SETC CONFERENCE:
BIRMINGHAM, AL. March 3-8, 2009
To everyone who attended a workshop—many thanks for
your enthusiasm and great work! It was
a real pleasure to be there and to share the exercises, and our music. Sorry for the delay at getting these out!
Below are descriptions of the exercises we
did. If you have any questions, please
feel free to contact me…
Also, because it is fun, quick, easy, and so
useful, I began three of the four workshops I did with variations of The
Chair Warm-Up. Therefore, I
will enter it once, before I break off into the separate workshop
sections. I hope this doesn’t cause
confusion.
Co-Director Associate
Professor
Soundtrack Performance Group Dept.
of Dramatic Arts
P.O. Box 22005 Glenridge Plaza Marilyn I. Walker School of
224
Glenridge Ave. Fine & Performing Arts
St. Catharines, ON Brock University,
CANADA L2T 4C1 St.
Catharines, ON. Canada L2S 3A1
soundtrack@sympatico.ca gfuentes@brocku.ca
Tel. 905-682-8593 tel. 905-688-5550, ext. 3209
THE CHAIR WARM-UP (included partial TEMPER
TANTRUM!)
OBJECTIVEà “working out of the box”—making a chair ‘not just
a chair’
o
connecting voice/ body/
emotions—& inserting elements from learning sources
SPACEà in the workshop, participants sit on chairs in a
large circle, with enough space between them to work safely; chairs can also be
in rows, even with desks in front of them (if necessary).
PROGRESSIONSà
TEMPER TANTRUM SECTION:
·
POUNDING feet on floor
(lifting knees to chest), slapping thighs; releasing voice to say
“’aaaahhhhaaaa” &/or “NO, I WON’T”, etc. (voice is same “size” as stomping/
slapping)
·
THROWING STONES! Pretend
you’re fighting the people opposite you in the circle (and they’re far away
from you); throw stones and yell at them, while maintaining stomping feet…
·
GREETING LONG-LOST
FRIENDS! Imagine the people opposite
you in the circle are dear friends, but they’re a couple of blocks awayà stomp, wave both arms frenetically, shout to get
their attention…
·
SLO MO-STAGE WHISPERà redo all above in slow motion, with
stage whisper voices [you’ll note it is harder, more control required,
more of a workout!…and more fun!]
POLISHING [back of chair, then seat
of chair, then both by wiggling] SECTIONà an
excellent way to “contextualize” the exercise…by suggesting that participants
‘polish…as if…’ (and then add the suggestion you want, such as … “you were
lightning”, or “thunder”…or “water evaporating/condensing”…or “Ophelia’s mind
as she picks flowers”…or “a person as (s)he decides to leave his/her
country…etc, etc. [NOTE: Although this
may seem very abstract at first, it really does provide a platform for
discussion and for delving into areas/elements/issues of study from a kinetic
basis that facilitates learning, reflection, and memory of the work].
DANCE SECTIONà
·
UKRANIAN dancingà 1. sit forward on edge of chair, feet together; 2.
let back fall against chair back, kick one leg in air, arms open wide and yell
“HAAAHHH”; 3. sit forward to starting position, stomp feet together on floor
& clap hands; 4. kick other leg in air-yell “HAAAHHH”, etc.
·
CHORUS LINEà 1. sit forward on edge of chair; 2. open arms and
push left foot out to side so left leg is straight (right leg stays in original
bent position, with toes on floor), and shout “DAA…DAAHHHH”; 3. clap hands,
while bringing both legs together again & stomp feet; 4. fling open arms
& push right foot out straight sideways & shout again, etc…
OLYMPICS SECTIONà sit back on chair so that feet are off floor
[those who are tall—cheat!] and ‘run’, trying to touch heels to underseat of
chair, as fast as you can; pump arms back and forth, with elbows bent, in time
with feet]
INSECTS SECTION à Imagine there are insects or reptiles all over the
floor; lift feet off floor; slide over on seat of chair, and lean body over to
one side, to see the insects on the floor at that side…then see there are more
on other side, and sit back up, shift weight to be able to lower head to other
side to see insects on that side…
AROUND THE WORLD SECTION à keeping feet off floor, manoeuvre with hands to
lift feet and twirl [slowly] feet up and around the backs of the chair till you
end up back in normal sitting position; repeat other way.
