Friday, February 20

Movement
I was having a lot of trouble with cartwheels on my left side, but I started to figure them out by the end of class. We started a new way of crossing the floor using your hips that involves a "swoopy" "scoop" motion, and I was actually pretty good at that.

I really can't get the hang of the yoga Tripod position yet. But I CAN balance my weight in an alternative way so that it's all on my hands... but instead of my knees being on my elbows, my stomach is. Movement Professor says that it's not really training the same thing at all. Oh well.


Voice
My new voice challenge (as it seems I have a new one every couple of days) is working on not using glottal attacks at the beginnings of sentences. Apparently it's very common in the USA. I don't notice that I've done it until it's pointed out to me.

We focused on pronouncing the diphthongs in "like" and "pay" today. I think it's great fun trying to come up with example sentences.

For like, Voice Professor let us make up our own sentences on the spot. Her example was "I like my pie" (I like my pie). Some of our examples:

Iceman: "I like mai-tais every night."
Wifey: "I'd die to eat chives."
Two-Shots-Up: "I like Thai guys."
All-The-Way: "Mr. Hyde likes to make people die."
D-Train: "I like to get high."
Thrill: "I like to drive up high."
O.D.: "Why try to lie by flies?"
Newbie: "I like to highlight." (Note: She really does)
Big Show: "I like to ride my bike."
Me: "I exercise my tight thighs at nine." (That's when Movement class starts) and "I fly my kite sky high."

Killer and I collaborated to form a good "pay" sentence: "Eight great stage plays are playing today."

Our homework for tonight is to practice those vowels with whatever sentences we'd like.


Acting
Our Acting test went really well. Voice Professor came and said that she'll give us her notes at a later date. Everyone's work has been good during these Vonnegut projects, and I think today was the best that several scenes have gone. I'm proud of us. (I know I say that a lot about my class, but it's true.)

Acting Professor said that there are some things in theatre that force us to walk fine lines. For example, we need to find love in the scenes without falling into sentimentality. We also have to find freedom without falling into chaos.

I was worried about my scene with O.D. after yesterday, but it ended up being pretty good. Acting Professor said that it was "entirely unpredictable", and that he thought it was a huge growth. I was relieved.

After the test, we had a discussion about whether we're going to continue working on these scenes while moving on to our next unit or not. Part of the discussion involved what we should be doing at our Acting Showing at the end of the semester (we show things that are "works-in-progress" and try to treat it like an open class instead of a performance). We haven't reached a conclusion yet on whether we'll be showing these scenes or ones from the play project.


Workshops
Next week, we're having an auditioning workshop (to continue in the same vein of what we learned from Carl Forsman) with Voice Professor and Analysis Professor. We've been told to read Bus Stop by William Inge and Morning's at Seven by Paul Osborn. We will be given sides on Tuesday.