Day ThirtyU Boating

CLASSES:
Movement: We did more work on takes and physical communication or expression of thoughts/emotions, as differentiated from mundane everyday gestures. It turns out this is difficult for me. I think I need to spend time with this in the house, stretching what I do physically both with a mirror and without.

I brought in my prop and was the first volunteer for the exercise. It went well, and the feedback was very similar to the comedic scene we did in Acting on Friday. Keep the focus/scope small. I did a bit with a folding nylon lounge chair, going through troubles getting it out of the bag, setting it up, and rebagging it. The set up was simply to get me back to bagging it. George said I could have done the whole thing with just trying to get it back in the bag. He really liked the choice I made for the finish. I threw the strap over my shoulder and the chair fell out of the bag. Instead of trying to put it in the bag again, I put the bag over it and left, leaving it there like a bedsheet over a road kill.

Speech: More exercises in clarity, with one being reading the bizarre word lists which were used by some spammers to defeat junk mail filters. We are working on the specific physical actions of the speech articulators, and most of us are finding it pretty fun.

Voice: After warmup we worked with the idea of the voice instrument being a pipe, and by leaning the head back (while extending the spine to avoid crunching cervical vertebrae) we could make it a straight vertical pipe. We then imagined painting the ceiling, then the wall, then the floor different colors with our voice. Using half voiced then full voicing modes. Then on to our scenes, and I was prepared to volunteer, but we only got through one student, who was waiting since our last session.

Acting: We started off with exercises about status and power, with half the class trying to please and entertain the king/queen in their group. Status. One person had something on the king/queen so they weren't killed off during the second go. Power. "Scott, Scott, Scott, Die" happened towards the end of the first go through, second in the next.

Then, we did some interesting character exploration. We started with the partnered exercise, with music playing, where the first person lies on their back visualizing sinking into the floor. The partner takes the weight of their head, and moves it around gently through full range of motion. The person on the floor was to think of three adjectives describing their character. (I chose greedy, oily, obsequious -- the other Pancrazio picked greedy, smarmy, vicious.) Then the partner worked one arm, then the other, followed by each of the legs. During the arms and the first leg the person on the floor started exploring physically with each of the adjectives in turn, on the last leg and brush down we tried to meld them together. I found this tricky, trying to relax a limb while exploring with the other three. The partner helped us up, brushed the back, butt, and legs which were on the floor. We tried to find the walk, attitude, and look while moving with eyes closed, and partners keeping us from colliding. Then with sound, then eyes open.

John adjusted us, and I'm not sure how helpful it was, as in my case he seemed to make the two Pancrazio's very similar. It was great for demo purposes, and the two Pancrazio's were one of the pairs which did some text work (repeating small bits, getting a feel for them) in front of the class. It was fun, but I would have liked to explore my own hits a bit more. Then again the difficulty I found in movement translates directly here, so following suggestions is most likely the way to go until things become more organic for me.


OBSERVATIONS/CLICKS: I felt like the village idiot in Movement and Acting today, and would have in Voice if we'd had time to work my monologue. I used last week to catch up on rest and connection with the day job. Self-care I needed to do. Yet it left me feeling I'd shirked. I don't really believe I was shirking, but the thought was enough, and left me feeling doltish. Should I be cross I torpedoed myself that way? Should I feel pleased I didn't let it stop me working and giving it my best? Yes, and no.

The first question begs the answer, and as I thought and answered the second question surprised me. Yes, I've learned to push forward, and work deeper than I would have thought I could in the past, even when I'm not feeling tip top. So I worked through it, but I would have learned more, had I been in a better space to begin with. I should be past the point of needing to reaffirm a more professional approach to the work. Start at the root, and keep my emotional state at a point where I avoid undercutting myself. It is easier and more effective to give your best if you don't compromise it ahead of time.

It reminds me of the all too common tendency I have to deflect compliments. At least it is now a tendency I am aware of, and avoid more often than not. The setting up of oneself to perform below your expectations has much the same feel. In both cases you're limiting your ability to feel good about yourself. Do these two tendencies reflect an identical behavior pattern of undermining your self-image? Some over-active and misdirected drive to avoid any appearance of conceit?