Taking care of my instrument

After I had been teaching for about a year and a half, I made a difficult discovery... four years of late night college pizza and eighteen months of gifts of food and teacher luncheons had left me seriously overweight. I was unhappy with myself and my appearance and with a family that suffers from heart disease, I was not headed down a good path. So with a new found confidence and determination, I went to work on my body and slowly and steadily I embarked on the road to weight loss, fitness and self-esteem.

I succeeded in my goals and, though my weight and fitness level has its good months and its bad, it is something that I have accepted and work on a little at a time everyday. I always knew that staying fit and healthy was something that I had to do for my well-being, but I never thought about how much this was something that I should be instilling in my students.

An actor must treat his/her body like an instrument. Uta mentions that the actor must keep aspects of their body in tip top shape in order to be able to do their job properly. They must keep their voices trained and healthy, they need to practice eloquent and intelligent speech and of course they must keep their body ready for the challenges of a role.

When a dancer has a well trained technique, it shows. His pirouettes are strong and supported, her leaps are landed with ease and confidence. When a musician has spent time and effort on their instrument, the strokes which make the beautiful melodies come from a place of obvious hard work and dedication. Uta points out that an actor on the other hand is usually thought to be blessed with a "natural talent". That, however, is not the case with actors and it is the job of actors, and in my case an acting teacher, to prove that wrong. Acting seems to come from a place of natural talent. Acting seems so easy to those who don't know, but we as actors must train every aspect of our body and mind in order to prepare and transform. Our voices will no longer be our own. Our bodies will be moving differently, and our speech must emulate someone else's. Therefore in our everyday lives, we must prepare for the next role. Practice good speech, prepare the voice for fatigue, make sure the body is in physical shape. We must be ready.

So little did I know that in my lifestyle change, I was emulating the type of behavior that my student actors need to be living. I realized then and I know now even more how important my body is. It's the only one I'm going to get and caring for it goes a long way. I am preparing it for a long, healthy life, and the type of life that will make for a strong, balanced actor.

Art among me

As a high school theatre teacher, you cannot help but come to terms with the fact that sometimes, life gets in the way. Rehearsals can be interrupted daily by anything: a lovers' quarrel and the resulting tears that follow, a parent pickup for SAT tutoring, and (not that this ever happens... right??) the unfortunate detention for being late to first period. We forget sometimes that the world does not revolve around our art. I find myself begging my students to leave "life" at the door and engulf yourself only in the moment. But to my dismay, that can never be the case and "life happens". I have sometimes wondered... "how do my student actors expect to get any sort of work done to the best of their ability when they constantly let life get in the way?"

And so when I turned to Uta yesterday, she shared with me this bit of wisdom. She defined talent as "the natural endowment of a person with special or creative aptitudes," she also went on to say...

"In an actor, I believe, these endowments consist of high sensitivity and responsiveness to sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, of exceptional sensitivity to others, of being easily moved by beauty and pain, and of having a soaring imagination without losing control of reality."

I have always encouraged my students to be in touch with their emotions and the world around them. I remind them to keep journals in order to give voice to their thoughts no matter how simple or abstract. It is the healthy balance of observation and raw talent that makes for a healthy balance on stage. And so I read on...

"...remember that once you can read, you can educate yourself in the understanding of human beings and the social conditions under which man has struggled throughout history... your feet can take you to museums, galleries, libraries, theaters, concerts and dance performances."

And so without thinking, I opened my laptop searched the web and decided on a post lunch trip to the Frost Art Museum at the Florida International University Campus. I wandered the exhibit rooms taking in the works. Colors... shapes... smells.... sounds.... it was a typical museum visit. Some works spoke to me and some didn't. But there, in the solitude of the museum (it was pretty empty), I realized what I already knew... I had a re-relization. Theatre is a life study. It is art and life in perfect harmony and if we don't take the time to really live and appreciate the life around us and how it inspires art, we can't fully realize our talent as people of theatre.

It is so important to make observations; to keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open to the world around us, both real and artistic. I guess we owe to our art. So amidst the art in the afternoon, I made the promise to keep a more open mind to as much as I can. And because of that the occasional rehearsal interruption when "life happens" may not seem so irritating to me.

And life and art went on...

Prepared for the Challenge

"Theoretically, the actor ought to be more sound in mind and body than other people, since he learns to understand the psychological problems of human beings when putting his own passions, his loves, fears, and rages to work in the service of the characters he plays. He will learn to face himself, to hide nothing from himself- and to do so takes an insatiable curiosity about the human condition"

I couldn't have said it better myself. And I didn't have to because Uta said it for me and way before I ever could.

And so the challenge begins. As the summer is at its highest point, I am beginning to prepare my thoughts and ideas for the school year to come. Every year I try and find a way to recharge my educational batteries. A true teacher never stops learning so I try to keep discovering and exploring... being the type of teacher who develops a sense of the ever changing world; as a high school theatre teacher that's important. And so this blog was born...

I am going to revisit the teachings and wisdom of one of my favorite acting teachers: Uta Hagen, a woman who was considered one of the most truthful actresses of her day.

Truthful: it's a word that, on so many levels, is taken for granted. But when it comes to acting "truth" is something unusually connected to fiction. In learning to accept truths, we as actors and people of theatre better understand what we wish to do everyday. And so the journey begins as does my time with Uta.

I will read, I will comment, I will live and experience. I plan to spend time learning more about the craft I love to teach in order to give a little more to my students. I also plan to give a little more to myself. Hopefully, this challenge leads me to discover more about acting, and more about myself.

And so here we go... Chapter 1...