Dell' Arte: Suffering

Week Seven:

We applaud you, because you suffer.

This week started off rough for me.  It was all about music and movement and putting the two together.  I love both of these things and they mean a lot to me, BUT we were challenged in our movement to BE the music, to PUSH the music, to PULL the music, to be WITH the music, and to go AGAINST the music.  All of these needed to be distinguished apart from one another.  People were physically able to do this and I felt that I was the only one in the room who could not.  This of course was not helpful.  Also, our theme for the week was "Whispers of running streams and winter lightning".  We were told that we NEED to step up and invest our entire selves.  Week seven, come on guys, get it together.

Our group struggled greatly throughout the week, as did many.  But no one felt like they had something to say or had a passionate view of the experiment we chose to invest our time in.  On top of that, two of the five group members were battling illnesses.  We had developed a small piece and on Thursday all the groups shared what they had been working on.

Well.
Everyone was told to scrap everything and make an entire new piece for the next day.  Tension was high and everyone was on edge in the studio.  Our group found something and developed it, but after we got a night of rest in, we awoke with the feeling, this is shit.  And it was, we were shooting in the dark and had no idea what we were doing in that p-lab.

P-lab was great.  Every group struggled and suffered.  BUT we worked on our pieces like you would in a lab and workshop-ed specific ideas we were playing with to music.  Everything changed drastically. Everyone was making it too complicated and Ronlin was able to find these great moments and strip them to them down. We were all very vulnerable and could stand up in front of the world and say, I don't know.   And that was ok.  That lab was just what we needed.  Now I'm not saying that we finally broke out of our shells and habits, but maybe something started a crack that day.

Yes, I felt embarrassed during our group's p-lab, but we suffered.  And through that suffering, there are gains being made.  I am incredibly thankful.

Dell Arte: Personal Authority

Week Six:

This we begin the five week section of Actor's Intent.

This week we had Ronlin's identical twin brother, Donlin, come and teach during the week.  Ronlin and Donlin.  No joke.  A little history about Donlin:  He worked with Martha Graham and her company until shortly after her death.  And after working with him, you could say he knows his shit.

Donlin led our three hour afternoon session on Monday.  We had heard stories that Donlin is just like Ronlin, but without the heart and loving side.  So, needless to say, some of us were quite nervous.  The work we did in class was very specific, even more so than we are used to.  As class progressed, you could tell that some people were not present and in the room.  People were entering late during passes we were making along the floor, walking in and out of class for bathroom breaks, and leaning against walls.  A lesson that I walked away with was that we need to take personal authority for what we are doing here.  That we won't come in late on a beat if we are already here and present.  It all comes off as lazy and uninspired.  Nothing of importance.  Not that it is important, but that it matters.  What we do, day to day, matters.  How we engage in class and with people is important.

We had classes with Michael Fields this week as well. He is another teacher here at Dell Arte. Some might say he resembles an angry Santa.  Before each class with him, we sing a song in a round.  This makes us listen on many levels and open our eyes and be aware, not only of ourselves but those in our group and the company.  His lesson is that action is key.  He says it's called a play, not two hours of people talking.  Rather than filling in all the blanks for the audience, follow the action and let the audience use the imagination to develop their story.

Our p-lab of animal picnic went better this week.  You could see a drastic change in the risks people took and the specificity in the gate of the animal.   For example, one of my groups sections was raven.  Once we put the physical image of their beaks in us and imagined this sharp beak cutting into the space in front of us, they became more alive by imagination rather than physically trying to push out our noses.  One thing they told us this week that we really need to abandon doing something right or wrong.  No matter what we do, there will be criticism and if there ever is a chance that there is not, then something was seriously wrong.

We talked alot about contradictions in our work.  That they are all over and naturally exist and that they are to be embraced,  I can't remember why this stuck with me and what it means to me, but I'll write it here anyway.

Um, that is it for now.

Dell Arte: Recap

Week Five:

This caps our first five week term on the Physical Actor.

This week was working with animals, which reminded me alot of the atude work at ISU.  The theme for the week was "animal picnic". Go.

Well...

It was a struggle bus.  Our bodies felt like death by the end of the week.  Why? Because on top of all of the acrobatic and physical work we do during the day, we spent three hours at night moving our bodies in inhuman ways.  There were so many muscles you felt that you did not know existed.  So, it was a great difficulty moving forward through the exhaustion and pain on Thursday to put this animal picnic together by Friday afternoon.

Friday's critique was that we weren't the animals.  And we weren't on a picnic.  The existing question is how can I be an animal?   And it's funny because it's a contradiction in itself because we of course are human so we physically can not be a hippo, for example.  And yet, here we are working toward the impossible, because just maybe, it might not be.

We were reassigned animal picnic.  New groups. Scrap it all. Explore again.

In review:

I don't know how five weeks have passed by so fast.  They started extremely slow and before I knew it, we were halfway through November. During week four, I had a mind fuck (pardon my language).  I went to write week four blog and my mind blanked.  I felt I had nothing new to say and that nothing was sticking and I was learning nothing.  So I beat myself up mentally and kept asking myself, what am I doing here? I can't even learn and I have nothing to say.  I have no purpose being here.