NOTE: Invite your students/actors/ participants to come
up with new variations under each section!
You’ll be amazed how quickly your repertoire increases.
=================================================
|
Wednesday, March 04,
2009 |
K-12 INSTITUTE: Using Movement
and Music as 'Languages' Across the Curriculum! |
CHAIR WARM-UP (see above)
THE MAGIC HAND [large
group movement intro, based on Greek chorus work…part of the “Instant
Choreography” exercises]
·
One of the most extraordinary, and
effective ways to introduce movement, in a way that allows those who are
intimidated to hide till they’re more comfortable…while the group makes
instant, inevitable, wonderful “art.”
·
BASIC TEACHING: students go to one end of room;
instructor lifts hand & explains that his/her hand is “the Magic Hand”,
which the group will follow.
·
A) GEOGRAPHIC RULES: imagine that the space between hand
and participants is solid. When hand pushes forward, group must retreat; if
hand pulls back toward instructor, chorus must move forward; if hand goes to
left, so does chorus; ditto to right…etc.
·
B) INTERPRETATION: chorus is to imagine that their full bodies
“are the hand”…so that whatever the hand does, their bodies must also “do”…noteà there is no “right or wrong” interpretation t
·
SAFETY RULES: 1) for chorusà ALWAYS
keep your eyes on the Magic Hand, so when it stops, you must, too; 2) for Magic Handà be aware of any objects, etc. which may harm group and be
prepared to stop them quickly.
·
INITIAL GROUP PRACTICE: Divide students into 4 groups, with
each one against one wall (or diagonal, in corners). 1 person from each group
comes to center, facing his/her group as that group’s Magic Hand (that means
the 4 Magic Hands will be back-to-back in center).
·
Have each Hand practice for a few seconds, then call for a
“change” of Hands. Do a few switches till the groups “get the idea”.
·
BASIC PRESENTATION FORMAT: divide group in half. One half goes to one end of room as chorus.
Second half sits, about 2 yards away from wall at other end, as audience.
·
The Magic Hands will come from the audience group,
but will stand behind the audience, so audience is between the Hand and
the chorus.
|
♫ Add slow, calming,
mood-based music as background/ security blanket |
·
Magic Hand begins; chorus follows. Switch hands every minute or so.
·
When several Hands have performed, stop and have groups
switch places/roles
·
Talk about what they saw/felt/experienced.
·
Context: Chorus
and/or Magic Hand can work “representing” people, things, emotions, matter
(lightning, thunder, lava, etc) for review, learning, reflection, exploration.
An
excellent way to teach any process, system, plot, series of events, concepts,
etc. for general educational purposes…and the most effective way of
transforming any source into image-movement theatre for performance purposes. It is also excellent for language teaching,
as the active verbs you choose must be dramatic, as well as effective.
PREMISEà “If you extract the verbs or
images from any action, idea, event, etc., you will have a dynamic, dramatic
movement text.” (Jacques Lecoq, class.1970).
1)
GROUP CIRCLE: THE “GESTURE STEP”
·
We
used “brushing teeth” as example
·
Extracting
major “dramatic” action verbs/imagesà reach, grasp, yank, twist,
squeeze, ooze, scrub, swish, spit [note strength of voice/gesture connection]
·
Changing
Roles/ ‘Abstracting’: switching point of view from “doer” to “done to.” [imagine hand reaching—from
toothpaste tube’s point of view; do “swish” from toothpaste point of view]
·
Universal
choreography: realizing we already know the dance [toothpaste tube; gargling]
because the world choreographs itself all around us: we only need to observe
and recreate it.
2) SMALL GROUPS: THE “ABSTRACT’” MOVEMENT STEP
·
Divide
the group into sub-groups of about 5 participants per group.
·
Each
group chooses the source [we used “events from the kitchen”] & extracts 5-7
of the main, or most dramatic action verbs/ images from their source.
·
They
prepare the full-body choreographic equivalents of those verbs, remembering to
switch to “the done to”, rather than the human “doer” [use individual,
collective or combinations of choices for how to interpret the verbs].
