Volume 5
Issue 8 Jill Place, Publisher
jill@actingintuitive.com
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Grotowski Part Three: The Compelling
Corporels
The BRAND-NEW Sunday Class starts
May 6th!
A Special
Grotowski Acting Tip: The Plastique River
Jerzy Grotowski Part Three
Dear
[[FirstName]]
I'M SOOOO
EXCITED!!!!! 
After
almost four years of a
wonderful alliance with Now Casting . . . one of my
articles was in the very first issue of Actors Ink .
. . . I'M DOING A
COLUMN! I've always wanted to write exclusively
about the spiritual side of acting. My work as a
coach, intuitive and branding expert is all
about that. I not only make you a better actor but
also to heal whatever's stopping you from being a
success. It could be limiting thoughts . . . or a
wounded inner child that needs tending. The column
is going to include life-changing ideas, acting
processes, guided imagery . . . and any other "acting
magic" I can think of. All the talent or training
in the world isn't going to make you a success if your life is
holding you back.
I don't know
when the first column will be published . . . we've still got
three weeks of this current Grotowski series to go. But
I DO know that it's going to be called 'ART AND SOUL
! I'll keep you
posted. I WOULD, however, love some column ideas.
So please e-mail me at jill@actingintuitive.com
if you have some!
I was
so busy last week that I missed the deadline for my own eZine
AGAIN! So
here's the third Grotowski article I wrote for Now
Casting that's currently
running. But included in this eZine is a
special treat just for you . . . my favorite Grotowski exercise that I use all the
time in my classes.
And, by the way,
DON'T UNSUBSCRIBE JUST BECAUSE THE
eZINE COMES SCRAMBLED! Try as I might, the program I
use to publish it just doesn't suit every type of
email. So, beginning with this issue, Acting Magic is
also available online on my home page,
www.actingintuitive.com. Simply click on the link that says "To read
the latest issue, click here" to the left of my picture
right under the subscription form. Thanks in advance for
your diligence!
The BRAND NEW Sunday Class
starts May
6th!
Okay, so
one of my wonderful
students who's dying to come on Sunday finally nailed
me down to a
date. If you're lost
in large classes and frustrated
that your acting skills aren't yet what you want them to
be, this is the place for you! A
couple of years ago, I took a
class filled with more than 30 actors. And was appalled that
I spent alot of money (almost $60
a class) and alot of time (3 to 4 hours) every week
to do a 10-minute scene and be told
I wasn't comfortable yet. "Of course I'm not comfortable," I
kept saying, "I haven't acted in twenty-five years".
It wasn't fun or helpful. And I think I lasted
six weeks.
Instead, I never work with more than eight students per class. I've also
been blessed to attract good committed actors who
support each other. And you not only do scenes . .
. sometimes more than one if you want .
. . every time but spend two hours intensely exploring a
dynamite technique that's a blend of Method,
improv and Grotowski with a little psychic thrown in. The technique plus
the intimate, supportive environment
allows actors to grow fast. And, with my intuitive
talents, I can spot personal blocks to expression and
help you remove them so your skills grow even
faster.
There's
still room in the Wednesday evening class but it's filling up fast.
And the one space in the Saturday class will be snapped up
this week. Then there's the new Sunday class from 12N to
4PM. So join us! Oh . . . and did I also mention
how reasonable my classes are?To find out more,
click
here.
BRANDact
is also BACK!
Sunday, May 27th
Click here for more
details
Back To
Top
The Plastique
River
I'm doing a whole article on
Grotowski's plastiques next week. But right now
I'm going to share with you one of the easiest exercises I
know to relax and get you in touch with yourself.
Simply stand in the middle of a
space where you have room to move. Then breathe in about 3/4rds of the way, hold the breath for a couple of beats, and breathe out. Do this breath fiveor more times. Then ask your body, "what
do you want to move right now." Allow that body part to
fully move in whatever way it wants. For example, your
legs may want to kick or dance. Your head may want to
roll up and down or all around. Allow yourself to dwell
for atleast 30 seconds (or more) on one body part before
moving to the next. Try large movements and small, fast
and slow. Try variations of the same
movement. Then try moving quickly from one body
part to another.
Don't worry if there's no
impulse to move . . . simply start with a new body part.
If a feeling or image arises from the movement, trust it and
go with it.You may have just discovered some cellular memory
that will be helpful in your acting expression.
Continue exploring variations of
this exercise for ten minutes a day and I guarantee it'll make
a difference in your acting expression. Or, at the very
least, in your relaxation. It's the 21st Century
equivalent of Method relaxation.