I normally push things down, bottle them up and cap it all in.  However, it comes to a point when one person notices a slight difference in me and they ask "are you ok?"  And I burst.   This happened this week.  It was rough and it sucks.  I am lucky I have made such deep and personal connections with the people I work with.  I opened up, cried, and let it go through me, out, and into the world.  It was a great relief.  On a personal level, I want to learn how to cry when I feel like crying.  Rather than holding it in.

You can not go through this program alone.  It is impossible and the sooner you allow yourself to feel these deep things, and let go, the sooner you can get to the work.  And that is where I am at.

The Tale of Snow White: Opening

It was absolutely terrifying to open this show. I've opened many shows and never has my chest got so tight. My reputation wasn't on the line, but rather the easily bruised souls of children who had poured all they had, for two months, into the show. Sure, they learned a lot and made many friends but would they be able to look back and remember this night with joy if nobody else liked it. If all they could remember was a quiet and bored house.

Of course, I didn't really have anything to worry about. Even if they didn't necessarily like theatre, the family and extended family would all be there to support the children they love. However, once the show got started, what we heard was not an obligatory chuckle but rather an involuntary uproar. They were eating it up.

It was during this first performance that I was able to appreciate Kiersten's directing fully, whether she meant it or not, she had included many jokes aimed at an older generation. In the first few minute we hear empty coconut husks as a horse's trot, reminding everyone of Monty Python. Right after that, we hear many recognizable movie soundtracks. Later, we have Frank Sinatra lyrics laced into the show. Now, not all of the cast understood the references but they still had a blast incorporating them into their show. 

With the house lights out and a sole mission of managing the stage and calling cues, I was able to take in all the stage images the show had to offer. In every scene Kiersten had at least one picture that sticks vividly in my mind. My favorite will always be the seven dwarves huddled around the bed while Snow White sleeps.

Just as I expected, riding the energy of the audience like mini rock stars, the kids absolutely killed the show. Reserves of energy they rarely tapped into for rehearsals, were seemingly at their fingertips as audience cheers egged them on. Moments that never rang true in rehearsal now twinkled every time.With every scene I became more and more confident in the kids, the show, and all the hard work we put into it.

The Tale of Snow White : Tech Week

   Although tech week for the show was very organized, my eyes were opened to all the intricate tasks of a stage manager.
   After sending out all the reminder emails about tech week protocol, hair, and makeup, I then had to focus on training the crew and figuring out all of their scene shifts. Because this show doesn't have many set pieces we had to find ways to keep them interested. I decided to make up a chart of everything they had to do. Not only of the set pieces and exactly when they were to move those on and off, but also if there was ever a time they could grab a prop from an actor just to make it a bit easier for the cast.
I also decided that I would make a prop list for each side of the stage and have them laminated. This way the kids could use a dry erase marker and go through and check off the props before and after the show, to make sure everything was in order.
   Adding the light and sound cues in was a breeze and made for one of the least stressful tech weeks I've ever experienced. It felt like all the elements came together in a way that they complimented each other very well. I learned that it is necessary to keep the parents in the loop as best as possible with reminders and emails because it's very unlikely that they'll check their rehearsal schedule everyday.

Dell' Arte: Place and Event

Fourth Week.

We began this week working more with elements, movement, and masks.

I received some feedback while I was playing with fire: that I need to be grounded.  Once I'm up on toes, the tension goes into the thighs, upper chest, and neck.  I also felt it in my jaw.  All of this would be avoided and make the play clearer simply by being grounded though the foot to the earth. It was also made obvious that no one would ever "get" the elements and it might be that no one ever has. This week made it perfectly clear that the things we do it class are exercises. There is never a right or wrong way.  You just have to play and experience through.

As humans, we are all different in our own ways.  BUT if you strip down everything, we are made of the same stuff and no matter what we have individually, rhythm is our saving grace.  Through a common beat, we can get to the base and out of that we are unified and can engage in a more dynamic theater.  Dynamic through contrast and levels.  This concept was played with during a movement game.  We had to listen to one another and the tempo of the group to play in something engaging for an outside eye.  I do not know if we ever achieved this task, but that is not the point. While moving, there was a beat or structure we needed to follow.  Our challenge: not to be just on the beat but IN it.  What does that mean? and How does one do that? are questions we all had, but no answers.  Here there are no problems and no solutions. Only proposals.

This week was another struggle.  Our p-lab was that we needed to create a place and event.  That was all the instruction we received.  Oh yeah, also, no words. We had an epic fail.  Our concept was in a field when a tornado hit.  This is all well and good, but our situation needed words.  The fact that we didn't use words takes the audience out completely.  Normally, people would be yelling get in the shelter, ya-dee, ya-dee, ya-duh.  So our challenge was to create an event that words were not required and through the event a place would be established.  Ours was very unclear to the audience and did not create a thrilling theater.

The mask focused on listen to it and letting it effect you.  Knowing that when creating a mask, it is a partner ship.  You are learning how the material works and allowing it to move rather than imposing on it your ideas or what you think would look cool here or there.  Being curious and just playing.

Still having trouble breaking out of this shell I'm in.  I'm having trouble taking the risk to fail, to hurt, to love, to cry.  So I continue forward into week 5.