Week 1
Thursday: The program is calling today 12/30/2016 Day 1. It was the first day of full classes and group work and a look into everything that these next 4 weeks are going to become. Today we had three hours in the morning working on our breathing, voice, vibrations in our bodies and how we use them to communicate. It was different. We are being told to breath with out mouths slightly open, to breathe and sigh, and to sigh out vibrations. It's a very grounding feeling. It's uncomfortable to breath with your mouth open. I've noticed how tense my jaw is and how I'm so controlling over my breathing and jaw. Our bodies need to be more natural and I could feel mine yearning to be more free and open. We did stretches to relax and open up our bodies. It made me yawned SO MUCH. It made me feel connected to my own body in a new way. It was mind and body working together to being open to the outside world and open to my thoughts and experiences.
It's amazing to eat three meals a day. I typically skip breakfast, but here due to the intensity and physical demands of the workshops, I've been eating breakfast. AND I've been trying new foods!
Once lunch was over we got to get into our BASICS groups. This is our home base for the next four weeks. This intensive has 52 participants and we need to have time in smaller groups to have in depth coaching and development on ourselves as artists and with our monologues. My group is amazing. They are so talented, supportive and my new best friends. I couldn't ask for a more open and accepting group. Our work in basics is to free our voice, our body and get our emotional block released to use and fuel our monologues. Let me tell you, I have ISSUES. I have terrible vocal habits that I am recognizing and changing quickly. I've also held an emotional block in my body that we are trying to release. WE, as in, every single actor here, is shedding emotional baggage in order to use it to empower their work. This stuff is amazing. I want to do it on all of your reading this. If you are interested in more, let me know. I'm just amazed at how fast they have helped my find and use my "natural voice" (term used here) and how aware I am of my body and being present inside my body. It's impossible to hide here and it's what I've needed for a long time and couldn't articulate it. As a woman especially, I feel so liberated. I reuse to hide in my own body and a huge goal of mine is to be seen and present always in my work.
Everyday we've been returning to more Basics class, movement and voice. It's this powerful combination of the three that is going to make us better actors. That is what the work here at Shakespeare and Co. is about. We are watching the people in our groups make such huge discoveries about their own humanity, that it is also teaching us. The role of theatre is to teach and to entertain, but the soul of it is to teach. Theatre is to teach and reveal life, humanity and truths that no one around us wants to say out loud. It's incredible already.
Spending New Year's Eve here was tough. Luckily, we got to have a little party and the onsite bar here and enjoy the company of new friends. I feel disconnected to the rest of the world. I am using my cell phone much less, which is very freeing in itself. Time is nothing here, we have no perception of time and we are isolated. We stay on the property all day, everyday. Our day off is going to be on Wednesdays, so that is when we can go back into the real world and into town. Speaking of which, I'm definitely getting a massage Wednesday. My body is SORE!
Monday 1/2/2017
Today we started Actor/Audience, which is something I can't begin to process yet, so there will have to be a later blog devoted to just that. But we also started Play/Clown, we call it either, and it's so fun. We've been playing games and acting like children again. And we started dance classes, which I've always loved. Dancing makes me so happy and connected to my body and the music! I need to get back into regular classes once I get home.
I miss home so much. Actually, less than I thought I would, but it's still extremely hard. Thankfully, I have a great roommate that I've bonded with and I have a countdown until Stuart gets to come here to watch our final performances. I'm blessed to have such an amazing and supportive husband who is willing to support me in this time of development and devotion to my craft. I couldn't do this without the amazing family and friends I have at home being my biggest fans. Thank you!
Tuesday 1/3/2017
We finally got our scene assignments and I have the pleasure to play Lady Macbeth. It's going to be a huge challenge for me, but I know my Basics teacher, ABL, wanted to give me something I never thought I could do. I can't wait to get started. We aren't starting with the scripts in our hands at all, we are doing a technique called "dropping in". This technique is where someone give us the words from our scene first, then lines to say out loud to our scene partner while looking into their eyes the entire time. It's getting the words and lines into our bodies before doing any script analysis on the scene. I've never worked on a scene this way before so I am very excited to experience the text this way.
To some it all up, this experience has been amazing and exhausting. Today is my day off so I'm going to relax and prepare for the week ahead. Here's to three more weeks of this!
