Jeremah

It has been so long, and so much has happened..

So Much.

Especially this week.

I feel funny and tangled, and excited and happy and small and ridiculous.

And I hear a familiar squeak. But it is unannounced, so probably my imagination.

But I’ll investigate anyway.

A false alarm, it seems. Just the reversing tone of an annoying truck as it works tirelessly to de-forest my neighbourhood.

First Butoh class of 2008. How terribly excited we all were. I know it is pointless to talk about Butoh, but I guess I will describe what happened, and how I feel about it all.

Moving Meditation

• Start in neutral, feet shoulder-width apart, eyes open, or in soft focus. Image of a string extending from the top of the head, keeping the body upright, but free of tension.
• Take attention to the breath, making it audible and energised.
• Feel a connection to the earth and let the feet relax into the floor, relieving any tension.
• Working the way up the body, relieving tension and finding a state of empty relaxation.
• Using the image of a string attached to the right hip, slowly let the string pull your hip forward. Suddenly, the string is cut, and the body returns to neutral. The string attaches itself to points around the hips, always being cut, and bringing the body back to neutral. Repeat with the chest.
• The string now attaches itself to the right elbow, and draws it up as far as possible. A string is attached to the elbow, and then the middle finger, drawing the body up. The strings are sequentially cut, and the body reacts accordingly. This repeats for the other arm.
• From neutral, the image is used of a paintbrush extending from the centre, painting figure-of-eights on the far wall. These gradually expand in size, so that the movement encompasses the entire body. The movement gradually decreases until it is entirely contained within the body. Different parts of the body are then used to paint the figures.
• From neutral, the body rolls down so that the torso is hanging from the hips. The image is used of roots extending down, through the feet and into the earth. These roots find a subterranean stream, and draw water up into the body, which gradually fills up until it is once again upright. After experiencing this sensation, the water is gradually let go through the top of the head, until the empty vessel is left, once again, with the torso hung from the hips. This image is repeated, with great specificity, and the tempo increases until the movements coincide with single breaths, in and out. The body eventually finds a point of stillness at the top of the cycle, and the water slowly drains for a last time, until the body is completely in contact with the earth.
• The image of a precious object is then placed in the hands, with the intention of giving the object to the group. This brings life into the hands, and eventually the body, bringing the body up, out of the earth. Once standing, the objects are brought together in the space, and collectively relesed into the sky.

One of the key principles of  is the concept that the body does not move of its own accord. The dancer must cultivate a ‘dead body’, one that is empty, primed for the placement of an image, or pure emotion which stimulates movement. This concept can be practiced by the use of any number of sense memory exercises. Eventually, we are working toward a state of being that embodies the notion that it is the negative space around the body that generates movement, and not the body itself. This negative space can also exist within the body, which is just a vessel.

Leading the Blind

• In partners, dancers take turns to lead each other around the space. One participant has their eyes closed, and must only move in relation to the stimulus created by their partner through the connection of the hands.
• Eventually, the partners share their dance with the group, focusing on the poetic potential of the movement.

The Back Dance

• In partners, dancers have a conversation using only their backs, which are in constant contact. Eyes are closed.
• There is incredible freedom in this dance to explore every possibility, as long as the dancers backs stay in contact.
• Eventually, the dancers split up, each performing their experience of the conversation for their partner.

The Feather and the Pencil

• Once again in pairs, dancers take turns to give their partners a sensory experience, conjuring a dance through the stimulation of the body by an object (feather or pencil). The dancer must abandon totally to the experience, moving only in relation to the external stimulation.
• Eventually, the stimulation is halted, and the dancer performs their experience for their partner.
• After both dancers have participated, they come together, initially to recreate The Back Dance, and moving on to drop in the images of their individual sensory experiences.
• It is an exploration of what beauty can be created by simply combining contrasting images.

Reflections:

• The partner work becomes less about what you are creating and more about what happens within the body of your partner.
• I had an overwhelming sense of nurturing from my partner, who worked with the image of the feather - her dance was light, and mine was twisted and erratic. We were playing with not letting the each other’s images cloud our experience, whilst still creating a unified image between us. There were points where we did come together in a unique compromise, and then we broke apart, and continued to work with our own images, albeit slightly modified. It was a very beautiful experience.
• My partner had just returned to performing after breaking her neck in a Contact Improvisation class over a year ago. At the time, I was only aware that she had an injury, and it turned out that this was her first experience performing with a partner since the accident. I felt terribly was privileged to go through it with her. She was incredibly beautiful to watch, and to dance with, completely open and aware. We had a beautiful level of sincerity and sensitivity between us, really one of those moments that is a joy to dance.

Well, what can I say?

The most important thing we learned was that it is a waste of time to go to LA to work. Unless we, by some fluke of universal consequence happen to get a visa, and also have a flawless Standard American accent.

Also, don’t sit on your arse waiting for work, make it happen (duh).

If you set out to be a celebrity, you will fail.