·
Groups
also decide their presentation’s dramatic atmosphere[s]/ narrative/drama
·
Be
sure presentation has: a) structure: strong beginning & ending image; b)
clear overall dramatic atmosphere
·
This
pre-determined dramatic atmosphere becomes basis for requesting accompanying
music.
·
Groups
will present one at a time.
|
♫ Add appropriate mood
music according to dramatic atmosphere requested. [see Soundtrack Performance Group Library of Dramatic
Atmospheres used for this] |
3) POSSIBLE VARIATIONS:
·
Mix
& Match music, using; a) ‘opposite’
or b) random music selectionsà and see how interaction with
music alter work
·
Mix
& Match groupsà have
one person from each of 3-5 groups come up and do the verb chain just as they
did with their original group, taking into account that they may need to pause
to let others pass by, move, etc. These
“non-verbal improves” can give some wonderful results, even if they are
impossible to replicate.
Extensions: into writing, painting, sculpting,
storymaking, storytelling, soundscapes.
===========================================
|
Wednesday, March 04, 2009 |
Making the Ordinary
Extraordinary: Turning Any Source into Movement-Rich Theatre |
CHAIR WARM-UP (see
intro, above, just after “presenter”)
PUPPETS (in
PAIRS)
A
no-contact, non-verbal improvisation, excellent for introducing movement &
collective, creative story- and meaning-making.
·
For this workshop in
particular, the exercise was meant to show how an ‘abstract’, such as an
emotion, could be manifested in physical terms through creating a sculpture of
‘what an emotion would look like…’ (before people are able to say “…but how
could I do that?”, they’ve already accomplished it).
|
♫ NOTE: from the beginning, add slow
mood-based MUSIC AS BACKGROUND. It will help concentration and will keep
movements slow. ] |
·
in pairs; decide who is
puppet first and who is puppeteer.
·
with index finger and
thumb together (as if holding a string between them), puppeteer points to body
part that puppet is to more.
·
keeping his/her
fingers about 3-6 inches from the indicated part of the puppet's body,
puppeteer gestures slow, clear instructions (in silence) for the puppet to
follow.
·
when puppeteer stops the
movement, puppet stops.
·
puppeteer
"freezes" the string (and therefore the puppet) by opening the thumb
and index finger.
·
puppeteer then continues
to direct another part of the puppet's body.
·
puppet is to work hard
to follow the puppeteer instructions as exactly as possible.
·
Switch roles after a
couple of minutes. Discuss what they learned/felt/ experienced.
·
Context: instruct puppeteers to "sculpt" a
specific kind of statue: e.g. …that represents the emotions/feelings
of a character from a play or movie, ETC. [we chose “create the physical
version of the emotion felt by the character you are playing at the height of
his/her emotional journey through the play”)
·
Viewing: Sculpture
Gardensà Give
puppeteers fairly little time to do this… Then, puppets stay frozen in
position, while puppeteers step back walk around the outside of the puppet
sculpture garden, viewing puppets (they look like a sculpture garden).
·
Have them imagine a
story created by any 3 or 4 or group of puppets, etc.
·
Do same exercise, with
the puppets now being puppeteers.
THE WAVE
Another large group exercise…& an excellent
segue from Puppets…
·
Divide class into groups of about 7-9 per group
(for learning...afterward, groups can become much larger).
·
While one group works, audience stands on both
sides of room to watch.
·
Working group stands at one end of the room,
shoulder to shoulder in a straight line, ALMOST touching elbows.
·
There should be no "leader" for the work;
the group concentrates on 'listening', sensing each others' impulse to go, then
the entire group will move forward as if one. Their feet DO NOT need to be in
unison--it is the lining up of the bodies that creates the effect.
·
|
♫ Add slow, gentle, mood-based music for the groups to move to… |
·
The group begins moving SIMULTANEOUSLY forward,
crosses the room, turns around and returns-- maintaining their close, straight
line formation. Let each group repeat the crossing at least a couple of
times before stopping them. Students should keep hands by their sides
and eyes straight ahead.
