if . . .

Acting School  begins again in May.       :: Note:: ... started in March ... had to return to Canada ... started up again in May ... classes vary but always with AeRan ... 

... term concludes ... an exploration ... last summer returned to the source of my beginnings & was given the gift this term to practice a reflection ... began with see-listen-encounter-reveal ...  Thus 'revealing' is not as much an act of showing as it is an inner deed of letting, releasing, and offering ... a transition from the 'outer' to the 'inner' ... from 'work' to 'deed': "The actor should not use his organism to illustrate 'a movement of the soul,' he should accomplish this movement with his organism.  (Kris Salata. The Unwritten Grotowski . p.55 with the embedded end quote from Grotowski's Towards A Poor Theatre . p. 123) ... term concludes with a deed ...  a deed without a name ...  Deed, by means of movement/dancingness/aliveness, is merely an instrument of the body, the heart and the breath of the doers ... :: Note :: ... my humblest thanks to students so committed to the way ...

Expressive Movement IV: The way towards a personal movement training. Investigating creative potentialities through a rigorous confrontation with the elements of an actors movement/action.   Aspects of inquiry: - Centering, grounding, body mapping, rhythm and flow - Space awareness devoted to:  taking care and reacting to the space,  spatial   balancing, creating partnership with the space, in the space with an object.                                      - Pre-creative potentialities of movement. - Plastiques and Corporals  (Jerzy Grotowski and the Teatr Laboratorium) - Relations between precision and organicity. - Associations: the impulses / the vigilant mind. - Associations within a structure. - Gesture (Michael Chekov) - Methodologies: theory and performance praxis    - Dancingness: Aliveness, presence a...

Fundamentals of Movement II: An actor ’ s movement training. Investigating an actor ’ s training through a rigorous confrontation with movement on the body, movement in space and movement as encounter.   Aspects of inquiry: - Centering, grounding, body mapping, rhythm and flow - Space awareness devoted to: taking care and reacting to the space,  spatial   balancing, creating partnership with the space - Plastiques and Corporals.  (Jerzy Grotowski and the Teatr  Laboratorium)                                      - Mask in movement. - Relaxation, flexibility, discipline, spontaneity. - Attention and connection. - Working with the dreaming body. - Associations and impulses. - Gesture. (Michael Chekov) - Energy, lightness and precision. - Creation of a movement score: its logic and actions. - Methodologies: theory and perf...

There once was a woman who spent a long time backstage. She had no reason for doing this, other than she was weary, and sadly she was  even more weary backstage, which is dark and consists mainly of scenic flats and props made to look real but are illusions.  One day she noticed a spotlight in the corner and decided to plug it in.  A beam of gold light shot across the stage. A group of actors flinched and shielded their eyes, a director shouted, a stage manager came running and stage hands appeared as if from nowhere thrashing about in the dark as if a fire alarm had sounded and they were seeking the exit. All stopped in front of the light. Dust particles danced in the beam and a moth wildly fluttered trapped eventually exploding nearing the heat of the light. Someone pulled the plug and backstage returned to its weary dark illusions. She thought about crying or maybe screaming but was too weary and besides she found herself onstage only no one could see her...

"After Stanislavsky, acting was changed; after Meyerhold, directing; after Brecht, playwriting. But after Grotowski?" - Richard Schechner Life is acting. Do we understand that ? Do we want to understand that . But what, in us, questions life is acting? What disputes that , despite everything? That we think thought is life. The most important thing is that our experiences reveal we are acting all the time. That when we feel we do not act we do not live. That we want nothing more than to live. We act. But we do not know that we act. We do not live. But we do not know that we do not live. Actors train to act. Actors keep the life of wanting to act. Of wanting to be in the living action. But how do we act? And why do we care about acting? Somehow, we have a real relationship to questions on acting, of living. Somehow, those questions mean something to all of us. We do not know what acting means.We experience not acting but the impossibili...

There once was an actor who was different from all other actors. Unlike them, there wasn't a consciousness of acting. The character thing-in-itself was as unknowable on stage as it was unknowable in the phenomenal world. The moment other actors entered the contours of a character it was as though they would test a possession and leave the limits of empirical knowing. Then when they exited they would return to a state of self consciousness as though they were who they lived to occupy. But this particular actor had no awareness of a playing self-possession, no awareness of a living presence, of exiting and entering and Instead would play each and every moment in a single life occupying stream. So for a long time when entering the character everything would simply move in a stronger current, and then, in what seemed like the next moment, would return to a slower flow with little idea of what had happened other than this intense sense of dispossession and unknowing because o...

