Theatre, Dance and Performance Training

ISSN: 1944-3927 (Print) 1944-3919 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rtdp20

Towards the study of actor training in an age of

globalised digital technology

Frank Camilleri

To cite this article: Frank Camilleri (2015) Towards the study of actor training in an age of
globalised digital technology, Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 6:1, 16-29, DOI:
10.1080/19443927.2014.985334

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19443927.2014.985334

Published online: 26 Mar 2015.

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 Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 2015
Vol. 6(1), 2015, 16–29, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19443927.2014.985334

Towards the study of actor training in an

age of globalised digital technology
Frank Camilleri
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The article offers some reflections on the study of the possibilities and impact of global
digital connectivity vis-à-vis actor training. The traditional teacher– student relationship is
problematised to highlight other learning environments beyond the institutional and which
indicate auto-didactic processes. The advance in new learning technologies in the twenty-first
century is seen to appropriate the lack of a shared physical location between teacher and
student in order to recreate it as a space for autonomous agency via the mediation of online
transmission and interaction. The article argues that this technological development does not as
yet mark a radical paradigm shift but a re-visitation of fundamental aspects associated with auto-
didactic approaches in autonomous and non-institutional situations. A spectrum of ‘guided auto-
didactic’ practices and a concept of hybridity are proposed to underline continuity and evolution
– rather than disruption and revolution – in relation to the advent of digital technology in the
field of actor training.

Keywords: twenty-first-century performer training, auto-didacticism, hybrid

learning, actor training MOOCs, digital connectivity

The premise
1. For the purposes of this
article, which is akin to
a position paper (hence
A recent announcement for a PhD studentship in ‘the use of digital technology
the operative ‘towards’ and social media in actor training’ reflects the timeliness of discussing the
in the title), ‘actor’ and possibilities and effects of a changing environment on the preparation of
‘performer’ are used
interchangeably, with performers.1 The call, issued in early July 2014, outlines the context and areas
the latter signalling the that require investigation:
broader category of
‘acting’ beyond
conventional Training for acting has traditionally been a studio-based activity, fundamentally
expectations of about the relationship between the teacher and the student within a shared
psychological realist
drama to include other physical space.
forms (such as physical The challenges of [1] new performance environments, [2] new learning
theatre and mime), as
well as other genres technologies, and [3] the effects of digital globalization, have created several new
(notably dance). needs.

q 2015 Taylor & Francis

 Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 17

This PhD will ask questions about:

[1] how the traditional techniques of acting can be taught within, and with the aid
of, new technologies and digital connectivity;
[2] the possibilities and challenges offered by new technologies for the training
of actors;
[3] the experience of students engaged in such learning; and,
[4] the ways in which new approaches to actor training are emerging in relation
to these factors.
As well as reviewing existing practice (MOOCs, digital documentation,
reflective blogs, use of YouTube), the candidate may cho[o]se to include practical
exploration of selected processes and practices within the project. (Coventry
University 2014)

The premise behind this announcement, as stated in the first sentence,

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considers ‘the relationship between the teacher and the student’ as

the traditional and fundamental norm – a kind of default position – in actor
training. Such a claim is applicable to certain experiences only and is not
inclusive of the wider range of options available. Since skill acquisition
(regardless of whether that knowledge is transferred by a teacher or through
other channels) is at the core of the pedagogical project, I will deconstruct the
teacher–student assumption with the aim of shedding light on the issues
raised here, mainly concerning the impact of technological innovation on
actor training, but also on the other underlying premise involving the shared
or otherwise status of physical space.
The problematisation of the teacher– student relationship will thus serve as
an entry point into a discussion on the implications of the redefinition of
‘shared physical space’ in actor training in a technological age of digital
globalisation. I will propose that this ‘redefinition’ is closer to a return – albeit
in a different context and in different terms – than a radical rerouting or
branching out in a new direction, and that this redefined return is related to the
pedagogical experiences excluded in the PhD announcement.

Many trainings: institutional and autonomous

The conception of a ‘teacher –student relationship’ is not as ubiquitous in the

preparation of actors as it might first seem. It refers mainly to institutional or
institutionalised training, e.g. conservatoires, schools, universities, or other
circumstances based on prescribed content (curricula), regulated methods,
and set timeframes. It is less relevant and applicable to autonomous
collective or individual training situations that follow apprenticeship or,
especially, auto-didactic models, e.g. within a group or company context.
In this context, an apprentice is someone who works for or with a company
or another individual in order to learn appropriate skills. In other words, it is
learning on the job, according to the needs of a particular project rather than
to a set programme of studies. The same applies in an auto-didactic setting
with the difference that individuals or company members feed off other
sources or each other in what is ultimately a self-designed and self-organised
process.
 18 F. Camilleri

