Mask Show Meeting Notes (15/12/11), Meeting #1

THOUGHTS:

-Let's keep the show ideas simple

-Consider letting someone watch you during rehearsals for your pieces (Ruth would be happy to do this)

-Let's make sure to use the paper maché masks we all made.

SHOW IDEAS:

STRUCTURE:

-We agreed on having 6 or 7 (or however many) main performance pieces with smaller characters/situations showing up every once in a while throughout the evening

-Set it up like a Dreamscape (if confused about meaning, see Imre) with and without recurring characters. Anyway, we develop this sort of weird feeling, otherworldly.

-3 reoccurring characters interrupting scene with a simple activity of some kind -- like fighting over a pencil

-Evolution of the masks/characters (similar to the Amoeba exercise, but only in the sense that an evolution is taking place, Fabiola)

-Neutral Masks could help create environments (forrest, city, ocean, grocery store, etc)

-Neutral Masks or Larvae Masks could set up for the scenes

-Various Dumpster Masks could be passing in the background constantly.

-One character/object could link each of the scenes (for example, a prop being reused from one scene to the next, or a character walking on stage lost looking for the scene then finding his stage partners and beginning the scene)

-Latex Masks in the balcony like the two old guys from the muppets (Imre's grandma, Yanet's Cigar Guy)

SCENES/CHARACTERS:

To Begin Show:

-Body Bag piece

-Ritual with music using Javanese Masks (Fationa, Yanet, David) -- maybe take place in the middle of the audience, with a High Moon Body Bag character starting the possession of the Javanese Masks

-Neutral Masks start the show?

Middle Scenes:

-Throne Scene (Imre, David, Sam, Ruth, Signe)

-Hip-Hop scene (Fabiola, Signe)

-Poker Game

-Larvae Masks at the cafe (Bikash, Fationa, Signe)

-Imre and David's Body Bag characters from the lamp scene

-Rock Concert with Latex Masks (David, Yanet, Bikash)

-Dumpster Collection Team (Fabiola, Yanet, Imre)

Show Endings:

-Family Photo

TO-DO LIST:

-Everyone should come back after the break with two ideas/characters and we will have another meeting. Yay!

AVAILABILITY/PREFERENCES:

1) Fationa -- available all break (ritual, bar larva mask)

2) David -- returns Jan 2nd

3) Fabiola --available all break (Hip-Hip scene)

4) Signe -- available all break (Hip-Hop scene, Throne Scene, up for other stuff, Call Her!)

5) Imre -- returns Dec 29th

6) Ruth -- returns January 2nd (Moon Body Bag character, her own paper maché mask)

7) Kamal -- available all break

8) Bikash -- available all break

P.S. People, we rock!!!

Love,

Yeah this guy again

Rolling on a Table + Passion vs. State (Th 15/12/11)

Hello peoples,

To waste no time at all, today in

ACROBATICS CLASS!!!!!

we did the following new things:

-Speed Stomach Cruncher (this was when one group of people were down in the doggy position while the rest of the class rapidly switched partners, then we rotated groups)

-Two Dogs Roll on Each Other--this is what I have affectionately named a balancing exercise I will honestly have a hard time explaining. Basically you start with one person in the doggy position on all fours, while their partner is in the same position on their back. Then they sort of roll over on top of each other until you're both in the crab walking position on top of each other (hips up), then you go back to the starting position. Make sense?

-Front roll into a headstand. It is exactly what it sounds like. Remember to do the headstand on your forehead with your head and hands in a triangle position. Much love.

-Roll on a table. Remember that one time we rolled on a block with a mat on it. Well, now we rolled on a table with a mat on it. Next, I think we'll roll on a metro bus.

Now, today in

MASK CLASS WITH OLE BREKKE!!!!!

We worked with the Latex Masks once again, like we did yesterday with Ruth.

First, we wore the masks in groups of five after picking costumes (and eventually getting into a family photo position, then finding a way to say goodbye to each person who you won't see for another 20 years and exit the stage).

Next, we worked with Passions and States. To quote Ole, "When a passion is pushed too far, it becomes this state."

Desire --> Shame

Pride --> Fear

Jealousy --> Waiting

Hunger --> Envy

Longing --> Despair

We were instructed to find a situation where all the characters would only feel one of two of these things in the pairs above. We saw: a Rock Concert (Desire --> Shame), a Jewelry Shop (Desire --> Shame), and a Restaurant (Hunger --> Envy).

