Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b6zl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-15T04:48:05.530Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

28 - Artistic Performance: Acting, Ballet, and Contemporary Dance

from PART V.B - ARTS, SPORTS, & MOTOR SKILLS

By
Helga Noice  and
Tony Noice
Edited by
K. Anders Ericsson ,
Neil Charness ,
Paul J. Feltovich  and
Robert R. Hoffman
Helga Noice
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Elmhurst College
Tony Noice
Affiliation:
Department of Theatre, Elmhurst College
K. Anders Ericsson
Affiliation:
Florida State University
Neil Charness
Affiliation:
Florida State University
Paul J. Feltovich
Affiliation:
University of West Florida
Robert R. Hoffman
Affiliation:
University of West Florida
Get access

Summary

Acting

History

As an art form, acting dates back well over 2,500 years. Large choruses that performed dance-chant rituals called dithyrambs toured the Greek countryside celebrating the birth of Dionysus, god of wine and fertility. Some historians (e.g., Brockett, 1991) suggest that, although these group presentations sowed the seeds of theatre, only when a dithyramb leader named Thespis stepped forward and talked to members of his chorus (not as himself but as a character in the drama) did the art of theatre truly begin. Soon, writers contributed original dialogue to these presentations, and yearly competitions between dithyrambic groups were held in Athens at a 15,000-seat amphitheatre built for the purpose. Thus, the golden age of dramatic art was launched, showcasing the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes.

When the Romans conquered Greece, playwrights such as Plautus and Terrance based most of their works on Greek models but made them far earthier, as they had to compete with such entertainments as gladiators fighting to the death and humans being fed to the lions. After the Romans, theatre more or less vanished until revived many centuries later by the Church for teaching religious principles (Cohen, 1994). The resulting awakening of public interest led to the Renaissance playwrights, most notably Shakespeare, who, in Hamlet's advice to the players, presented to all future generations the hallmarks of good acting: “… o'erstep not the modesty of nature. For anything so o'erdone is from the purpose of playing whose end was and is to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature” (Shakespeare, 1604/1992 p.137).