Institutional training is, of course, a broad church. And though

conservatoires cannot be wrapped up in the same consideration as, say,
universities and colleges, they belong on the same continuum in terms of the
overall infrastructure that conditions their modus operandi. This means that
although conservatoires (which are by nature and name more ‘conservative’)
have stricter regulated regimes of teaching (spanning the whole process –
from application, to audition, acceptance, progression, and completion stages)
than most universities (which in general tend to be less prescriptive in content
and more open to methods of transmission, also due to the more limited
2. For some differences amount of timetabled practical work),2 the all-encompassing operational
between systems are not very distant for the purposes of this article. In other words,
conservatoires, arts
schools, and the modus operandi might be different, but the parameters that condition the
universities, especially wider modus vivendi are comparable.3
as viewed from the lens
of Practice as Research The fact that project-based and self-managed situations of autonomous
in the US and UK, see approaches include amateur and semi-professional set-ups – in addition to
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Chapter 1 in Nelson
(2013, especially
professional ones – does not make them any less relevant. If anything, their
pp. 11 –19). inclusion in this discussion is necessary in being (1) more pervasive at various
3. In this regard, see my levels and (2) less dependent on prescribed and set parameters. Both aspects
distinction between the signal a broader range of applicability and impact, especially in the context of
‘ethics of responsibility’
in autonomous settings new learning technologies.
and the ‘morality of More relevant than professional status is that these non-institutional
regulations’ in
institutionalised
training situations operate particularly (but not exclusively) within aesthetics
environments that require either a deep form of training (if body-based) or hardly any at all
(Camilleri 2009, (if more conceptually oriented). Such performance practices are described
pp. 29 –31).
variously by adjectives like ‘postdramatic’, ‘avant-garde’, experimental,
alternative, research, collaborative, laboratory, and devised. Conversely,
institutional training is predominately (but not exclusively) inclined towards
realistic aesthetics, mainly because institutions tend to be (1) more
conservative in principle and outlook (i.e. disposed towards the preservation
of and catering for existing and accepted conditions, which in theatre are
associated primarily with written texts and their lifelike representation on
stage), but also (2) to industry demands of mainstream theatre and film, which
rely heavily on realistic plots, sets, and styles of acting. Where it occurs,
experimentation in institutional systems is assimilated within the limits of the
conventional – even when it means extending those parameters to contain
new elements that previously challenged and questioned them, usually in
response to pressure from industry. In this context, the institutional
preparation of actors, also when it includes aspects of training for innovative
and non-realistic aesthetics, involves the transmission of curricula within
regulated environments. And one incontrovertible element of these
controlled environments includes, precisely, the presence and agency of
teachers tasked with the coaching of students.
In the case of autonomous training situations, the default institutional
relationship between ‘teacher’ and ‘student’ is drawn in different terms
because the roles are less distinct and determined. For example, an ensemble
might lack the role of ‘teacher’, or it may have someone whose expertise lies
in another area than training or whose level of ability is similar to that of
colleagues. In these instances, the role of ‘teacher’ is occupied by someone
better designated as ‘training coordinator’ or ‘session leader’, a first-among-
equals in a situation that is essentially geared towards an auto-didactic process
 Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 19

through/with others, and one which is relatively open to the pursuit of specific
areas of interest, as distinct from predetermined content and timeframes.
Where they do exist, the roles of ‘teacher’ and ‘student’ can be more
accurately described as ‘director’ (or even ‘director-pedagogue’ according to
Cruciani [1995]) and ‘performer’. In other words, in autonomous situations,
the roles are not detached from the direct context of function and application
that the training is expected to serve.
A pertinent question to ask at this juncture is at what point a professional
company of actors working collaboratively is not an institution, or at what point
it is? In a 2009 article on performer training in the twenty-first century, I discuss
what I identify as the inherent ideological (or institutional) dimension at
the heart of ethical (or autonomous) approaches to training: the impulse
to identify, name, codify, and transmit one’s work, which in institutional settings
is commodified as curriculum (Camilleri 2009, pp. 29 – 30). The difference
between the two approaches, which also applies to the one between a
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collaborative ensemble and an institution geared towards predetermined