Then, we had a meeting about the Mask Show we so desperately want to do in January. In the next post, you will find the notes for that meeting.

Sincerely,

This guy

"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow"

Here are two videos. The first is the version we will be singing, but I included the second version so you can get a better idea of the dialect and general feeling of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZtgZ5fHOuU&feature=related

Here's the 2nd one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxGMWCnyNzg&feature=related

Ne'er say ne'er.

David

All About Your Partner

Well, today we did NOT have acrobatics, because last night was the deliciously successful Commedia School Christmas Party 2011!!

So, we just had MASK class with Ole, working with the Dumpster Masks.

Words:

-Don't worry about yourself, your partner will take care of you.

-Give your partner a chance to be great; help them be great.

-Let yourself change.

-Be ready for anything and change; you don't know what's going to happen.

-"You're creating this thing and you don't know what it is. So, you need to be completely alert all the time." - Ole

-Restrict yourself (if you decide your character's arms are crossed, then keep them crossed no matter what).

Today we did:

-The recognition exercise...four times!! Apparently, we were having a hard time being genuinely surprised and organic. Let's work on that, shall we? I suggest we relax and pretend no one's watching us. Thoughts? -- "It it doesn't happen, it dies, but it better happen. You don't know what's going to happen, but it better happen. It's only you. There's no one else." - Ole

-Work with each of the dumpster masks individually. What works? What doesn't work? Defend the mask!

That's all for today. A short one.

Love,

Uncle David

Swedish song: Horgalåten

Here is the text and at the bottom a video for the Swedish song: Horgalåten, a really old, traditional song from Sweden with a nice easy melody. Hope you like it. You can read the spooky story yourself.... : 


Horgalåten at Youtube 

or 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI3iX8WtzaM

The well known legend of when the Devil, disguised as a fiddler, made the youths of the village of Hårga, in Hälsingland, dance themselve s to death, upon the mountain of Hårga.

Spelmannen drog fiol ur lådan
och lyfte stråken högt mot söndagssolens kula.
Då blev det fart på Horgafolket,
de glömde Gud och hela världen 

Dansen gick på äng och backar,
högt uppå Horgaåsens topp.
Man slet ut båd' skor och klackar,
aldrig fick man på dansen stopp. 

Varifrån kommer du som spelar,
säg vem har lärt dig detta spel det vilda galna?
Stannar du inte brister hjärtat,
å Gud bevare han har bockfot! 

Klockorna hade ringt i dalen,
och där gick far och mor och bror till socken kyrkan.
Var kan nu Horgas ungdom vara,
å herregud de dansar ännu!

Dansen gick till Horgalåten,
högt uppå Horgaåsens topp.
man har nu inte långt till gråten,
dansar nu sönder både själ och kropp.

Hejda din stråke spelman innan,
vi dansar liv och själ och alla ben ur kroppen.
Nej inte slutar han sin dans
förrän allesammans faller döda! 

Free english translation:

The fiddler grabbed the fiddle from it's case
and lifted his bow towards the dawning Sunday sun
Then the people of Hårga became in a hurry
They forgot about God and the whole world

The dance went on meadows and hills
high upon the top of the ridge of Hårga
One wore out both shoes and heels
One could not stop the dance

Where do you come from, you who is playing
Tell us who have taught you this way to play, so wild and mad
If you don't stop our hearts will burst
Oh God preserve us, he has a cloven hoof!

The bells had rung in the valley,
And father and mother and brother walked to the parish church
Where can Hårgas youths now be?
Oh my God, they are still dancing!

The dance went to the Hårga tune
High up on the top of the ridge of Hårga
They are not far from crying
Now,when dancing, they wore through both soul and body

Stop your bow, fiddler
Before we dance out life and soul and bones
No he doesn't stop his dance
Until we all fall dead down

"Everything is perfect. We do this all the time." -- Larvae Mask's inner dialogue (1/12/11)

Folks...we have got a lot to cover in this post, so I'll do my best to make it as interesting and attention-grabbing as possible. Lots of good stuff lies ahead.

Also, welcome to December. According to the 5-year-old girl I nanny, it is now officially Winter. Welcome in, Father Winter. Would you like some hot chocolate with rum, or perhaps a kick in the face with whipped cream?

