Credits
A sequence of passionate attitudes after Jelgerhuis
Selection of attitudes from Johannes Jelgerhuis's treatise: Theoretische lessen over de gesticulatie en mimiek (1827-1829).
Performed by Laila C. Neuman; piano accompaniment: Artem Belogurov
Recorded at the Stadsgehoorzaal, Leiden, the Netherlands
8 August, 2021
© Laila Cathleen Neuman
This video was made available to us with the kind permission of Laila Cathleen Neuman and Jed Wentz.
This video is related to thie article by Laila Cathleen Neuman: “Performing Goethe’s Proserpina (1815): A Practice-Based Study of Gestural Attitudes, Movement, and Music”, in: Tanz und Musik. Perspektiven für die Historische Musikpraxis, Basel 2023, 299–320 (BBHM 42).
Abstract
The 1815 production of Goethe / Eberwein’s monodrama Proserpina featured the actress Amalie Wolff in a staging so extraordinary that it was documented by Goethe and other contemporaries. This article explores how the documentation on her movements, including gestural attitudes and the use of costume, can be combined with acting techniques as described by the Dutch actor Johannes Jelgerhuis (1770–1836) to inspire an acting style which feels right for performing Proserpina. The reader is guided through the creative processes leading from a physical understanding of attitudes in silence, to using them with spoken text, and eventually to creating a unity between attitudes, movement, and the music.