Presence, Being, and Charisma

June 16th, 2006 Fred McVittie Posted in Attention, Charisma, Energy, Performance, Presence |

It will be claimed that the concept of charisma is identified in one or more of four processes;

• Celebrity recognisability - in which charisma is a function of the degree to which the possessor has gained public and/or media attention.
• Supernatural power - in which the possessor is assumed to have some gift, energy, or magic that confers charisma upon them.
• Actual authority - where the possessor of charisma also has access to material resources, knowledge, force, etc that is desirable.
• Beauty/attractiveness - in which the possessor of charisma also possesses other, less mysterious, attractions.

The notion of presence within performance (and in non-theatrical contexts) will be related to these various processes of charisma production. It will be proposed that there are techniques to produce presence/charisma in performance in which the embodied signs of these processes are manifested.