Angam Mechanics:

Developing a performer’s bodymind through embodied repertoire

Angampora, an indigenous Sri Lankan martial arts form, is an assemblage of embodied epistemology and psychophysical bodymind repertoire that has eluded colonial erasure owing to its body-to-body acts of transfer. As part of the three-year AHEAD DOR HEMS 73 project (Liyanage et al., 2021, pp. 11), involving theatre practitioners, performance studies researchers, and performance artists, Angam Mechanics was developed. Angam Mechanics, in its essence, is an experimental psychophysical actor-training methodology founded on the principles of stillness, corporeality, and bodymind presence from Angampora and its embodied repertoire that has survived due to its culture of embodied transmission conducted in secrecy during British colonialism. Furthermore, Angam Mechanics aims to decolonize Western-centric training methodologies to expand the discourse on actor training to include centuries-old embodied epistemologies from the Global South.

As Diana Taylor posits, “The repertoire requires presence: people participate in the production and reproduction of knowledge by “being there,” being a part of the transmission” (Taylor, 2003, p. 20). Therefore, the workshop aims to provide a generative space for assembly, where its participants will collectively experience the culture of transmission of Angampora repertoire and the newly-founded, experimental bodymind repertoire and performing methodology of Angam Mechanics.

The workshop is primarily designed for actors, theatre practitioners, and theatre students. The human body is a bio-cognitive assemblage, and the performer’s body is fashioned by cultural, social, political, and geographical influences with its own psychophysical habits. One of the aims of the workshop is to deconstruct existing habits using the Angam Mechanics bodymind repertoire, consisting of meditation, physical exercises, footwork techniques, and other exercises. The workshop will allow participants and researchers to reflect and explore the research inquiry: To what extent does the incorporation of non-Western embodied traditions in actor training enrich the development of essential performance skills and the cultivation of a nuanced performer’s bodymind?

Workshops Conducted

“Angam Mechanics: Developing a Performer’s Bodymind Through Embodied Repertoire.” University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2 September, 2025.

“Angam Mechanics: Developing a Performer’s Bodymind Through Embodied Repertoire.” University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, 4 September, 2025.

“Angam Mechanics: Developing a Performer’s Bodymind Through Embodied Repertoire.” Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC), Atlanta, 6–8 March, 2025.

2025

“Angam Mechanics: Developing a performer’s Bodymind through Embodied Repertoire” at Performance Studies International, University of London, UK, 2024.

2024

Angam Mechanics Actor Training Workshop, at University of Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 30 August 2023.

Angam Mechanics Actor Training Workshop at Academic Thespians Theatre Festival 2023, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 23 July 2023.

Angam Mechanics Actor Training Workshop Freedom Gallery, Pannala, Sri Lanka. 28-29 April 2023.

Angam Mechanics Actor Training Workshop, at University of Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 15 February 2023

2023