Abstract:

This article intends to analyze the concept of dṛśya kāvya (visible poetry) from the Indian scenic tradition, as a proposal to a dramaturgy of the body. Starting from the impact that the Asian scenic tradition caused in the European theater in the 20th century, we will examine some concepts and acting techniques from the Indian classical dance-theater (specially Orissi and Kathakali), which are based in the translation of the word into physical gesture. We also question the relevance of this discussion to a theater seeking to distance itself from a logocentric model, in an intercultural perspective.

Keywords:
Actor's Craft; Interculturalism; Indian Classical Dance-Theatre; Kathakali; Orissi

Resumo:

No presente artigo, discute-se o conceito de dṛśya kāvya (visível poesia) da tradição cênica indiana como proposta de dramaturgia do corpo. Partindo do impacto que as tradições cênicas asiáticas provocaram no teatro europeu no século XX, são analisados alguns conceitos e técnicas de atuação do teatro-dança clássico indiano (em particular, Orissi e Kathakali), baseadas na tradução da palavra em gesto corporal. Questiona-se também a relevância dessa discussão para um teatro que busca distanciar-se de um modelo logocêntrico, numa perspectiva intercultural.

Palavras-chave:
Trabalho do Ator; Interculturalismo; Teatro-Dança Clássico Indiano; Kathakali; Orissi

Résumé:

Cet article vise à analyser le concept de dṛśya kāvya (la poésie visible), de la tradition théâtrale indienne, entant que une proposition de dramaturgie du corps. À partir de l'impact que le traditions du spectacle asiatiques ont provoqué sur le théâtre européen au cours du XX siècle, nous allons examiner certains concepts et techniques de jeu de la théâtre-danse classique indienne (plus précisément, Orissi et Kathakali), basé sur la traduction poétique du mot dans le geste corporel. Nous allons se questionner sur la pertinence de cette discussion pour un théâtre qui cherche à se démarquer d'un modèle logocentrique, dans une perspective interculturelle.

Mots-clés:
Travail de l'Acteur; Interculturalisme; Théâtre-Danse Classique Indienne; Kathakali; Orissi

Introduction

Antonin Artaud (1984ARTAUD, Antonin. A Encenação e a Metafísica. In: ARTAUD, Antonin. O Teatro e seu Duplo. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 1984. P. 46-63., p. 51-53) defines the scene's "concrete physical language" - "[...] that is addressed, first of all, to the senses instead of being addressed primarily to the mind as the language of words does" - as a "poetry of space"; and cites the Balinese Theatre as an effective example of the poetry he sought. Indian classical³² 1 The use of the word classical referring to the Indian traditional art is questionable once it refers to the ancient Greeks' and Romans' art and culture. It is, however, adopted by Indian scholars, who also created criteria to classify the Indian performing demonstrations as classic (margi), when they are grounded in ancient treatises tradition - especially Nāṭyaśāstra - or popular (desi) when they do not have such references. Currently, this classification is officially determined by the Sangeet Natak Akademy - a government institution of performing arts promotion. The Orissi and Kathakali styles are considered classics, alongside with others such as Bharata Natyam, Manipuri, Kathatk, Kuchipudi, Mohini Attam and Sattriya (Kothari, 2010). tradition, in its turn, defines theater as dṛśya kāvya - literally meaning visible poetry - distinguishing it from literature. Drawing cross lines between these concepts, this article discusses the dramaturgy of the body in the Indian classical dance-theater as a theme, to reflect upon the relationship between physical action and words in the art of the actor.

Besides revisiting concepts such as "lyrical actor" and "body-orchestra" (Vescovi, 2007VESCOVI, Renzo. Scritti dal Teatro Tascabile. Organização de Mirella Schino. Roma: Bulzoni , 2007., p. 166-167), "credible body", "credibility" and "readability" of the action (Ruffini, 1996RUFFINI, Franco. Prefazione. In: RUFFINI, Franco. Teatro e Boxe: "l'atleta del cuore" nella scena del Novecento. Bologna: Il Mulino , 1996. P. 7-21., p. 8 10), which provide a broader theoretical contribution for the subject, the discussion arises from the singular intercultural experience of this article's authors, acquired in over twenty years of research between the East and the West, particularly in the practice of the Indian classical dance-theaters Kathakali, a male style original from Kerala, and Orissi³³ 2 The names Orissi and Odissi refer to the same Indian classic dance-theater style and can equally be found in specialized literature. In this article, it will be considered the Orissi nomenclature used by Ashish Khokar and Mohan Khokar (2011) and Mohan Khokar (1979), renowned researchers and authors of reference works on the subject, especially the book The dance Orissi. , a style from the state of Odisha. This research began at the Teatro Tascabile di Bergamo (TTB), one of the historic Italian theater groups. It is recognized as an important theater-laboratory on the art of the actor in Europe, which stands out for the Eastern theater's theoretical and practical study³⁴ 3 "They are experts in dancing the Kathakali, with a mastery that makes them to be accepted as experts even in India" (Barba, 1993, p. 218). "[...] when referring to a 'serious' way of discussing Asian theaters, the TTB is one of the names that comes suddenly to mind" (Schino, 2004, p. 15). and for the street theater performances³⁵ 4 "[...] one of the greatest experts in Europe" (Schino, 1997, p. 316). . Following theater-laboratories emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, the Italian group is a significant example when it comes to adopting Eastern techniques for the development of its own theatrical language strongly based on the idea of dṛśya kāvya.

Asian Theatres Influence in Europe's Theatre-Laboratories

According to Mirella Schino (2012SCHINO, Mirella. Alquimistas do Palco: os laboratórios teatrais na Europa . São Paulo: Perspectiva , 2012.), the concept of theater-laboratory, far from being a point of reference or representing a model to be followed, is a certain kind of mental orientation that characterized certain groups emerged in the second half of the 20th century in Europe. Its most emblematic examples are the Teatr Laboratorium of Jerzy Grotowski, the Centre International de Recherche Théâtrale of Peter Brook and the Odin Teatret of Eugenio Barba. The meaning of theater-laboratory is related to some key words: training, actor's permanent activity, independently of preparations for specific performances; body, understood as the physical expression commonly associated to a symbolic language; pedagogy, denominating autonomous processes of the actor's training and, for more mature groups, the transmission of practical knowledge.