objectives, is that if the ideological impulse to codify is central to ethical
approaches, it becomes self-negating – because in ethical approaches, points of
4. I discuss this in more arrival are transformed into points of departure.4 In other words, an ensemble
nuanced detail in my focused on continually innovating its practice has more flexibility across the
2009 article. In a
reconsideration of that board. The more regulated and industry-driven a company becomes in terms of
article, entitled ‘Of its techniques (e.g. when content becomes ‘Method’), transmission protocols
Hybrids and the
Posthuman: Performer (e.g. through approved teachers), and sanctioned endorsement of completion
Training in the Twenty- (official recognition), the closer to an institution it becomes. In these cases, the
First Century’
(forthcoming), I
qualitative professional status of an ensemble (i.e. the degree to which it
problematise the markets its work as fixed product) may well overlap with concerns that are
distinction between more predominantly found within the institutional.
ethical/autonomous and
ideological/institutional
in the light of the
hybridity of processes
brought by the ever-
Role and function
increasing
pervasiveness of The lack of fixed roles as an indispensable requirement in collaborative non-
technoscientific
innovation. institutional settings, specifically that of ‘teacher’, is related to the potentially
shifting function of ‘transmitter of knowledge’ or ‘guide’, which is not located
in one place (individual) but shared by others, including the learners
themselves. Moreover, the function of transmitter/guide (rather than role of
teacher) is fluid also in duration, as it may be fulfilled by someone for a limited
time only, dependent on the exigencies of a situation, which may range from
expertise to task- and responsibility-sharing. The etymologies of ‘role’ and
‘function’ can be evoked to tease out a crucial distinction: if ‘role’ – from the
French rôle, roll (of paper) containing the actor’s part – refers to a part played
by a person in a particular setting, ‘function’ – from the Latin stem of functiō, a
performance or execution – refers to the performance of a specified activity.
In other words, role indexes the individual, and function the activity
irrespective of the individuals who fulfil it. In this context, then, non-
institutional pedagogical ‘roles’ (i.e. individuals who ‘function’ as guides) are
more adaptable than their institutional counterparts, which is an overall
characteristic of autonomous environments.
Boundaries are more unequivocally set in institutional settings, especially
those between (1) teacher and student, (2) what is included in the curriculum
 20 F. Camilleri

and not, and (3) training and its immediate applicability (irrespective of
assessments, placements, and ‘links with industry’). Although these confines
are clearly demarcated and fixed, and although flexibility is contained within
regulated limits (as previously noted with regard to experimentation), there is
ample room for manoeuvre and innovative practice within institutions,
especially universities. For example, the PhD studentship call concludes with a
possibility that highlights the stretching of boundaries 2 and 3 above through
the inclusion of autonomously trained or operating performers in boundary 1,
i.e. as ‘teachers’ in an institutional setting: ‘The opportunity may exist for the
student to consider the new MA in Collaborative Theatre Making in
association with Frantic Assembly within the overall context of the PhD
project’ (Coventry University 2014). The development marked by this MA
was pioneered successfully by other institutions earlier in the new century,
most notably the Masters programme in Acting Techniques established by
Manchester Metropolitan University with Polish laboratory company Teatr
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Pieśń Kozła (Song of the Goat Theatre), which ran until 2012.
Another instance of possible flexibility within institutional structures is the
employment of independently trained individuals who teach and run
5. Mine is a case in point. programmes at institutional level.5 However limited their impact, such
My training in physical individuals offer students an insight into an ethos (a way of doing things) beyond
acting, which started in
1989, can be aligned the corporate reality of institutions. As I argue elsewhere, the ‘challenge is to
with the autonomous find a way of working within the institution that acknowledges the esoteric
kind. I have trained and
worked with groups [ethical] dimension of our exoteric practice’ (Camilleri 2009, p. 34). Still, rather
and individuals in than a blurring or weakening of boundaries, such incorporation of autonomous
addition to attending
several workshops by
elements amounts to an appropriation within the confines of institutional
international teaching and learning as evidenced in (1) roles, (2) content, and (3) context – all
practitioners during my of which correspond respectively to the three boundaries above.
formative years in the
1990s. Parallel with this, A clarification is in order to counter any implicit negativity about traditional
I have received an institutionalised training that may be present in the current account. Central
institutional (university)
education in literature
to this article’s deconstruction of the teacher– student default position in
and critical theory. training contexts lies a critique of those settings that embrace, perpetuate,
In 2001 I founded Icarus and precisely institute it. Invariably, this means placing institutional training
Performance Project,
which is a theatre/ under pressure. However, rather than an assessment of institutional or
performance laboratory autonomous training practices, this article endeavours to highlight
that I continue to lead.
I have been teaching environmental or habitus aspects which accompany them. This also includes
actor training at awareness of the limits to which non-institutional training can be viewed as
university level since ideologically less caught up in cultural histories and the operation of power/
1998, full-time from
2006, in Malta and the knowledge (see Camilleri 2009, pp. 27 –28).
UK (Camilleri 2010,
pp. 160 –62; 2013, p. 31;
see also http://www.
icarusproject.info/ Learning technologies
project-people).