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance , pp. 489 - 504
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, S. (1988). The technique of acting. New York: Bantam Books.Google Scholar
Archer, W. (1888). Masks or faces? London: Longmans, Green, & Co.Google Scholar
Barton, R. (1993). Style for actors. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing.Google Scholar
Bee, B. (Producer and Director), & Bragg, M. (Editor). (1982). Laurence Olivier, a life. [Video recording]. Chicago, IL: Public Media Video.Google Scholar
Brockett, O. G. (1991). History of the theatre. (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Bruhn, E. (1968). Beyond technique. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation.Google Scholar
Burian, K. V. (1963). The story of world ballet. London, England: Allan Wingate.Google Scholar
Cass, J. (1993). Dancing through history. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Chase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973). Perception in chess. Cognitive Psychology, 4, 55–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheney, G. (1989). Basic concepts in modern dance: A creative approach. Princeton, NJ: A Dance Horizons Book.Google Scholar
Cohen, R. (1994). Theatre. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing.Google Scholar
Cohen, R. L. (1989). Memory for action events: The power of enactment. Educational Psychology Review, 1, 57–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craine, D., & Mackrell, J. (2000). The Oxford dictionary of dance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mille, A. (1962). To a young dancer. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.Google Scholar
Diderot, D. (1957). The paradox of acting. (Pollock, W. H., Trans.) New York: Hill and Wang. (Original work published 1830.)Google Scholar
Engelkamp, J., & Zimmer, H. D. (1990). Memory for actions events. A new field of research. Psychological Research, 51, 153–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ericsson, K. A., & Kintsch, W. (1995). Long-term working memory. Psychological Review, 102 (2), 211–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foley, M. A., Bouffard, V., Raag, T., & Disanto-Rose, M. (1991). The effects of enactive encoding, type of movement, and imagined perspective on memory of dance. Psychological Research, 53, 251–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedland, R. P., Fritsch, T., Smyth, K. A., Koss, E., Lerner, A. J., Chen, C. H.. (2001). Patients with Alzheimer's disease have reduced activities in midlife compared with healthy control-group members. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, 98 (6), 3440–3445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Futterman, A. D., Kemeny, M. E., Shapiro, D., Polonsky, W., & Fahey, J. L. (1992). Immunological variability associated with experimentally-induced positive and negative affective states. Psychological Medicine, 22, 231–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glenberg, A. M., & Robertson, D. A. (1999). Indexical understanding of instructions. Discourse Processes, 28, 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golomer, E., & Dupui, P. (2000). Spectral analysis of adult dancers' sways: Sex and interaction vision – proprioception. International Journal of Neuroscience, 105, 15–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gottlieb, R. (2004). George Balanchine: The ballet maker. New York: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Guskin, H. (2003). How to stop acting. New York: Faber and Faber.Google Scholar
Intons-Peterson, M. J., & Smyth, M. M. (1987). The anatomy of repertory memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13 (3), 490–500.Google Scholar
Jean, J., Cadopi, M., & Ille, A. (2001). How are dance sequences encoded and recalled by expert dancers? Current Psychology of Cognition, 20 (5), 325–337.Google Scholar
Kelso, M. T, Weyhrauch, P., & Bates, J. (1993). Dramatic presence. Presence, 2 (1), 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Konijn, E. A. (2000). Acting emotions: Shaping emotions on stage. (Leach, B., Trans.) Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koriat, A., & Pearlman-Avnion, S. (2003). Memory organization of action events and its relationship to memory performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132 (3), 435–454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemeignan, M., Aguilera-Torres, , & Bloch, S. (1992). Emotional effector patterns: Recognition of expressions. European Bulletin of Cognitive Psychology, 12, 173–188.Google Scholar
Levenson, R. W., Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1990). Voluntary facial action generates emotion-specific autonomic nervous system activity. Psychophysiology, 27 (4). 363–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loren, T. (1978). The dancer's companion. New York: Dial Press.Google Scholar
Meisner, S., & Longwell, D. (1987). Sanford Meisner on acting. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Morris, E. (1985). Irreverent acting. New York: Putnam Publishing.Google Scholar
Nilsson, L-G. (2000). Remembering actions and words. In Tulving, E. & Craik, F. I. M. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of memory (pp. 137–148). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Noice, A. A. (1995). The application of learning and memory principles of cognitive science to an actor's ability to perform “in the moment.” (Doctoral dissertation, Wayne State University, 1995). Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences, 56 (5-A), 1586.Google Scholar