Received e-mail this afternoon Dear colleagues: As many of you will have worked with him and many others will know much about him, this is just to let you know the sad news that Zygmunt Molik died last night at 6 pm in Wroclaw hospital. ... checked the The Grotowski Institute ... the words confirmed ... I had been told he had been bed ridden this past while and even last week had dreamt of a passing ... still for a moment time eternal stopped ... why must we suffer losses? "The secret lies in the voice, sound as whole and pure as it’s possible. Its essence is to release and awake the middle part of the body. Different parts of the body are very often separated: the head is separated, the legs… We are blocked. As a result of combining vocal and body excersises we reach the point, where the whole organism is active in speaking and singing." ( Zygmunt Molik ) ... Zygmunt Molik's Voice and Body Work the Leagacy of Jerzy Grotowski was published eight days ago ... thirty fiv...

(from '05 class) . . . For me, I was kind of confused as to what I was supposed to be doing. I tried working with my text, but I didn't really understand where I was supposed to take it, what I was supposed to do. It seemed that working with full power, really high was working for me. But still, I was confused. I decided to stay after class for the extra session. And I am so thankful that I did!!! . . . It was great to work in a smaller group, to be able to see more people's work and how the emotions, and sounds, and actions tell the story. Raymon asked me near the end if I wanted to go. And as I was still sort of confused, I said, "I'd try". So I started with a vibrating tone, although, I didn't go as high as I could. I started saying my text and working my way up, louder and with more power. I tried to fight against my obstacle and gain power from that. . . . Raymon pulled on my shoulder and pushed on my back and I fought against him. My voice went loude...

TexT Work:The Practice Working Version March 2004 (click picture to the right for video) Ae Ran / Ash Wednesday - T.S. Eliot Alison / My Countrymen - Kahlil Gibran Greg / The Age Demanded - Ezra Loomis Pound Raymon / coordinator Play Act I Ae: (moan to clarity) "Where is the enemy? We must kill Him first!" (3X) A: (vibration to voice) What do you seek, My Countrymen? Do you desire that I build for You Gorgeous palaces, decorated With words of empty meaning, or Temples roofed with dreams? Or Do you command me to destroy what The liars and tyrants have built? Shall I uproot with my fingers What the hypocrites and the wicked Have implanted? Speak your insane Wish! Ae: "In the depths Of this valley our fathers lived, And in its shadows they died, and in Its caves they were buried. How can We depart this place for one which They failed to honor?" A: I have called you in the silence Of the night to point out the Glory of the moon and the dignity Of the stars, but you ...

Instant message from Paris - July 24, 2003 i had some thoughts in the middle of the night in my sleep, so i got up and wrote them down i thought of the work of grotowki, what did he find at the end of his death? grotowski opened the new branch i can not find the better word now, not a new genre, it could be still the theater genre, but different branch i think that it is the work, it is the character of the work, the reason why they are careful to open it up, not because it is sacred or in process, that is what the work requires, i have been thinking of the korean traditinal singing a lot in korean, we learn the traditional songs by orally, only oral passing is accepted, still now, nobody can change it, it is nation's agreement through the tradition any country that has this oral passing tradition will not surprise by it, but, songs can be passed orally because it is songs, but how about theater? how can we pass? and what to pass? theater is instant art work in the form, there can ...

The Way of the Actor by Brian Bates Published by Shambala in 1987 (Chapter 9. Dream: Images of Power. pages 128 - 130) Fantasy is taboo. In the secular, instrumental world of today, to indulge in fantasy is to dwell in a 'realm of unreality'. It is considered to be a waste of time. An indulgence.       Liv Ullmann decries this, but thinks it is important to distinguish between different sorts of fantasy. 'I think there's good fantasy and bad fantasy. The bad fantasy is what you see on television - the commercials that tell you if you use this hair spray, a fantasy life will follow - your husband will come home on a white horse. That is dangerous fantasy because that is not how life is.' This is the sort of fantasy that we all recognize as unreal, and the promotion of unrealistic expectations about life Ullmann considers dangerous and frustrating, '. . . People live in anguish because they've based their whole lives on unreality.'      ...

           Such Desperate Joy Imagining Jackson Pollock edited by Helen A. Harrison. Published Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation Books, New York NY, 2000.                  (Chapter . Title. pages )       As an individual who found his calling in the arts, I was drawn to Pollock as an artist who achieved a mode of expression, a form of creativity, that was not derivative of the art of his own time, or of any other time. Yes, it was "derived," in that it came out of his understanding of its precendents. But the actual art, the paint on the canvas, was truly original. Pollock's desire to arrive at his own originality, the need, the courage to open himself up and surrender to that openness - and his unrestrained commitment to take it to its limit - drew me to him.       A desperate need for approval usually forces one into...

The Way of the Actor by Brian Bates Published by Shambala in 1987 (Chapter 6. Transformation: Changing Selves. pages 96 - 98) 'Persona' originally referred to the masks that actors used in the classical period of Greek history. Implied in each mask was a complete separate personality, often of a diety, which possessed the actor who wore the mask. But today, 'persona' is a psychological term, and refers to the personal façade that one exhibits publicly. This outward face includes significant aspects of physical appearance, but particularly encompasses the personal style or presence that an individual presents to the world. And this includes a strong element of conformity because the aspect of oneself which is bing presented at any one time is meant to fit in with, and satisfy, the people with whom one is interacting. The persona is the outward face of our psyche, the face that the world sees. And as we all know, what we show the world does not necessarily correspond w...

