Thursday, April 30, 2009
Dance Space Line
Dance/NYC, Fractured Atlas, and DanCAcT have recently launched the new Dance Space Line. This phone line provides up-to-date information on available rehearsal dance space each morning. You can either call in to hear the recorded message or follow the Dance Space Line on Twitter to receive updates. Dance Space Line: 1-888-DSL-DNYC (1-888-375-3692). Twitter users: log in and search for "NYCDSL". Visit www.nycDanceSpaces.org for complete information on all dance rehearsal space listings.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tips for Introducing Work
Visual and video artists can use these, too - at in-school screenings, classroom presentations, arts festivals and such.
Here are some ideas for creating and presenting an introduction.
• Lead an inquiry-based discussion about the artwork. Examples: What’s the point of an introduction? What steps did we take to make this artwork? What inspired us to make it? What did we learn by creating it? What does the work mean to us?
• Take notes on the board during the discussion.
• Work as a class to come up with text. Pull ideas from the class, using notes from the previous discussion, and transcribe them on the board. Edit together. Another option is to come up with questions and answers and “interview” a select group of kids at the performance.
• Ask for volunteers to read the introduction at the performance.
• Working with the small group, break the introduction into chunks and decide who should read which part, where you’ll stand, etc.
• Practice until everyone’s comfortable.
• Bring several printouts of the script (large font) to the performance.
• Do a group warm-up beforehand to get kids focused and working together.
• Stand on stage with your kids if they’re nervous.
Here are some ideas for creating and presenting an introduction.
• Lead an inquiry-based discussion about the artwork. Examples: What’s the point of an introduction? What steps did we take to make this artwork? What inspired us to make it? What did we learn by creating it? What does the work mean to us?
• Take notes on the board during the discussion.
• Work as a class to come up with text. Pull ideas from the class, using notes from the previous discussion, and transcribe them on the board. Edit together. Another option is to come up with questions and answers and “interview” a select group of kids at the performance.
• Ask for volunteers to read the introduction at the performance.
• Working with the small group, break the introduction into chunks and decide who should read which part, where you’ll stand, etc.
• Practice until everyone’s comfortable.
• Bring several printouts of the script (large font) to the performance.
• Do a group warm-up beforehand to get kids focused and working together.
• Stand on stage with your kids if they’re nervous.
Final Performance Prep (THEATRE students)
As discussed at our staff Meeting today, three key steps to Final Performance Prep are: 1. Establishing Requirements, 2. Analyzing our Script and 3. Teaching Performance Techniques.
A detailed overview (which you can copy/paste and use as a handout for your students) is below:
1. REQUIREMENTS
• Participation in at least one Scene or Solo Piece in our Performance
• Notes (Script Analys & BLOCKING as detailed below) in your Script
• Attendance and Participation during Rehearsal and Final Performance
2. SCRIPT ANALYSIS
Character Details
List your character’s most important details:
Full name, age, gender, racial or cultural background, current life situation
(i.e. student, looking for work, artist, mother of 2, etc.)
Goals and Obstacles
Reason for Goals
We think about our character’s goals so that we have a true purpose in the scene,
which makes it more believable and interesting to watch.
To Solidify your Goals
→ Think and write about your character’s GOAL for the scene:
What does your character WANT or NEED most overall in the scene?
What is he trying to make happen? What does he want to change?
Examples:
I want my husband to admit his affair and say he truly loves me
I want my mom to apologize for abandoning me and invite me back home
I want to my friend to realize that she is about to make a huge mistake
→ Now think about the OBSTACLES that are in his way:
What things, people, or situations are preventing your character from reaching his goal?
Intentions
Reason for Intentions
We decide on Intentions for each line in order to strengthen our Character’s goal and make his lines more convincing! Your intentions should all contribute to your overall goal.
To Clarify your Intention
→ Mark each line of your script with ONE WORD describing what you WANT, what your PURPOSE is, or what you are trying to DO or get the other person to DO when you are saying THAT LINE! For example:
I want his ATTENTION/RESPECT/SUPPORT
I want her to TURN AROUND/WALK AWAY/SAY SHE UNDERSTANDS
I want to CONVINCE him to ___________
Write the thing you want to get or do in the MARGIN next to the line.