·
ADDING STATUES: as the working group (the WAVE)
crosses the room, anyone
in line may stop in a statue formation. NOTE: at least one person from the WAVE
must remain walking!
|
♫ Again, add slow, gentle music |
·
The 'statue' stays frozen in position until the
WAVE returns and 'envelops' them back into the line. Statues may wait for
more than one passing of the wave to be enveloped.
·
The effect is like a wave, leaving shells and articles
on the beach…to be picked up and moved back out to sea by a subsequent wave.
·
ADDING CONTEXT: as it is already slow and
contained (ie not chaotic), it works very well accompanied by text spoken
simultaneously--from within the WAVE itself or from outside.
VERB CHAINS
(see description of this exercise above, at the end
of the K-12 INSTITUTE:
Using Movement and Music as 'Languages' Across the Curriculum!
Workshop)
============================================================
|
Friday, March 06,
2009 |
All You Ever Need to
Know About Energy Levels...or Seven Steps to Endless Characterization
|
NOTE ON SKILLSà Because
of the shortened time-limit that a workshop involves, please be aware that I am
presenting the skills acquisition section of the material, but
will not be able to do more than simply brush past the whole area of skills
application. I will attempt to
give at least a small sampling of applications…but that part is, of course, a
longer and more complex process.
CHAIR WARM-UP (see
intro, above, just after “presenter”)
·
In unison, stretch and yawn (it
will likely be ‘guardedly repressed’).
·
VIA NEGATIVAà Listen and feel what happens inside your body as you
do these following:
1)
HUGE LION'S ROAR yawn and a small, shy, repressed stretch.
How did that feel? Where was there tension created? Stored?
2) GIGANTIC stretch
and a shy, quiet grunt of a yawn (just make sure some
noise comes out). What happened that time? How was it different?
How was it the same?
3) now try it, making voice and body the same size, so they fit together
perfectly. How did that feel? Can you tell when your voice/ body
are working together?...when they don't?
·
WHY VIA NEGATIVA?à to learn to “become your own coach.” The body learns quickly to distinguish what
is right, and how it feels.
·
So important that it deserves it’s
own entry.
·
follow the stretch & yawn by
an overall wriggle-shake-out, which means shaking/jiggling your whole body
after the stretch (& includes getting your feet jiggling off the floor, as
well).
·
VIA NEGATIVAà have them try shaking out, 1. holding breath;
then 2. on signal, exhaling (audibly). Notice the huge
difference—the tension simply flows out of the body and into the ground, and
with the breath, the emotional content of the work you’ve just done also leaves.
NOTE: Unless you
release your breath as you shake out, you won’t truly be “cleaning the slate”
for the next exercise or instructions to come…you’ll still be literally “full”
of the last exercise—and both the muscular and emotional tensions it involved.
MARIONETTE WALKS
·
More preparation for Energy Levels!
·
Imagine that you are a marionette puppet, with a
string that is attached to the top/back of your head (above your spine).
·
The puppeteer will pull gently up on the string,
and your body responds by rising (you should note that your entire spine
“lifts” to its full height)
·
Then, the puppeteer slowly lets the string
loosen…direct participants to feel their spine sinking in on itself, the
internal organs smushing down on each other, the extra difficulty to breathe,
etc.
·
Repeat the cycle.
Be aware of the enormous changes as the string is tightened and
loosened.
ENERGY LEVELSà
(skills acquisition)
·
this is the main part of the workshop…based on
Lecoq’s now very varied and useful classification…
·
As you go through each of the levels, your voice
work is equally important. What pitch,
text, rhythm, etc. does the body work elicit in the voice, the emotions, and
the words that emerge?
·
The seven levels are as followsà
(skills application-dating)
·
Each of the above levels is broad and deep, and can
be used as an anchor for characterization.
To get a sense of the possibilities, we did ONE quick application
exercise: dating. In the learning
process, people were asked to ‘work alone’, without connecting with
others. Now, as the leader calls out an
energy level, they were to “ask each other for dates, using the energy level
indicated.”
·
Other possibilities mentioned, but not done: 1.
individually, enter in a specific energy level, and during the improve,
transition to another level (and leave in that new level); 2. in pairsà each enters in a separate energy level, and during
the improve, they switch levels.
ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION
·
Based on the premise that each of us share
characteristics with specific animals, insects, birds, reptiles, etc. (e.g. how
many reptilian politicians could we name?)