ACROBATICS

-Headstands

-nose-cruncher

-no banana back! It keeps you off balance and wacks out your back something fierce

-try keeping your knees bent and to your chest like a ball when you go into the headstand, it will help you keep control of your hips

-Handstands

-try it starting with your legs spread out very far, and your hands in the normal position, but quite close to your feet to begin with, then go up into the handstand and keep your legs out to the side as far as they will go

-this will also help you keep control of your hips

-Bridge (Three cheers for pain!)

-shake hands with someone

-walk over someone as they lay on the ground

-Big wheels

-run and then sort of jump into doing a cartwheel, go for AIR TIME!!

-Standing Flag (this is the one where one person jumps straight as a stick onto the other persons legs while holding hands and remaining relaxed, of course)

-help your partner by always being straight as a stick

-try taking two people up at a time, booya!

MASK

(1) Exercises for Larvae Masks

-2 masks enter with a workout mat (either together or at different times)

-3 masks enter in a crab walk position with the mask on the back of their heads

-6 masks enter with costumes

-Get together for a Family Photo

(2) Words of Wisdom

-say yes to your partner no matter what, even if they are humping your back. This is how these masks behave, this is their normal lives

-when a change happens (emotion, rhythm, tempo, etc.) stay with it until something interrupts the mask and forces a change again

-when you're not sure what to do, move into the empty space and something will happen, something will provoke action

-"irrational logic"

-Bikash and Fationa had very different masks (like a boss and the worker)

-Fationa's character's thoughts, "Am I helping? Is this right? Is this what you want me to do? I like you."

-Bikash's character's thoughts, "There she is again. Why is she always so close to me?"

-The rhythm of the mask is strict and definite, so keep it consistent

-as soon as we see the actor instead of the mask, it doesn't work

-Make a decision about the movement and stay with it

-First establish what is normal, then it can become abnormal

-Keep going until the mask is in the right place, keep moving until you bump into your partner

-Take your time, hold the positions, time is so flexible with these characters, almost like their thoughts are in slow motion

-"Let your imagination take you away and your concentration hold it together." -- Ole

-"Once you establish a character, it can take all the energy you got!" -- Ole

"No no no no no no no no no no no no there's no limit." -- Sam

Well, there you are folks.

Love,

Uncle David

Late notes from Friday 25th

Firday was a very insightful day.

We started with MIME class with massive amounts of undulations (front, sides on the floor... mmmm, on the floor)

Then we moved on to the new excercise of Pulling the Rope which pretty comes from the sidward undulation. Some of the basic guidlines are (true for all mime stuff) pulling something means that hands move last. Remembeer fixed points and to fall into the pulling motion. And the footwork... Same as pushing stuff, heels go up on the foot that holds the bodyweight.

On Voiceclass we did the advanced vrison of the reaching to the sky feldenkrais stuff we did one of the first lessons. As we reached up with arms and shoulders we rotated the hips to totherside giving the spine a twist and opening the chest. Good one!

On Mask class we showed our friday groupwork and ole went throuh each piece and character for possible improvements....

Masks Play Poker (23/11/11)

Hello Team!

Well, in ACROBATICS today, we didn't really do anything new. If you can remember anything, then please post it, otherwise this day in Acrobatics will be forgotten forever in history.

I'll wait...

...

...

...

...

...very good, thank you.

Now, in MASK this day we did TONS of new stuff!

1) We started with Masks on a Beach. Hilarious! It works the best when you don't force anything to happen. Don't forget to give the mask to the audience all the time. Also, give yourself a functional task to do on the beach so that there is some activity to keep the mask alive.

2) Hold the mask tightly in your hand with your fingers on the top. Now look at the mask at different angles. Now have the mask take a look at different parts of you.

3) Masks Playing Poker--four people enter the stage where there sit four chairs in a half circle position as if around a card table. Someone deals the cards. The four masks play a card game. Eventually someone wins and everyone exits.

-Every time something happens, look at the thing that happened (like someone playing a card or someone exiting or someone winning, etc) then react in the direction of the audience.

Words of advice:

-Don't confuse the movement of the mask with too much movement--ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT!!!

-Isolate one part of your body and move that part in order to react to something.

-Pick one emotion (or make one character choice) and choose only a few specific movements and use those for the character. Then find different degrees of that emotion/choice to play with on stage.

