Jacques Lecoq's Bouffons in Australia

Abstract

In The Moving Body, Jacques Lecoq describes his explorations into bouffon, a theatrical form that uses body masking to transform actors into grotesque, outcast characters who satirise society. Lecoq researched and developed the form over thirty years, mapping the dramatic territory of the bouffon, searching for its defining characteristics, examining its relationship to other forms, and pondering the limits of its capabilities. One of his 'great discoveries' was the extent to which this work highlighted culturaldifferences between his students, who created bouffonesque bodies that were distinctively embedded in their own cultural background.