SiTI Day 15
SITI Day 15
Two double days Thursday and Friday.
Desperately wanted to sleep this weekend. But a fire alarm (twice) on saturday kept any of us from doing that. Rehearsed composition piece a lot.
We are switching our morning groups today. Just when I was getting comfortable with my class I have to meet new people that I've never even said hello to and viewpoint with them.
Viewpoints with Anne
Introducing Vocal Viewpoints.
Sats- Eugenio Barba of the Odin Teatret. The state of readiness before an action. The point right before diving off a diving board. Return to that when in doubt.
The brain actually fires in silence. When listening to music, during a caesura in the sound the brain explodes with activity.
Suzuki with Akiko
Being ready to go doesn't mean that you have to be a slave to time. You have to be ready to go and take control of time.
The audience can like you or loathe you, but never let them dismiss you.
Suzuki is not to be perfect. If it were done perfectly one day, you might as well pack your bags and go home, there is nothing left to do. It is a container for the greater experience.
When Grotowski watched this work being done he commented "It's all about the brakes" It's not about the movement, but the end of the movement. The slamming on the brakes and still being ready to go.
Just as in Grotowski's Method of Physical Actions, every moment has to have a purpose and image. It becomes hard to keep them all going fully focused, but it's supposed to be hard. When I was doing The Laramie Project right after I got back from Grotowski I had a 150 page notebook filled with the map of my physical actions just for my opening scene. That was a bit extreme, but it is that level of detail that Grotowski, and Suzuki, are calling for. Build yourself a container to live freely in. Make a strong structure for the addition of strong contents.
Compostion with Leon and Anne
Direct quote from Anne "That was fucking gorgeous" Overall comments were that the piece was Visually stunning and beautiful. However the story fell by the wayside.
Story was to complicated, it didn't translate over.
Stupid story not apparent.
Breaking from the structure kept the audience from establishing the relationships.
The more poetic or scientific text you have the more reality you need to buffet it.
We painted a house we hadn't built yet. Again, we forgot to act it. We were missing the stanislavski base.
Situation gives you character
Repetition needs to build or it becomes deadly
Scenography was brilliant, story was poo. Imagistically it was a payoff, emotionally it wasn't.
I recreated a character that they loved from last weeks piece. It was clown like character inspired by Fellini. Anne commented that last week it was an Amouse Bouche ( a pre-appetizer appetizer) this week the character was a palate cleanser (like a sorbet) but I became less specific in my story as the piece went on.
Movement is like punctuation. If it is sloppy it isn't heard.
Durrenmatt had a saying about theatre. If he closes his eyes and only hears, it is a lecture. If he close his ears and only sees, it is a slide show. Theatre is the disagreement between what is seen and heard.
Artifice and the thing you can't fake.
Don't move unless you have a reason to move, and variety isn't an acceptable reason.
Don't Speak unless you have a reason to speak, and my next line isn't an acceptable reason
Repitition isn't " We're back to this again" it's "What are they going to do with it now?"
Each scene should ambush the scene before it.
Do the composition again, different director, new rules, in front of an audience last week.
Take care of each other, here's to a better future.
Two double days Thursday and Friday.
Desperately wanted to sleep this weekend. But a fire alarm (twice) on saturday kept any of us from doing that. Rehearsed composition piece a lot.
We are switching our morning groups today. Just when I was getting comfortable with my class I have to meet new people that I've never even said hello to and viewpoint with them.
Viewpoints with Anne
Introducing Vocal Viewpoints.
Sats- Eugenio Barba of the Odin Teatret. The state of readiness before an action. The point right before diving off a diving board. Return to that when in doubt.
The brain actually fires in silence. When listening to music, during a caesura in the sound the brain explodes with activity.
Suzuki with Akiko
Being ready to go doesn't mean that you have to be a slave to time. You have to be ready to go and take control of time.
The audience can like you or loathe you, but never let them dismiss you.
Suzuki is not to be perfect. If it were done perfectly one day, you might as well pack your bags and go home, there is nothing left to do. It is a container for the greater experience.
When Grotowski watched this work being done he commented "It's all about the brakes" It's not about the movement, but the end of the movement. The slamming on the brakes and still being ready to go.
Just as in Grotowski's Method of Physical Actions, every moment has to have a purpose and image. It becomes hard to keep them all going fully focused, but it's supposed to be hard. When I was doing The Laramie Project right after I got back from Grotowski I had a 150 page notebook filled with the map of my physical actions just for my opening scene. That was a bit extreme, but it is that level of detail that Grotowski, and Suzuki, are calling for. Build yourself a container to live freely in. Make a strong structure for the addition of strong contents.
Compostion with Leon and Anne
Direct quote from Anne "That was fucking gorgeous" Overall comments were that the piece was Visually stunning and beautiful. However the story fell by the wayside.
Story was to complicated, it didn't translate over.
Stupid story not apparent.
Breaking from the structure kept the audience from establishing the relationships.
The more poetic or scientific text you have the more reality you need to buffet it.
We painted a house we hadn't built yet. Again, we forgot to act it. We were missing the stanislavski base.
Situation gives you character
Repetition needs to build or it becomes deadly
Scenography was brilliant, story was poo. Imagistically it was a payoff, emotionally it wasn't.
I recreated a character that they loved from last weeks piece. It was clown like character inspired by Fellini. Anne commented that last week it was an Amouse Bouche ( a pre-appetizer appetizer) this week the character was a palate cleanser (like a sorbet) but I became less specific in my story as the piece went on.
Movement is like punctuation. If it is sloppy it isn't heard.
Durrenmatt had a saying about theatre. If he closes his eyes and only hears, it is a lecture. If he close his ears and only sees, it is a slide show. Theatre is the disagreement between what is seen and heard.
Artifice and the thing you can't fake.
Don't move unless you have a reason to move, and variety isn't an acceptable reason.
Don't Speak unless you have a reason to speak, and my next line isn't an acceptable reason
Repitition isn't " We're back to this again" it's "What are they going to do with it now?"
Each scene should ambush the scene before it.
Do the composition again, different director, new rules, in front of an audience last week.
Take care of each other, here's to a better future.
posted by The Necessary Theatre at 7:47 AM
1 Comments:
Dear Adam,
I am a dance-theater artist in California. I am about to attend my first Viewpoints-and-Suzuki workshop, in Portland OR with Barney and Leon.
I found your blog through the SITI online newsletter.
I'm impressed with the way you have expressed yourself online. Just wanted to make contact with you and thank you for your efforts.
Keep up the good work.
I hope to meet someday.
best,
Nina Galin
nina.galin@gmail.com or ninagalin@charter.net
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