Back To
Top
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Grotowski Part Three: The
Compelling
Corporels
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The real value [of
the corporels]," according to Jerzy Grotowski, "lies
in not
being able to do them." So the day my Grotowski teacher told me that I'd be doing headstands, tiger leaps, somersaults and the yoga-inspired cat, all I could say was "yeah, right!".
But,
before long I was roaring over three people, somersaulting,
and spitting and kicking. I never really did a decent
headstand or handstand, but after many, many tries finally
achieved somewhat of a shoulder stand. Stephen Wangh sums up
about these exercises, " . . . in the final analysis,
'accomplishing' them is not what is important. What is
important is what you discover about yourself in the process."
And
what I discovered was a connection with the power of my body
that I had never claimed before. I'd always left the physical
stuff to my jock sister who's still thin, gorgeous and active
in her late sixties. But that summer I started running, got
fit and most of all surrendered to the call of the corporels.
It was probably one of the most significant turning points of
my life.
At
first look, these exercises seem part gymnastics, part
acrobatics and part yoga. Grotowski observed in Towards a
Poor Theatre that "certain yoga positions help very much
the natural reactions of the spinal column; they lead to a
sureness of one's body, a natural adaptation to space." Yet he
also wondered if " . . . yoga can give actors the power of
concentration. We observed that despite all our hopes the
opposite happened. There was a certain concentration, but it
was introverted."
In
other words, yoga turned attention inward while actors
required outward concentration upon communication with each
other and the audience. Grotowski began instead "to look for
different types of contact in these exercises. How could we
transform the physical elements into elements of human
contact? By playing with one's partner. A living dialogue with
the body, with the partner we have evoked in our imagination,
or perhaps between the part of the body where the hand speaks
to the leg without putting this dialogue into words or
thought."
The
first corporel exercise I experienced was The Cat . .
. the singular experience that was most like yoga to me. But,
as Grotowski described, with a "change of current". The
Cat seems very much like the Sun Salutation, a yoga
posture that blends many common yoga moves. But instead of
going inward, the focus is on how the cat impulsively reacts
to its environment. Here's how I was taught this exercise
along with the yoga postures it employs.
The cat
is sleeping (beginning Cobra posture [lying face down with the
forehead resting on the floor]). The cat wakes up, looks
around and goes back to sleep (intermediate Cobra
[Upward-Facing Dog: head raises and arms remain at sides],
then head is lowered back to the floor). The cat hears a noise
and looks around (full Cobra [Upward-Facing Dog: arms lift
entire top half of body so that it can move freely; head and
face turns and stretches so that the cat can look all
around]). The cat senses danger and springs up
(Downward-Facing Dog: pelvis is lifted high off the ground by
arms and legs). The cat then does impulsive pelvic circles
and/or undulations. Sensing more danger, the cat hisses and
kicks (raise each leg to the side and kick three times). The
cat then looks under the fence for danger (transition from
Downward-Facing to Upward-Facing Dog as if going under a
fence). Once the cat feels safe once again, it goes back to
sleep (bottom half of body is lowered slowly to the floor and
then upper half is also lowered using your arms as in the
Cobra posture until the forehead is resting on the floor).
The
Cat began my experience and the Tiger Leaps,
which Wangh called "the most exciting and revealing of all the
exercises corporels", ended it. He also explained this
exercise in this way . . . "the Tiger Leaps are a
wonderful paradigm for all of acting. Ultimately your task as
an actor is to allow yourself to come face to face with
whatever is difficult for you, and thereby transform it." Or,
as Grotowski said, "when you perform [the exercises] which you
are usually not able to do because it seems impossible, you
regain some trust in yourself . . . . It is not knowing how to
do things that is necessary, but not hesitating when faced
with a challenge."
I've
got to say that the act of leaping over as many as three
people and landing safely was the most exhilarating,
empowering thing I've ever done! The corporels
reconnect vital energies in all parts of your body. I feared
and loved them at the same time and reap their benefits to
this day. But as wonderful as they are, I don't suggest doing
them unless you're in a place with wall-to-wall tumbling mats.
And have supervision. The only corporel I do in my
classes is The Cat. The others are simply too
dangerous and my space is not physically equipped to do them.
If you want this type of experience, I'd suggest that you do
gymnastics. I got a similar rush when I did.
Wangh
explained, however, that " . . . the purpose of this work is
not to turn you into a gymnast; the purpose is you help you
use the body to get in touch with your inner life and
feelings." Grotowski said, " . . . it must be as easy for you
to enter the stage walking on your hands as on your feet."
Most actors today focus on the voice and the words. But what
Grotowski is saying is that every part of your body should be
interconnectedly expressive and intensely related to its
environment. This is the stuff of great acting.
In the Next Issue: The Pulsing
Plastiques
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© 2007 Jill
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