We use these external traits to help us with characterisation.
·
Divide group into pairs or threesomes, and have
them discuss which affiliations they seem to have…
·
Improv—participants to sit in a chair, away from
others. When the animal they are to
associate with is called out, they are to sleep in the chair in a position that
the character with those animal characteristics would adopt; on signal, they
wake up, get dressed and get ready for work.
·
Animals used for improvisationà 1.
mosquito; 2. grizzly bear; 3. shark.
·
Discussionà
ask about the kinds of clothing, sleep position, decisions, actions, inactions
they people/animals took.
·
The animal
identifications create clear, defined, sure choices: e.g. a mosquito/person
will wear light, whispy, soft, thin clothing, and ‘flit’, (and maybe humm?)
whereas a grizzly bear/person will wear heavy, terry-cloth, loose, sloppy
clothing, and shuffle around in a grump…etc.
·
In character building, it is useful to apply both
skills simultaneously. It becomes
layered, variable, and very agile for the actors and directors. Imagine a grizzly person in egg-shell energy
level, or a mosquito in diva?
·
Using these skills means that so many choices
become automatically taken…much more intuitive and spontaneous than having to
make deliberate mental choices.
·
The opportunities become endless, and very grounded
in the body, as well as the voice, emotions and attitudes.
============================================================================
|
Saturday, March 07,
2009 |
Action, Impulse,
Instinct, Intention: Unpacking Acting and Cleaning It Up!
|
NOTE ON SKILLSà Because
of the shortened time-limit that a workshop involves, please be aware that I am
presenting the skills acquisition section of the material, but
will not be able to do more than simply brush past the whole area of skills
application. I will attempt to
give at least a small sampling of applications…but that part is, of course, a
longer and more complex process.
·
Objectiveà to connect voice/ body/ emotions [Meyerhold’s
“outside-in” approach]
·
PROGRESSIONà this warm-up was done with participants walking in
a circle—large enough to permit people to maintain a safe distance between them.
[note: it can also be done standing/walking ‘on the spot’, or sitting down (see
Chair Warm-Up, just before Workshop descriptions)].
·
PASSIVE NEGATIVEà Start with short steps, stomping
feet and ‘flopping’ arms; find a dialogue [e.g. “NO, I WON’T! or “I DON’T WANT
TO…”, etc.]
·
ACTIVE NEGATIVEà Steps lengthen [to lunge length]; punching opposite arm/fist
forward; find voice/dialogue such as “GOTCHA”, “BEAT IT”, “I SAID NOOOO”…
·
PETULANT (nasty,
‘snarky’, brat-ish)à chin in air; light steps, twisting hips; voice/dialogue
such as ‘Maybe I will and maybe I won’t!, or “I will when I’m ready” or “Oh
yeah, just you wait”…
·
PETULANT TRIUMPHANTà light, bouncy steps; fists punch straight up into
the air; voice/dialogue such as ‘YES”, “OOOH YES”, “AHAAAA”, “BEAT THAT!”…
·
CELBRATORY ‘THROWING
DUVET IN AIR’à while continuing to walk throughout, bend down as
if to lift a folded duvet from floor and turn arms/get body underneath ‘as if
to put it on a high shelf’…but instead of shelf, throw it joyfully into the
air, yelling “WOW” or “YEEEEESSSSS”, or “FINAAAALLYY” or “I’M FREEEEEEE”!! [it
actually creates an undulatory movement from the ankles, up through the spine
and out through the elevated arms].
·
WHOPEE JUMPSà end the session on a “high positive”, by leaping
(if possible) in a kind of “riding bicycle step” into the air, with arms making
huge simultaneous backward circles, while yelling “WHOOOOPPPPEEEE” or
“YAAAAHHOOOOO” or “AAAAHHHHHAAAAAA”
·
SOURCE: Susi Lovell, Montreal choreographer, dancer,
drama & theatre teacher, writer, dance critic.
·
This
is a no-touch, movement trust exercise, in which participants
pair up, and imagine that different parts of their bodies are magnetically
attracted to each other.