The studentship call identifies three main challenges and demands for actor
training in the changing landscape of the twenty-first century, namely ‘[1] new
performance environments, [2] new learning technologies, and [3] the effects
of digital globalization’ (Coventry University 2014). I will proceed directly to
the second as a way in the discussion on learning that also impacts on the
other two.
In autonomous approaches, ‘new learning technologies’ for the training of
actors function on a similar level as ‘old’ paper-based technology (i.e. books
 Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 21

and other material with text and images) did and still do. The same applies –
though more recent and more advanced in format – to AV (audio-visual)
6. I am not including technology, first VHS, then CDs, quickly followed by DVDs.6 The first decade
projection technology of the twenty-first century saw the rise in popularity in the combination of
that predates VHS
because it was far less these two technologies through the publication of books with CD/DVD-ROM
diffused – in any case, inserts, which coincided with (responded to and fed) a surge in interest in
VHS eventually enabled
the conversion from actor training. A more recent trend signalled an important variation that is in
and accessibility of fact a reversal of this combination: the publication of films on actor training
previous formats.
(some with embedded interactive features such as audio commentary or
additional digital text) with a booklet insert, i.e. ‘film þ text’ rather than
‘text þ film’. The visual has upstaged the word.
The interest in integrated book/disc publications in the 2000s did not have
the chance to peak (let alone maintain market appeal), and thus to enhance its
capability as a medium, due to the quick expansion, increased availability, and
versatility of online platforms, notably YouTube. This new technology made
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the same or similar material available online, for free or against subscription.
The globalisation of digital connectivity has almost already rendered the
hardcopy technology of book þ DVD dated (especially with tablets and latest
versions of laptops lacking a CD/DVD-drive), as major publishers move to
online platforms based on the YouTube model, i.e. electronic copies of books
plus online AV material and/or digital archives. This model is now embedded
in educational platforms such as VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments like
Moodle) and online courses (to be discussed shortly). Due to the expense of
content expertise, technical production, online hosting and maintenance,
updating, and availability, these platforms are invariably institutional.
It is important to note the fundamental role that the ‘accessible visual’ plays
in the evolution of learning technologies, from books, to films, to online
material. Projected AV or visual-only technology existed before VHS, but it
was not as diffused and accessible, and so the impact was limited to individuals
who could afford it, or to institutions which situated that knowledge within
regulated parameters. On the other hand, there was the accessible-but-non-
visual technology of the audio cassette, never a viable option as a universal
standalone teaching tool for acting. The use of audio cassettes in comparable
publications – for example in ‘teach yourself guitar’ periodicals – was
supplemented by text and images, and, in any case, the audio was uniquely
useful to transmit core information of an aural kind (e.g. musical notes or
scales) rather than verbal commentary.
‘Accessibility’ and ‘visual’ can thus be identified as fundamental elements in
a pedagogy that may lack the role (but not function) of teacher. These two
aspects enable a third element that facilitates the learner’s experience: they
both allow learners to interact with the knowledge available in their own
space and time. Though the ‘new learning technologies’ of the twenty-first
century take interactivity to new levels, they are essentially based on these
three elements, which can be conflated into the principle of the ‘interactive
accessible visual’.
In autonomous approaches to actor training, paper-based and AV
technologies serve as points of reference in various ways, ranging from initial
and occasional or specific contact, to more systematic exposure to an area of
knowledge. This technology permits repeated viewings, at home or in the
studio, alone or with others, and at any time, facilitating a process of
 22 F. Camilleri

assimilation that is organised around the personal exigencies and technical

needs of the learner. It is a tool that enables a form of knowledge acquisition
and experience that I call ‘guided auto-didacticism’, i.e. a self-directed learning
and training that utilises information from various sources, but which is
ultimately dependent on self-organisation and self-evaluation, which in turn
require self-discipline and a reflective capability respectively. Though the
regulated reality of institutional training delimits the individual experience in
various ways, it importantly serves as a support, safety net, and gauge that
assists learners in achieving objectives. There is little of this in auto-didactic
learning – however guided it may be – that is not fundamentally based on the
will power and dedication of the individual, which in turn renders it a risky
enterprise, prone to failure, if that level of commitment is lacking.

Guided auto-didacticism
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As the term implies, ‘guided auto-didacticism’ marks a blend that combines

self-learning with guided learning. The ‘guidance’ in the equation refers to the
expertise or the modelling of experience available in the texts and images
consulted. The self-organised education of guided auto-didacticism is not
restricted to learning exclusively on one’s own. It is usually complemented –
and thus further blended – in various ways, including through intensive, time-
restricted experiences such as the participation in workshops, either
organised specifically for the group concerned, or selected by individuals or
the ensemble for a particular technique. The ‘teacher– student relationship’
comes into play in workshops, but since the experience is outside the
7. The same may apply for
conventional institutional parameters and limited to a period only, the
many students at predominant form of learning and assimilation remains auto-didactic,
universities in cases precisely guided auto-didacticism.7
where training sessions
happen with a As with all blends, guided auto-didacticism can be placed within a spectrum
frequency and at a level of possibilities that depend on the particular emphasis each component is
of detail where a
substantial degree of
given in relation to the others. An outline of some of the possible
autonomous work is combinations is helpful to locate certain experiences of actor training, with an
necessary. The eye to situating the roles that technological innovation plays.
difference with non-
institutional situations is Towards one extreme of the spectrum, on the side of autonomous and
that in universities this non-institutional approaches, can be placed the equivalent of ‘informal
is not so much the
preferred or principal
learning’, which is almost ‘incidental education’ since it is never intentional
pedagogical mode but a from the learner’s standpoint. This can be referred to as learning by
result of not enough experience. Guided auto-didacticism should not be confused with this kind of
funding for contact time
in terms of the staff,
space, and technical
resources involved
(Nelson 2013, p. 19).
Moreover, the overall
university infrastructure
(i.e. the one beyond
departmental control,
from timetables, to
procedures and
regulations, to methods
of assessment) situates
this type of learning as
institutional. Figure 1 Guided auto-didacticism spectrum.

