ABSTRACT
Chapter 4, “Trace forms—The non-hero’s journey,” maps movement patterns onto storytelling. A “floor pattern” is a pathway a moving body makes on a surface as seen from overhead. Likewise, a “trace form” is the line a body part makes as it travels through three-dimensional space. The chapter examines how interpreting dramatic structure in terms of trace forms and floor patterns enriches our understanding of characterization. It first establishes the idea of the “non-hero’s journey,” wherein a person fulfills the requirements of Joseph Campbell’s classic construct of the “hero’s journey” but does not enjoy the hero’s status. The chapter then theorizes from my own “text and movement” performance of Iftu’s Story, in which I narrate (while dancing) an Ethiopian teenager’s account of his close escape from smugglers. The chapter follows trace forms of the character archetypes in al-Hakawati, a multi-nation storytelling project based on traditional folktales Syrian refugees told one another during their refugee journeys.