·
Preparation
by instructor: have a list of
(appropriate) body parts prepared: this can be a list of words [verbal] on the
board, or a stick figure drawing [visual] on board to which instructor can
refer, or a jar of paper ballots with words [verbal] or stick-figure with parts
indicated [visual],or both [verbal-visual], etc.
·
Divide
group into pairs, and number themselves #1, or #2.
·
Instructor:
tell them which number will be ‘leader’ first, and which is ‘follower.’
·
TIP: if there is an uneven number
of participants, one group will have two ‘followers’ and one ‘leader’.
·
Determine
magnetized parts by choosing (yourself, or, even better, have students take
turns choosing) pieces of paper from the jar, or choosing a visual or verbal
indicator from the board.
·
The
magnetic attraction is between one body part from partner #1 and another from
partner #2. NOTE: all #1’s will have the same magnetized body
part; #2s will all have the same, alternative part. The partners magnetized
body parts must remain about six-12 inches apart, and the idea of the exercise is
to lead-follow well enough that the space remains constant, never increasing or
decreasing.
|
♫ Add slow, mood-based music
at this point, and let it accompany
the exercise each time partners are moving. |
·
Once music starts,
‘leaders,’ using the determined body part, move ‘followers’, who are using
their determined body part around the room.
Remind them that they can play with levels, circles, etc., and they can
go on their knees, crouch, etc. as they move.
·
After
a minute or so, have partners switch roles, making the former ‘leader’ follow,
and vice-versa. Note: the magnetized
body parts can remain the same, or switch, or new ones can be added.
·
Switch
partners often, trying new body parts each time.
“NO-LEADER” MAGNETIC
ATTRACTIONà
PROGRESSION TO EYE TUNNELS (Cleaning up your Focus and Directed Attention)
·
Magnetic
Attraction presents an excellent lead-up to the main exercise for “cleaning up”
action—which is the focus,
control and command of the eyes, which must be clearly and strongly directed at all times
(the tendency is for actors to have “wandering eyes”, or unfocused glances,
rather than drawing clear focus to where their attention is directed).
·
Therefore,
after learning magnetic attraction, I move slowly (as opposed to the workshop,
which was fast) toward the EYE TUNNELS exercise….
|
♫ Add slow, mood-based music
to accompany all the work below…
…but try dark or spooky tracks to increase the drama and tension. |
·
After
group has worked on Magnetic Attraction, have them advance to “no-leader” work,
and bring ‘body parts’ up to include facial parts…e.g. have #1’s lead with their noses, and #2’s
follow with their foreheads, or with their chins, etc. There is NO leader, and NO distance
rule—partners can be far apart, close together, etc.
·
Then,
have partners go “nose-to-nose” (i.e., each person focuses deeply on their
partner’s nose…but they can be very far apart). Again, no leader, no distance rule, and both people do NOT have
to move at same time, speed, or level.
·
For
extra drama, as well as brooding music, have partners go a long way apart; both
start with heads down, and have one partner start “off their feet”.
·
When
music starts, they look up to find their partner’s nose…and do not start moving
until they feel a strong sense of energy between their eyes and their partner’s
nose.
·
NOTE: at this point, have half group
watch, and others present. This work
can be so dramatic that it literally looks like a play in its own right!
·
This
nose-to-nose magnetic attraction work
can be advance to “eyes-to-eyes” partner work—called Eye Tunnels (see Peter
Brook’s The Empty Space for a full description of this work. This is where I picked it up.).
·
While
Eye Tunnels is what we are actually aiming for, there may be social, religious or cultural reasons that
prevent some students for participating. Leave it at nose-to-nose if this is so, as the results can be
equally as strong…and the message of the need to use eyes well will still come
across.
·
This is major clean-up work for stage, and is based
on an exercise used by Lecoq for teaching mime, but it has multiple
applications for theatre and film work.
·
Premise 1à
In order to create ‘the mime world’ through illusion, all actions should be
broken down into 5 component parts, which are listed below…
·
Premise 2à
In order to ‘read’ the mime world being created more exactly, the mime, in
carrying out each of the steps, adopts the qualities of the object about to be
handled (e.g., your 5 steps are done differently if you are about to work with
a sword…or a rose).
