performance, the focus of this dialogue, explores issues relating to the history and theory of intercultural practices. It begins with five case studies, which are Butoh, Tadashi Suzuki, barter and cultural exchange in Barba and Gardzienice's work, Grotowski and Barba's ISTA and theatre anthropology with reference to universals and Gomez Pena's intercultural performance art. Each week a lecture/seminar with screenings is followed by a practical workshop. In the latter part of the course, students devise their own ‘performance barter’ as part of a cultural exchange with another community. In the past, this has included refugees in Margate, but more recently it has involved Japanese students from Chaucer College. The college is on the Kent campus at Canterbury, but the Japanese students live very separately from Kent students, for example operating under a 10 o'clock curfew. The performance barter challenges the drama students to prepare their own performance work as a basis for entering into a cultural exchange. The challenge is not just to perform for the other group, but to invite an exchange, using skills which may range from song and dance, to storytelling or building something together. At the end of the course, the students prepare a lecture demonstration on a topic of their choice that investigates intercultural theories, which is followed by an essay where they can take the ideas further. This year Professor Patrice Pavis joined the teaching team. Here, Allain and Barbe discuss what and how non-Western practices inform their work at Kent, and some of the issues this raises for them.