Space and System of Wants

 I

 

 

Question 1

 

Where is movement performed? Why?

 

 

II

 

Elements of Space

 Place:

 self-space/general space(also called personal / shared) 

Size:

 big/small, near/far 

Level: 

 high, middle, low  

Direction:

 forward, backward,right, left, up, down,diagonal 

Pathway:

  curved, straight, zigzag 

Focus: 

single focus or multi focus

 

 

Link: The Elements of Dance: Dance Concepts

 

 

Question 2

How would used the elements of space described above to describe your solo piece?

 

 

 

III

Activity 1

After learning all the elements of space, create an 8 movements phrase in which you use all the elements. Record it and post it on Discussion Board. 

 

 

IV

 

System of Wants 

 

 

What is it that I want when I say ..... 

Actors never say anything on stage unless they want something.  That is a general rule that allows for what they say to be organic and believable. This is why play-wright-ing is such an important part of drama. A writer who does not know how to write for theater may write too much without a clear sense of how the system of wants works. This will cause extra amount of text that will be impossible for actors to find justification what they say on stage.

 

 This is the reason why plays written by writers of other genres of both fiction and non-fiction are not very engaging plays. They tend to write plays that are wordy, long and therefore alienating.  

An even more interesting aspect of playing/acting is physical theater. After the emergence of film and TV, naturalistic theater became obsolete in the sense that it could not compete with the other two genres. Thus, abstract theater began to be the alternative option  away from naturalistic/realistic stories. Opera, in its "over the top" approach to telling a story, remains also an abstract alternative only when well acted, well danced, which means when the work of justifying why things are said on stage has been done successfully.

Question 3

Why is the system of wants important for the actor/singer/performer?

V

Activity 2

Rehearsal of solo.

 

 

VI

STUDENTS' WORK

 

 

Today’s class was deep for me. I decided to focus on what’s my message, what do I want to tell the people with my voice and movements? Are they really connected with me? I decided that before being thinking if they are connected with me I “need” to be connected with myself and those deep feelings that I want to express. On the next lesson I want to have complete all my music with movements and voice and be able to don’t think about (what’s going to be my next movement) but just do it with my instincts. C.

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My takeaways from today include: “Our work does not start at rehearsal; it starts at home”. We do not need the opera house or an audience to perform.  It is time to let go of inhibitions and share my craft.  If I know I’m not singing for the sake of “look at me, look how good I am” then why am I so nervous?  Each class, and especially today, I get better and better at thinking of this as a lab setting.  This is the place try out what I’ve learned and what I’ve discovered.  I felt moved today to explore more movements.  Walking, running, crawling.  Finding the action words to describe the sub-text really helped influence my movements.  

I’m excited to record myself at home and see if my motivation comes through. By next class I hope to be confident in my preparation and my mindset.  I’m performing for other artists who love art and want to be moved by extraordinary artistry.  I’m an artist and do not need approval.  I will move as the text moves me. L.

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Today I felt very engaged to my character and the motivation my character has beneath the words and movement. This engagement and awareness helped mold a new and improved version of my piece. A more interesting and attention grabbing one, I believe. At least it felt that way to me, because I felt the most engaged and connected to it than I ever had before today. I think the spacial awareness and motivation talk we had before rehearsing played a role in this realization. Next week I would like to further this work and try to connect my movements to my motivation as much as I can. I want every breath, movement, and spacial awareness to mean something, to have a purpose. Right now it feels like 80% of my piece is that way. I hope to make it 100% next week. C.R.

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Today's takeaways go on the importance of the space and how we approach and use it for the benefit of our performance.

Additionally, I felt I was able to connect better the poem and my movements and give more intention to it.

My goal for next time is to work on getting more emotion into the words and movements and try to diversify the weight of the movements. G.

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Today in class we discussed embracing and owning the space that we perform on. I felt that I stepped out of my comfort zone and really took control of the space. After, we worked on our dance phrases and performed them in front of the class. I was a bit nervous to perform it because I haven’t had the time to really work on my phrase with Opera scenes and my car accident, but I am glad that I was able to test it out in front of everyone. My goal for next week is to stay more present in my performance and focus on feelings rather than if my voice sounds good or not. I want to be a more expressive artist who does not look for approval from anyone. This course has definitely pushed me in the right direction to reach this goal. Z.

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In our rehearsal we rehearsed our phrase and incorporated this idea of using our space and making it part of the performance. I thought through this rehearsal how I would enter and exit my space with motivation as well as I gave myself the goal of wanting to escape but also wanting to not give into the temptation of leaving. I think it is true that I need to stop searching for approval. I tend to be apologetic in my art form and strive for validation unconsciously. It’s something I work on but still have the bad habit of doing. I am becoming a master of my art form and should have the confidence as such. B.

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Today we worked on using the whole stage through movements. Then we worked on our solos. I’m working on memorizing “Hope” by Emily Dickinson. We each performed our solos in the center of the class. I felt better about this one compared to several weeks ago, but need to keep working on the poem being confidently memorized. 

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Today in rehearsal I decided to change my piece. In doing so I discovered that my connection to these words and ideas is more clear and I feel more emotionally invested. I chose to change the piece because I felt that this would be a good opportunity to work on the feelings I am having about my life events at this moment. Next rehearsal I plan to completely solidify the phrase because I only have half of it that I feel is comfortable and try my hardest not to seek out approval at the end of my performance. T.

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Focusing on why I’m making movements or why I’m saying things really helps me feel more confident in what I’m doing. Knowing this also helps me engage in the movements themselves more. I found it helpful to think of the active space around me as well. Next rehearsal I want to go deeper into this and make my whole phrase more cohesive C.J.