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8. I discuss this in detail in
the context of types,
movement, modes, and
time of devised
adaptation in a
forthcoming volume on
Adaptation and Devising,
edited by Adam Ledger
for Palgrave Macmillan.
Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 23
learning: though dependent on the learner’s needs and (sometimes also) on
the material that comes one’s way, guided auto-didacticism is more organised
and structured as a processual activity.
Somewhere between informal learning and guided auto-didacticism lies
another blend that potentially informs every kind of learning and as such is
useful to identify separately: it is what I call ‘inspired auto-didacticism’, less
organised than the guided variant but more intentional and developed than
the informal one. Inspired auto-didacticism can take the form of, say, adopting
an image or a text as a source for an idiosyncratic-based training (e.g.
Camilleri 2010, pp. 160–61). The ‘inspiration’ factor in this blend may be due
to: (1) a lack of accessibility to the relevant information; (2) a chance
encounter with material that resonates with the learner (marking an overlap
with informal learning at the initial stage but not in development); (3)
incomplete knowledge about a subject, technique, or exercise, which could be
the result of knowledge-loss over time (e.g. Commedia dell’Arte); or (4)
adaptations of extant techniques (e.g. Grotowski’s ‘corporels’ as a dynamic
variation of hatha yoga). In the latter two instances, ‘inspired’ can describe the
stimulus for some of the innovative processes that characterised pedagogical
advances in actor training in the twentieth century. When developed to such
an extent, ‘inspired auto-didacticism’ evolves into ‘innovative didacticism’ that
produces new knowledge (e.g. exercises and techniques).
Related to the role played by inspiration in auto-didacticism is the
compositional process of devising based on sources, where an image or text
can instigate a technical work that becomes a training, which may or may not
evolve into a rehearsal activity and an integral part of a new performance.8
These forms of auto-didacticism, ranging from the incidental to the
structured, the non-professional to the highly professional, the technical to
the compositional, the guided to the independent, populate a spectrum of
training that does not necessarily include the role of teacher (as distinct from
its function) as implied by the PhD studentship call, and which, I argue,
characterises also some of the technological innovations available in the
twenty-first century. Where the role of director-pedagogue exists, the
individual concerned is frequently learning along with the performers: the so-
called ‘Grotowski’s plastiques’ were not strictly speaking developed by him but
were performer-led to the extent that there are variations – rather than one
standard method – of the exercises according to the individual performers
who practised and eventually transmitted them.
Learning supplements
On the other side of guided auto-didacticism, towards teacher-led learning in
the spectrum, can be included the space allocated for individual or directed
study within institutions. Paper-based and AV technology is, of course, also
available in (if not actually fuelled by and very much part of) some institutional
approaches: it serves to supplement the presence of the teacher in a studio.
The part played by this technology – words and books in particular – is
principally for contextual knowledge (historical and theoretical), rather than
for praxis, which is developed in the studio through the agency of a teacher.
It is predominantly (but not exclusively) in autonomous cases that such
 24 F. Camilleri

technology (e.g. a written account of plastiques or biomechanics, perhaps with

some pictorial accompaniment) is used for practical inspiration or guidance
within an auto-didactic environment.
If paper/AV technology indeed supplements the teacher’s physical presence
(and therefore role), it marks at once an inherent lack (an incompleteness or
insufficiency) in teacher-led education that needs supplementing, and at once
an aspect in auto-didacticism (individual processing) that is transferable to
regulated institutional settings. I am here following Jacques Derrida’s logic of
the supplement which, simplistically put, argues that ‘the distinguishing
characteristics of the marginal [the supplement] are in fact the defining
9. See also the chapter on qualities of the central object of consideration’ (Culler 1979, p. 168).9 In this
‘“ . . . That Dangerous respect, the auto-didactic aspect that accompanies paper/AV technology is at
Supplement . . . ”’ in
Derrida (1976, the centre of the learning experience. It is indeed, a ‘work upon oneself’ to
pp. 141 –64). read, and then experience physically and assimilate knowledge found in that
technology.
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The argument can be pushed even further. The lack in institutional