It’s all about who you now, how many names you can drop, and how many parties you sneak into.

*Insert boring story about how you have a name in LA for sneaking into Studio Parties here*

That is all.

The first Training Room of the year. Woot.

Last night we had what felt like 100 people in the same space, all training together. Of course, it was probably more like 60, but it was crowded. Lots of new faces. Lots of old ones too.

We warmed up with Kat, and then moved right into Basic Number 1. After a couple rounds of that we went straight into Barra Barra. As Simon said, from the most basic of Suzuki’s exercises, to one of the most advanced peices that we do. At least we have ironed out all the cues:

• Actors standing in neutral, head to chest, eyes closed. Take 3 counts of 8 to raise head, and open eyes on scream.
• Retain neutral for 1 more count of eight, and then on the next count of one, the cue to stomp. (At this stage, everyone stomps too fast. I think people anticipate that is faster than a regular stomp, and overdo it, when it isn’t all that much faster. By the time the beats come in it usually has ironed itself out.)
• Stomp through until the beat drops out of the music once again (just under 3 minutes). There are then 2 counts of 8 before the cue to drop.
• On 1, the centre drops to the floor, into an energised state of readiness. Hold for 4 counts.
• On 1, the centre rises to a specific point of focus, taking 2 counts of 8 to arrive, engaging the entire body with an image relating to the focus. The centre drops once again on the count of 1. Repeat for a total of 3 cycles.
• On the 4th cue, bring the centre and the image forward over 2 counts of 8, changing the position of the centre in space, the point of focus, and the physicalisation of the image on the count of one. Repeat for a total of 3 cycles, moving the centre forward at a constant speed the entire time.
• On the 4th cue, the group should settle into a phalanx, with the person closest to centre taking the extreme downstage, and the rest of the group arranged at an angle eitherside, so those on the extreme left and right are almost completely upstage. There is 8 counts to settle into this position, fixing the spatial relationships in preperation for the rest of the exercise.
• On the next count of 1, the position of the centre, point of focus and image once again change, and is held in dynamic stillness for a count of eight. The body should be free of unessecary tension (especially in the upper body), and the weight of the body should be up on the balls of the feet, with the heels slightly lifted off the floor. This continues through 6 cycles.
• On the 7th cycle, the entire group takes their centre to a low point of focus, on the next count, alternating to a high point, and continuing until the 11th cue.
• On this next cue, the heels are lowered, and the arms are positioned outstretched, either side of the body, paralell to the floor. For 2 counts of 8, the centre then moves in a erratic and percussive manner, with the image of a paintbrush extending from the bellybutton, and painting the opposite wall. The aim is to keep the centre engaged whilst meeting the obligation of keeping the lower and the upper body completely still and free of tension.
• On the next count of 1, the centre stops, and the arms come to life. Sword Arms: arms are straight, fingers together, and moving in extremely fast, completely random patterns. The two obligations are that the arms must not extend any further back than the actors line of sight, and that no patterns are to repeat. The arms are completely isolated from the rest of the body. The centre must remain in the same position at all times.
• This action contiues for 1 count of 8, with to body coming to dynamic stilness on the next count of 1. This stilness continues for 1 count of 8, and the Sword Arms then continue for another cycle of 4 counts of 8.
• On the next count of 1, the body becomes instantly soft, arms floating in space, as if shot from behind and transformed into a cloud of smoke.
• The centre then moves forward, with the group modifying their individual tempos in order to meet at one line, extreme downstage by the final moment of music.

After working on this sequence for the better part of an hour, we moved on to an excercise that was new for me, The River Styx.

But I do’t have the time to write about tht now.

These are classes in 100% pure naturalistic acting.

After 12 weeks, you WILL be changed. This course is challenging, and you will be constantly questioning yourself and your craft. You will sit in the unknown.

“Know Thyself” - The Oracle at Delphi
This is one of the most important principles for the actor. Without knowing yourself, you can never hope to act with any kind of conviction.

Acting is about Listening and Responding.

Some History: The Moscow Art Theatre brought life to the stage in a world saturated with demonstrative production. This caused a riot in America in the early 1900’s, and as a result artists such as Lee Strasbourg and Sanford Meisner started to develop what is now known as ‘Method’ acting. Somewhere along the line there was a rift.

STRASBOURG: Believed in the effectiveness of Emotional Memory. Playing real memories and personal emotions on the stage.

MEISNER: Believed that what is in the actor’s past is unnecessary for the creation of art. He believed that the imagination is far more powerful than memory, and that it was all the actor needed. For Strasbourg, acting is about action (reaction).

• You cannot let go of memories - you cannot totally disconnect after the fact
• Memories wear out, lose their power and sometimes forgotten altogether
• Knowledge is limited, imagination is limitless. It seems that many would agree (Einstein, Napoleon etc.)