Based on these keywords, it is possible to establish a direct connection between theater groups emerged in Europe in the second half of the 20th century and the period of the Great Reform³⁶ 5 According to Schino (2012, p. IX, 196), Great Reform, or Wielka Reform, as Polish scholars and theater people say, is the term that seeks to "express the radical changes that took place in the theater in the first three decades of the 20th century". Some protagonists of the period are Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Craig, Appia, Copeau, Fuchs and Reinhardt, also known as "pedagogue directors", more interested in research, in studios, schools and ateliers, than attracting the public, and who "established poetic and practices which cannot be confined to one or more spectacles". of the Western theater in the beginning of the same century. Such connection is a feature of the theater-laboratory tradition. The person who inaugurates this lineage is, certainly, Stanislavski, especially regarding the work accomplished in his theatrical studios. Afterwards, some other names emerge and, as the Russian master, they were concerned with issues beyond performances preparation: Vakthangov, Meyerhold, Copeau, Decroux, Appia and Craig (Schino, 2012SCHINO, Mirella. Alquimistas do Palco: os laboratórios teatrais na Europa . São Paulo: Perspectiva , 2012.).

Since the early 20th century, the protagonists of the Great Reformation of the Western performing arts started to question the hegemony of text in the theatrical phenomenon and to pursue the idea of a total art, in which all performance elements were in harmony. This movement sought in the East one of its main sources of inspiration, because in Asian performing arts, the actor is the core of the performance and combines, in his/her performance, word, action and musicality. After the first attendances of European audiences to Asian performances by the end of the 19th century, the Eastern dance-theater provoked, during the 20th century, so many and such significant reflections that it is no exaggeration to say that the contact with this spectacular reality changed the way of thinking the performing arts in the West (Savarese, 1992SAVARESE, Nicola. Teatro e Spettacolo fra Oriente e Ocidente. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1992.).

We can consider that the interest in the Asian theater, especially regarding the art of the actor, is also a common trait that has run through and along the theater-laboratories' researches from the Great Reform up to the present days. While the glimpse of the Eastern theater served as a counterpoint to the Great Reform protagonists in criticizing the European logocentric bourgeois theater, the Asian one represented a source of learning staging and performance precise techniques for groups of the 20th century's second half.

The beginning of the interculturalism in the performing arts was, however, marked by the lack of the real knowledge about realities whose vision provoked the thought. This is so because the seminal intercultural experiences of the protagonists of the Great Reform of the Western theater were based on fleeting contacts with the Asian performing art on European stages. Very properly, Savarese (1992SAVARESE, Nicola. Teatro e Spettacolo fra Oriente e Ocidente. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1992., p. XXXII) defines the reflections arisen from such contacts as "sort of fruitful misunderstandings". These would say more about European artists who saw in the Eastern theater the materialization of their own theatrical utopia, than about Asian theaters they had watched.

Similarly, in the introduction of the book on Yoga, Mircea Eliade (1996ELIADE, Mircea. Prefácio à edição francesa. In: ELIADE, Mircea. Yoga: imortalidade e liberdade. São Paulo: Palas Athena, 1996. P. 9-16., p. 9) points to the broad horizon and, at the same time, to the limits which confront us when we approach the knowledge of an "exotic spirituality" and states that:

The "discovery of India", as described by Eliade (1996ELIADE, Mircea. Prefácio à edição francesa. In: ELIADE, Mircea. Yoga: imortalidade e liberdade. São Paulo: Palas Athena, 1996. P. 9-16., p. 9), is characterized by attitudes and approach methods that respond to particular problems of the European culture in its different historical moments. Despite this limitation, which characterized the entire European Orientalism, the knowledge of Asia has evolved, mainly in the 20th century, allowing that certain ethnocentric attitudes were overcome. The current relationship of Europe (and more recently of the United States) with the so called Third World is, however, historically associated to the colonialist expansion, which began in the 16th century and ended in the 19th and 20th centuries with nationalist movements for independence. The European interculturalism arose from these colonialist assumptions, contaminated by the Orientalism,

As well as the knowledge about the Indian thought advanced in Europe, contacts with Asian performing arts became increasingly intense. Over the last fifty years, great artificers of European performing arts, such as Jerzy Grotowski and Eugenio Barba, created more profound and lasting ties with Asia. These involved many trips - some of them of extended periods -, experience exchanges and artistic collaborations. The search for technical improvement detached from performance preparation found inspiration in the traditional Asian theater actors' training. Other groups that emerged in the period, such as the Teatro Tascabile di Bergamo, influenced by these experiences, followed the same course.

The approach of TTB to the forms of the Indian classical dance-theater began in 1977 and was impelled, at first, by the necessity of "achieving techniques" of the art of the actor (Vescovi, 2007VESCOVI, Renzo. Scritti dal Teatro Tascabile. Organização de Mirella Schino. Roma: Bulzoni , 2007., p. 84). Over the decades, from a deep theoretical and practical research, which included annual study periods in India with its actors, Renzo Vescovi, TTB's director, conceived certain performance notions strongly influenced by the plunge into the practice of Indian theater. These became keynotes for the group's work in developing its own theatrical language.

Learning directly from Indian gurus, especially the styles Orissi (with Aloka Panikar) and Kathakali (with John Kalamandalam)³⁷ 6 TTB has been working for many years with another Indian dance, Bharata Natyam (with Usha Raghavan). The group conducted experiments with other Asian scenic forms, such as Kuchipudi Indian dance (with Satya Priya Ramana), the Balinese Theatre (with I Made Djimat) and Beijing Opera (with Pei Yan Ling). Nevertheless, Orissi and Kathakali were the starting point of research and remain as main references. , the Italian actors of the TTB provided Vescovi with the basis for the development of two complementary concepts: the lyrical actor and body-orchestra. Here, it concerns us to emphasize, based in such notions, and inspired by the art of the Indian actor, how Vescovi approaches the body language to the poetic language:

Dṛśya Kāvya and Poetry of Space

A specific protagonist of the Great Reform was Antonin Artaud, who left a strong mark on the theater history, not for carrying out performances, but for his writings about a "possible theater" (Taviani, 1995TAVIANI, Fernando. Uomini di Scena, Uomini di Libro: introduzione alla letteratura teatrale italiana del Novecento. Bologna: Il Mulino , 1995., p. 31). Artaud did not form a theater-laboratory, but proposed the construction of the human beings from the body, releasing it from its automatism through "theatrical tools" (Ruffini, 2012RUFFINI, Franco. O Extremismo de Stanislávski. In: SCHINO, Mirella. Alquimistas do Palco: os laboratórios teatrais na Europa. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2012. P. 90-108., p. 90).

