11/11/09

Wednesday, November 11

VOICE
We started learning how to learn a dialect, based off of our books by Paul Meier.

A few handy links:
- Online IPA Charts
- The IDEA Site; The International Dialects of English Archive (where you can listen to recordings of native speakers of dialects and accents from around the world)
- Vasta: IPA Fonts (where you can download IPA fonts)

Voice Professor started teaching us how to make our own "dialect cheat sheets" with lexical sets. She says that it's important to avoid using words that you have difficulty with in Standard American as your basis for words in other dialects.

We discussed the difference between "dialects" and "accents". If the speech is based on something that is in the English language, then it's a dialect (Australian, Irish, British, Deep South, South Boston, etc.) If the speech is based on something that is a foreign language, then it's an accent (Italian, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Swahili).


MOVEMENT
We started blocking solo/duet sections of the ballet piece that we're going to do for our end-of-the-semester open class (aka "Showing"). It was a little weird, as both All-The-Way and Newbie were out sick/injured. I'm partnered with Thrill. So far, we're just doing a kicky-leg thing. We'll see what happens.


ACTING
Acting Professoressa says that we didn't do the best job on writing out "point-of-view" stuff in our sonnet papers. She says that POV should be basic truths, that are in the form of first person dialogue. So my POV on my scene partner should not be "He is the man I'm going to marry." It should be more like, "I love you, but you always let me down when I need you the most." She also said that most people needed to make bolder choices.

She gave us a great list of "sensual (non-literal) verbs" to use as "doings" (aka actions/tactics). Maybe at some point I'll get ambitious and type it up for you (I'm more likely to do it if someone leaves a request in the comments).

We went on to Thrill's sonnet (#12), which he's still working on getting a solid scenario for. He came in with a couple of new ideas:
- He and his wife are the last people in the Panther party. She wants to continue the Party by working hard and advocating for it. He wants it to continue by having children and raising them to be the next generation of Panthers.
- He is convinced that his son will be the next Messiah/messenger from God.

I don't know if he fully fleshed out his idea yet, but I loved how interesting his scenarios were.

Iceman's sonnet is getting a little more solidified now (#145). He needs to prove he's a man to his father. His father heard his fiancé complaining about the upcoming wedding, and now doesn't approve of the wedding, and thinks his son is an idiot.

Good advice from Acting Professoressa:
- You need to answer this question for yourself: After you deliver this monologue, what do you want the other person to do?
- Make sure your need isn't too altruistic; you need to have a personal connection to it (and perhaps personal gain from it) to make it strong.

The second half of class was spent trying to figure out what monologues people should use for our next assignment. Here's a list (and whatever notes I jotted down near them)

D-Train's possibilities:
- Henry VI, Part I; Young Clifford; V, ii
"Shame and confusion!"
(Shank is promising, but beginning high emotion is hard.)
- The Comedy of Errors; Antipholus of Syracuse; III, ii
"Sweet Mistress, what your name is else, I know not..."
(Acting Professoressa thought it would be good for D-Train to have a lover monologue)
- Richard II; King Richard; IV, i
"Ay, no, no ay; for I must nothing be."
(perhaps end at "in an earthy pit")

Big Show's possibilities:
- Julius Caesar; Brutus; II, i
"It must be by his death..."
(active, has a task, beautiful language)
- King Lear; Edgar; II, iii
"I heard myself proclaimed..."
(not as interesting)
- Macbeth; Macbeth; I, viii
"If it were done, when 'tis done..."
(stop at "tears shall drown the wind"?)
- Hamlet; Claudius; III, iii
"I like him not, nor stands it safe with us..."
"O, my offense is rank..."

Killer's possibilities:
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Proteus; II, iv
"Even as one heat another heat expels..."
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Proteus; II, vi
"To leave my Julia - Shall I be forsworn?"
(pay dirt: he makes a decision)
- Henry IV, Part I; Prince Hal; III, ii
"Do not think so, you shall not find it so,..."
- Henry VIII; Wolsey; III, ii
"Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear..."
(Killer too young, but it does have a strong 'Need' and POV)
- Romeo and Juliet; Romeo; III, iii
"Tis torture, and not mercy..."

Newbie's possibilies:
- The Taming of the Shrew; Katherine; IV, iii
"The more my wrong, the more his spite appears."
(Short. Katherine doesn't have good things to use as audition pieces. We can do better.)
- King Lear; Goneril; I, iii
"By day and night he wrongs me"
- King Lear; Goneril; I, iv
"Not only, sir, this, your all-licensed fool."
(using a cut that I made, which puts it with more text from later in the scene)

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