Dance workshop 1

Today we learned how to do pirouettes. They are not easy, trust me. There is a lot of techniques that goes into doing a simple spin. You have to keep your body completely straight, learn the dance positions and point your toes the right way. I was having a hard time with it until I switched sides. Ah that made all the difference, but I know it isn't good to favor one side. Our workshop leader was explained everything so well and was extremely fun to work with.
We learned how to do pirouettes because they are a need to know for auditions. The workshop leader ( forgot his name, yikes!) explained the process of auditioning for dance and what to expect. Although I'm not going to go on a dance audition anytime soon, his advice was helpful. He gave us tips like aviring super early and be prepared to be suprised. Many times, they may audition you with hip hop to a contemporary musical or vice versa. It's the same with any type of auditon, they throw random things at you to see how versatile you are and how well you are able to take diretion and change. It's good to have a couple of things under your belt that you can take out when they surprise you.

After learning pirouettes, we put them into a fun little routine. Musical Theater dances are so different from what I'm used to. Its all silly and flowy, unlike hip hop which is mostly isolated movements. Next class, we are learning hip hop. Can't wait.
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Auditioning

On Saturday I went on a little audition for a summer theater program that I've been interested in. Woah. I felt like I was being interviewed for a job, which I guess, in a way, is what I was doing. When I walked in, the lady shook my hand firmly and asked if I wanted to sit and chat or jump into my two monologues. I told her that I'd rather being my monologues. I really just wanted to get them over with. That was a big mistake. I picked the monologues first because I was nervous. But I should have talked with her first. It would have given me time to relax and compose myself. I would have given her the impression that I can slow down and hold a conversation, instead of being the bubbling fool that I was.
I did my contemporary monologue first, "This is my Monologue" by Parker Posey. It is supposed to be silly and fun. It's a monologue about a girl given a terrible monologue. I forgot a few lines, even though I had them memorized perfectly but went on with my happy self. When I was done, I expected her to be smiling, it was a hilarious piece, but instead, she stared with a bored face and asked me who Libby ( the character given the monologue) was. What? So I told her, she is excited, overly confident and thinks she is given the best monologue ever given. She told me "Well, this girl Libby, is really into this right?". "Yes." "So then make me see that she believes it." Great, so I did it again, this time, Libby wasn't as giddy, she acted like she knew exactly what she was doing. "No!", she stopped me. "You walked right through the bed". I smiled, " Oh yes, Libby is terrible, it says- ". "No, don't listen to the stage directions. Do it again, this time show me Libby sees everything. She takes this serious. This is serious". So I did it again, this time I made sure to show everything with my mime skills. This is the bed. That is the door. I was really raped by my brother. Ehhh. Then she said, "Great"
For the next monologue I played Isabella from Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure". I think I did ok. Not as great as when I was practicing but that is to be expected with nerves. I used everything I learned. And then I committed an actors suicide. I looked at her. It was only for a line, and I quickly averted my gaze, re-focused on the imaginary person I was yelling at and continued as if nothing had happened. When I finished, she said, "Don't look at me". I died. "I know". She told me to do it again. She told me to see the person. What color is his hair? How tall is he? What is he wearing? And so I did. That was probably the best I've ever performed. Then she asked what the play was about. Score! I knew this!
We then sat down to talk. She explained what the program was about, asked about me, my previous experience, and why I want to do this. My answers were professional. I wish I had talked to her more casually, showed her my personality. It seemed as if she hated me. Really. She kept repeating how people audition every year and even after the fourth year don't get in. She must have said it four times. And that they don't select individuals, but a company. I felt as if she was just letting me down easy.
Well, I would do it again. And I will, next year. It was a great experience.

Mime Workshop 5

We did the interview today. It took longer then I thought it would. Most of the time we were trying to figure out lighting. Ahh light, so important! We used what we learned for the stac live commercials, rule of thirds, different angles, cool stuff like that. I can't wait to edit it. As we were filming it I was editing it in my head. Then we practiced what we've been working on. Gregg is going to leave us with the beginning to the middle and the end. That way if we don't have time to finish it with him, we have the basic framework done and can finish it on our own.