At a conference at Sorbonne in December 10th, 1931, Artaud (1984ARTAUD, Antonin. A Encenação e a Metafísica. In: ARTAUD, Antonin. O Teatro e seu Duplo. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 1984. P. 46-63., p. 50-51) wondered:

Entitled as Mise en Scène and Metaphysics, in The Theater and Its Double (Artaud, 1984ARTAUD, Antonin. A Encenação e a Metafísica. In: ARTAUD, Antonin. O Teatro e seu Duplo. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 1984. P. 46-63.), the text is marked by Artaud's revolt against the logocentric view that became a determining factor in the Western theatrical tradition from Aristotle until the 19th century and that subjugated the scene - "[...] peripheral place of redundant exteriority, of body sensuality, of instability, in short, of theatricality" - to the text - "refuge of the immutable sense of interpretation and soul of the play" (Pavis, 1998PAVIS, Patrice. Dizionario del Teatro. Organização de Paulo Bosisio. Bologna: Zanichelli, 1998., p. 487-488).

Artaud (1984ARTAUD, Antonin. A Encenação e a Metafísica. In: ARTAUD, Antonin. O Teatro e seu Duplo. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 1984. P. 46-63., p. 51-52) claims "a physical and concrete place" with its own language for the scene, "a specific concrete and physical language of the stage". In his view, this is the "material and substantial language by which theater may be differentiated from speech", and defines this language as "poetry of space":

As an example of his conception of "poetry of space", Artaud (1984ARTAUD, Antonin. A Encenação e a Metafísica. In: ARTAUD, Antonin. O Teatro e seu Duplo. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 1984. P. 46-63., p. 52-53) cites the Balinese Theatre, which he attended in August 1931, in the Paris Colonial Exposition. When Artaud identifies in the Balinese theater - and, by extension, in the Eastern theater - the "poetry of space" he had been seeking, the "misunderstanding" is revealed as particularly "fruitful" (taking up previously quoted words by Savarese³⁹ 8 Cf. p. 157. ) if compared with the concept of dṛśya kāvya (visible poetry) described in the Abhinavabhāratī, famous Indian philosopher Abhinavagupta's⁴⁰ 9 Philosopher of Hindu art and religion, who lived in Kashmir (India) between 950-1020 A.D. remark about the Nāṭyaśāstra (Kulkarni, 2003KULKARNI, V. M. Abhinavagupta's concept of kāvya and nāṭya. In: KULKARNI, V. M. Abhinavabhārati Text: restored and other articles. Ahmedabad: Shresthi Kasturbhai Lalbhai Smarak Nidhi, 2003. P. 171-183.).

Nāṭyaśāstra is one of the oldest and the most important treatises on Indian classical dance-theater, whose authorship is attributed to the mythic Bharata Muni. When it was written is not known exactly (the date of its composition is extremely controversial, ranging from the 5th century B.C. to the 6th century A.D., according to different scholars), nor who the author is (there is no historical evidence of Bharata Muni and it is likely that the Nāṭyaśāstra had been written for centuries by several anonymous authors)⁴¹ 10 In this article, we refer to the translations of Nāṭyaśāstra by Aya Rangacharya (2003) and Manomohan Ghosh (1995). . There is not many historical information about the nāṭya - the Sanskrit theater described in it. We know, however, that ancient Sanskrit dramas were staged in different parts of India, and Nāṭyaśāstra is the record of a much older scenic tradition than the treaty itself⁴² 11 For further information on the Nāṭyaśāstra, cf. Gomes (2005). (Rangacharya, 1998RANGACHARYA, Adya. Introduction to Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal , 1998.). Nāṭyaśāstra was the main reference of Indian artists and scholars, who are protagonists of the movement known as revival (renaissance), which re-invented Indian classical dance-theater tradition in the first half of the 20th century⁴³ 12 During the British colonization, Indian dances, considered obscene, were persecuted and even banned. In the early 20th century, when many of these traditions seemed lost or degenerated, amid the process of independence of India, it arose an Indian culture rescue movement, in which the dance revival played an important role. From the 1930' on, the Indian dance-theater has been reinvented by intellectuals and artists, with strong reference to Nāṭyaśāstra tradition and other ancient treaties (Khokar, 1979). .

Aristotle, in the Poetics (1987, p. 207), affirms that the performance is "the most exciting, whereas the least artistic and the least to do with the art of poetry" because "the power of tragedy is felt even apart from representation and actors". Abhinavagupta, in the text restored by Kulkarni (2003KULKARNI, V. M. Abhinavagupta's concept of kāvya and nāṭya. In: KULKARNI, V. M. Abhinavabhārati Text: restored and other articles. Ahmedabad: Shresthi Kasturbhai Lalbhai Smarak Nidhi, 2003. P. 171-183.), states, on the contrary, that when poetry is not staged, the full aesthetic pleasure, or rasa (literally, taste), is not accomplished. Nevertheless, there may be some aesthetic pleasure only in reading if poetry, through its vivid and elegant descriptions, acts as a drama staged in the viewer's mind. The Indian philosopher considers the nāṭya - the Sanskrit theater described in Nāṭyaśāstra - as dṛśya kāvya⁴⁴ 13 Dṛśya: visible, evident, to be seen, worth seeing, beautiful, pleasurable; [...] any visible object [...]. Kāvya: endowed with the qualities of the sage or poet, derived from the wise, prophetic, inspired, poetic; [...] poem, composition with a coherent theme of one single author [...] (Monier-Williams, 1994, p. 280, 491). (visible poetry): a kind of poetic composition aimed at the eyes and the ears, and not only at the ears as a written poetry (considering that the written word, even though it is read with the eyes, is a graphical representation of the spoken word, uttered by the mouth and perceived by the ear). The concept of dṛśya kāvya combines the visible and the poetic so that the mixture's flavor is different from the taste of each of two elements separately.

The nāṭya - the-theater-that-dances-words - and the naṭa - the-actor-who-dances-words

According to Nāṭyaśāstra (Rangacharya, 2003RANGACHARYA, Adya (Org.). The Nāṭyaśāstra . New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal , 2003., p. 43), Gods' actions are naturally fair, but men's actions require a conscious effort. Therefore, all the details of these actions must be strictly prescribed. This sort of care with the details becomes even more important when men try to play the role of gods and heroes on the stage. The appropriate behavior for this type of acting is the nāṭyadharmī, in which all actions are coded and have a precise symbolism. In Nāṭyaśāstra, the movements of the various parts of the body (Rangacharya, 2003, p. 83-90), the walking (Rangacharya, 2003, p. 101-11) and the body postures are detailed as in a dance choreography. One example of these body postures are the 108 karaṇas (Rangacharya, 2003, p. 23-31) that describe poses depicted in statues and decorations of various temples in India, such as the Konarak in Odisha and the Citambaram in Tamil Nadu.

