12 questions to ask yourself before taking a movement class for actors

These questions are specifically for actors when they want a place to practice awareness in particular versus technique/skill building.

but remember, nothing replaces ones own actual practice!

Classes such as-

A GOOD yoga class, Alexander technique, Feldenkrais, Continuum, BMC, mindfulness meditation, Tai Chi, Chi Gong, a good physically based voice class (Roy Hart for example)…  the list could go on and any of these classes could be very helpful, but which one do you need?

If you are new to movement practice and have had mainly a text based theatre process so far, you may need to take the class nearest you that fits into your schedule and not be too fussy to start! Just getting out there and moving will help your acting more than you may realize

The right class depends on where you are in your physical practice.  These questions help determine some differences that you might want to consider- and all of these possibilities are good at different times. There is no PERFECT class. I would encourage people to intuit which appeals to them as well as where they might not usually chose to go- this choice might help you extend your range as an actor. Sometimes if you hate the idea, it might be a good one.

On the other hand, going where it feels familiar and comfortable might help you go deeper into something you already know you need to work on.

Ask yourself these 12 questions-

1- Do you need more muscular skeletal stimulation or less?

2- More of an external or internal approach?

3- More release work or activation work?

4- A course/method that includes or excludes touch?

5- A class that does not enter theatre/performance practice at all or one that DOES include performance practice?

6- A healing approach?

7- A more technical or more metaphorical/image based approach?

8- A practice that is still or very physical?

9- A practice that includes vocalization or none at all?

10- A group or private process?

11- A practice that includes humour and is more relaxed or one that is more serious and disciplined, like an intense Dojo?

12- An instructor who has many disciplines/modalities available to them or one that is single minded? (Are they sticking to one strict form or are they using several?)

You can also use these to help you formulate questions for the instructor if you want more information about the class.

some good books for actors on awareness, movement and emotional issues

Just finished reading “Getting our Bodies Back: Recovery, Healing and Transformation through Body-Centered Psychotherapy” by Christine Caldwell. I highly recommend this book. It covers in very simple, clear and tangible ways a lot of the basic awareness work I include in my courses for actors and also gives concrete psychotherapeutic exercises one can do on ones own. I found the book helpful on many levels and so many of my students always ask me where else they can get more info on this kind work, this is a good source. It is pretty basic, so don't expect great detail and it runs into the same challenges that most books do when they try to addess work that is best done live and with real bodies, but it manages that challenge fairly well. I think there is something in it for everyone. This, along with others I often recommend-

The Acrobat of the Heart – Stephen Wangh

(like reading a transcript from a movement/voice based theatre class with some similiarities to my classes, but in some ways very different)

 Waking the Tiger- Peter Levine

(For those interested in the neurobiology of physical trauma, and it includes some visualization exercises that are helpful.)

And for those more seriously interested in the neurobiology and science of awareness, which is more helpful to actors than they may realize, reading Antonio Damasio’s work is very helpful… starting  with “Descarte’s Error” and if you enjoy that definitely read “The Feeling of What Happens”

the teacher stops teaching; creates and trains

I recently had a student of mine contact me and we had a nice chat and he complimented me on continuing to challenge myself and train etc... that was really touching.

I have been neglecting this blog mainly because I am successfully out of teacher mode and fully into creating and learning mode. I don't really feel like giving advice. (I know, those who know me are saying GOOD!)

I am taking classes, collaborating with new people internationally, throwing myself into terrifying situations and daily confronted with what I make my students deal with a lot. This is not new for me, but this is WITHOUT my having to immediately turn it around into a teaching moment the next day.

I wonder if all this will make me a more compassionate teacher? or more demanding? Maybe both. I am losing myself in so many things... perhaps a bit overwhelmed and lost. AND I can hear my students reading this smugly saying GOOD! See how it feels! I am scared, don't know what I know and what I don't know anymore, confused a lot of the time but happily able to enter beginner mind pretty efficiently. I am not as patient as I would like to be with my progress, delighted when I have break through moments, but feel they are too rare. All this sounds very familiar...

parallel versus turned out

It is often one of those simple things that you knew or thought you knew that you DISOVER that can make a big difference.. and if any of my older dance friends were to read this they would be shaking there heads and once again it would confirm why i am an actor who moves well versus a dancer who acts well!! cause DAH this is obvious!

So for years I have known via modern dance in early days and Alexander later on... the importance of parallel from the hips versus turned out... well as I have been dancing so much lately, my hips have been aching... older age is always my rational and stretching more, more water and most of all more attention is my answer... so after a good long warm up and lots of listening I realized that when I free form dance for exercise and pleasure, i go back to my clubbing self and in those days I was doing ballet and very turned out... and dah, I realize I am pushing my turn out big time to Michael Jackson and Police... so today i grabbed my hips for added awareness and danced turned in the whole time... well it wasn't easy a) to remember... hard to go fast without slipping back into pushing the pelvis forward b) felt boring, as if there was less I could do c) there are some muscles that are being used in new ways and they got tired... wasn't really pain- just felt like good work out... and joy of joys, my foot/ankle that usually can't go very long without sharp pain that makes me go back to pelvic led workout versus landing on feet/leaping, running work out DID NOT HURT!! yahoo... so we shall see after a week of this if the pain in my hips diminishes... too soon to tell!

Heart of Practice by Thomas Richards

Reading Heart of Practice by Thomas Richards... http://www.amazon.com/dp/041544148X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_lJgKqb121G2DY via @amazon

very informative...