Phillip Zarrilli

Phillip Zarrilli is a notable practitioner of the Indian martial arts of Kalarippayattu and Marma Adi. Zarrilli has also trained in variations of Yoga, the Wu style of Tai Chi Chuan, and is one of the notable Western authorities on the subject of Indian martial arts.

Zarrilli trained with Gurukkal Govindankutty Nair in 1977. He made repeated trips to India to engage in advanced training in Kalarippayattu. Between 1977-1998, Zarrilli spent a total of seven years living in Kerala learning Kalarippayattu. Zarrilli was the first citizen from a Western country to receive his teacher's permission to teach Kalarippayattu. He began teaching in the United States in 1978 following a period of advanced training under Gurukkal Govindankutty Nair. In 1988 Gurukkal Govindankutty Nair awarded him the traditional pitham -- a seat on which past masters "sit," signifying mastery.

Zarrilli heads the Tyn-y-parc CVN Kalari in Llanarth, Ceredigion, Wales, a private studio, and conducts workshops throughout the world. His productions of Samuel Beckett's plays in Los Angeles (2000), Austria (2001), and Ireland (2004) have won critical acclaim and awards for "best actress" and "courageous production" in Los Angeles, US.

Phillip Zarrilli is also a practitioner of classical Indian dance - including Kathakali. He has worked with Indian choreographers on several international projects.Together with bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer Gitanjali Kolanad, Zarrilli opened Walking Naked in Chennai and in 2004 went on tour in Mumbai, London, Seoul, New York, and Toronto. He adapted and directed a seventh century Sanskrit farce for the Sangalpam, a UK based- dance and Theater Company in 2003 and went on to perform it at the Purcell Room and the Queen Elizabeth Hall (Royal National Theater, London).

Zarrilli authored the first definitive study of Kalarippayattu, "When the Body Becomes All Eyes: paradigms and practices of power in kalarippayattu" published by Oxford University Press (1998/2000). In addition, Zarrilli has also authored several books including (editor) "Acting (Re)Considered" (2002), "When the Body Becomes All Eyes" (1998), "Kathakali Dance-Drama: Where Gods and Demons Comes to Play" (2000), and (editor) "Martial Arts in Actor Training" (1993). He also co-authored "Wilhelm Tell in America's 'Little Switzerland', New Glarus, Wisconsin" with Deborah Neff (1987) and co-edited "Indian theatre: traditions of performance" with Farley P. Richmond and Darius L. Swann (1990).

His article in "Theater Journal" entitled Toward a Phenomenological Model of the Actor's Embodied Modes of Experience 1, investigates the actor’s modes of embodiment and theorizes the actor’s experience in performance and the difficulty to express his experiences to the fullest on stage. Readdressing the work of Bert O. States, Bruce Wilshire, Alice Rayner, and Stanton Garner on the disappearance of the "lived body" and embodiment in the creation of the theatrical event, Zarrilli further acknowledges the “Problem of the body” for actors.

“We organize the world we encounter into significant gestalts, but the body I call mine is not a body, or the body, but rather a process of embodying the several bodies one encounters in everyday experience as well as highly specialized modes of non-everyday or extra-daily bodies of practices such as acting or training in psychophysical disciplines to act” (Phillip B Zarrilli. Theatre Journal. Washington: Dec 2004. Vol. 56, Iss. 4; pg. 653, 14 pgs).

From 1979-1998, Zarrilli was the director of the Asian-Experimental Theatre Program at University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a member of the Theater and Drama, Folklore, and South Asian Studies faculties. While there, he developed his methods of training actors and performers through Asian martial arts and meditation.

In addition, Zarrilli also teaches psychophysical process as part of B.A. and M.A./M.F.A. Theatre Practice programmes at the University of Exeter, U.K.

External links

Phillip Zarrilli

* [http://www.spa.ex.ac.uk/drama/staff/kalari/zarrilli.html Phillip Zarrilli and Kalarippayattu/Martial Arts/Performance]
* [http://www.spa.ex.ac.uk/drama/staff/kalari/ University of Exter: School of Performance Arts]
* [http://www.phillipzarrilli.com/ phillipzarrilli.com]
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?ie=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books-uk&field-author=Phillip%20B.%20Zarrilli&page=1 Books by Phillip Zarrilli]
* [http://www.spa.ex.ac.uk/drama/staff/kalari/zarrilli.html]
* [http://www.phillipzarrilli.com/biografy/index.html] Phillip B Zarrilli. Theatre Journal. Washington: Dec 2004. Vol. 56, Iss. 4; pg. 653, 14 pgs

Papers by Phillip Zarrilli

* [http://www.spa.ex.ac.uk/drama/staff/kalari/power.html Actualizing Power(s) and crafting a self in Kalarippayattu: A South Indian martial art and the Yoga and Ayurvedic Paradigms by Phillip Zarrilli, Ph.D.]
* [http://www.spa.ex.ac.uk/drama/staff/kalari/healharm.html To Heal and/or To Harm: The Vital Spots (Marmmam/Varmam) in Two South Indian Martial Traditions by Phillip B. Zarrilli] , University of Wisconsin-Madison
* [http://www.spa.ex.ac.uk/drama/staff/kalari/massage.html Traditional Kerala (South India) Massage Therapies by Phillip Zarrilli]