This description of actions' choreography reveals a specific trait of the Indian theatrical culture, which does not establish a clear difference between the concepts of actor and dancer. The words naṭa and naṭaka are usually translated as actor and drama respectively. Both words derive from the Sanskrit root nrit, whose meaning is dance. Nāṭya designates a spectacular reality that is much closer to a "danced theater" than to a "spoken theater". Thus, nāṭya's translation should be not only "the art of theater", but rather "the art of theater-that-dances" (Savarese, 1992SAVARESE, Nicola. Teatro e Spettacolo fra Oriente e Ocidente. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1992., p. 173).

The art of naṭa, as described in Nāṭyaśāstra, includes the use of voice. This treatise contains chapters that address "verbal representation and prosody" (Rangacharya, 2003RANGACHARYA, Adya (Org.). The Nāṭyaśāstra . New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal , 2003., p. 116-119) and "rules on the use of languages" (Rangacharya, 2003, p. 138-147). Nevertheless, in Orissi and Kathakali, actors do not speak on the scene, as well as in most current styles of Indian classical dance-theater⁴⁵ 14 The most representative exception in relation to this aspect of non-use of the spoken voice in Indian theater is Kuttiyattam, considered the closest Indian theatrical form to the Sanskrit theater described in Nāṭyaśāstra. Original of Kerala, the Kuttiyattam is one of the most important influences for the creation of Kathakali. . The poetic text becomes song's lyrics sung by the singer of the small orchestra that shares the scene with the dancer. The choreographic composition mechanism of these theater-dance styles is a stylized pantomime with logic similar to the sign language of deaf people: every word of the song's lyrics corresponds to a coded gesture, a hasta⁴⁶ 15 The Indian classical dance-theater uses gestures of tantric ritual to create a language of coded gestures. Tantric cult uses techniques of ritual concentration and of interaction with the divine-based in ritual gestures called mudrā (seal, form) and in words called mantra (hymn, invocation). In performing arts, these gestures, stripped of their ritual effectiveness, are designated as hasta (hand) (Padoux, 2010). , which has a precise form and meaning, expressing an idea, a sense, like a living ideogram.

Artaud (1984ARTAUD, Antonin. A Encenação e a Metafísica. In: ARTAUD, Antonin. O Teatro e seu Duplo. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 1984. P. 46-63., p. 53-54), in Mise en Scène and Metaphysics, refers to a kind of "non-corrupted pantomime" as "a form of poetry of space":

It has already been pointed out how Artaud's fruitful misunderstandings⁴⁷ 16 Cf. p. 157. on the Balinese theater have no direct relationship with the reality of the Asian theater. However, precisely because of the fertility of his thoughts, it will be allowed an exercise of checking if his concept of "non-corrupted pantomime" could be applied to the Indian classical dance-theater. When referring to this pantomime as "pure theatrical language" with "signs, gestures and attitudes which have an ideographic value" that "represent ideas, mental attitudes, aspects of nature in an effective, concrete manner", the statement would be correct. However, it would be inaccurate to assume that this language does not represent "words, sentences' bodies."

In Indian classical dance-theater, the relationship between the gesture of the actor and the text sung by the singers is so close, we could say that for the Indian actor/dancer the word is essential. In his/her action, text intertwines with music and with all the other elements of the scene. Nāṭyaśāstra assigns central importance to the word, contrary to the common sense that often describes the Eastern theater as a theater of the body.

In dṛśya kāvya, the actor creates a new visible sense that is combined to the sound sense of the poetry's words, through a coordinated work of the whole body in accordance to the song's rhythm and melody. This intimate relationship between gesture and word is not a contradiction to the fact that this silent language points to word boundaries. We agree with Quilici (2015QUILICI, Cassiano Sydow. Teatros do Silêncio. In: QUILICI, Cassiano Sydow. O Ator-Performer e as Poéticas da Transformação de Si. São Paulo: Annablume, 2015. P. 51-65., p. 56-57) when he states that the physical language based on non-verbal signs, as pointed by Artaud in his writings on the Balinese theater, cannot be easily translated into a logical and discursive language. Such language proposes the interaction with a certain meaning emptiness that welcomes experiences which are not necessarily grasped by words. In Indian classical dance-theater, however, that body language cannot prescind words, but instead weaves, using them, new meanings related to the ineffable.

Reading the Action, Believing the Action - the dramaturgy of the body in the Indian classical dance-theater

Facing so many possible approaches to the notion of the dramaturgy of the body, a distinction between two aspects in the actor's action - as proposed by Ruffini (1996RUFFINI, Franco. Prefazione. In: RUFFINI, Franco. Teatro e Boxe: "l'atleta del cuore" nella scena del Novecento. Bologna: Il Mulino , 1996. P. 7-21.) - is suggested: readability and credibility. This distinction is of immediate semantic evidence and can be considered implicit in researches on the art of the actor at least since the 20th century. "On the other side of the footlights, the spectator reacts by reading the meaning of the [actor's] action, but also reacts by believing the logic of the action on the scene" (Ruffini, 1996, p. 10). Credibility and readability are independent aspects present in the actor's action; it is not about establishing a hierarchy between them, but to understand that the pathways that lead to one and to the other are autonomous. "Readability is a semantic issue, while credibility is an organic one. It is not to be explained; it should be experienced" (Ruffini, 1996, p. 12).

According to Ruffini (1996RUFFINI, Franco. Prefazione. In: RUFFINI, Franco. Teatro e Boxe: "l'atleta del cuore" nella scena del Novecento. Bologna: Il Mulino , 1996. P. 7-21., p. 11), the 20th century theater historiography privileged the pathway of readability, for instance, through an interpretation of Stanislavsky's psychotechnics, more as an analysis of the character, than as a stimulus to the actor's organic nature. He also states that this privilege almost canceled from historiography a "[...] science of the actor, not aimed at constructing codes, but at the reconstruction of life, despite the scene's codes and conventions" although this "science of the actor" has certainly existed.

It is possible to affirm that "the actor's 'credible body' corresponds to the pre-expressive level" (Ruffini 1996RUFFINI, Franco. Prefazione. In: RUFFINI, Franco. Teatro e Boxe: "l'atleta del cuore" nella scena del Novecento. Bologna: Il Mulino , 1996. P. 7-21., note 4, p. 11), in which the actor constructs his/her presence, regardless of what it expresses, or of the will to express something (Barba, 1993BARBA, Eugenio. La Canoa di Carta. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1993.). For Ruffini (1996), the pre-expressive level, or the credible body, is a consciously objective pursued by actors of Eastern scenic traditions, whereas for the Western actor, this goal may not necessarily be deliberated.