→ Now run your scene with your GOALS and INTENTIONS in mind. Remember - use your intentions to overcome your obstacles and reach your goals!
→ Do you notice a difference?
Are your intentions and obstacles clearer?
Is it clear when you reach the climax of the conflict and you need to work extra hard to reach your goal?
Do you want to change anything about your scene based on this rehearsal?
Back-story - “Before and After”
Reason for Before and After
We think about our Character’s actions, feelings, and thoughts outside of the scene in order to get more in touch with his world, his needs and feelings, and his life situation.
To Do Before and After
→ Read through your scene once again, paying attention to your opening and closing lines.
→ Think about, decide, and write:
What was your character doing, feeling, and thinking in the moments
BEFORE your scene BEGINS?
What will your character be doing, feeling, and thinking in the moments
AFTER your scene ENDS?
→ Share your answers with your scene group. Then run your scene, but this time start with each character’s action in the moment before the scene begins, and continue after the scene to each character’s action in the moment after the scene ends.
→ Discuss with your group:
Did your lines feel different?
Did they sound different?
Did the moment before affect the scene?
Did you feel more in touch with the character(s)?
Are the relationships stronger?
How has the scene changed or developed?
3. PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUES
Memorization
Reasons to Memorize
To make our scenes look better, more professional, for an audience
To be more convincing, realistic, serious
To get more into the scene, be more committed, invested
To show more emotion, relate more to other characters
Top Ten Ways to Memorize
1. Highlight your lines
2. Chunk your script
3. Label the margins with clue words
4. Cover the lines with a paper and try to remember them
5. Have a partner test you by holding the script and giving you clue words
6. Have someone read your lines to you and repeat them
7. Put your lines on index cards and test yourself
8. Tape record yourself saying the lines
9. Write the lines from memory on another paper to test yourself
10. Say the lines to yourself in front of a mirror
Blocking
Review
We know that body language makes performance more effective, and includes:
GESTURE
STANCE/POSTURE
FACIAL EXPRESSION
& EYE CONTACT
Blocking
Another physical aspect of performance includes BLOCKING, which is
Rehearsed movement with other characters onstage.
Vocabulary for BLOCKING:
Upstage, Downstage, Stage Left, Stage Right
Backstage, House, Wings
Cross, Turn
Blocking Rehearsal:
→ First we will watch one scene, letting the movement in the scene play out naturally
→ Then let’s discuss: What movement in that scene was effective?
→Now we make adjustments by refining the blocking.
The actors write the blocking notes in their script, and then run the scene a second time
with changes incorporated. Blocking in a scene is mostly rehearsed but always
includes an element of improvisation by the actors!
→ Stage Business includes any interaction with PROPS - objects (real or imagined)
onstage. Find two or three places in your script where your character can be doing
something with props!
Expression and Projection
Review
We know that voice and tone can vary in performance to make it more effective, and can include:
VOLUME and PITCH
SPEED and PAUSES
FLOW and ENERGY
& PASSION and EMOTION
Expression and Projection
Another way of talking about emotion and energy in performance is called expression and projection.
→ Make sure to project your voice, meaning speak loudly enough that the audience can
hear you.
→ When you say your lines, express your true intention so that the other character and the audience understand your meaning.
→ Make sure that your blocking allows for both projection and expression at all times. Anything you do onstage should HELP you be heard and understood, not limit you!
Improvising Emotion
Reason for Improvising
We improvise within our scene in order to let the emotion come through more deeply and intensely.
Ways to Improvise
→ Practice a certain difficult moment within your scene without worrying about the lines. Instead, work on repeating your intention or a line that is particularly meaningful in order to really convince or change the other character. Go with the flow!
→ Do the exercise while throwing a pillow back and forth with the other character
→ Do the exercise standing back-to-back with the other character in your scene
→ Do the exercise while pushing against the hands/arms of the other character
Substitution and Subtext
Reason for Substitution
We substitute for characters in our scene in order to imagine that we are talking to someone from our own lives. We can also imagine what we might actually say to those people while we say our lines from the scene.
