Jerome Robbins on Broadway: 1944–1951

Jerome Robbins’ surpassing of de Mille as the primary and most influential choreographer of his period is acknowledged. His training with Gluck Sandor and actors from the Group Theatre exposed him to Constantin Stanislavski’s early acting methods and his creative years at Camp Tamiment honed a brand of humor that he would use throughout his Broadway career. I consider Robbins first musical, On the Town (1944), developed from his ballet Fancy Free (1944), in the context of de Mille’s Broadway success and argue that he was at first imitative of her but ultimately found his voice and surpassed her in terms of success and output. The chapter includes analysis of selected Robbins’ choreography in what I consider the first phase of his Broadway career: On the Town (1944), Billion Dollar Baby (1945), High Button Shoes (1947), Look, Ma, I’m Dancin’! (1948), Miss Liberty (1949), Call Me Madam (1950), and The King and I (1951). I explore how Robbins developed a system for creating dance in musicals that employed the early acting techniques of Constantin Stanislavski as well as Lee Strasberg’s Method Acting. Both techniques embraced theatrical realism and informed Robbins’ creation of dances that were seamlessly embedded into musical theater librettos. His meticulous attention to the where, when, and why of his dance creations and his comic sensibility established a model for the generations of choreographers that followed him.

About the "supertask" ("sverhzadacha") of K. S. Stanislavsky... (about the history of the word supertask (sverhzadacha) in the Russian language)

The article is devoted to the history of the appearance and functioning of the word supertask (sverhzadacha) in the Russian language. Two lines of the lexeme functioning were distinguished: the first is associated with the etymology of the word, the second – with its use by K. S. Stanislavsky in the terminology system and the further entry of the unit into general use on the basis of determinologization. It is interesting that the second meaning has acquired the most widespread use. Only in the past two decades, the word has begun to lose its connection with the process of artistic creation. The purpose of the study was to briefly review the history of the word: from its first fixation in the Russian language and application by K. S. Stanislavsky (to designate one of the key concepts of Method Acting) up to modern contexts of use. The entry of the lexeme into the language was investigated using structural methods. The methods of contextual and distributive analysis were used to analyse both the contexts in which Stanislavsky used this word and the process of its fixation in the National Corpus of the Russian language. Statistical analysis was used to trace the dynamics of integration of the lexeme into the Russian language and its fixation in various spheres. The methods of component and comparative analysis were used to describe the formation mechanism of the initial term in the historical context. Borrowings of the term supertask (sverhzadacha) were found in other languages, indicating the spread of Stanislavsky’s system. The conclusion is drawn that the word supertask (sverhzadacha) functions in the Russian language mainly as a term from Stanislavsky’s system, gradually becoming determinologized and returning to the meaning conveying the logical sum of its constituent components.

Materializing the Body of the Actor

Actors, extras, and models, engaged in scripted or staged performances, have featured prominently in artists’ film and video since the 1990s. But some artists have also used more specifically sculptural means to materialise acting bodies within the physical space of the gallery. Focusing on works by Cécile B. Evans, Nathaniel Mellors, and Clemens von Wedemeyer, this chapter explores how artists have articulated changes in the imagination of the human body, within the realm of acting and the performance of emotional labour. Their works suggest an emerging tension between the body conceived as an organic store of experience, following the logic of Method acting, and the body conceived as a surface for the display of signals, to be scanned and recognised by non-human things.

Strangers on a Train, I Confess

On the first day of shooting, Hitchcock referred to Strangers on a Train (1951) as “my real first film,” and the Master drew a charismatic, shoot-the-works performance from Robert Walker, who was cast against type as the colorful psychopath Bruno Anthony. But then Hitchcock was annoyed by the extensively labored-over Method acting of Montgomery Clift in I Confess (1952), a case of an actor doing too much, albeit very expressively, underneath a surface that keeps cracking because of lack of control. He also had to use the breathy Anne Baxter when he would have preferred the Swedish actress Anita Bjork.

