Gurdjieff in the Theater

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" Gurdjieff in the Theater "
Catharine Christof

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1081839
Doc. No	:	LA125468
Call No	:	‭10.1163/15685292-02101009‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Catharine Christof
Title & Author	:	Gurdjieff in the Theater [Article]\ Catharine Christof
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Religion and the Arts
Date	:	2017
Volume/ Issue Number	:	21/1-2
Page No	:	209–235
Abstract	:	This article focuses on the links between revolutionary and iconoclastic Polish theater director Jerzy Grotowski (1933–1999), and G. I. Gurdjieff. Grotowski is widely honored in the theater world, and understood to have been involved in creating what have been called spiritual experiences within theater movements of the late twentieth century. His work articulated experiences of the spiritual within the body; achieving a removal of spirituality from ecclesial authorities and a relocation of it within the body of the performer. This article explores the manifold resonances between concepts used in Grotowski’s work and that of Gurdjieff, demonstrating how Grotowski’s transformative theater work shows strong elements of Gurdjieff’s influence. Because of the striking and numerous similarities explored herein, a place can be affirmed for Grotowski as an independent Western Fourth Way spiritual teacher, working in theater. This article focuses on the links between revolutionary and iconoclastic Polish theater director Jerzy Grotowski (1933–1999), and G. I. Gurdjieff. Grotowski is widely honored in the theater world, and understood to have been involved in creating what have been called spiritual experiences within theater movements of the late twentieth century. His work articulated experiences of the spiritual within the body; achieving a removal of spirituality from ecclesial authorities and a relocation of it within the body of the performer. This article explores the manifold resonances between concepts used in Grotowski’s work and that of Gurdjieff, demonstrating how Grotowski’s transformative theater work shows strong elements of Gurdjieff’s influence. Because of the striking and numerous similarities explored herein, a place can be affirmed for Grotowski as an independent Western Fourth Way spiritual teacher, working in theater.
Descriptor	:	Art History
Descriptor	:	Comparative Religion Religious Studies
Descriptor	:	embodied spiritual experience
Descriptor	:	Fourth Way
Descriptor	:	Gurdjieff
Descriptor	:	History
Descriptor	:	Jerzy Grotowski
Descriptor	:	Religious Studies
Descriptor	:	theater
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/15685292-02101009‬