The Chorus
workshop
The exercise and
discoveries we made
-Walk around the room – as individuals– how do you feel
today in this moment?
-As a group respond to the commands of my drum beat.
Try to move and respond together.
-Fall to the ground for active relaxation and breathing
technique.
Explore breathing to certain counts, so to unify your
breath.
-Lying flat on your backs in a relaxed posture, as a
group count 20. If 2 people or more say
the same number start again.
Listen to each other and really work together.
-Eclosion .
Take the space.
Allow yourself to be really present and alive. Fill every part of your body with your
energy, from your finger tips to the hairs on your head. Push you power/sparkle/strength, though your
physical body and demand attention – shin.
-Undulation and reverse undulation.
Again taking a simple movement but giving it the time and
focus to concentrate on every element of the motion. Allow yourselves to enjoy the repetitiveness,
but keep each undulation fresh and alive.
Concentrate on extending your focus making the space bigger and guiding
your observers.
-Play with your poles.
Focus on bringing your imaginary object to life. Taking great care of the pole, again giving
it the focus and physicality needed to create the image.
-Through the forest.
You see a branch, take it, swoosh it, see another branch,
look back at your old branch, drop it, step up to your new branch.
This is about the quality of movement. Really see each branch, the colour the texture
the width etc. Work with you breathing
to keep the action alive. Play with rhythm. Do the actions together.
Although you are working as a chorus it is important to
work with your own physicality and embrace this, you are different people.
With is exercise you are always moving forward, there is
no regret, travel though the space.
-Flocking.
Imagine you are carrying a bowl of water in your pelvis
and you don’t want the water to spill.
Keep your centre of gravity low, your knees soft and walk heel to
toe. This all allows you to be active at
all times and move in different directions, playing with balance and off
balance.
Move across the space as a group. Breathing together, be one, listening to each
other, communicating with each other without relying on spoken language. Trust each other.
I referred to a technique call Botoh. Here is an example;
(It is just a starting point for you guys, if it
helps?)
This shows a group of performers working together, with simple
movement but totally committing to every gesture. They take time and finish off every movement. They are moving together but I see clear
individual bodies and people. What are
also nice about this are their faces. As
we talk about, with the half mask you have the freedom to play with your facial
expressions and sound.
You created animalistic movements in the space. We looked at moments were you could break
out, an exaggerated twitch, an internal conflict or even simply a stretch;
however you feel you can justify it. It
could be in reaction or accenting part of the dialogue and don’t be afraid to
respond to each other. Play with these
things you are not just scenery. Try lots
of ideas out. Go with an impulse and play. Tim will soon tell you if he doesn’t think it
works, and then try something different!
Never say no to an idea in till you have tried it. Support each other as a group.
-Moving each other’s bodies.
Manipulate each other’s movements. Play with push and pull. Try to not anticipate the movement and allow
yourself to be moved, almost as if the movement is bigger than you.
-Wearing the mask, try flocking.
When you hear my drum, or a sound cue, turn
your heads together and look in the same direction. This worked really nicely and was very
powerful. Try looking in different
directions on the same beat or verbal cue of another actor. Play with levels. Keep changing direction, changing the dynamic
and the leader. Stop and breathe
together. Let us not only hear the
breath, but more importantly see the breath, bring it into your
physicality. Play with the extremes of
this, how big can you make it? What
works for you guys? Cheat the breath so
you don’t hyperventilate and die on stage!
-Working with the mask.
How does the mask play in the space? What angle does the mask play best, e.g. you
lose the mask if you tilt your head to far back or to far forward. You don’t want the audience to think you are
actors wearing a mask. When you are
wearing a mask you almost have to work harder to push though the mask. Think of the eclosion exercise. Share everything with your audience, a mask
is made to be played out. Respect the
mask and don’t touch it, unless it has been choreographed. For example: when
you remove it.
When you do remove it be very clear about what you are
doing and don’t hide away from the gesture.
Play the transformation from masked ghost to your unmasked character.
-Finally we worked on the chariots.
Work together and keep the timing, the breath and
energy. It looks great.
I want to thank
you for your hard work and commitment.
Go for it!
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