Well, there you have it. Now, who wants to play poker?...........no, I'm serious..........

Sincerely,

This Guy Roby

holaaaa people beautiful people......

First of all i just want to say something...on friday we had the melodramma show of 2 year...
i really enjoyed the show.because of them ,they were great,but even because i enjoyed too much to see our fitness hall,swimming pool.school.whatever i call it, transformed like that.A lot of people came and with the low light and everything i saw in front of me this transformation that really emotioneted a lot.
It showed to me the long or short way that we have in front of us and a point where in the future we all are going to pass by.For me acting is really new and seeing the show uuuuuu i am going to be in that stage like them...I felt i think the same emotions and nervosism they felt ,because was seeing myself not too far in the future......

ok lets begin....after one week of no fisik attivities,
impulse ...leg in front behind,left right .find the center ,the head and all the body strecht up  dont move looking forward...

-sit down cross legs ,leave the head reach the floor and push the hands in front and release
-open legs and with both hands on the same leg push and pull....move the back
-legs in front hands on legs back streight  head reach up and the 4 movements in front back down up...
then you join even looking up streching the neck and back till 8
-cross legs,head on a side,open shoulders,and move the back and the head on the side try to reach the floor
-stretching open legs bottom down hands on the knees shoulders go up and look behind
-then go down and sit on one flat feet, knee outside ,body in front inside the knee
-then we began to experiment the different ways of walking...

-ok walk on thumbs,on toes,inside part of the leg ,outside part,one leg inside part one leg outside leg....
-walk in the streight line  ,like you walk in one string or walk with the legs apart each other in 20 cm and you walk up 2 strings paralele to each other
-walk with the both toes that goes inside ,or with the both toes that goes outside...
-walk with this different ways of putting the legs on the floor together with the different part of the body...
one time the knees are the one that give the impulse ,then the head has the impulse,the chest and the beli....

-so try to exersice all this different ways of walking ....try to make in the most natural way relaxed one and try even to exagerate ,that all the body get influenzed of one movement you do.....


2 part of the class......
we began with the exerzice of the eye that look from the key...
this helps a lot in focusing .see how you can see from your mask ....how you get more dettails,how you get near or far to see the things better..the same method we are going to use with the mask

then ...was the fisrt time that we had our own masks....so we had a chair and we had to take the mask and make it life.....

Important.....THE CHARACTER IS IN THE FOOT...all the exercise that we did the first part are really important to understand that different way of showing our boddy different characters we create...
so specially for the fully masks where the body movement is really important is importanat to built your own character with the body

Dont think to much.....See the mask for one minute,follow what the mask says to you,Not think about
And you put the body in the position the mask say to you and for all the time you have to keep the same but in a relaxed way however....

Masks do irrational things...
Let yourself to be surprised
Relax yourself....

There are really nice masks in the class.we just have to work a litlle bit and maybe we can do the mask show.....i would really like ....so come people training and relaxing

by and love

Música Regional de Oaxaca - El Feo (Nanga Ti Feo)

nanga ti feo cancion en zapoteco

Spotlights, Keyholes, Imaginary Stretches and Countermask!

This friday was aa rather overwhelming one.

We started with MIME class where we've been focusing mostly on isolations connected to maskwork.

After the usual warmup we went through the isolation excercises by our selves (as a reminder to paractice in our free time...)

We did the keyhole excercise again, watching through a hole in our fistss to reproduce the sensation of focusing through a mask. (Move, notice, stop, focus)

Afterwards we moverd on to a new excercise for the maskwork. We called it spotlight. We imagined a spotlight attached to our foreheads and had see things with the spotlight. Keeping our eyes alligned with our head, trying to see noticing everything on the way as our head moves in different directions without any jumps with our eyes.

(It helped me to concentrate on the image of the spotlight, because having a too small focus point is really hard to maintain...)

After this we moved on to VOICEWORK:

We had a new excercise:

First: As we sat we grabbed one leg with the same arm on the heel, and with the other by the toes, turning the other leg back.

We moved the leg being held in circles towards the back of the head and back down again in the same curve. (Doesn't matter how far we could reach)

Second: 

BRB!!!

Hickory Dickory Dock and "Rolling on a Block" (by Adele)

Class 10/11/11

Well, hello my amigos y amigas.

Escuchame!

