Tuesday, September 9

MOVEMENT
Every person had a huge bamboo stick, and we had to try to create a free-standing teepee-like structure out of them. It didn't work well. We did, however, manage to have it supported by about two people at one point, had a classmate crawl underneath it, and then were able to remove the sticks one by one without the whole thing tumbling down on her. I'm sure we'll get better the more we practice. We also began doing floor work concentrating on our breathing (which was rather similar to some of the work we've done in voice class).

VOICE
We started learning IPA today. It's a sort of phonetic alphabet that teaches you how to pronounce words. We're starting with a Standard American dialect, and all the sounds that come with it. It was really quite neat. I already knew a good amount about voiced and unvoiced consonants from a project I did in undergrad, but had never gotten information about where in the mouth sounds are supposed to be formed. Apparently, most people say their "s" and "z" sounds in a non-neutral way, causing them to sound less clear than they could (or should, in the case of actors). Luckily, I say those correctly. But I have a problem that it seems no one else in my class has: I've apparently been forming words that start with the letter "l" incorrectly my entire life (my tongue touches my teeth much in the way it would if you were saying "th". It's supposed to be on the ridge on the roof of your mouth, like it is when you say a "d" sound -- strangely, my tongue is in the right place if L is in the middle of the word, like in "Angela").

ACTING
We continued our studies of physical memory. Our homework assignment is to study one of our daily actions tonight (about 1-2 minutes in length) and do it in class tomorrow without the objects. So tonight, I practiced putting on eyeliner (from a pot, with a brush) with and without the objects. I think I've got it down, right down to the angles I lean into the mirror and the moments when I stick my tongue out of my mouth for no defensible reason.

ANALYSIS
In preparation for today's class, we had to read A Flea in Her Ear adapted by Greg Leamming, and Backwards & Forwards by David Ball. We had a conversation regarding cause and effect in plays. To be honest, I was confused for half of it. I kept asking questions, but I think that just confused me further. I think I think too much. We have a paper due in a week regarding what the action of Oedipus Rex is. We have to choose a verb as the action, and then write a paper defending the choice in every way possible. We weren't given parameters in the form of page or word count, so I'm a little nervous that mine will end up being either the shortest or the longest in the class (knowing me, the longest is more likely). Hopefully it'll go alright.