·
Look…see the object (gives placement, size, quality
of object)
·
Approach…one step (or lunge, however small) toward
object (leave one foot in place)
·
Reach…open hand to object, to show its placement,
texture, size, quality
·
Take…how you grasp object illustrates size, shape,
texture, qualities
·
Act…in putting the object into action, you ‘become’
or adopt the qualities of the object itself, or the reaction it creates
· Repeat moves to other side (remember that you must have grasped the second object before releasing the first object)
EXERCISES TO PRACTICE PREMISE #2à
·
In order to experience and illustrate the premise
of “becoming’ the object (or embodying the reaction to the object) about to be
handled, we performed the 5-step Breakdown of an Action with the following
“improvisation” settings:
o
THE MUSKETEERà You are a musketeer. Tomorrow you fight a duel with swords. You are in the Armory, ready to choose a sword, and there are two
lines of swords…one to your left, another to your right. You go down the line, practicing with the
sword….
o
THE SILK SCARFà there are 2 lines of shoulder-high marble
pedestals in front of you (one to right, one to left). On top of each is folded a long, thin silk
scarf (long enough that it still touches the ground if you are on
tip-toes). You are allowed to choose
one: you go from pedestal to pedestal, taking one, lifting it and twirling it
around…then see the next pedestal, go, reach, take, release the first scarf,
twirl the second, etc…
o THE DIRTY DISH CLOTHà You’ve returned from holidays to find a series of disgustingly dirty dish cloths in your kitchen. You are dressed in your best clothes, but you must lift and shake out each cloth…
o NOTEà In preparing to do these, remember to talk through the “qualities” of each of the objects first, so the participants are ready to adopt these physical characteristics instantly
SKILLS APPLICATIONSà
·
Both Eye Tunnels and the two premises of Breakdown of an
Action provide ample opportunities for cleaning up scene work…
·
Go through scenes doing only Eye Tunnels, to see what the
power plays, status and power/status exchanges happen…and when, and why. (see Keith Johnstone’s excellent book IMPRO
to learn more about status…we didn’t have time to go into this, but it is an
excellent continuation from Eye Tunnels). Then, incorporate the eye work back
into the fully performed scene. You
should see the status and power lines clarify considerably.
·
The Breakdown of an Action is another way of exploring the
scene work. For every action the actors
take, have them work them out using the 5 steps from the exercise…and have them
be aware of what objects or relationships they are creating…are they adopting
or reacting to these as they carry out the action? Where should they begin to ‘identify’ (or reject)? Why?
Again, by taking the time to answer these questions, the actions,
relationships and progressions should clarify and intensify considerably.
BREATHINGà PROGRESSION TO
“ONE-MOVE-AT-A-TIME”
·
There are 3 states of breathing to experiment with:
holding your breath; inhaling; exhaling.
·
Imagine there is a person in whom you are very
interested passing by…turn your follow them with your eyes and head by turning
45 degrees from looking straight ahead, to just over your shoulder…do this 3
times…1) holding breath, 2) inhaling, 3) exhaling. What are the [emotional] differences? How do the different breathing patterns affect your mood,
feelings, the “meaning” that you transmit?
·
Try the same experiment, but imagine you are going
through a door to enter a room for a very important interview…how do the
different breathing patterns affect you?
Discuss.
·
The point is…the breath you choose alters your
mood, and what the audience “reads”…therefore, it is important to know what
your breathing patterns are…
·
If you attach this idea/skill base to the 5-step
Breakdown of an Action, you can create a “one-move-one breath-at-a-time”
version of any event, encounter, or action…
·
Although it may seem extremely “artificial” until
you become used to the technique, try creating an encounter or meeting between
two people, using this idea of “one-move-one breath-at-a-time.” It actually becomes extremely interesting,
intense, powerful, and full of opportunity for inventing new connections!
·
This is, by the way, the method that is quite
commonly used for mask performance, as well as physical-theatre, tightening or
clean-up, but it is equally useful for text work….
·
Use this just as a step in the rehearsal process,
or you may want to incorporate parts of it into performance—but it does assure
cleaner, clearer, and more powerful status work.
Best of luck!
Feel free to contact me if you want some further information on the
workshop—and my apologies for not being able to have it ready sooner.
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