Noice, H. (1991). The role of explanations and plan recognition in the learning of theatrical scripts. Cognitive Science, 15, 425–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, H. (1992). Elaborative memory strategies of professional actors. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 6, 417–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, H. (1993). Effects of rote versus gist strategy on the verbatim retention of theatrical scripts. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 7, 75–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, H., & Noice, T. (1993). The effects of segmentation on the recall of theatrical material. Poetics, 22, 51–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, H., & Noice, T. (1994). An example of role preparation by a professional actor: A think-aloud protocol. Discourse Processes, 18, 345–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, H., & Noice, T. (1996). Two approaches to learning a theatrical script. Memory, 4 (1), 1–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noice, T., & Noice, H. (1997a). Expertise of professional actors: A cognitive view. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Noice, T., & Noice, H. (1997b). Effort and active experiencing as factors in verbatim recall. Discourse Processes, 23, 51–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, H., & Noice, T. (1999). Long-term retention of theatrical roles. Memory, 7 (3), 357–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noice, H., & Noice, T. (2001). Learning dialogue with and without movement. Memory and Cognition, 29 (6), 820–828.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noice, T., & Noice, H. (2002a). A review of recent research on the expertise of professional actors. High Ability Studies, 13, (1), 7–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, T., & Noice, H. (2002b). Very long-term recall and recognition of well-learned material. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16, 259–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, T., & Noice, H. (2004). A cognitive learning principle derived from the role acquisition strategies of professional actors. Cognitive Technology, 9 (1), 34–39.Google Scholar
Noice, H., Noice, T., & Kennedy, C. (2000). The contribution of movement on the recall of complex material. Memory, 8 (6), 353–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noice, H., & Noice, T., & Staines, G. (2004). A short-term intervention to enhance cognitive and affective functioning in older adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 16 (4), 1–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noice, T. (2004). [Phenomenology of acting.] Unpublished raw data.
Oliver, W. L., & Ericsson, K. A. (1986). Repertory actors' memory for their parts. Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Amherst, MA (pp. 399–406). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Overby, L., Hall, C., & Haslam, I. (1998). A comparison of imagery used by dance teachers, figure skating coaches, and soccer coaches. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 17 (4), 323–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poon, P. P. L., & Rodgers, W. M. (2000). Learning and remembering strategies of novice and advanced jazz dancers for skill level appropriate dance routings. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 71 (2), 135–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roach, J. R. (1985). The player's passion: Studies in the science of acting. Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press.Google Scholar
Rolf, B. (1977). Behind the mask. Oakland, CA: Persona Books.Google Scholar
Rudlin, J. (2000). Jacques Copeau: The quest for sincerity. In Hodge, A. (Ed.), Twentieth Century actor training (pp. 55–78). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Schmidt, H. G., Boshuizen, H. P. A., & Breukelen, G. J. P. (2002). Long-term retention of a theatrical script by repertory actors: The role of context. Memory, 10 (1), 21–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, C. L., Harris, R. J., & Rothe, A. R. (2001). Embodied cognition through improvisation improves memory for a dramatic monologue. Discourse Processes, 31 (3), 293–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shakespeare, W. (1992). Hamlet. New York: Washington Square Press. (Original work published in 1604.)Google Scholar
Slamecka, N. Y., & Graf, P. (1978). The generation effect: Delineation of a phenomenon. Journal of Experiment Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 4, 592–604.Google Scholar
Smyth, M. M., & Pendleton, L. R. (1994). Memory for movement in professional ballet dancers. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 25, 282–294.Google Scholar
Solso, R. L., & Dallop, P. (1995). Prototype formation among professional dancers. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 13 (1), 3–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spolin, V. (1963). Improvisation for the theater. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Stanislavski, C. (1936). An actor prepares. New York: Theatre Arts Books.Google Scholar
Stanislavski, C. (1961). Creating a role. New York: Theatre Arts Books.Google Scholar
Starkes, J. L, Deakin, J. M., Lindley, S., & Crisp, F. (1987). Motor versus verbal recall of ballet sequences by young expert dancers. Journal of Sport Psychology, 90, 222–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Starkes, J. L., Caicco, M., Boutilier, C., & Sevsek, B. (1990). Motor recall of experts for structured and unstructured sequences in creative modern dance. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 12, 317–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steeh, J. (1982). Story of ballet and other modern dance. New York: Galahad Books.Google Scholar
Stearns, M., & Stearns, J. (1968). Jazz dance. New York: Schirmer Books.Google Scholar
Vilga, E. (1997). Acting now. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Vineberg, S. (1991). Method actors. New York: Schirmer Books.Google Scholar
Watzman, A. (2004) Meet Valerie, Carnegie Mellon's first storytelling robotceptionists. Retrieved March 11, 2004, from http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/040219_Valerie.html.
Wilson, R. S., Mendes, Leon C. F., Barnes, L. L., Schneider, J. A., Bienias, J. L., Evans, D. A.. (2002). Participation in cognitively stimulating activities and risk of incident Alzheimer Disease. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 287 (6), 742–748.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×