The language of the hastas (gestures)⁴⁸ 17 Cf. note 15. , in Orissi and Kathakali, as well as in other styles of Indian classical dance-theater, presents an interesting feature in the relationship between readability and credibility: the great majority of spectators, whether in India or in other countries, is not able to understand what the actors say through the hastas nor what the singers say, because the texts sang are usually in Sanskrit, a dead language, that hinders the readability of the actions. On the credibility's pathway, however, the watcher is captured by the actor's presence, by the accuracy of his/her actions. The density of the poetic language, embodied in the actor's body, allows different reading levels for diverse spectators, according to their own cultural references.

The Sanskrit word that defines this type of activity is abhinaya, formed by the prefix abhi (towards) and the root ni (to lead). Abhinaya defines the expressive means used by the actor to lead the author's words to become dṛśya kāvya (visible poetry). And, they are divided into four parts: āṅgika abhinaya (body movements), vācika abhinaya (voice use), āhārya abhinaya (costumes and makeup) and sāttvika abhinaya (mental states) (Gomes, 2007GOMES, Ricardo Carlos. Kathakali Vesham: l'aprendistato dell'attore Kathakali. 2007. Tese (Doutorado em Storia, Teoria e Tecnica del Teatro e dello Spettacolo) ‒ Dipartimento di Arti e Scienze dello Spettacolo, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Roma, 2007.).

From all abhinayas, the āṅgika abhinaya is key for the Indian actor/dancer. This is so because the relationship with the word is manifested in sign language. The body brings costumes into life, and feelings are demonstrated in body actions. The āṅgika abhinaya is divided into two categories: nṛtta, pure dance without narrative content - whose readability is limited to pure aesthetic fruition; and nṛtya, expressive dance, which tells a story and expresses a specific state of mind - its readability is related to the spectator's reading level.

The language of hastas (gestures)⁴⁹ 18 Cf. note 15. is a language like any other, with its own words and syntax. The relationship of this language with the poetic text is not mechanical, but complex and articulated. In different styles of Indian dance-theater, this language is articulated with very specific characteristics like a specific dialect. For our reflection, the styles Orissi and Kathakali are taken as examples.

Poetry in Action in Orissi

One of the main texts used as the basis in Orissi choreographic compositions is Gītagovinda - The singing shepherd - a lyric-dramatic poem of the 12th century by Jayadeva. Composed in Sanskrit (though controversies point to an original version in proto-Bengali language), Gītagovinda is one of the great texts of the Indian literature, besides being the inspiration source of medieval and contemporary Vaishnavism (Boccali, 1982BOCCALI, Giuliano. Prefazione. In: JAYADEVA. Gītagovinda. Organização e tradução Giuliano Boccali. Milano: Adelphi, 1982. P. 11-34.; Miller, 1984MILLER, Barbara Stoler. The Gītagovinda of Jayadeva: Love song of the Dark Lord. Delhi; Patna; Varanasi, 1984.; Vatsyayan, 1981VATSYAYAN, Kapila. Gita Govinda: the processes of diffusion. Marg - a Magazine of the Arts, Mumbai, v. 34, n. 3, p. 24-35, jun. 1981.).

Gītagovinda tells about the romantic meetings and disagreements between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, as an allegory of the love between the human soul and the divinity (Boccali, 1982BOCCALI, Giuliano. Prefazione. In: JAYADEVA. Gītagovinda. Organização e tradução Giuliano Boccali. Milano: Adelphi, 1982. P. 11-34.; Miller, 1984MILLER, Barbara Stoler. The Gītagovinda of Jayadeva: Love song of the Dark Lord. Delhi; Patna; Varanasi, 1984.). The shepherdess and the god are the most representative protagonists of bhakti (devotional love), a religious movement of popular origin centered on the personal nature of the deity's devotion (Khokar, M.; Khokar, A., 2011KHOKAR, Ashish; KHOKAR, Mohan. The Dance Orissi. New Delhi: Abhinav, 2011.). Kṛṣṇa is Viṣṇu's incarnation in charge of saving the world from Kali Yuga - the age of darkness and destruction. In Gītagovinda, in addition to being a deity, Kṛṣṇa presents himself in his dramatic hero role (nāyaka), and is complemented by the heroin (nāyikā) Rādhā, his favorite lover among the shepherdesses (Miller, 1984).

The first steps of this poetic text's function transposition, from ritualistic to a support for artistic performance, happened in the context of the temple of Lord Jagannath, another form of Viṣṇu, as well as Kṛṣṇa (Khokar, M.; Khokar, A. 2011KHOKAR, Ashish; KHOKAR, Mohan. The Dance Orissi. New Delhi: Abhinav, 2011.). The ritual without witnesses was held in its early days by god's servants (the maharis) in the sanctum santorum, moved to the temple's dance hall (nāṭyamandapa) in solo performances with major use of gestures. Finally, a more spectacular version was presented in festivals around the temple, with boys (the goti puas) acting as Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā and the other shepherdesses. It is possible that, to some extent, the Gītagovinda was designed to be performed (Khokar, M.; Khokar, A., 2011; Miller, 1984MILLER, Barbara Stoler. The Gītagovinda of Jayadeva: Love song of the Dark Lord. Delhi; Patna; Varanasi, 1984.; Vatsyayan, 1981VATSYAYAN, Kapila. Gita Govinda: the processes of diffusion. Marg - a Magazine of the Arts, Mumbai, v. 34, n. 3, p. 24-35, jun. 1981.).

Orissi was re-created in the core of the Indian dance revival movement⁵⁰ 19 Cf. note 12. based on several references: sculptures and embossments of temples, paintings, manuscripts and classic treatises (Nāṭyaśāstra; Abhinaya Chandrika and Abhinaya Darpana Prakasha), folk dramas and especially the dance of maharis (god Jagannath's servants in the temple Puri, Orissa) and goti puas, boys dancing with female costumes. The technical systematization of Orissi began in 1940 and the recognition of it as a classical style took place in the 1950s, thanks to the collaboration of numerous teachers, students, scholars, dancers, organizations and institutions. The pioneering contribution in this process came from the gurus Pankaj Charan Das, Kelu Charan Mahapatra, Deba Prasad Das and Mayadhar Raut, who have in common the direct influence of maharis, goti puas, and the artistic training in the theatrical company Annapurna (Khokar, M.; Khokar, A., 2011KHOKAR, Ashish; KHOKAR, Mohan. The Dance Orissi. New Delhi: Abhinav, 2011.). Since then, Orissi lost its ritualistic function to become an artistic fact. In a classic format performance of this style, a single actress-dancer wearing in traditional costumes plays all the characters in the story, while the side of the scene is occupied by musicians of the small orchestra composed of pakhawaj (two skins drum), harmonium (a small pump organ), sitar (string instrument), manjira (pair of cymbals) and veṇu (transverse flute) (Raut, 2007RAUT, Madhumita. Odissi - What, Why & How. New Delhi: B. R. Rhythms, 2007. ).