Teaching business as business

Purpose This paper aims to explore the early days of business education with the aim of understanding how the Harvard Business School (HBS) contributed to the constitution of “management” as a science-based profession. The research focuses on HBS signature pedagogy, the case method and its role in the institutionalization of managerial knowledge. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a qualitative content analysis of HBS Annals published between 1908 and 1930. Through a manual coding of the Annals, the paper traces the diffusion of the case method in the curriculum and connects it with the institutional transformations that took place between 1908 and 1930. Findings The data show how HBS curriculum transitioned from lectures to case teaching in the aftermath of First World War. This pedagogy allowed HBS to demonstrate the possibility of systematically investigate management problems and to deliver business education at scale. The discussion argues that the case method, acting as a boundary object between business praxis and management theories, constituted management as a science-based profession. Originality/value Recent debates have emerged about case method’s ability to critically question socio-economic structures within which business is conducted. This paper contributes to the debate arguing that the historical and institutional factors leading to the affirmation of this pedagogical approach had a substantive role in the type of knowledge produced through its application. The findings challenge the idea that the affirmation of the case method is attributable to its epistemological primacy in investigating business problems.

Safety Distance of Shotcrete Subjected to Blasting Vibration in Large-Span High-Speed Railway Tunnels

The drill and blast method is widely used in constructing tunnels in rock. Unfortunately, blasting vibration can damage newly performed shotcrete layers which are major support structures to stabilize surrounding structures. Therefore, investigation of the influence of blasting on shotcrete and determining reasonable distance between blasting work face and shotcrete position is of great importance. In this paper, a large-span tunnel excavated by drill and blast method acting as a high-speed railway station has been investigated. Blast vibration in the tunnel was recorded using microseismic monitoring technique. Empirical prediction equations for peak particle velocity (PPV) were obtained through regression analysis based on the obtained monitoring data. The attenuation law of tensile stress imposed on shotcrete layer due to blasting and bond strength of shotcrete-rock interface was also investigated. Minimum safety distance between shotcrete and blasting positions was calculated based on bond failure criterion. Evolution law considering different factors including blasting charge, rock mass class, and setting time of shotcrete was also obtained, which could be applied to determine blast charge shotcrete arrangements for tunnel constructions in future. The obtained results showed that the safety of shotcrete could be ensured and shotcrete falling off the rock could be prevented under current blast constructions.

TRANSFORMATION APPRECIATION OF MONODRAMA "LADY SWETTENHAM" AND "GREEN LIGHT"

This article is aimed at analyzing the transformation method applied by two selected monodrama actors, Sabera Shaik in monodrama theater "Lady Swettenham" and Shahrul Mizad Asyaari in the monodrama theater "Waiting for the Green Light". This study takes into account some of the transformation methods used for conveying appreciation and visually inspiring the audience. Through the survey method of secondary and premature data and directly involved in the spectacle, the illustration is clearly detailed through scientific analysis in the performance of monodrama acting. These two presentations can illustrate the success of the transformation method and are indirectly made between the basic recommendations to the solo acting method. Using the Imitation theory approach by Albert Bandura and method acting (Stanislavski) this approach can be used as a benchmark for non-realistic acting representation.

How geopolitical becomes personal: Method acting, war films and affect

This article is about weaponisation of emotions through visual culture. It interrogates how geopolitics trickles down to everyday life and becomes personal through the embodiment of screen actors. While International Relations is attempting to move beyond the limits of existing disciplinary methods and methodologies to better grasp the emotional depths of world politics, this article delves into the ‘method’ in performance arts to understand how visual culture diffuses emotional narratives of the state to the population and affectively enables people to experience the international from the perspective of the United States. In this sense, focusing on ‘method acting’ which revolutionised performance arts in the United States from the 1950s, the article examines the mundane encounters in visual culture through which screen/state actors emotionally situate the audience to make them viscerally experience geopolitics, personally feel like a state/warrior and embody a commitment to the war effort at an emotional level.