Parkour, pas de deux, drawing, duet, scenography

Resumen

Whilst the show and tricks of Parkour are often attributed to a theatrical event, Parkour enthusiasts fiercely dismiss the idea that what they do is performance. For the Parkour participant, often known as the Traceur, Parkour is a personal journey created by efficient and effective movement from point A to point B. However, in spite of the self-contained nature of Parkour, the Traceur will frequently attract an accidental audience and is now extending its reach into other fields. It is therefore relevant to question how Traceurs create and develop their performance, and how other performance training practices that share similar conditions and objectives could benefit from this understanding. To investigate the training practices used by the Traceur, this paper refers to Higgins, who applies a performance-based vocabulary to discuss and describe contemporary Parkour practice. Using a drawing as a research approach, the article examines Higgins’ application of dance as a means to better understand the Traceur’s process and uses this comparison to break the training process down further. Doing so reveals how the space in which they perform becomes a creative and pedagogical partner with a value that extends beyond Parkour and into other creative disciplines.