The routines of Orissi expressive dance (nṛtya) use overlapping metaphorical resources; the poetic word is translated into the poetic body through a formalized and coded body language. This translation come into being by combining the techniques of padartha abhinaya - song lyrics translated into gestures, word by word - and of sāñcarī bhāva - improvisation moment, which uses the body language to follow the general meaning of the text, but not literally (Vescovi, 2007VESCOVI, Renzo. Scritti dal Teatro Tascabile. Organização de Mirella Schino. Roma: Bulzoni , 2007.). Both techniques have as main feature the hastas - hand gestures. As well as these, other parts of the body - the head and eyes - have coded positions, form and meaning, which are established in classic treaties.⁵¹ 20 Cf. note 1. Also, as part of the Orissi body vocabulary, there are postures, attitudes and ways of walking to represent gods and heroes (Kṛṣṇa playing transverse flute; Kāma shooting love arrows; Gaṇeṡa shaking his trunk; Rāma wielding his bow), feminine beauty care (looking oneself in the mirror, braiding the hair, putting the sign on the forehead, wear the sari), animals, musical instruments, and others.

Gestures (hastas) used in Orissi are classified as gestures with one hand (asaṃyuta) and gestures with two hands combined (saṃyuta). In addition to their significance and unique shapes, these gestures can acquire dozens of other meanings, according to their use - the so-called viniyogas (Coomaraswamy; Duggirala, 2003COOMARASWAMY, Ananda; DUGGIRALA, Gopala K. The Mirror of Gesture: Being the Abhinaya Darpana of Nandikésvara. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 2003.). Typically, the technique of padartha abhinaya is used in the sung parts, and the sāñcarī bhāva is developed in instrumental parts or in moments of chorus repetition (Vescovi, 2007VESCOVI, Renzo. Scritti dal Teatro Tascabile. Organização de Mirella Schino. Roma: Bulzoni , 2007.). Each musical composition in Orissi follows a rāga (musical scale) that denotes specific features, such as a feeling or a season, providing the precise atmosphere for the scene (Martinez, 1997MARTINEZ, José Luiz. Hindustani Classical Music and the Rasa Theory: a semiotic interpretation. In: MARTINEZ, José Luiz. Semiosis in Hindustani Music. Helsinki: International Semiotics Institute; Imatra, 1997. P. 195-368.).

To illustrate the relationship between text and action in the Indian classical dance-theater, consider a choreography of Orissi privileging nṛtya (expressive dance) created by one of the founders of the style, the guru Mayadhar Raut. Known as Yahi Mādhava (Go away, Mādhava), the choreography became some real pièce de résistance of this classic style repertoire. The poetic text that gave rise to the choreography corresponds to the Eighth Part of the Gītagovinda, entitled embarrassed (Miller, 1984MILLER, Barbara Stoler. The Gītagovinda of Jayadeva: Love song of the Dark Lord. Delhi; Patna; Varanasi, 1984.) or discovered (Boccali, 1982BOCCALI, Giuliano. Prefazione. In: JAYADEVA. Gītagovinda. Organização e tradução Giuliano Boccali. Milano: Adelphi, 1982. P. 11-34.) Kṛṣṇa, in which Rādhā's jealousy - the god's favorite lover - reaches its apex.

In Yahi Mādhava, Rādhā is the ultimate expression of khaṇḍitā nāyikā⁵² 21 The Nāṭyaśāstra establishes fourteen kinds of dramatic heroes (nāyakas), and eight of heroines (nāyikās) (Coomaraswamy, 2000). - the offended heroin - in the entire Gītagovinda. Rādhā's entrance on the scene, wielding the oil lamp with which she seeks Kṛṣṇa in the night darkness, is accompanied by the instrumental introduction of the song. A small hastas (gestures) composition continues without the accompaniment of the song's words. It could be translated as: why is Kṛṣṇa not here with me? Then, Rādhā falls asleep in a stylized resting pose. The synchrony between music and action becomes explicit when the sudden flute intervention causes a surprise reaction in the actress-dancer, as if Rādhā was awakened by the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute, who is approaching. But as soon as she sees him, Rādhā notices the reason for his absence. Kṛṣṇa's body reveals signs of the previous night of love with another woman, which the actress-dancer describes with a series of gestures. The arrival of the hero marks the space and dialectic convention established between the two characters. In an imaginary way, Kṛṣṇa remains positioned diagonally across the proscenium, towards where the actress-dancer moves. From this preamble, the choreography continues with the technique of padartha abhinaya (word by word translation). It presents different moments of the offended heroine who mistreats the hero/lover while as a fervent devotee - as an expression of bhakti⁵³ 22 Cf. p. 166. - Rādhā preaches to the god Kṛṣṇa to come help her in this desperate moment. As an example of sāñcarī bhāva (improvisation) in Yahi Mādhava, besides Rādhā's entrance on the scene, there is the moment when the heroine mistreats the lover, throwing at his feet the gifts she had prepared for him (scented water, flower garland etc.) (Vescovi, 1981VESCOVI, Renzo. Il Sapore della Danza: Aloka Panikar. Roma: Cooperativa Nuovo Cinema; Istituto di Cultura Scenica Internazionale; Teatro tascabile di Bergamo, 1981.).

Each stanza of the Chant XVII, in which the choreography and the song Yahi Mādhava are based, is concluded with the chorus: Yahi Mādhava, yahi Keśava, ma vada kaitava vadam. The translation from Sanskrit of this verse is: Go away, Mādhava, go away, Keśava, do not to say false words (Jayadeva, 1982JAYADEVA. Gītagovinda . Organização e tradução Giuliano Boccali. Milano: Adelphi , 1982.). The same verse is repeated twice in the song's chorus and, in each time, the dancer performs a different composition of gestures, revealing several translation possibilities of words into gestures. Thus, in the first time, the expression Yahi Mādhava (Go away Mādhava, Kṛṣṇa's epithet, related to spring) is translated by sūcī hasta, indicating Kṛṣṇa in menacingly manner. The expression yahi Keśava (go away Keśava: Kṛṣṇa's epithet, related to the episode in which the demon Keśī is killed) is translated by the two hands in catura hasta, expressing destruction. The expression ma vada (do not tell) is translated by patāka hasta, with a hand over her mouth and the other waving negatively, denoting speech impediment. Kaitava (liars) is translated by kartarīmukha hasta, denoting the serpent's tongue with the two ends. Vadam (words) is translated by probhodika hasta, to mean speech, what comes out of the mouth. In the verse's repetition, variant gestures and meanings are used for the same words. For example, the pose of Kṛṣṇa playing the flute is used to translate the epithet Keśava.