Actors Training Body stationary rotation/isolation/stretch space leaping (springing) through spine axis lying & contacting breath + visualization/relaxation rolling floor work "touch the sky" mediatation cat (slow & impulsive) towards imaginative associations Voice breath to vibration leg tremours vibrational body exploration Text exploration: (Ash Wednesday - T.S.Eliot) Song: (Korean) Character high voice & whispering (calling) being pulled up (obstacle) revealed as blind & deformed with ancient voice Attack Sight of tenderness with awe of the sky

This year's Lincoln Center Festival, opening July 8, has booked Israel's Batsheva Dance Company and Daedong Gut, a Korean shaman ritual, which includes a performer born in North Korea. "Kim Keum-hwa. She's 72. We've got a fair number coming from Korea and I don't know which ones were born where," says festival director Nigel Redden. He's not sure if he'll have to travel to the State Department, as he did last summer "to plead the case" for the Iranian artists in Ta'ziyeh, a Persian theatrical epic. "The law is, the individual consular officer has the absolute right to turn down an application. The president of the United States cannot reverse the determination of the consular officer. The superior of the consular officer can say, 'Why don't you look at this again?' but it was very painful when nine of the Iranians couldn't come. The performances would have been better. It's essential that we know something abo...

Session 1: Sunday, April 6, 2003 Focus - moving towards character Beginning with voice & element: (Rod the stick)(AeRan the silver jug) Each works alone establishing body/voice connetion towards character. Text: The Epic of Kotan Utannai from (Songs of Gods, sons of Humans - Donald L. Philippi) Session 2: Tuesday April 8, 2003 Focus - meeting in voice Each rolls towards object establishing vibration & entering voice Full sustained voice & many meetings Session 3: Friday April 11,2003 Focus - finding the meeting Physical energy exchange & contact exercises. Character meets non-character(shape shifter) Session 4: Wednesday April 23,2003 Focus - establishing contact Full physical contact/ no voice Session 5: Thursday April 24,2003 Focus - Text Work Full open vibration to working with obstacle and moving into text with meeting. Poetic Narrative emerges: buried just beneath the surface voicing past darkened songs the ancient dust and ashes sister broken w...

Partner work AeRan & Rod / Phase 1 Session 1: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 Establish beginning (the space and centering) Free Improvisation Song exchange Contact Improv. Terminology: impulse Impulse digging the well & finding the source. . . two people in the empty space touching the elements of impulse through body and voice . . . moments of contact . . . song . . . pause . . . follow . . . drink from the well . . . the water is fresh . . . " And now, what is impulse? 'In/pulse' - push from inside. Impulses push from inside. Impulses precede physical actions, always. The impulses: it is as if the physical, still almost invisible, was already born in the body. . . . impulses are the morphenes of acting. " (Grotowski in At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions by Thomas Richards.) Session 2: Friday, March 21, 2003 Focus - Exchange begin with repetitive gesture exchange and transform Vibration exploration Terminology: reaction, response, intention [Sunday, March 23...

. . . grappling with the voices . . . the anger & futility expressed by students as well as the deep sense of betrayal . . . don't we have a zero tolerance for fighting & bullying at the school . . . complex issues reduced to the personal . . . moments from the share lent/share the arts continue to burn . . . a young singer stands alone under the white spotlight . . . acoustic guitar gleaming as chords pound out a relentless rhythm underneath the thin white voice singing a self composed song called "Hypocrite" . . . a young dancer dressed in a flowing black wrap moves in the tradition of Isodore Duncan leaving traces in the air of brokenness yet hope . . . she dances to the song Blackbird Artist: THE BEATLES: The White Album Title: Blackbird Blackbird singing in The dead of night Take these broken wings And learn to fly All your life You were only waiting For this moment to arise Blackbird singing in The dead of night Take these sunken eyes And learn to see All y...

. . . last week the Grade 11/12 Drama class felt so much anger towards the coming war but also felt a sense of futility . . . no one listens to us . . . they decided to create a piece that would somehow express their feelings . . . they presented their performanace last night to their peers and family at the Share Lent/Share the Arts benefit for world peace & development . . . the script is the skeletal body . . . what can't be communicated is the spirit . . . they spoke & were listened to & they light a candle in the darkness . . . ANTI - WAR PERFORMANCE / Drama 20 & 30 Scene 1: Order to Chaos Mask Dance/Glow in the Dark Masks/Shirts Reading NO WAR! Two equal lines: crossing two groups at a time three groups at a time revolving diagonal running pace increasing with each pass into full energy/ start slow. ---------------------------Blackout-------------------------------- Scene 2: Poses Projections & News Report of 9/11 Four Groups:each group has 4 poses. Soldie...