Precepts of the Meisner Method:

1. Acting is the ability to live truthfully under the given imaginary circumstances.
   • ‘Ability’ implies that acting is a skill. Skills can be taught.
   • What is the difference between living ‘truthfully’ and living ‘reality’?
     Reality exists, whereas truth has the potential to exist. Of course, there is an overlap, but this is the essential difference between what is everyday, and what is on the stage.
   • The ‘given imaginary circumstances’ is the world of the fiction of the piece. Not just the narrative, but the entire reality (however fictional) that this engenders.
2. The foundation of good acting is the reality of doing.
   • “I will do whatever I am asked to do, however absurd, 100% truthfully as myself.
     • You can never hope to be an amazing actor without having a grasp of who you are.
     • What is not accepted by the actor, cannot be used on stage.
   • Character doesn’t exist. the only thing that exists are versions of the actor, however extreme. The process of ‘becoming’ a ‘character’ is not so much ‘putting it on’, rather, stripping back what is unnecessary for the role, and letting the audience in to your performance. Even if the role demands things that you think you are not capable of, your JOB is to GO THERE.
     • “There is no crime of which I am not capable” - Goethe
     • “Get in touch with the inner child killer, rapist, murderer…” - Jamie Kable

     EXERCISE: “Counting the Bricks”

     • One half of the group was asked to count the bricks in the wall. There was a time limit. Towards the end, Jamie informed the group that if they didn’t get the answer right, they would have to leave the course. The other half observed.
     • Nobody was interested in who got the right answer, what was interesting was the truthful reactions of the participants who reacted to the stimulus. They were ‘performing an action for which there was a consequence’ (perceived or otherwise). Emotion will come from this truthful action (reaction / response).
   • There is nothing you can experience on stage which the audience will not recognise.
   • You are Enough!
3. LISTEN!!!
   • It is not about you. It is about those that you share the space with.

General Notes

• You will not be amazing overnight - be content with experiencing and enjoying the journey.
• You must renounce the fruits of your actions, the only thin you need to do is your duty as an actor.

Do. Feel. Think

EXERCISE: “What do you see?”

• A pair of participants sit facing each other in front of the group. They are asked to look at each other, and tell the audience what they see. Only what they see. They asked to be as specific as they can, without passing judgement, and without using ’shades of grey’. Terms such as; like, almost, relatively and ‘…ish’ are banned in favour of clear-cut choices.
  • Something is, or it is not. Theatre exists in the now, and Holy Theatre must be conscious and specific. The Deadly Theatre is wishy-washy and non-committal.
  • An actor must know what they want and how to get it.
  • Extraordinary acting is a condensed and heightened form of existence. It does not exist in the everyday, in the mundane. That is what makes it engaging, that is what makes it interesting.
  • You cannot fail if you are truthful.

EXERCISE: “Repetition”

• One of the pair is now instructed to lower their gaze, close their eyes, and on cue, open them and name the first thing that they see. Their partner is to repeat everything they hear. This is not an exercise in repeating words. It is an exercise on listening, letting that affect the actor, and having the actor speak from that, albeit with strict constraints.
  • Words are not important.
  • Don’t change for the sake of variety - this is not truthful.
  • Do not go too fast - let the words land, affect you, then speak. . Fee. Think.
  • Play is important, but have a level of respect for the exercise. Find real relationships.
  • Do not intellectualise the exercise. It is not about the exercise, but rather the outcome.

General Notes

• “General is the enemy of Art” - Stanislavski
• Acting is not about changing the self, it is about affecting change within the other.
• Behaviour never lies?? [Maybe behaviour that comes from truth never lies]

“Self-betrayal, magnified to suit the optics of the theatre is the whole art of acting” - G. B. Shaw

Homework

• An hour of the Repetition exercise with partner (Jeremy)
  • No Thinking
  • Just repeating
  • You will know when to change subject

With Butoh, and will presently be making it a lifestyle choice.

Just so you know…

The last month happened.

It was strange, busy, exciting, and full of wonderful and confusing emotions.

I got to say goodbye to a lover, and hello to a best friend.

I worked, and played, and worked some more.

I ate for a week, then sprent a week living in the mud.

It was glorious.

And now I have a house to myself.

And it is raining.

And my new life is about to begin.

Brothers.

Probably just need to watch Eternal Summer again.

Yeah.

I feel… mneyah…

Tired, stuffy, a little sick in the tummy, emotional, tangled and dirty.

Lots of reasons. Not all of which will be fixed by a long(ish) hot shower and a good lie down.

But that’s what I am prescribing.

One step forward, two steps back.

When all of your freinds are the coastal, pretty, obnoxious, straight pseudo-metro-surfer types who most likely go to the same church as my sister, there is really no point in pursuing the issue.

Not a very good fisher at all.

That’s all.

“He’s gay…

He’s not…

Today, we test your gaydar live on air. 5 gay guys, 5 straight guys, but which is which?

Breaking down sterotypes, only on The Morning Show, straight after Sunrise”

What is wrong with this picture?