Rivals Scene Reviews

Rachel and Mel
Personally, I thought that this scene was fun to watch and Rachel and Mel did a super-duper job! Mel's "high-ho" was ridiculously over-the-top and perfect and established her character very early.  Rachel used her physicality to establish and clearly portray the status of her character which was also very well done. The frantic pace of the entire scene, and the quickening of that pace, brought out the humor in it.  I liked the way they used their voices to convey attitudes/character but I missed just a couple of words near the middle when they were both out of breath. Awesome job!

Ours
The lines in our scene tripped us up a little when we were rehearsing early on but we got it down by today - Kayla had some really tricky, wordy paragraphs in our scene and she memorized them like a boss! I definitely noticed my turtle head thing about 3/4 of the way through so that will be a good thing to work on for next time I do a period scene. I really enjoyed playing with that tension/Lydia trying to get Julia's attention through our blocking and, yep, if we had more time it would have been awesome to make it more pointed and specific. This was a fun scene to perform and Kayla rocked it, despite being sick and busy with Urinetown!

Kalond and JD
Two things I noticed right away in this scene were that both Kalond and JD had fun with their asides and had excellent diction! I loved the moment of JD's creepiness and watching Kalond's face slowly contort to this absolute-ly (haha, get it?) disgusted grimace. The posture was good for both actors and the energy stayed high and focused throughout the scene. Fabulous!

MA for Mel

Hey!
In this section, they discussed a lot about the stillness and thinking of the body as more of a curved line rather than a straight line.  This suggests that the way we are still in certain scenes, such as our period scenes in class, comes across even better than using a ton of gestures.  The moves end up being specific to the way people dress and are very isolated considering the fact that there is very little movement.




http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2F1600%25E2%2580%259350_in_Western_European_fashion&h=0&w=0&tbnid=VHIX0ACHpYLnpM&tbnh=252&tbnw=200&zoom=1&docid=lnvDPegsVUTpLM&ei=PNwZU-7iMMi_qwG384HYBA&ved=0CAUQsCUoAQ

MA 27-35

Stillness is interesting. We spend so much time focused on everything that is moving so we something or someone goes still it is noticeable. I really liked the example the book gave of the street performers who would act like statues. I have personally seen this done before. It is fascinating to watch someone so still, to see how they can hold themselves so still for so long is amazing. While reading this I also thought about the Improv Everywhere video where a huge group of people suddenly freeze in a huge crowed. The plays the book talked about where the actor would only move one aspect of themselves sounds interesting. I think it would be cool to watch for a bit but after a while I think I would be really bored.

MA and BW

Movement for Actors

I think that stillness onstage is absolutely fascinating to watch and is also one of the hardest things to hold as an actor. When I am onstage, I typically struggle the most with moments of just 'being' without feeling a need to justify my reason for still being on stage with some type of action or response. I usually feel slightly uncomfortable in moments of utter silence and stillness because I feel like I should be doing something. However, I think that one of the major distinctions between good theatre and great theatre is the actors' ability to be present and still because it creates this beautiful, vulnerable situation and it's so wonderful to watch.  Stillness is also a great opportunity for a type of honesty because characters/actors can't hide behind habitual or nervous movement.

Posture and Alignment

I thought that Lessac made an interesting opening point about posture being related to self perception and the way we relate to the world - I forget sometimes about how posture can influence our own and others perceptions of us. I liked that he described being "upright" as seeing your body as being made up of curved lines, not straight ones and that this perspective would help you move your joints as parts of that curve and less like angular lines jutting out of the straight line of the body. I was shocked at how much the measurements could change (shoulders, chest, back, etc.) based on stance and what posture you chose - some of the measurements doubled based on the way the person was standing! The images of skeletons in the chapter creeped me out a little bit so I decided to find another one for fun. :)

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-skeleton-illustration-image2897824 

MA 27-35

I loved this reading on theatrical stillness. Stillness can be so powerful on stage whether it's a dance piece or a play or performance art. I particularly liked Bonnie Marranca phrase describing stillness on stage as "expanding time and framing scenes." It's amazing how still an audience will get when the stage becomes still. Sometimes you can actually see them squirming in their seats, waiting for the action to resume, as time stands still and the seconds feel like hours.
I have experienced this many times as a dancer, either on stage or as an audience member. In one particular production it was choreographed that I remain still at center stage, staring directly into  the eyes of the poor person sitting in front of me for a full 3 minuets while 6 dancers continued to on with the choreography around me. In almost every run of the performance, the person I was staring at began to cry. I think mostly because they were uncomfortable, not because I am some super star actor/dancer that brings people to tears :)
I also like the idea of Meyerhold's "...theatre of slow, profound, significant motions ..." It make me feel like I should be more aware of all of my motions, slow or otherwise, on stage or off.

Below, a still dance scene not made for motion. If you look closely you can see my tattooed arm sticking out near the middle.

Dulce Dance Theatre, 2008, Phoenix, AZ

Comedy of Manners & 13

Comedy of Manners:

Wow, I loved this reading.  Obviously, I haven't been in class so I'm not sure if I was supposed to read the whole thing, but I did.  I couldn't have stopped myself if I wanted to.  I found it fascinating! It seems to me like everything in their lives was like a dance performance.  You are performing very specific and difficult moves but must always make it look effortless. That takes a lot of practice. Then, we are talking comedy of manners, so the actors need to do this as well.

I particularly liked the exercise section.  How fun.  It could take a month just to perfect one of the many bows that were described. I could see myself really getting into this style.

This is me beginning to learn traditional North Indian dance. We spent about ten minuets on this one pose and twenty minuets on how to properly stomp. Even the eyes are choreographed. Reminds me of the manners we are reading about.

Chapter 13:

Wow, that one is out there. And this coming from a yoga instructor!  Is this something that a lot of people are working with? I do get the importance of understanding that your body takes up more space than it's physical mass, and that the your eyes, ears and voice have their own reach as well, but this chapter seemed so unscholarly. The poor quality of the drawing also helped to raise one of my eyebrows as I read.

Costume Ideas & MA Part 4

This is the type of dress that I imagine Lucy would wear.  It is not as fancy as a high-class woman of 1775 England, but also not the dress of someone who spends all day scrubbing the floor:

http://www.pinterest.com/juliroo/the-way-we-wore-late-georgian-1750-1790/

Part 4 of MA:

Maybe it’s because I’m a dancer, but it’s always been a pet peeve of mine that all period dances look exactly the same when presented on stage in a theatrical production.  I don’t know if this is a lack of education on the choreographer’s part or the fact that it needs to remain simple so that the actors can learn it in a short amount of time.  Either way, I feel like I have a little more understanding of the difficulties after reading this chapter. 

The first thing that struck me in the reading and that I truly respect is on page 120 when she says, “I break many rules of the era, but by choice, because it helps the to tell the dramatic story today.” Yes, I say, always feel free to break the rules, but you must first know what they are and why you are breaking them.

I think another answer to my question comes from Peggy who say, “Keep it simple. Don’t try to turn actors into dancers.” I could see how that would make a lot of choreography look similar. 

Later, it says to make sure the actors are comfortable with their costumes, sets and music.  I don’t see that happening very often.  More often than not, the costumes are barely done in time and rehearsals begin way before the set is complete. I do think that in a perfect world, having the actors comfortable would absolutely be the best way.

I don’t think I will be taking advantage of any of the exercises in this chapter.  While they are not appropriate for me personally, I can see how they may help an actor with less dance experience.