Friday, October 17

MOVEMENT
The "circus stretches" we've been doing are actually called "Vakhtangov" stretches. But that's hard to spell, so I'm sticking with "circus".

I was having hip pain, and so my professor wouldn't let me do most things. It's so frustrating to sit and watch instead of doing, particularly when you feel capable. I felt like I was hurting, but not injured. But professor knows best. By the end of the day, it was clear that I'm actually injured. I'm going to have to take it easy with my right leg for awhile.

My professor suspects that the reason my right side has been hurting so much lately is because I'm overcompensating with the adjustments I've been making to my "walk", and my muscles can't handle it. *sigh*

Our homework for over the weekend is to meet with a partner to do Viewpoints exercises for at least 3 hours. Due to my injury, I've been assigned to sit and watch other people do them for 3 hours instead. Not nearly as fun.


VOICE
Due to injury, I couldn't do most things in my Voice class, either. Although it might not seem logical, our Voice class is just as physical as our Movement class some days. I couldn't "rock like Roy Hart", I couldn't tremor, I couldn't stretch... Frustrating.

But then we moved into consonant sounds. As it turns out, while my tongue is doing the right thing while making "r" sounds, my lips are too engaged. So I have yet another consonant to work on... I really hope that my vowels are less of a mess than my consonants have been. As D-Train says, I'm a consonant disaster.

Over the weekend and all of next week, we're supposed to practice all of our consonants, especially the "st" combination at the ends of words. And to work on the "r" sounds, we're doing "'Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran."


ACTING
Our Analysis Professor and Movement Professor came to our etude exam, as did our Movement Professor's assistant/apprentice. Everyone ended up being involved in two etudes.

My first was with D-Train. We were dating, and I think we were preparing for a dinner where he was meeting either my parents or my friends for the first time. My second was with Wifey. I think she was my mother (which is funny, as I'm 2 years older than she is), we were packing up to move, and she was trying to make me feel less upset about it.

The etudes weren't really up to the same level as they have been for most of the week, which I think can be chalked up to the examination atmosphere and the guests who usually aren't in the space. Some were entertaining (there was a really hilarious heist-gone-wrong with Iceman and Killer), some had truth (All-The-Way not knowing how to handle Big Show falling in love with her), but most just fell flat.

Really, there's only one etude that happened that will stick in everyone's mind. With the 3rd-years and 2nd-years, their classes each had one uncomfortable, insane etude that everyone in their class talks about and remembers. I'm positive that our defining etude happened yesterday, and I can sum it up in five words.

Someone.
Licked.
Someone's.
Foot.

Twice.


It was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever sat through, and it was INCREDIBLE. OH. MY. WORD. I cannot stop thinking about it. I cannot stop TALKING about it. The scene also included pushing, hair-pulling, and ear-nibbling. All in ONE SCENE. And it was only a few minutes long. WHAT?!?! And it was between two guys, which I think made it even raunchier somehow. Our Movement Professor looked like her skin was crawling while watching it.

I guess that proves that if you trust your creative subconscious, something interesting WILL happen.

After all the exercises had ended, we discussed them with our professors for an hour. Here are some of the things I picked up from that conversation:

- The more surprising the meeting, the more time you need to allow for it to expand.

- When you get caught in "eye-lock" with your partner or the space and ignore your peripheral vision, you cut yourself off from the world.

- Instead of wondering "Is this a real impulse? What is an impulse?", it's better to simply move without thinking.

- Beware of rushing to plot and creating a story. There doesn't need to be one.

- If you're saying something in order to give your partner a verbal cue on where you think the scene is headed, then you don't really WANT to say it, and shouldn't.

- If you speak because you've come up with something brilliant to say, then you're the playwright of the etude, not an actor.

- Don't be in a rush to snap out of your artistic center when the exercise is over. Allow it to linger. Take a few moments to let things sink very deeply in.

- Don't discard subtle first impulses while waiting for something grand to arrive.


Along with that last one, our Acting Professor provided us with a really great metaphor. He said that your first impulse is like the non-stop train that you want to get on. You're waiting at the platform, and it arrives, but the doors are only open briefly. If you're tying your shoe or something, you'll miss it. And another train will come, but it will just be a heavy freight train. You'll take it, because at least you won't be stuck at the station, but the second train will be heavy, slow, and not nearly as good a ride as what you could've had if you'd taken the first one.

That might be one of my favorite lessons we've gotten so far. :)