I've been thinking about my script. I shouldn't be. Every time I think about how things are going to go when I write, it turns into crap. I try to force it in a direction it does not want to go. It just doesn't sound natural. This happened to me when I wrote for the Second Quarter Project. Especially the forest essay thing. I had originally written about Metropolis, Mattise and The Prisoner as if it were a response for an eighth grade english class. I kept it safe and tried to force it into something creative. It was crap. So, at the last minute, after having written an entire essay, I threw it out. I went with my gut and just started writing. I ended up writing a weird little drugged dream. I didn't know if it was any good, but I honestly didn't care. It's a scary thing to do.

Mime Workshop 4

Sorry about the lateness. Anyway, on Friday we continued on with our final project. I wrote a bit about how we are using the concept of metamorphosis and rituals to create a little skit. We are still working with that idea. We practiced what we did on Tuesday and added to the beginning and end of it. There really is no order for what we are doing. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just leave it at that. We had a bit of a problem determining how the skit would flow. If we keep it too connected it becomes a plot. Greg showed us that if we transition with a single person, then the audience follows that person, and by doing so, create a story for him/her. We learned to avoid that by using what he calls "whips", which could be spinning around or putting the focus on someone else. LIke the way whips were used to change scenes in "Star Wars".

Mime Workshop 3

Today was great. We began by doing some warmups and then got straight to talking about the final project. I cant wait until we actually do it. We incorporated what we have been talking about in class, rituals, traditions, and hollow verses holy. Gregg showed us a mime technique/skit called metamorphosis. It is when the mimer changes the action in the middle of the action, or "metamorphs" into something else. For example the mimer could start out by tossing a baseball and then changes in the middle of the action into throwing a grenade. It becomes even more interesting when the solider throwing the grenade suddenly becomes a priest preaching in front of a church. We are going to take the idea of metamorphoses and of rituals and combine them to create our final project. Today we brainstormed for ideas of rituals that we could mime. The next step is figuring out the order we will change into them. This is very important as the order will determine the entire message of the little play. I sort of had an ah-ha moment in class when practiced today. This is why mime exists! Gregg was able to keep us on our toes by changing from a soldier to a priest in a matter of seconds. He evolved before our eyes. This is not something you could do in plays or even in movies. Sure, you could flash contrasting images in film using cuts, and change something into something completely different using special effects but it's not the same. It's like why mime is silent, the audience comes up with more interesting sounds and visuals on their own.

Mime Workshop 2

After doing a couple of warm up exercises Gregg taught us how to do the robot. I thought I was able to do it before but now I know I was wrong. The robot is not dancing, it's acting. You are acting like a robot. It seems so simple to me know, I don't know how I didn't get that before. Gregg taught us how to move our bodies in short, controlled stops to get the mechanical look. We also learned to make sound effects out loud. They really help take you away from moving like a human would. I showed my sister, who takes three dance classes, jazz, hip hop and theater, competes in gymnastics competitions once a week and is on a cheerleading squad and she now thinks that I am the best dancer in the world. What she doesn't know wont hurt her.
Later, we did an exercise where we were split into two groups. We acted (mimed) out a skit where we were fans cheering on rival teams while watching a game at a bar. We learned to mime in phases of three. For example, if your team scored and you want to show your excitement, you show it in your eyes first, then your face and then your body. Emotion is always expressed first in your eyes. We did three sets of three, with each set getting progressively slower. The last set we did in slow motion. We also learned how to fight in slow motion. It isn't just swinging your arms and legs and someone at half of normal speed. You have to be smart about it, if you punch someone in the face, how are they going to fall down in slow motion? We learned to work with each oher, so that whoever was getting the punch or the kick would control the movements.

Mime Workshop 1

Today we worked with Gregg Goldston at the mine workshop. It was awesome. We learned how to create invisible walls and tables, walk invisible dogs, push and pull invisible carts and then put what we learned together to create a fun little skit. Although mime mostly has to do with the way you control your body, it also has a lot to do with what you do with your face. Goldston taught us that the expressions in your face are key to having the audience "see" what you are creating. When you mime a wall, the wall becomes more solid if you actually focus on where you are going to put your hand. The audience follows your line of vision and create the wall for themselves. It's the same with everything. It all has to do with your face. These are very useful tips when performing in general. You need to learn to project your energy out to the audience and keep your face visible.

I noticed something interesting happen during class today. We all fell silent, and we didn't need to be today. This is rare for a group of usually loud Stacies. Mime is supposed to be silent, but I don't think we were keeping ourselves quiet. Goldston said that the reason mime became a silent performance was because whatever soundtrack, words or sound effects the audience is thinking in their heads is better than what you can come up with, because everyone thinks differently.