Not "now," but now built on then

Wednesday – ahh mid week. I can’t really speak for anyone else, but I am exhausted. Everyone does appear to be a bit run down, some kind of cold has moved through the groups - congestion, mild coughing, that sort of thing. Apparently this happens every year. Had something hanging in my sinuses for a few days – feels a bit like allergies, but who knows. I have no idea if our teachers can sense this, but they were very kind to us today. Makes me a bit nervous for the double Suzuki and Viewpoints tomorrow. Suzuki was great today with Aikiko leading – really focusing on specifics. They seem to have different jobs our teachers – some introduce new material, some work basics, some polish. Today we spent quite a bit of time on the walks – as of today we have learned 7 of the 11. Each one seems more complicated and painful than the last. We didn’t get to basic 1 (stomping in a circle, falling, and getting up slowly), which was sad, cause it really is my favorite. Largely because we keep moving all the time.

Viewpoints at first seemed – oh – I guess “actory.” What I mean by that is the kind of acting exercises that never really did much for me. Well intended, but ultimately not my thing. The previous class Anne had us start working with text and voice. For today we were asked to bring in a song. So – at first – half the class went up moved around and sang at the same time. Swapped groups – same thing. It was interesting to see who took that space and who was reticent. Some wanting to be heard more than others – which I will admit I fell into at one point. From there the instructions changed to singing while stopped or while moving, and finally starting to work together. So what started as total chaos slowly began to take shape.

Next we spoke a line of text, then sang it, then did whatever we wanted with it. By the end of the class we were broken up into groups of 8 with instructions to sing or talk or not or move or not whenever we were moved to do so. This is where the payoff happened. Those weird actory exercises we did in the beginning of class got us ready for these moments. It never fails to delight me when what appears to be random movement and sounds all of a sudden coalesces into a beautiful moment or image.  Like watching Solo olos, it can’t be manufactured, but just has to arrive. We spend hours preparing for its arrival and when it comes it really is something to experience either inside it or outside it.

Post lunch we had Ellen’s speaking class. She really is an amazing teacher – I love watching her nudge people to go a bit farther than they would on their own. Her experience as a performer is invaluable and she is willing to pass that knowledge on to us. Really very generous. Some review from the previous speaking class, but also pushing farther into how to use this training in working through a text. I love that the training is there not to have a direct application to the rehearsal process, but to get this vocabulary into your body so it is there when you need it. It creates stronger actors, more focused actors, and actors that have a greater awareness of their body and, more importantly, their body in space.

The evening brought a wonderful lecture by Anne Bogart on eight things we need to do in the theatre. Such passion and insight, like Ellen, she is so very generous with her time and her experience. My favorite comment she made is that we are always raiding the graveyard. Her point was, if theatre were a verb it would be to re-member, not just in the sense of recall, but reconstruction – re-membering – giving voice to those long since past. When I find myself asking my students if all theatre isn’t just a dialogue with the dead I will make this connection. So little of what we do on stage is in the now – no mater how much we might claim “truthfulness” or “reality” or “presence,” there is always a piece that is recalled, reshaped, re-membered. That is what makes Viewpoints interesting – moments emerge seemingly out of the either, but they would never emerge with out this group of people working to develop the skills to be ready for this to happen. Not “now,” but now built on then. I really love this idea and need to think on it – and her other seven points – quite a bit more.