https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/21547 Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:54:47 GMT 2026-06-11T09:54:47Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147074 Title: Karate-dō as an actors’ guide to performance : an exploration of karate in actor training Abstract: This research explores the advantages and limitations of incorporating karate-dō in actor training by means of (1) a comprehensive literature and practice review of the subject, (2) the identification of different categories of training and performance principles, and (3) the proposal of a practical Karate for Actor Training (KAT) programme. The research starts from the premise that if the adapted application of karate-dō in actor training improves a practitioner’s relationship with their body, mind, and the surrounding world, then such training also benefits an actor’s ability to express themselves physically and mentally during a performance. There is a lack of research directed toward theatre practitioners who wish to use Shotokan Karate for the preparation of actors in physical theatre. However, various institutions have used different martial arts as part of their theatre programmes. This research is conducted in conjunction with actor workshops to create an approach that uses karate-dō for actor training. The project’s long-term outcome is to provide a resource and practical guide for actors. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147074 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146732 Title: Aesthetic pacing : taking a cue from Eugenio Barba and Odin Teatret Authors: Camilleri, Frank Abstract: In Performer Training for Actors and Athletes (2023), I propose via athletae, way of the athlete, as a modality of performing that is not based on a specific technique or method but on the qualitative intensity of psychophysical commitment. That is, on the nature of how performers inhabit their scenic roles in a way that combines a modus operandi with a modus vivendi. More specifically, this via athletae engagement is manifested in the dynamics of play as autotelic activity, i.e. in and of itself, for its own sake, collaborative competitiveness in its etymological sense of 'flying with' and as it overlaps with Georges Hebert's auto-emulation as a kind of self-competition to improve oneself, and pacing as an organizational and managing framework that occurs during performance. In my book, the concept of via athletae is presented within a historical contextualization prompted by Antonin Artaud's notion of an 'affective athleticism' for actors and Franco Ruffini's analysis of theatre and boxing, specifically what he calls azione in vita to mark the truth of scenic action: «In order for staged action to be true, i.e. fiction without lying, it must be azione in vita ('action in life'), i.e. real, and leaving aside any instance of realism. I argue that this corporeal truth to the material situating reality in aesthetic, athletic, and daily practices is manifested in the affordances that arise in the interactive specificities between bodies and world, which I term the «bodyworld» of performers. [excerpt] Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146732 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146536 Title: Auto-didacticism : the 3As of bodyworld and the case of invisible hours Authors: Camilleri, Frank Abstract: This chapter on performance pedagogy in the realities of the twenty-first century opens with a retrospective cue from a traditional instructional device: a proverb. The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs cites a twelfth-century source for the old adage that ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink’ (Speake 2015: 156). This proverb is re-read in the present chapter to highlight a foundational aspect of learning: that at the basis of knowledge acquisition lies self-learning. That is, irrespective of set-up, method, teacher, or institution, the final responsibility rests with the learner, with their capacity or ability, motivation or discipline, or any other factor that enables one’s own learning. For one can indeed lead a person to different founts of knowing but, at the end, it is the individual who actions and embodies that knowledge into learning. Accordingly, the selected pedagogical object for this chapter is auto-didacticism, which I exemplify via a temporal dimension denoted by ‘invisible hours’. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146536 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146535 Title: Evolving landscapes of performer training in the twenty-first century Authors: Camilleri, Frank Abstract: The article surveys emerging and evolving trends in twenty-first-century performer training. It updates earlier accounts that focused on ethical and ideological considerations, digital and technological innovations, and the role of non-human agency. Rather than technological, the main element that prompted the current review is an ideological drive that marks a return to the human as evidenced by the emphasis on inclusion, diversity, and equality vis-à-vis race, culture, gender, abilities, class, and other lived realities. One major effect of this development is the reconsideration of technique, specifically the objection to canonical often patriarchal and Eurocentric methods with attendant attitudes that were previously transmitted and received unquestioningly. The article begins with a big picture exposition about some of the key elements at stake, mainly related to the role and status of technique and 'non-negotiables' in training. The second part adopts a sharper focus as derived from an analysis of the topics in the research articles of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training from its inception in 2010 to 2025, which serve at once as an indicator and a propagator of shifts and trajectories in the discipline. The article suggests that the currently ongoing intensified institutionalisation of training needs to be managed with caution. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146535 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z