Physicality

We had loads of fun on Saturday exploring movement and gestures for our characters. After a high energy warm-up for our younger class, we moved around the room leading with different body parts and discussed the kind of characters we discovered. For example, we found that someone who led with their chest was very proud and confident and someone who led with their nose was nosey! We also explored how we can use tension in our bodies to help channel our emotions.

Wonder Woman would definitely lead with her chest!

Our older class explored the work of Rudolf Von Laban

Born into an aristocratic family in Hungary in 1879, Laban came to be considered one of the pioneers of modern dance. Early on his life, artists around him were beginning to look outside of tradition. They wanted to develop things beyond the constructs their teachers had set out for them. While he was studying architecture in Paris, he became interested in the relationship between the moving human form and the space around it. He developed the movement choir, where large numbers of people move together in a choreographed manner, but can include personal expression rather than being strictly uniform.

Laban also developed his own Movement Analysis looking at Body, Effort, Shape and Space. It aimed to show how we can use basic technique and subtle movements, things we do in everyday life, to express and experiment to create a piece. On Saturday we looked at his Efforts.

Together we went through each of the efforts (using Harry Potter characters as examples!) and I challenged them to see which effort they thought best suited their monologue. Laban's efforts is one of my favourite tools as an actor and it was fantastic to hear feedback from the students. "Learning about the Laban efforts really helped me express my character's feelings. My character was very angry so I used Punch, I found that using this effort made it easier to channel this anger in a more realistic way. I found I could connect with them more."

We will be exploring it more next week!

Apparently this is the best way for actors to stand. I'm not so convinced...