education that the logic of the supplement exposes can be aligned with what I
have elsewhere called the ethical dimension in performer training, i.e. the
invisible aspects of the broader context that surround, inform, and contribute
to the development of the visible aspect of technique training (Camilleri 2009,
pp. 26 –27). The visible dimension of actor training – i.e. the modus operandi
of technique – lends itself to ‘packaged’ skill-based knowledge that is
transferable by teachers, even in regulated settings. However, the ‘invisible’,
ethical dimension of the holistic/organic approach of the modus vivendi that
accompanies actor training as it developed in the twentieth century (Camilleri
2009, pp. 26 –28; Schino 2009, pp. 7 –11) is less accessible in a more
rationalised (fragmented and compartmentalised) institutional setting based
on various teachers for different subjects for restricted periods of time.
As institutional priorities are more immediate and definable, there is less
scope for experimentation that can potentially compromise the quality-
controlled integrity of the commodity that is ‘education’. In this regard,
autonomous training in an ensemble or individually is more flexible, but also
more challenging in being reliant on one’s own discipline, motivation, and
drive. The MA programmes with Frantic Assembly (at Coventry University)
and with Teatr Pieśń Kozła (now at Rose Bruford) go some way – at least in
intention, which is also marketable as a ‘promise’ – towards providing some
insight into the ethical dimension of a training-for-performance practice.

MOOCs

Even closer to the teacher-led learning end in the guided auto-didacticism

spectrum, also falling under the institutional umbrella, can be placed the
different forms of distance learning, ranging from the traditional degrees by
correspondence, which date back to the nineteenth century, to
contemporary MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), which are gaining
in popularity in the second decade of the twenty-first century.
MOOCs are digitally delivered courses aimed at unlimited participation
that teach students via the web. They started life as an online computing
course in 2008 before moving on to other science-based subjects, and
 Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 25

eventually also to some aspects of the humanities. Their popularity exploded

in 2012, ‘the year of the MOOC’ (The Economist 2014).
Though MOOCs in actor training (or in theatre studies for that matter) are
still a rarity, the indications point towards their development and expansion.
Hence the timeliness of Coventry University’s PhD studentship because it
will seek to analyse the range and impact of new learning technologies as they
unfold – from within the occurrence – rather than in retrospect, after the
event. This is very important, even if MOOCs or similar technologies fail to
take off or are superseded by something else in the field of theatre studies and
actor training.
Jonathan Pitches’ University of Leeds MOOC on ‘Acting Training Theatre
10. Due to limitations of Biomechanics’ in An Introduction to Physical Actor Training (March 2014) is
space and availability of
material, fuller details among the first – if not the first – to explore the possibility of teaching some
about this MOOC are aspects of actor training via this medium. It was marketed as a three-week,
beyond the scope of
this article. The point
four-hours-per-week course and as an introduction to physical actor training
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here is not so much to that focuses on ‘world-renowned Russian director Meyerhold’s technique of
examine this course in biomechanics, inviting you to experience first-hand his revolutionary
any depth, but to
indicate and approach to acting – the biomechanical étude’ (FutureLearn 2014). The
contextualise the course thus links practice with contextual knowledge and as such is similar to the
innovation it signals.
One looks forward to film–book combination, with the exception that the material usually reserved
learning more about it for ‘the book’ is now also an integral part of the film through the narrative
from Jonathan Pitches continuity of visuals and voice-overs. The crucial distinction thus lies in the more
himself (in particular
the experience of updated and attractive format which ticks like nothing else before the
designing, running, and fundamental ‘interactive accessible visual’ principle of older paper/AV
following-up this
MOOC), as well as in technologies that enable guided auto-didacticism in autonomous contexts.
the Coventry PhD The MOOC, though not a full-fledged one compared to others which are of
research.
much longer duration, also incorporated, crucially, filmed lectures and practical
11. Cf. ‘Pitches himself was
careful to point out that
demonstrations, plus forum spaces.10 In this case, the ‘incorporation’ of these
his three-week-long elements has the status of a blend rather than a supplement (as analysed above)
MOOC does not seek because they were integral to the didactic medium.
(or claim) to offer a
comprehensive training, Though in the trailer Pitches clarifies that: ‘The course isn’t intended as a
but he argued for the training in itself but as a taster of the practical techniques which have inspired
place of blended
learning styles and
actors in the 1920s and are still inspiring theatre directors and actors today’
experiences within (FutureLearn 2014),11 it is undoubtedly the kind of tool that lends itself to
debates about twenty- guided auto-didacticism in terms of the learner’s personal exigencies and
first-century performer
training methods’ technical needs identified above. Moreover, this does not necessarily apply
(Pitches 2014, p. 97). exclusively to beginners wanting to ‘know something’ about physical theatre,
12. ‘Disruptive innovation’ but also to more experienced practitioners who want to ‘know something
and ‘sustaining
innovation’ are terms
specific’ for a technical or compositional reason. As the spectrum of
used in business and possibilities indicates, guided auto-didacticism is an experiential phenomenon
technology literature to that casts a very wide net, including some institutional (notably university)
describe innovations
that impact on a practices.
product or service. Although Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School considers
While ‘disruptive
innovation’ creates a
‘MOOCs a potent “disruptive technology” that will kill off many inefficient
new market and value universities’ due to ‘low startup costs and powerful economies of scale’ (cited
network, disrupting in The Economist 2014) – and therefore as a ‘disruptive innovation’ at
existing ones,
‘sustaining innovation’ institutional level – MOOCs that cater for actor training can paradoxically be
evolves them with seen from the user’s perspective as a ‘sustaining innovation’ that develops
better value (see
Christensen 1997, elements and principles which already characterise existing technologies in
pp. xv –xix). autonomous settings.12
 26 F. Camilleri

