workshop

Workshops

The Harmonious Training of the Actor


The actor's body, voice, mind, and imagination must prepare him to accomplish the impossible feat. This preparation is done through a harmonious development of the head, heart, and the body of the actor.

These workshops, which focus on the actor's harmonious training, includes three components: 1. the actor's daily physical training, 2. creation of acting score via harmonic improvisations and the technique of montage, and 3. Sung Drama: a dramatic structure that fuses text, acting, singing, movement, and dance.

The Physical Training of the Performer

The body of the performer must be trained on a daily basis so as to function as a subtle and sensitive organism that can physically manifest to the external world the inner movement of the actor's imagination. A body that is free from cliches and mechanical social habits imposed by the clamor of the daily life.

The goal of this physical training is, a) to biologically recondition the body in a tangible and measurable way, b) to help the actor's body to discover its organic grace, and c) to activate the actor's imagination, memory, and associations and to fuse them with the physical exercises. The function of each aspect of the training and its fulfillment is interdependent on one another.

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In this workshop each actor's individual needs are first assessed and through a series of exercises specifically selected to address these needs, they are put into a structure. The biological processes are not separate from the "organs" of imagination. They are linked. The performer does her training towards an image, a memory, an imaginative partner. This helps to train not only the body but also the performer's imagination.

Within the structure of the training the performer is asked to search for a) center of gravity within her body, b) for positioning and coordinating his body in relation to the space, his partner, and the objects in the space. Further work in the training will help the performer with a) amplification of movement, b) amplification in opposite directions, c) isolation of different parts of the body, and d) mental animation.

Work of the Actor on His Craft

Much of the power of acting resides in the expression of authentic human emotions. Our emotions, however, are not under our conscious control. Thus they are unreliable. The actor cannot tell himself, I will be angry at exactly 8:15 p.m. every night during the entire run of a performance.

Physical actions, on the other hand, are under our willful control. This workshop help the actor to discover how simple physical actions might be led into the expression of authentic emotions. The result will be a score of physical actions infused with authentic emotions.

The workshop also helps actors with the technique of harmonious improvisation and montage of actions.

Sung Drama

The aim of this advanced workshop is to establish a new relationship between spoken word, poetry, music, singing, dance, and acting (role-playing). The spoken word becomes poetry, poetry becomes music, music becomes singing, singing becomes ritualized movement or dance, and ritualized movement becomes actions. Each element is seamlessly blended into the other.

The performer will need to bring an personal song of quality rooted in her heritage, which will serve as the kernel of his sung drama.

Vocal Training

The actor's voice is an instrument of expression and not mere recitation. Through the precise analysis of vocal apparatus the vocal training gives the actor's voice an expressive power that enhances the word. It restores the word from idea to image.

The daily training prepares the actor in mastering the following elements: 1) a special kind of stereophonic carrying power; 2) an incredibly rich and varied vocal colorings, timbers, and rhythm; 3) extremely precise diction, and clarity of meaning and intent; and 4) precise combination of all three elements into one seamless technique.