Sunday 10 March 2013

Ease and Efficiency

     Upon my first introduction to Alexander Technique I found the whole concept a little kooky and somewhat pointless, as many theatre techniques can appear at first.  The idea of the Alexander Technique at its core is described as a relaxation technique with aims to live and move with the utmost ease and efficiency.  Sounds great, but what does this have to do with acting? Yeah, the relaxation will help me accept and work through my habits, but how does this directly correlate? I had been to five personalized forty-minute Alexander sessions, each giving me tools to release the tension in my body through the power of thought. Not an easy task. Though these techniques were helpful and did make me feel better and more in control of my tension inducing habits, I had yet to understand how it would help my acting. It is not as if I can think about my head going forward and up while also trying to remember my blocking, saying my lines, and hoping its all manifesting in some sort of truth.
         
     Then, I had a small epiphany. In physical theatre class we began to dip into neutral mask work most famously emphasized in the work of Jacques Lecoq. In this technique one is required to put on a mask in an effort to find a neutral state from which the actor can create. This technique reveals the mind’s effect on the ways in which the body translates emotion. Keeping the face covered, it becomes powerless to aid transmitting emotion to the audience.  In doing an exercise called “The Farewell of all Farewells”, one is given a series of images connected to a physical action. Each action and image is propelled and inspired by breath. Though the face is covered, the body translates an emotional journey.  In doing this exercise, the imagination is key to produce truthful responses.  I went up in front of the class, put on my mask, which is always a bit jarring, then began to release into my breath and imagination.  By then end of my “Farewell” I had gone on an emotional journey through breath and imagination with my body emoting completely and freely. I realized it is this ability to release into the imagination to produce truthful and honest responses from the body that makes the Alexander Technique alive on stage. In further reading articles from my Alexander teachers, Dee, I came across a number of quotes that summed up this idea up perfectly. Funny how these pieces of literature and experiences all align and interconnect right when the mind is ready to truly understand them. Sweet Dee and I have been working on changing the conversation in my mind from one of self-doubt and questioning, to one of positivity and trust.  If Alexander aims to “to free the mind in order to release and develop the flow of the imagination”, the conversation in my mind would be completely engaged in the images of my imagination and the body, controlled by the mind, propelled into imaginative world through physicality. It is not something you always have to work or practice, but something the opening of the imagination naturally results in.  The head, body, and emotions are interrelated rather than compartmentalized. The relaxation of the body allows the actor to concentrate and receive the messages of their imagination, which will mentally and physically transform them. When tension creeps in it is usually due to fear or concern with the end product which shuts off the access to the imagination. When an actor tries to access the imagination in a high-tension state it becomes destructive physically and unsuccessful mentally. “The imagination is the gateway to the feelings”, and the trusting in the simplicity of the imagination through relaxation and ease of movement allows for the actor to readily and effortlessly access both the imagination, emotional center, and body.

     Now that I’ve either thoroughly bored you or weirded you out, I do think Alexander Technique should be part of the Fordham curriculum in some capacity. A master class only gives a small taste of the technique and does not lend us the daily tools one needs to ponder and experience the changes possible through Alexander. The technique directly speaks to Stanislavsky’s ‘creative state’ or the state of ‘I am’ accessible through the imagination. I feel our Stanislavsky based program would benefit its actors greatly if we could have more access to Alexander Technique outside the wildly expensive classes in the city. It has benefited me personally and professionally and I have only have about six classes, for 35 min each. The progress, if one is ready, is quick and though it may not outwardly manifest as readily as one would like, it will mentally. Alexander has worked to slowly change my perspective on acting, specifically in accessing the imagination and I feel privileged to have been able to explore the technique here in London with Sweet Dee.

-Anna

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