Not only in Orissi, but in several Indian classic dance-theater styles, all the attitude of the actress-dancer is shaped by pre-established forms. As well as Savarese said (1992SAVARESE, Nicola. Teatro e Spettacolo fra Oriente e Ocidente. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1992., p. 340), one of the secrets of Asian dance-theaters is not in the movement virtuosity, like the turns and leaps in Western classical ballet, but in the cessation of the movement, "is not the movement, but the final pose [...] that decides on its beauty and vitality". Or, as Clarice Lispector observes (1999LISPECTOR, Clarice. Notas sobre a dança hindú. In: LISPECTOR, Clarice. Para não Esquecer. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 1999. P. 162-163., p. 162.) in her Notes on Hindu dance: "The dancer makes hieratic and squared gestures, then stops. Pausing in many moments is also part of it. It is the dance of plopping: movements stop things. The dancer goes from one immobility to another, giving me time for stupefaction".

In Orissi, especially in choreographies that privilege nṛtya (expressive dance), the passage of a gesture to another - which includes coded positions of head, eyes, torso, arms, hands, legs and feet - determines the finishing quality of each pose. This technical rigor is what enables the gestures' readability for connoisseurs of the hastas' language (as it may happen in India, among critics, experts and the passionate audience), and their credibility for a lay audience (the majority, even in India), returning to the terms' distinction proposed by Ruffini⁵⁴ 23 Cf. p. 164. . Even when it is not possible to decode the meaning of the hastas related to contexts and characters of the Indian literary, philosophical and religious tradition, there is beauty, vitality and stupefaction that make the gestures credible to the sensitive spectator.

As in other styles of Indian classical dance-theater, in Orissi, it is the body that speaks. However, this language is not prose, but poetry. Poetry frees both the gesture and the word that inspired it for a range of meaning possibilities. This same idea is present in Paz (1982PAZ, Octavio. Poesia e poema. In: PAZ, Octavio. O Arco e a Lira. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 1982. P. 15-31.), who expands the idea of poetry beyond the literary style, and the word beyond its semantic value, making the word poetic, a free conception that can be applied to any work of art. This freedom is the poetry itself, which in this respect differs from prose:

Take, for example, the gesture used in the chorus of Yahi Mādhava - described above - to translate the word lie: the gesture used alludes to the serpent's tongue with two ends, symbolizing the opposite of the truth, which is univocal; or yet, it could suggest that, for love, the lie can be as lethal as the reptile's poison. The relationship between word and gesture raises something that is not given: a poetic image.

Body and Word in Kathakali

In Kathakali's āṅgika abhinaya (acting with the body)⁵⁵ 24 Cf. p. 165. , the work with the face is extremely refined and elaborate, even in relation to other Indian styles. Movements of the eyes (netrabhinaya) and of other parts of the face - such as lips, cheeks, and eyebrows - are used on a voluntary, accurate and coded basis to express feelings (rasabhinaya). Orissi, for example, has specific exercises related to netrabhinaya as the gaze direction, as well as the rhythmic movements of the eyes are also very important in this style. Regarding the rasabhinaya, however, there is not in Orissi style such precise and specific directions for the movements of the facial muscles, as there is in Kathakali. In this style, the coordination between gesture and pupils' movement is essential in the expression of hastas. The look of the Kathakali's actor is one of the most important resources, not only to direct the spectator's attention, but also to express the meaning of words.

Despite the extreme formalization, there is great interpretive freedom in the musical and body language of Kathakali. The padam (texts) of Kathakali are composed in verse, sung by singers and embodied by the actor through the expressive dance (nṛtya). Each verse is repeated a certain number of times to allow the actor to express its meaning. The number of these repetitions is not fixed, so the time spent to perform each word's gestures may vary within certain limits according to the development of its meaning. The actor may play with the action's rhythm within the rhythm of the music, constructing, this way, his personal interpretation.

Musicians must be able to follow the actor making, at every moment, the necessary changes to add value to the gestures. Music is always present and has strong connection with the dramaturgy. The rāga (musical scale), the tāla (rhythm) and the kāla or laya (time) of the music are determined by the bhava (feeling) in every scene, at every moment. A change in the dramatic action determines a musical change. The musical accompaniment of Kathakali is composed entirely of percussion instruments: two drums - chenda and maddalam - and two cymbals - chenkala and ilattalam - the latter are played by two singers, solely responsible for the melody. The work of Kathakali's musician is not limited only to music, it also implies the scenic action. The interplay between musicians and actors must be complete. For a perfect symbiosis between the singers' voice and the actors' gestures, the first, besides singing, must interpret the characters' speeches, and the latter must act dancing, even when sitting. All gestures, actions, facial and eyes expressions are performed strictly within the rhythm in continuous dialogue with the drums, which help to illustrate the meaning of the actions and enrich their effect. When both the actor and the musician are able to create the right level of harmony, we have the impression that the drums' sound emanates from the actor's body.

When we use words in everyday life, we use a number of non-verbal signs - breathing, eye movements, gestures, intonations - linked to mental processes acting within us that express meanings beyond words. The actor's craft is based on this non-verbal language. This is because the spectator will only understand the words' deeper meaning if the actor is able to construct an artistic language analogous to everyday life's nonverbal communication, if he/she is able to express at the same time what the words say and what they cannot say. If we look at the issue from this point of view, we note that the Kathakali actor's craft does not differ, in its essence, from that of an actor who uses his voice to say the words of a text. The difference is the language level: in Kathakali, and in other forms of Indian classical theater, in addition to the language of words sung by the singer, there is also the plan of gesture/body language dialoguing with the words sung.

When a word is represented with the hastas, there are three levels of meaning: the first is the karta, the subject of the representation, the denotative meaning of the word; then the karma, the action that reveals its intrinsic nature, its main features; finally, there is the kṛiya, the specific actions of the subject in the drama's context. Let's take an example to explain how these three semantic levels are developed in practice. Composing the image of the lotus flower, the actor first shows the flower that blooms: he begins the movement with hands closed, then opens them slowly, joining the wrists and putting his fingers as if they were the petals of the flower. The actor looks at the flower represented by his hands and conveys with his eyes and face the happiness that this vision causes, he smells the flower and delights with its scent. At this moment, his eyes make rapid movements, as if they accompanied the movements of a bee flying around the flower until it lands on it, sucks its nectar and flies away. In this case, the karta is represented by the hands in the shape of a flower; the karma by its blossoming and by the actor who looks and feels its perfume, while the kṛiya (in the flower's case is passive) are the bee's actions represented by the actor only with his eyes (Gomes, 2007GOMES, Ricardo Carlos. Kathakali Vesham: l'aprendistato dell'attore Kathakali. 2007. Tese (Doutorado em Storia, Teoria e Tecnica del Teatro e dello Spettacolo) ‒ Dipartimento di Arti e Scienze dello Spettacolo, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Roma, 2007.).

