Wednesday, February 25

A few members from the incoming class of 2012 have accepted their offers already! It's simultaneously exciting and strange. I can't believe it's been a year since I accepted my own offer.


Movement
We've been continuing to do stretches and tumbling. The stretches are actually the more tiring part of the class to me.

The big news is that we've started doing more daring things. Tuesday, half of the class was allowed to start attempting one-handed cartwheels. I really, really, really wanted to try, but my Movement Professor said I should give it another day. Then yesterday she said I was allowed to go, but suddenly, my body didn't want to anymore. I ended up doing a variation on it; I can get around if my legs are bent (what Movement Professor refers to as "baby cartwheels). It's still pretty scary, even though logically I know that I'm completely safe on the mats.

Yesterday we started trying to kick up into handstands, and then tried to walk on our hands. So far, Big Show has been the most successful in that endeavor. Thrill and Two-Shots-Up are also doing pretty well. I can kick up into a handstand for a few seconds, but if I try to move, I fall over backwards. It's because my lower back arches in the handstand and I can't really feel it. Oh well.


Auditioning Workshop
We've been having a workshop for the last couple of days with Voice Professor and Analysis Professor on how to audition well.

The first day, we mostly discussed concepts, and did a little cold (extremely cold) reading. Then people were assigned roles in the two plays we read to prepare well.

Yesterday, five people tried to actually audition, and our professors critiqued them and gave advice to all of us on the process.

- It might be a good idea to make a personal connection to the people in the auditioning room first. Ways to do this include, "Did you see the first story in the newspaper today?", "Do you mind if I use a chair/stand?", or asking a TEENY TINY question about the text (but that can get dangerous... you don't want to ask a question that is going to make them think you're unprepared).

- You can suck up, but only if it's quick, clean, and appropriately placed.

- If a dialect is written into the text, at the audition it's not about the dialect, but rather about the rhythm.

- Everything you do has to be about the connection you have to the text and to your scene partner (the Reader).

- Attack everything with the strongest possible intentions.

- Make sure you're paying attention to intentions, not attitudes.

- Avoid tells/defaults/crutches (over-use of hands, going off-voice, smiling, etc.)

- Play verbs

- You have about 3-4 lines to get the attention of the director, so start off strong

- Nobody expects you to memorize the sides; they jst don't want you looking down the whole time.

- If you're given an adjustment, don't ask a lot of questions. Don't act like it's the dumbest direction you've ever gotten. Just adjust. You simply say thank you, take the note, and move on. You may ask a question if you need clarification, but never, ever, ever comment on the note.

- Bring personalization to the thoughts.

- Stay connected to your partner even in silence.


Acting
We've gone back to our "primal" Demidov text études. Acting Professor reminded us that we should be getting together to work on these on our own. He said that our job as actors will never be done, and that working on these is the best way to help develop our new reflexes.

Our next unit will be our Chekov Project. We will be reading Three Sisters and working on a couple of acts of it in class to develop characters. Acting Professor says that he believes that it is the "only true polyphonic ensemble play" that Chekov created.


Analysis
We had a discussion on what we think the goal of theatre is after having read Brecht. Most of us have unchanged opinions from the beginning of the year ("to educate", "to inspire", "to heal", "to entertain", "to incite change", etc.)

We began our discussion of Mother Courage and Her Children, and started relating the concepts of war and economy to our present society.


Theatre
I went to go see The Imaginary Invalid on Tuesday night. I don't really NEED to go see it anymore. I've got the part ready to go, and the show closes on Sunday. But I really WANTED to see it again. I've spent a lot of time with this play, even though I haven't actually been in it. I'm going to be sad to see it go.