Distance learning, with MOOCs as a recent development, is thus a mode of

teaching individuals who are not physically present in a conventional setting of
a bricks-and-mortar classroom or studio. It is a blend that combines presence
and absence on the level of (1) the role of the teacher and (2) the institutional
status of the process, both of which are there and yet not there. This interplay
of presence-and-absence in distance learning echoes aspects found in guided
auto-didactic contexts, leaving the learner ample space for autonomous
assimilation. Ultimately, as in the case of non-institutional settings, it is up to
the individuals concerned to make the most of the practical guidance, i.e.
through work in the studio space. The institutional aspect of the blend
provides elements of what I have earlier called ‘a support, safety net, and
gauge that assists learners in achieving objectives’, but it is ‘the will power and
dedication of the individual’ that fulfils the pedagogical project.
In this regard, the advance in new learning technologies and digital
globalisation in the twenty-first century appropriates the lack of a shared
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physical location between teacher and student in actor training and recreates
it as a space for autonomous agency via the mediation of online transmission
13. Online agency is and interaction.13 In a crucial sense, this technological development does not
autonomous only to the (as yet) announce a radical paradigm shift but a re-visitation of – because it
degree that it can be
offline. In this case, reinforces and enables – fundamental aspects associated with auto-didactic
online agency is approaches in autonomous and non-institutional situations.
autonomous within the
parameters set here by
the operative words
‘appropriation’ and
‘mediation’.
Hybrid implications

The advent of globalised digital technologies marks a significant development

in actor training. If not game-changing – for the reasons discussed here – it is
certainly face-changing in altering the way praxis is processed all the way from
institutional production to individual assimilation. To enable a better
understanding of the phenomenon under review, I propose viewing the
blending of institutional approaches with autonomous dynamics as a
hybridisation of processes, modes, and content.
The hybridity of this technological development enables institutionally
generated (researched) and produced (‘packaged’) knowledge to be
experienced within essentially guided auto-didactic environments and in
ways that are more characteristic of non-institutional contexts, i.e. similar to
the manner books and AV material have been used by practitioners as learning
tools. The concept of hybridity is particularly useful in underlining continuity –
adaptation and evolution – rather than disruption and revolution.
The hybridity announced by digital connectivity marks an evolution
precisely because it extends the remit and reach of the guided auto-
didacticism spectrum. Accordingly, it is essential not to get lost in the rhetoric
of paradigm changes or of a radical revolutionary development. To this effect,
for the purposes of this article, I prefer to highlight continuity with guided auto-
didacticism and with the dynamics of autonomous approaches, rather than
the rupture of the institutionalised teacher– student relationship, offered by
the new development.
The guided auto-didacticism hybrid of paper-based and AV technology can
be viewed as an earlier version of the one currently being developed in a
technological age of digital globalisation:
 Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 27

Hybrid 1: this is the guided auto-didacticism of non-institutional approaches,

where practitioners work autonomously and learn on their own within a non-
institutional setting and with the self-managed and self-designed assistance of
books and AV (in hard or electronic format). This guidance is complemented by
the occasional or frequent participation of workshops.

Hybrid 2: this is the extended guided auto-didacticism facilitated by the new

technologies such as YouTube and MOOCs, where practitioners still work on
their own in the physical space, but that isolation is blended with online guidance,
i.e. interactive features that may also be in real time but always in cyber space.

Hy2 has not obliterated or superseded Hy1: the two co-exist and will
continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The following are some
implications that can be teased out from this two-hybrids hypothesis.
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Space

Though the lack of a shared physical space that characterises Hy1 is still in
operation in Hy2, this is now re-configured as a possibility of a shared online
space. It is essential to point out that, until we reach the stage portrayed in the
Matrix films (where somatic skills such as riding a bike and martial arts forms
can be downloaded directly into our human organism), the geographical
centre of all training experiences, whether institutional or autonomous,
remains the same: the physical studio-space. This space might now be more
equipped, complete with digital connectivity, screens, cameras, and other
devices, but this is still fundamentally on the same level as having other forms
of ‘equipment’ in the studio, such as books, images, mirrors, CD-players, or
even musicians to provide accompaniment.