Thursday: The program is calling today 12/30/2016 Day 1. It was the first day of full classes and group work and a look into everything that these next 4 weeks are going to become. Today we had three hours in the morning working on our breathing, voice, vibrations in our bodies and how we use them to communicate. It was different. We are being told to breath with out mouths slightly open, to breathe and sigh, and to sigh out vibrations. It's a very grounding feeling. It's uncomfortable to breath with your mouth open. I've noticed how tense my jaw is and how I'm so controlling over my breathing and jaw. Our bodies need to be more natural and I could feel mine yearning to be more free and open. We did stretches to relax and open up our bodies. It made me yawned SO MUCH. It made me feel connected to my own body in a new way. It was mind and body working together to being open to the outside world and open to my thoughts and experiences.
It's amazing to eat three meals a day. I typically skip breakfast, but here due to the intensity and physical demands of the workshops, I've been eating breakfast. AND I've been trying new foods!
Once lunch was over we got to get into our BASICS groups. This is our home base for the next four weeks. This intensive has 52 participants and we need to have time in smaller groups to have in depth coaching and development on ourselves as artists and with our monologues. My group is amazing. They are so talented, supportive and my new best friends. I couldn't ask for a more open and accepting group. Our work in basics is to free our voice, our body and get our emotional block released to use and fuel our monologues. Let me tell you, I have ISSUES. I have terrible vocal habits that I am recognizing and changing quickly. I've also held an emotional block in my body that we are trying to release. WE, as in, every single actor here, is shedding emotional baggage in order to use it to empower their work. This stuff is amazing. I want to do it on all of your reading this. If you are interested in more, let me know. I'm just amazed at how fast they have helped my find and use my "natural voice" (term used here) and how aware I am of my body and being present inside my body. It's impossible to hide here and it's what I've needed for a long time and couldn't articulate it. As a woman especially, I feel so liberated. I reuse to hide in my own body and a huge goal of mine is to be seen and present always in my work.
Everyday we've been returning to more Basics class, movement and voice. It's this powerful combination of the three that is going to make us better actors. That is what the work here at Shakespeare and Co. is about. We are watching the people in our groups make such huge discoveries about their own humanity, that it is also teaching us. The role of theatre is to teach and to entertain, but the soul of it is to teach. Theatre is to teach and reveal life, humanity and truths that no one around us wants to say out loud. It's incredible already.
Spending New Year's Eve here was tough. Luckily, we got to have a little party and the onsite bar here and enjoy the company of new friends. I feel disconnected to the rest of the world. I am using my cell phone much less, which is very freeing in itself. Time is nothing here, we have no perception of time and we are isolated. We stay on the property all day, everyday. Our day off is going to be on Wednesdays, so that is when we can go back into the real world and into town. Speaking of which, I'm definitely getting a massage Wednesday. My body is SORE!
Monday 1/2/2017
Today we started Actor/Audience, which is something I can't begin to process yet, so there will have to be a later blog devoted to just that. But we also started Play/Clown, we call it either, and it's so fun. We've been playing games and acting like children again. And we started dance classes, which I've always loved. Dancing makes me so happy and connected to my body and the music! I need to get back into regular classes once I get home.
I miss home so much. Actually, less than I thought I would, but it's still extremely hard. Thankfully, I have a great roommate that I've bonded with and I have a countdown until Stuart gets to come here to watch our final performances. I'm blessed to have such an amazing and supportive husband who is willing to support me in this time of development and devotion to my craft. I couldn't do this without the amazing family and friends I have at home being my biggest fans. Thank you!
Tuesday 1/3/2017
We finally got our scene assignments and I have the pleasure to play Lady Macbeth. It's going to be a huge challenge for me, but I know my Basics teacher, ABL, wanted to give me something I never thought I could do. I can't wait to get started. We aren't starting with the scripts in our hands at all, we are doing a technique called "dropping in". This technique is where someone give us the words from our scene first, then lines to say out loud to our scene partner while looking into their eyes the entire time. It's getting the words and lines into our bodies before doing any script analysis on the scene. I've never worked on a scene this way before so I am very excited to experience the text this way.
To some it all up, this experience has been amazing and exhausting. Today is my day off so I'm going to relax and prepare for the week ahead. Here's to three more weeks of this!