Trish Arnold

‘All you have is yourself, no words, no script in hand, no music to dance to, nothing to hide behind. It was just me – the pure expression of my desire.’ Trish Arnold (1918–2017) was a pioneer in the field of movement. Her work stands alongside that of movement practitioners such as Litz Pisk, Jacques Lecoq and Rudolf Laban in its influence on international theatre, film and drama-school training. Until now, her practice has never been written down in its entirety, but has been passed from body to body, through one-to-one teaching between movement practitioners. Lizzie Ballinger’s intimate and groundbreaking book provides the first full exploration of Arnold’s movement training for actors, focusing on the context, practice and evolution of Arnold’s work, and its legacy in theatre-making today. Beginning with Arnold’s journey into theatre from a dance background, Ballinger describes her own mentorship with Movement Director and Choreographer Jane Gibson, Arnold’s first mentee, and provides a detailed and honest reflection on how she learned to teach this work. Supplemented throughout by beautiful illustrations of her movements, alongside Arnold’s original notes and sketches, this book gives a clear and concise explanation of how to embody Arnold’s movements.