It seems obvious to say that you can’t have two actors simply stand and trade blows for a while and call it a fight scene. The intent of the character is more apparent when the body moves across the stage, but what is easily forgotten is that the legs don’t have to mimic what the arms are doing. Just because the sword is blocking doesn’t mean that the legs can’t be stepping forward. Likewise, attacking with the sword can occur while the character is stepping backwards. Feel free to move sideways as well, for it is far more natural and interesting to have the actors not rigidly maintain a profile view during the entire fight. It’s fun on some of the finesse fights to include a phrase where one combatant is full-back to the house so that the audience gets to see what it’s like to have someone directly attacking them.
When stepping, keep that nice wide stance for a solid base. And unless you are replicating a modern fencing style, be sure to keep your hips and shoulders square to your partner. This will open up the body for left and right hand techniques as well as make evasions and sidesteps more stable. It may help to think of both actors’ feet moving along railroad tracks as they fight, keeping the feet on two separate, parallel lines. Never allow the feet to become linear, with one directly in front of the other, as this narrows the base of support and compromises balance.
Pass Forward and Pass Back
Two basic types of stepping are described for swordwork. When the combatant moves one foot past the other, either forward or backward, it is called a passing step, and the movement itself is directionally referred to as passing forward or passing back. Taking one passing step means that whatever is considered the “lead foot” will of course change with each step. This is also known as “walking”. (I realize that seems absurdly basic, and yet it’s good to have everyone start on the same page. Also note that the lead foot always points directly at the opponent, while the rear foot is allowed to turn out slightly if needs be.) Keep in mind that each pass forward or back moves only one foot.
Advance and Retreat
The more “fencing” style of movement has the lead foot stepping forward (heel-toe) and then the rear foot catching up (toe-heel), called an advance. A retreat is the opposite, with the rear foot first stepping back (toe-heel) and then the lead foot catching up (toe-heel). Advancing and retreating move the body a shorter distance than will a passing step, but the lead foot is maintained and overall it is a more stable and balanced movement.
Remember that no matter which stepping style is used, we naturally walk backwards using shorter steps than when we walk forward. So exaggerate your retreating steps, really reach with your feet, or you will soon have your partner on top of you. Don’t lead with your head when stepping forward, but let the hips initiate the movement even as you push off with the balls of your feet. It’s the torso that moves in and out of the fight; the legs merely catch up and keep the hips underneath your torso.
The same applies when moving back, but actors often translate that into sticking the buttocks back in the direction of the step. Tuck your hips forward and keep the torso straight when stepping backward or you’ll get that horrible and all-too-common look that stage fighters get. Oh, you’ve seen it. When they start going backwards it looks as though a rope has been attached to their butt and they are being pulled off stage. Very undignified. Not only does this throw them off balance, but it sticks the head closer to the opponent’s sword. The same feeling of pushing the hips forward is used even in a backwards step. How do you do that? By squeezing the buttocks.
Traverse and Sideways Movement
To traverse is to move off the direct line of attack, usually by stepping sideways or diagonally rather than directly toward or away from your opponent. This changes the angle between the combatants, potentially opening a new line of attack or removing the body from an existing threat. Modern sport fencing has no use for a traverse – they are stuck to fighting along a narrow strip. Traversing is especially useful for theatre when you want the fight to move around the stage rather than simply back and forth.
In general we try to keep the feet from crossing each other when moving sideways, for as the feet cross we become less stable and more vulnerable to losing our balance. Crossing steps can also leave us more vulnerable to attack, so we generally avoid them unless there is a specific reason to use them. An exception is when trying to quickly get around an opponent’s dominant side so as to thrust into the side of the opponent behind their arm (known as the punto reverso). For almost all the rest of stage combat, we move to the side by letting that nearest foot move first and then bringing the trailing foot to close the gap. Crossing steps are commonly seen in the fencing manuals of early rapier play, especially in the mid 1500’s, but seem to have died out in popularity as the century wore on.
Balestra
The balestra is a very quick, explosive hop forward that dramatically closes the distance between combatants. It begins in a cat stance, with nearly all the weight on the supporting (rear) leg and the lead foot resting lightly on the floor. The body is a compressed spring, ready to release its energy forward.
To execute the balestra, explosively kick the lead leg forward while driving off the supporting leg. If accompanied by a thrust, the sword arm may also punch forward, coordinating with the kick and the launch. The objective is to coordinate these movements into a single explosive action that carries the body forward for maximum distance. A useful teaching image is to imagine a coin beneath the ball of your lead foot and try to scoot it across the room.
Here is the essential distinction: the balestra is a hop, not an advance. Once the lead foot has initiated the movement and the body is airborne, the rear foot must catch up while still in the air. It travels very close to the floor, but does not slide along it. Both feet land simultaneously, returning the body to a cat stance, with the weight predominantly on the rear leg. A well-executed balestra can carry the performer a good four feet forward, although distance must never be purchased at the expense of balance or control.
The landing is particularly important. The supporting leg absorbs the impact, flexing to receive the body’s weight. We have returned to our compressed spring, ready to release its energy again. This makes the balestra an excellent preparation for a full lunge. The performer can launch directly from the landing into the lunge, creating one continuous, explosive advance toward the opponent.
The balestra is especially effective onstage because it does more than close distance. It also disrupts the opponent’s timing. In an ordinary advance followed by a lunge, the opponent can recognize the successive steps as the attacker approaches. The balestra replaces those steps with a sudden leap, bringing the attacker much closer in a single unexpected movement. Before the opponent appears to have time to adjust, the attacker is already launching into the lunge.