The possibility of developing more widely or not these three levels of expression is linked to the importance a specific word has within the discourse and the story. The small details of expression, of facial and eye movements, in tune with the gestures, amplified by the prodigious performance technique of Kathakali, are the instruments to interpret, along with the musicians, ideas and feelings that the actor's imagination suggests. This is so because, as stated by Meyerhold, "[...] it is not just about movements, and not only about words, but also about the brain... The brain has to be in first place because it is the real engine of the action's goal, the brain is what guides, what determines the sequence of movements, their accent and everything else" (Mejerchol'd, 1993MEJERCHOL'D, Vsevolod. L'Attore Biomeccanico: testi raccolti e presentati da Pesocinskij N. a cura di Malcovati F. Milano: Ubulibri, 1993., p. 18).

Beyond the linguistic resources, the abhinaya (acting)⁵⁹ 28 Cf. p. 165. of the Kathakali actor presumes the harmonic motion of the whole body. The idea of involvement of the actor's whole body in the action, claimed by Meyerhold when he states that "[...] every move, even the little finger's, should immediately be reflected in every part of the body" (Mejerchol'd 1993MEJERCHOL'D, Vsevolod. L'Attore Biomeccanico: testi raccolti e presentati da Pesocinskij N. a cura di Malcovati F. Milano: Ubulibri, 1993., p. 95), is put into practice with the technique anusarikiuka. This word means to follow, to obey and, in Kathakali, it is used to indicate that the body must follow the gesture to give it a greater emphasis.

The command of all these techniques, however, is not enough to express the characters' inner life. The Nāṭyaśāstra (Rangacharya, 2003RANGACHARYA, Adya (Org.). The Nāṭyaśāstra . New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal , 2003., p. 76) says that emotion is necessary to properly represent the behavior of men, their sorrows and pleasures. Only time can allow an actor to conclude his/her formation, with his/her maturity, his/her observation of life, and also with his/her contact with the masters, with the attendance of many performances and with the formation of his/her aesthetic taste.

Theater as Poetic Word

To conclude our reflection on the dramaturgy of the body in dialogue with the notion of dṛśya kāvya (visible poetry), let us take Paz's considerations (1982PAZ, Octavio. Poesia e poema. In: PAZ, Octavio. O Arco e a Lira. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 1982. P. 15-31., p. 27), previously highlighted⁶⁰ 29 Cf. p. 171. , on the properties the "poetic word" has of generating images, unlike the prose. The density of the poetic language incorporated in the body of the Indian classical dance-theater actor/dancer allows different reading levels for a diversity of spectators, according to their own cultural references. This given density is one that approximates non-verbal theatrical language to the "constellation of images" raised by the poetic word, and by all the works of art that transcend the verbal language, as described by Paz (1982, p. 26-27).

When considering the dramaturgy of the body as an interrelationship between word and action in the art of the actor, as Paz (1982PAZ, Octavio. Poesia e poema. In: PAZ, Octavio. O Arco e a Lira. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 1982. P. 15-31.) puts it, we are attributing to the actor the quality of the poet. The lyrical actor transforms his/her body orchestra⁶¹ 30 Cf. p. 158-159. into poetic language, into poetic word, into credible body⁶² 31 Cf. p. 164. that moves away from readability, reason and from prose. The suggestion of bringing closer the art of the actor and poetry comes via dṛśya kāvya (visible poetry). This is a notion developed in Indian classical dance-theater and structured in abhinaya (expressive means used by the actor to carry the words of a poetic text to the spectator), which, in the case of Orissi and Kathakali, favors the āṅgika abhinaya (expression through the body). From other pathways, the same suggestion refers to Artaud (1984ARTAUD, Antonin. A Encenação e a Metafísica. In: ARTAUD, Antonin. O Teatro e seu Duplo. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 1984. P. 46-63., p. 52), to his intuitions about the Balinese theater on the "poetry of space". It indicates that the materiality of the body and of the actor's gesture compose a language intended more to the senses than to the reason.

Transiting between the Western theater and the Asian theater, we could state that the Indian classical dance-theater had already found, many centuries ago, what Artaud (1984ARTAUD, Antonin. A Encenação e a Metafísica. In: ARTAUD, Antonin. O Teatro e seu Duplo. São Paulo: Max Limonad, 1984. P. 46-63., p. 95) demanded from the Western theater of his time, namely:

Could the approach to the dramaturgy of the body in the Indian classical dance-theater propose themes for reflection on the contemporary Brazilian actor's craft? Could these Eastern acting techniques, apparently so distant from us, be relevant for the theater we do here and now? These are questions that cannot waive the close relationship between research and biography, which is a characteristic of the artistic research. Our personal experience with the Asian theater - strongly marked by the relationship with a specific European theater-laboratory - and the baggage of accumulated knowledge developed the sensitivity that allows us to formulate this questioning under certain assumptions. Considering the European theatrical interculturalism as a fundamental reference - aware of the European approach's value and limitations - however, at the same time, we wonder how a Brazilian researcher could use these references to think about a possible intercultural relationship between Brazil and India. This, by considering that Asia and Latin America occupy a similar place in the European imagination as representatives of otherness.

In our practical and theoretical research over the last twenty years, we have been searching for an intercultural perspective for the actor's craft that allows us to incorporate Asian performing traditions into Western techniques. With this, we are certain that the richness of the artistic and spiritual heritage is not only relevant, but may be critical to a theater that moves away from a logocentric model.

The modern Western theater, as pointed out by De Marinis (2011DE MARINIS, Marco. Il Teatro dell'Altro - Interculturalismo e Transculturalismo nella Scena Contemporanea. Firenze: La casa Husher, 2011., p. 9), is, in its essence, intercultural. That is so, because it springs from the meeting-confrontation of different personal, professional and socio-anthropological identities (artists and spectators). Another aspect of modern Western theater's essence is the transculturalism, as it tends to overcome (when it produces an actual experience) cultural source data, raising questions about the coded identities - individual and collective.

As we have seen, the attempt to bring closer seemingly distant concepts and different cultures is not new in the theatrical context. For now, this article intends to be just a provocation/invitation that may lead to many other developments, contributing to the contemporary discussion about the dramaturgy of the body in the theater both in West and East, in Europe and Asia, in Italy, India, Brazil, in the world.

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