Other Dramatic Elements / Hero's Journey / The Power of Expression

 

 

  

 

 

 Question 1

 

Out of the 12 elements of drama listed above, we focused on conflict. What did George Bernard Shaw mean when he said "No conflict, no drama"?

 II. Joseph Campbell

The Hero's Journey is a classic story structure that's shared by stories worldwide. Coined by American  professor of literature Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987).  Campbell, who taught at Sarah Lawrence College, a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. 

(4:49 min)

 

Question 2

 What do you think Campbell means when he says, "if you are following your bliss"?

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 III

 

 

 Hero's Journey

In 1949, Campbell published The Hero with a Thousand Faces, a book in which he discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths. The Hero's Journey refers to a wide-ranging category of tales in which a character ventures out to get what he/she needs, faces conflict, and ultimately triumphs over adversity. The Hero's Journey is divided into two big halve: the ordinary world and the special world. The journey has 12 stages (See the diagram below). 

 

 

   

 

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Watch Video

(3:10 min)

Hero's Journey Stages

1. The Ordinary World: The audience meets the Hero in the ordinary world.
2. The Call to Adventure: The Hero receives the call to adventure: a challenge, a quest or a problem that must be faced.
3. Refusal of the Call: The Hero expresses fear and is reluctant or refuses the call.
4. Meeting the Mentor: A meeting with the mentor provides encouragement, wisdom, or magical gifts to  push the Hero past fear and doubt.
5. Crossing the Threshold: The Hero finally accepts the challenge and crosses the threshold into the special world.
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies: The Hero learns about the special world through tests, encountering allies and enemies.
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave: The Hero makes the final preparations and approaches the innermost cave.
8. The Ordeal: The hero endures the ordeal, the central crisis in which the Hero confronts his greatest fear and tastes death.
9. Reward: The Hero enjoys the reward of having confronted fear and death.
10. The Road Back: The Hero takes the road back and recommits to completing the journey.
11. The Resurrection: The Hero faces the climactic ordeal that purifies redeems and transforms the Hero on the Threshold home.
12. Return with the Elixir: The Hero returns with the elixir to benefit the ordinary world.

Question 3 

(10:00 min)

Re-arrange the steps of the hero's journey by doing one of three things: naming them in your own words, diagramming them your own way or drawing them in a way they make sense to you. 

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 Performance Piece: The Power of Expression

Jorge L. Morejon

The Healing Power of Expression: A Journey through Trauma, Pain, and Transformation, is a piece commissioned by The Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders in collaboration with Susan Kleinman, BC-DMT. The piece was produced by Adrienne Ressler, LMSW-CEDS at the Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders, Florida. The piece was specially choreographed for the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals Conference (iaedp) on  February 28, 2014 in St. Petersburg, Florida. It has been performed multiple times nationally and internationally. The last performance of the piece took place during the Opening of the the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) 54th Annual Conference in Miami, Florida, October 17-20, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Miami.

Some thoughts on this performance:

I always perform this piece live for my students. This semester I will not be able to do so for obvious reasons. The video was recorded by my wife who is not a professional. Video is never the same as witnessing a life performance. Thus, I apologize for the poor production quality of the image, the lighting and the sound.  This was the first time I performed this piece; it has grown since then. It is however a useful tool to identify the 12 stages of the Hero's Journey through the real story of someone you know.