Ways to Substitute
You can imagine who in your scene reminds you of someone from your own life.
For example: Jose reminds me of my cousin who was always bothering me when I wanted to go explore outside or do something on my own.
Then, pretend that you are talking to that person and really expressing what you want to say to them while you are rehearsing your scene. It will help your scene be more realistic.
Warming Up
Reasons for Warming Up
We warm up in order to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for rehearsal and performance.
Ways to Warm Up
There are hundreds of ways to warm up! Here are just a few:
Voice
Yelling “Hey”
Go high and low on a vowel sound
Buzz with lips
Tongue Twisters
Body
Stretching and Isolations
Throwing a ‘ball’
“Push Hands”
Running Circle
Mind & Ensemble
Count to 20 Game
Yes Game
Pulse Game
A detailed overview (which you can copy/paste and use as a handout for your students) is below:
1. REQUIREMENTS
• Participation in at least one Scene or Solo Piece in our Performance
• Notes (Script Analys & BLOCKING as detailed below) in your Script
• Attendance and Participation during Rehearsal and Final Performance
2. SCRIPT ANALYSIS
Character Details
List your character’s most important details:
Full name, age, gender, racial or cultural background, current life situation
(i.e. student, looking for work, artist, mother of 2, etc.)
Goals and Obstacles
Reason for Goals
We think about our character’s goals so that we have a true purpose in the scene,
which makes it more believable and interesting to watch.
To Solidify your Goals
→ Think and write about your character’s GOAL for the scene:
What does your character WANT or NEED most overall in the scene?
What is he trying to make happen? What does he want to change?
Examples:
I want my husband to admit his affair and say he truly loves me
I want my mom to apologize for abandoning me and invite me back home
I want to my friend to realize that she is about to make a huge mistake
→ Now think about the OBSTACLES that are in his way:
What things, people, or situations are preventing your character from reaching his goal?
Intentions
Reason for Intentions
We decide on Intentions for each line in order to strengthen our Character’s goal and make his lines more convincing! Your intentions should all contribute to your overall goal.
To Clarify your Intention
→ Mark each line of your script with ONE WORD describing what you WANT, what your PURPOSE is, or what you are trying to DO or get the other person to DO when you are saying THAT LINE! For example:
I want his ATTENTION/RESPECT/SUPPORT
I want her to TURN AROUND/WALK AWAY/SAY SHE UNDERSTANDS
I want to CONVINCE him to ___________
Write the thing you want to get or do in the MARGIN next to the line.
→ Now run your scene with your GOALS and INTENTIONS in mind. Remember - use your intentions to overcome your obstacles and reach your goals!
→ Do you notice a difference?
Are your intentions and obstacles clearer?
Is it clear when you reach the climax of the conflict and you need to work extra hard to reach your goal?
Do you want to change anything about your scene based on this rehearsal?
Back-story - “Before and After”
Reason for Before and After
We think about our Character’s actions, feelings, and thoughts outside of the scene in order to get more in touch with his world, his needs and feelings, and his life situation.
To Do Before and After
→ Read through your scene once again, paying attention to your opening and closing lines.
→ Think about, decide, and write:
What was your character doing, feeling, and thinking in the moments
BEFORE your scene BEGINS?
What will your character be doing, feeling, and thinking in the moments
AFTER your scene ENDS?
→ Share your answers with your scene group. Then run your scene, but this time start with each character’s action in the moment before the scene begins, and continue after the scene to each character’s action in the moment after the scene ends.
→ Discuss with your group:
Did your lines feel different?
Did they sound different?
Did the moment before affect the scene?
Did you feel more in touch with the character(s)?
Are the relationships stronger?
How has the scene changed or developed?
3. PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUES
Memorization
Reasons to Memorize
To make our scenes look better, more professional, for an audience
To be more convincing, realistic, serious
To get more into the scene, be more committed, invested
To show more emotion, relate more to other characters
Top Ten Ways to Memorize
1. Highlight your lines
2. Chunk your script
3. Label the margins with clue words
4. Cover the lines with a paper and try to remember them
5. Have a partner test you by holding the script and giving you clue words
6. Have someone read your lines to you and repeat them
7. Put your lines on index cards and test yourself
8. Tape record yourself saying the lines
9. Write the lines from memory on another paper to test yourself
10. Say the lines to yourself in front of a mirror
Blocking
Review
We know that body language makes performance more effective, and includes:
GESTURE
STANCE/POSTURE
FACIAL EXPRESSION
& EYE CONTACT
Blocking
Another physical aspect of performance includes BLOCKING, which is
Rehearsed movement with other characters onstage.
Vocabulary for BLOCKING:
Upstage, Downstage, Stage Left, Stage Right
Backstage, House, Wings
Cross, Turn
Blocking Rehearsal:
→ First we will watch one scene, letting the movement in the scene play out naturally
→ Then let’s discuss: What movement in that scene was effective?
→Now we make adjustments by refining the blocking.
The actors write the blocking notes in their script, and then run the scene a second time
with changes incorporated. Blocking in a scene is mostly rehearsed but always
includes an element of improvisation by the actors!
→ Stage Business includes any interaction with PROPS - objects (real or imagined)
onstage. Find two or three places in your script where your character can be doing
something with props!
Expression and Projection
Review
We know that voice and tone can vary in performance to make it more effective, and can include:
VOLUME and PITCH
SPEED and PAUSES
FLOW and ENERGY
& PASSION and EMOTION
Expression and Projection
Another way of talking about emotion and energy in performance is called expression and projection.
→ Make sure to project your voice, meaning speak loudly enough that the audience can
hear you.
→ When you say your lines, express your true intention so that the other character and the audience understand your meaning.
→ Make sure that your blocking allows for both projection and expression at all times. Anything you do onstage should HELP you be heard and understood, not limit you!
Improvising Emotion
Reason for Improvising
We improvise within our scene in order to let the emotion come through more deeply and intensely.
Ways to Improvise
→ Practice a certain difficult moment within your scene without worrying about the lines. Instead, work on repeating your intention or a line that is particularly meaningful in order to really convince or change the other character. Go with the flow!
→ Do the exercise while throwing a pillow back and forth with the other character
→ Do the exercise standing back-to-back with the other character in your scene
→ Do the exercise while pushing against the hands/arms of the other character
Substitution and Subtext
Reason for Substitution
We substitute for characters in our scene in order to imagine that we are talking to someone from our own lives. We can also imagine what we might actually say to those people while we say our lines from the scene.
Ways to Substitute
You can imagine who in your scene reminds you of someone from your own life.
For example: Jose reminds me of my cousin who was always bothering me when I wanted to go explore outside or do something on my own.
Then, pretend that you are talking to that person and really expressing what you want to say to them while you are rehearsing your scene. It will help your scene be more realistic.
Warming Up
Reasons for Warming Up
We warm up in order to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for rehearsal and performance.
Ways to Warm Up
There are hundreds of ways to warm up! Here are just a few:
Voice
Yelling “Hey”
Go high and low on a vowel sound
Buzz with lips
Tongue Twisters
Body
Stretching and Isolations
Throwing a ‘ball’
“Push Hands”
Running Circle
Mind & Ensemble
Count to 20 Game
Yes Game
Pulse Game
Tribeca Film Institute Free Screenings
Medicine for Melancholy
APRIL 26, 11AM @ TRIBECA FILM CENTER (375 GREENWICH STREET)
Join us for a special presentation of the award-winning film—especially for young filmmakers. From first-time feature director Barry Jenkins comes a love story that deals with issues of class, identity, and the evolving conundrum of being a minority in rapidly gentrifying San Francisco. Featuring the striking cinematography of James Laxton and a fantastic soundtrack from the best in indie rock today, MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY is a hilarious and romantic tribute to the beauty of San Francisco and the people that give it life. Barry Jenkins will be joining us after the screening for a unique Q&A via video iChat.