Roles

As discussed previously, the roles of ‘teacher’ and ‘student’ in Hy1 are

transcended by the function of learning in that the pedagogical responsibility
lies with the learner (who is teacher and student at the same time), i.e. it is up
to the individual to assimilate and develop the knowledge available from a
variety of sources rather than on considerations of curricula, assessments,
and timeframes. In Hy2, though the onus still lies with the recipient, it is now
shared to varying degrees with a ‘teacher’ and an ‘institution’: the roles of
‘teacher’ and ‘student’ are thus introduced (not re-introduced because they
were never there) for a specific time and in (an institutional) virtual space only.
If Hy1 is a ‘work upon oneself as another’, Hy2 is a ‘work upon oneself with
others’, irrespective of whether they are physically present or not.

Knowledge content

Hy2 also impacts on the content of knowledge made available, i.e. the manner
in which the content is offered impacts on the matter. Books by twentieth-
 28
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14. For example, by
providing a form of
access to knowledge –
however abbreviated it
may be – to those who
were (and are) not
physically in the time
and space with
Stanislavski and the
other influential theatre
innovators of the
twentieth century.
15. See Alison Hodge’s
overview of the
phenomenon (2010,
pp. xviii – xxvi) as well as
the individual chapters
in her edited volume.
16. See, for example, Odin
Teatret’s vocal work in
the late 1960s and early
1970s (Vocal Training at
Odin Teatret, 1972),
which Eugenia Barba
called ‘vocal action’
(Barba 1999, pp. 74 –
76).
F. Camilleri
century directors and/or pedagogues like Stanislavski, Decroux, Grotowski,
Lecoq, and Barba are more inspirational than didactic in that they were not
conceived as manuals or handbooks. Such books facilitate a personal,
autonomous journey by showing not so much a specific method of working,
but a way of working that is open to individual inflection and adaptation. The
practical exercises section of the Routledge Performance Practitioner series,
similar to the workshop part in Roberta Carreri’s On Training and Performance:
Traces of an Odin Teatret Actress (2014), though more descriptive and hence
didactic in scope, are still essentially inspirational as the process of translating
words and still images into practical exercises remains fundamentally a self-
directed and self-applied procedure. The same pertains to (1) publications
with DVDs like Giuliano Campo’s Zygmut Molik’s Voice and Body Work: The
Legacy of Jerzy Grotowski (2010); (2) books with interactive DVD-ROMs by
practitioner-scholars like Phillip Zarrilli’s The Psychophysical Actor at Work
(2008); and (3) DVD þ booklet offerings like Paul Allain’s Andrei Droznin’s
Physical Actor Training: A Russian Masterclass (2012) and Alison Hodge’s Core
Training for the Relational Actor (2013).
The Hy2 development, whilst building on these earlier models as far as
content is concerned (e.g. Pitches’s MOOC deals with an aspect of
Meyerhold’s work), markedly extends the manner in which that content is
presented to a specific audience for a specific online environment which,
though not physical, is nonetheless real in the ubiquity of technological
innovation. It is, of course, too early to comment on the ways this content will
be affected. However, just as the advent of books and AV technology impacted
on the ways individuals relate to actor training,14 the development of a
globalised digital technology offers various learning possibilities as yet
unimagined. Hopefully, the Coventry University doctoral research – and
others like it – will be able to provide some clearer indications.
Conclusion
Hybrid processes in the preparation of actors is nothing new. ‘Training for
actors’ as it developed in the twentieth century is a fusion praxis from
whichever angle one looks at it,15 especially where movement is concerned,
but also for the more explicitly psychophysical preparation that characterises
some vocal techniques.16 Actor training as we know it today is fundamentally a
multi-hybrid phenomenon that borrows, adapts, and applies to theatrical
performance techniques of the body from a diverse set of practices that include
meditation arts, martial arts, dance, acrobatics, circus, and sports, to name but
a few categories.
This historic hybridisation of actor training occurred principally at the level
of content (i.e. exercises and techniques), rather than at that of transmission
medium, which remains predominantly located in a physical space, whether
institutional school or autonomous studio. The twenty-first-century
technological innovations that concern us here involve mainly, at this point
in time, the second level – the medium of transmission.
Though one can only speculate without the benefit of a couple of decades’
hindsight, the real possibility exists that digital technology and globalised
connectivity – currently affecting actor training at the level of ‘packaging’ –
 Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 29

17. This is also related to becomes an agent of hybridisation also on the level of content.17 Accordingly,
the emergence of ‘new although it is important to highlight aspects of continuity and evolution in the
performance
environments’, which is content and the auto-didactic way in which that content is processed by
indeed one of the practitioners, the jury is still out on the potentially revolutionary status of the
challenges that the PhD
studentship call is accessibility–transmission media involved.
proposing to investigate
along with ‘the ways in
which new approaches
to actor training are References
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