Trish Arnold

Trish Arnold (1918 to 2017) shaped the field of movement work. Her methods have reached international theatre, film and drama-school training, where they sit alongside those of Litz Pisk, Jacques Lecoq and Rudolf Laban. For most of her career the practice survived only through one-to-one lessons, passed from one movement practitioner to another, and it had never been recorded in full.

This book is the first complete study of Arnold's movement training for actors. It examines the circumstances in which the work developed, how it is practised, how it changed over time, and where its influence can be seen in theatre-making today. The account begins with Arnold's move from dance into the theatre.

Lizzie Ballinger describes her own training under Jane Gibson, a Movement Director and Choreographer and Arnold's first student. The author also gives a detailed, candid account of how she learned to teach the material herself.

The book includes many illustrations of the movements, together with Arnold's original notes and sketches. Its aim is a clear, concise guide to physically embodying Arnold's movements.