The balestra is so often followed by a lunge that many choreographers believe the term necessarily includes both movements. Not so. The balestra and lunge are two separate actions. The balestra sets up the lunge beautifully, but either can be performed independently, and the balestra itself may be executed with or without a corresponding thrust.
Evasions
Evasions
One way of not getting killed in a sword fight is to not be there when the sword comes at you. Evasions are limited only by the imagination, but they must follow the same sequence as every other simulation: Setup, Picture, Action, Reaction. The aggressor prepares the attack and establishes the threat. The defender recognizes that threat and begins to evade, giving the aggressor the cue to complete the attack. The audience sees the danger, understands the defender’s response, and watches the sword pass through the space the defender has just vacated.
If you don’t allow the audience to recognize the danger before the evasion begins, they get cheated out of enjoying the moment. But remember that the defender must begin moving during the aggressor’s preparation, not wait until the blade is already coming. This is the opposite of what you would do in a real sword fight, but it’s an essential part of making the illusion safe. In a well-rehearsed fight, the preparation, evasion, and attack flow together so smoothly that the audience never notices any delay. We are not rehearsing a pause; we are rehearsing continuous movement. But what if the defender doesn’t move? Then neither does the aggressor. He must remain frozen in the prepared position until the defender gives him the cue. Never anticipate an evasion, no matter how long the wait. No cue, no attack.
“Now, this overdone, or come tardy off … cannot but make the judicious grieve.” Let’s take a look at a few possible evasions, remembering that each must tell its story through Setup, Picture, Action, and Reaction.
• Ducking a head slash – Actors always want to do this one, but too many times you’ll hear the victim tell the aggressor to “go ahead and swing; I’ll duck in time”. Very dramatic, but very dumb. Instead, the aggressor preps by pulling the sword back to his own shoulder level, clearly establishing the threat. Once the victim begins to squat down, and only then, does the aggressor begin the slash. The slash should be aimed at that spot in space where the forehead was before the victim began the drop. You think it looks hokey? Too bad; it’s safer.
• Evading a stomach slash – Just as with the head slash, the aggressor preps first and then waits for the victim to begin the move back before beginning the slash. The victim should “suck-in” his stomach to help the illusion, and it can be highlighted by letting the arm reach out towards the opponent, but make sure that you aren’t throwing your arms into the path of the blade.
• Diagonal evasions – Just as with the stomach slash, the aggressor preps first and then waits for the victim to begin the move out of the impending threat before beginning the slash. The evasion is really just stepping sideways away from the course of the blade, but it can look a lot more stylish and dramatic by having the defender’s body match the line of the attack. The evasion is either to the left or to the right, depending on the direction of the slash. Let’s say the attacker is swinging from his high right to low left. From the defender’s point of view, this is coming from high left to low right, so at the attacker’s prep the defender steps deeply to the left, keeping the right foot planted.The defender’s entire body, from the right heel to the top of the head, should follow the same diagonal line as the attacking blade, which passes approximately 12 inches away.
The diagonal evasion of an attack coming from high to low can also be augmented with a hanging parry, one in which the hilt is held higher than the tip. In addition to the step to the side, the defender lifts up the sword as though blocking a vertical head cut. The attacker’s blade will skip off the sword when the slash is performed. Since the defender has stepped to the side, the contact point on his blade will be on the mid to weak section rather than at the forte, so it makes sense that the blade will yield a bit, and end up matching the angle of the attacking follow-through. Naturally, you will need to have the sword tip pointing away from where the attack began. So if the slash is coming from your high right, you start with the hilt up to the right. If it comes from your high left, then your hilt goes up to the left. Either way, you want the audience to see a head block that is parallel to the ground until contact is made, then allow the tip to dip to match the line of the attack.
For slashes coming low to high, the defender can use the sword in much the same manner, but of course the hilt is held low with the tip going straight up. Again, after contact is made he’ll want to angle the blade to match the angle of the attack, but careful not to have him hit himself in the face (it happens).
• Limb avoidance – of course, this means pulling a hand or foot quickly out of the path of an attack directed at that limb. As with the other evasions, the movement must follow our established sequence of Setup, Picture, Action, and Reaction.The tough part is in giving a good motivation for the attack that the audience can appreciate. Just going for the limb is going to seem either sloppy or cliché unless we can recognize that either the limb was close but the rest of the body wasn’t (so a target of opportunity) or that the attack to the limb is being used to distract the opponent (setting up another attack opportunity).
• Passata Soto: One way to avoid a thrust is to duck underneath it. An elegant way of doing that is to drop into a deep reverse lunge (shooting one leg straight back while squatting deeply with the other). Think of it as a deep lunge that goes straight down to the floor rather than forward. The passata soto is performed so deeply that the chest will press below the level of the forward knee and usually the left palm has to press on the ground for balance.
• Volte: A method of pivoting the body, removing it from the line of attack by shooting the rear foot behind the other and then straight out to the front, so that the trunk is explosively turned 180 degrees to the line of attack. Since the pivoting foot stays where it is, the body has shifted over the width of one stance during the spin. Also called the “bum in the face” move, it is sometimes combined with the passata soto technique of dropping down so low that the left hand touches the ground for support.
• Demi-volte – You can probably guess this one already. A far easier method of removing the body from the line of attack by swinging the rear foot behind and straight out to the opposite side, so that the trunk is turned 90 degrees to the line of attack. A lunge is not necessarily added to this move.