Day 16-20
Alright, the timer is on, albeit, I probably should be writing more, when I skip days, but…this discipline was supposed to be more “novel/fun”, so…I haven’t felt the need to “follow the rules” too closely.
Tuesday, I went to rehearsal and worked on my actions for my character of Yvette. She has an action she will be doing on a fence, an dance that warns the others, a subtle version of that dance when she is taken by the troops and when she is returned, and then I have this action I created last fall in which she gives a gift. I (also) have some actions that are a part of her backstory, which I practice when I want to feel the “han” of her. I then did the wedding circuit, when I got home, in additions to some ballet, while I graded for five to six hours.
Wednesday I began the “training” that we’re doing at NACL, in preparation for COURAGE (our adaptation of Brecht’s MOTHER COURAGE). Anyway, one of the co-artistic directors, Brad Krumholz, is leading the training. It’s an hour and fifteen minutes with a variety of layers. The first layer is noticing: using the eyes to see, using the ears to hear, using one’s proprioception to feel, and using one’s other senses to smell, etc. The next layer using the feet to massage the floor or the floor to massage the feet as you walk through the space in a forward/flowing motion (no sharp turns, not moving backward), and the last layer is to balance the space with the amount of people in it. All layers continue to work as the ensemble moves into the next explorations, which include: freezing at the same time, going down to the floor and coming back up, the equalizer (pushing against other ensemble members), the center working off others’ centers like a comet orbiting and bouncing off others’ orbits, and then touching another ensemble members’ body and moving to the floor with them. The rest of the group had already started the day before, but I didn’t feel too left out. We talked after the training, and Brad mentioned that we “stalk our habits” when we train, and it is true. I (often) stalk my tense shoulders, my historical trauma in my neck (which probably causes the tension in my shoulders), my too expressive face, and my tendency to fall into “bliss” (or what David Taft used to call my not-caring-for-my-process-problem). I always balked at the criticism I received about not-caring-for-my-process, but it’s true, I sometimes just love flying and experiencing, and I don’t care that that’s what I’m doing in that moment. I think performers need that sometimes… I did the wedding circuit later that evening.
Thursday, I did the training again and one of the group members mentioned that she felt that we didn’t spend enough time on some things and that she had doors she was opening but didn't have time to open them. I have felt similarly, but I’ve learned to find those doors earlier, so I can open them the next time. For example, I have found the shadows in the room and the light differentiation fascinating. Later I did the wedding circuit and went to a kick boxing class with my friends Tara and Noah.
The timer went out, but I have to mention that on Friday I did the training, again, and found that I really was learning from the other bodies in the room that day; a different way to balance my own body. I sometimes struggle with finding quiet feet and not creating tension in the rest of my body, when having quiet feet, but the acrobatic stilt/theater/dance performers in the room have such a history of kinesthetics to see, in regards to balance, and I really observed and tried to embrace some of that energy Friday.
Saturday I, only, walked the dogs 3xs and did the wedding circuit. I wasn’t too interested in pushing myself, yesterday…I did, however, go to chorus rehearsal and exercise my vocal chords and my two halves of my brain that need to harmonize/carry my own in the rhythm of rounds, in addition to standing the entire time, while watching the Carpet Bag Brigade performance. I think I did enough…
Alright, the timer is on, albeit, I probably should be writing more, when I skip days, but…this discipline was supposed to be more “novel/fun”, so…I haven’t felt the need to “follow the rules” too closely.
Tuesday, I went to rehearsal and worked on my actions for my character of Yvette. She has an action she will be doing on a fence, an dance that warns the others, a subtle version of that dance when she is taken by the troops and when she is returned, and then I have this action I created last fall in which she gives a gift. I (also) have some actions that are a part of her backstory, which I practice when I want to feel the “han” of her. I then did the wedding circuit, when I got home, in additions to some ballet, while I graded for five to six hours.
Wednesday I began the “training” that we’re doing at NACL, in preparation for COURAGE (our adaptation of Brecht’s MOTHER COURAGE). Anyway, one of the co-artistic directors, Brad Krumholz, is leading the training. It’s an hour and fifteen minutes with a variety of layers. The first layer is noticing: using the eyes to see, using the ears to hear, using one’s proprioception to feel, and using one’s other senses to smell, etc. The next layer using the feet to massage the floor or the floor to massage the feet as you walk through the space in a forward/flowing motion (no sharp turns, not moving backward), and the last layer is to balance the space with the amount of people in it. All layers continue to work as the ensemble moves into the next explorations, which include: freezing at the same time, going down to the floor and coming back up, the equalizer (pushing against other ensemble members), the center working off others’ centers like a comet orbiting and bouncing off others’ orbits, and then touching another ensemble members’ body and moving to the floor with them. The rest of the group had already started the day before, but I didn’t feel too left out. We talked after the training, and Brad mentioned that we “stalk our habits” when we train, and it is true. I (often) stalk my tense shoulders, my historical trauma in my neck (which probably causes the tension in my shoulders), my too expressive face, and my tendency to fall into “bliss” (or what David Taft used to call my not-caring-for-my-process-problem). I always balked at the criticism I received about not-caring-for-my-process, but it’s true, I sometimes just love flying and experiencing, and I don’t care that that’s what I’m doing in that moment. I think performers need that sometimes… I did the wedding circuit later that evening.
Thursday, I did the training again and one of the group members mentioned that she felt that we didn’t spend enough time on some things and that she had doors she was opening but didn't have time to open them. I have felt similarly, but I’ve learned to find those doors earlier, so I can open them the next time. For example, I have found the shadows in the room and the light differentiation fascinating. Later I did the wedding circuit and went to a kick boxing class with my friends Tara and Noah.
The timer went out, but I have to mention that on Friday I did the training, again, and found that I really was learning from the other bodies in the room that day; a different way to balance my own body. I sometimes struggle with finding quiet feet and not creating tension in the rest of my body, when having quiet feet, but the acrobatic stilt/theater/dance performers in the room have such a history of kinesthetics to see, in regards to balance, and I really observed and tried to embrace some of that energy Friday.
Saturday I, only, walked the dogs 3xs and did the wedding circuit. I wasn’t too interested in pushing myself, yesterday…I did, however, go to chorus rehearsal and exercise my vocal chords and my two halves of my brain that need to harmonize/carry my own in the rhythm of rounds, in addition to standing the entire time, while watching the Carpet Bag Brigade performance. I think I did enough…
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