Beyond the Reel: Explorations in Media
APRIL 28, 7:45-9:15PM @ THE APPLE STORE IN SOHO (103 PRINCE STREET)
In an age where you can watch a blockbuster on YouTube and a rooftop can become a movie theater—the way that we view films and filmmaking will never be the same again. The internet has transformed how people watch and interact with moving images, while galleries and new venues for video art have created the chance for multi-screen projections. By bringing together four very different but extremely exciting artists who are expanding the definition of “filmmaker”—this interactive event will give students the opportunity to meet with artists like acclaimed hip-hop video blogger Jay Smooth and mashup masters Wreck & Salvage. Join us for this experimental evening as we explore spliced archival footage, vlogging, film installation, and video games.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
New PBS Website
PBS, the best channel on TV, now has a new website where you can watch a lot more video than ever before. You can see a movie based on a Dickens novel, a documentary about moving past fossil fuels, and determine the value of your grandmother's favorite lamp.
And you can use it in the classroom too, I suppose... it's searchable by subject.
National Playwriting Competition
WANTED: FULL LENGTH STAGE PLAYS
METLIFE NUESTRAS VOCES
NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION 2009
Postmarked Deadline: Monday, June 1, 2009.
Repertorio Español is looking for unproduced full length stage plays that are relevant and unique to the Hispanic experience in the United States.
• Winning Play will be produced at Repertorio Español.
• Top Five will receive cash awards.
• Finalists will receive a staged reading at Repertorio.
For Guidelines and Application contact Allison at aav@repertorio.org.
Check-out our website at www.repertorio.org for a complete list of descriptions and finalists.
METLIFE NUESTRAS VOCES
NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION 2009
Postmarked Deadline: Monday, June 1, 2009.
Repertorio Español is looking for unproduced full length stage plays that are relevant and unique to the Hispanic experience in the United States.
• Winning Play will be produced at Repertorio Español.
• Top Five will receive cash awards.
• Finalists will receive a staged reading at Repertorio.
For Guidelines and Application contact Allison at aav@repertorio.org.
Check-out our website at www.repertorio.org for a complete list of descriptions and finalists.
Super Cool Photography Project for You and Yours
A Million Little Pictures: Documentary
1,000 artists documenting 1,000 lives from around the world
Art House is looking for 1,000 people from around the world to receive 1000 disposable cameras. We'll mail the camera to you to document your life in 24 exposures and then you simply send us back the prints. Not only will we have the exhibition here in Atlanta, we will also travel to the city with the most participants. S
oooooo, tell your friends, mom, sister, cousin, or whoever to sign up. The exhibition will be home to 24,000 photographs of 1,000 people’s lives all over the world.
For more information on the project and to sign up, please go to: http://www.amillionlittlepictures.com!
Sign up Deadline: July 1st 2009
Postmark Deadline: September 1st 2009
To sign up to participate, visit: http://www.amillionlittlepictures.com
Art House projects have been featured on CNN and Current TV and in Juxtapoz Magazine, Good Magazine, Urban Outfitters blog, Yahoo Daily Wire, Atlanta Magazine and National Geographic's Intelligent Traveler.Check out their website for more information about how to get involved: http://www.arthousecoop.com
1,000 artists documenting 1,000 lives from around the world
Art House is looking for 1,000 people from around the world to receive 1000 disposable cameras. We'll mail the camera to you to document your life in 24 exposures and then you simply send us back the prints. Not only will we have the exhibition here in Atlanta, we will also travel to the city with the most participants. S
oooooo, tell your friends, mom, sister, cousin, or whoever to sign up. The exhibition will be home to 24,000 photographs of 1,000 people’s lives all over the world.
For more information on the project and to sign up, please go to: http://www.amillionlittlepictures.com!
Sign up Deadline: July 1st 2009
Postmark Deadline: September 1st 2009
To sign up to participate, visit: http://www.amillionlittlepictures.com
Art House projects have been featured on CNN and Current TV and in Juxtapoz Magazine, Good Magazine, Urban Outfitters blog, Yahoo Daily Wire, Atlanta Magazine and National Geographic's Intelligent Traveler.Check out their website for more information about how to get involved: http://www.arthousecoop.com
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