ACROBATICS

New stuff:

-We began the day by warming up walking around the room...with bigger and bigger steps...then maximum big steps...then even bigger...then suddenly to small steps...and even smaller...then walking normally. How fun!

-Headstands. Sounds the same, you say. Read on, reader. We were challenged today to move on from the headstand where we have our hands on the top of our heads INTO the nose-cruncher. Booya! Work on it!

-Break dancing move. Swing the leg around and around, keeping it straight, and lifting your hands and other foot out of the way. I find it helpful to place my two hands and non-swinging foot in a triangle formation, so there's always two of the three on the ground. Also, I find it helps to keep my weight rocking around opposite of my swinging leg, which requires leaning my upper body around and around.

-The Throne (sitting on your partner's feet while they lie on their back). Let's add running into the throne position, and then eventually running and jumping into the throne position. Person sitting on the throne: this requires placing all your weight on your hands for as long as possible until your weight is well balanced on your partner.

-Front rolls. Except this time, let's roll on a box and sit on the end of it! Jump into the roll so that your head may end up off the edge of the box you're grabbing onto. Grab onto the very corners of the box, perhaps for stability.

IMPROV/MASK

"Your body must be aware of the space, because with masks you don't know what the hell everyone else is doing. You're blind." -- Ole Brekke

-First, we heard the children's rhyme "Hickory Dickory Dock" recited by our very own Ole Brekke. We then reenacted the poem on our own according to the rhythm and sound of the poem, NOT according to the words of the poem. Then we split up into groups of three and choreographed bits of movement to this poem. Gorgeous!

-To further emphasize NOT acting out the words, we heard poems from different languages and moved our bodies according to whatever images came to mind as someone recited the poem out loud. Beautiful, people. Suprisingly accurate with the story of the poem itself. Just goes to show how much the sound and rhythm of words have to do with the actual meaning.

-Then, we moved on to choreographing movement pieces to the poems "And If" and "Light Pole" in groups.

-Finally, we began to play with our masks by setting up a scenario in a library.

Three masked characters.

Character 1 (C1) enters the library, giving the mask to the audience, looking for something. There is a change (either of tempo or intention).

Character 2 (C2) enters (make noise, make it easy for C1 to know you've entered, because remember you're all blind). C1 leaves. There is a change in C2.

Character 3 (C3) enters from the other side. C2 and C3 interact. There is a change.

C1 reenters. You all interact. Find an ending.

Things of NOTE:

1. Masks are caricatures, so make your movements and your body position as big as possible according to how the mask inspires you, according to what images the mask gives you. Take a moment to look at the mask before you create a character out of it.

2. Focus on the objects or people first, THEN react and give the mask to the audience (aka, keep your body completely still as you look at the object of your attention, then look at the audience with your reaction to that object).

3. Stick to just a few certain movements for your mask character instead of establishing new movements. This makes who the character is extremely easy for the audience to interpret and understand.

4. Push your poses bigger. Make everything bigger with a mask on!

Appreciation and Maskication,

David

Janusz 8th of november: Working with diagonals

1)Lying on the bag with legs up :)
2)Take the arms straight above your head. Move the right hand and the left foot. Make small cirkles with both. See how the movements relate to each other.
3)Then also move the head from one side to the other, while moving the eyes the opposite way the head is going.
4) Relax
1) Do the same with the other arm and leg


1) Take both arms straight above the head. Move the right arm and the left leg. Explore what movements are possible with these diagonal movements. explore, but be gentle. Do the same with the other arm and foot.
2) Now do the same thing again while turning the head from one side to the other as well, while looking the other way with the eyes.
3) Do the same ground exercise while turning the head up and down, while looking the opposite way.

Relax.

1) Turn your head from one side to the other and notice what's happening.. (with me the eyes automaticall wanted to try to go the opposite way as the head)

 Now get ready for coming up sitting. Then get ready for standing.

Up standing now notish how how feel.

Start walking. Notish how you are being pulled or pushed while you are walking.
Let it happen, don't force it.

Afterwards we were one by one walking a little bit and the rest of us should see if the person was being pulled or pushed. It was very different from all of us. only few were neutral.
This exercise is good for working with a more neutral expression. We want to surprise and challenge the nerve-system , so that our habits get broken and we can be aware of what we are doing normally, in order to be able to go to a neutral state, to use for example while working with the mask.

In the end we were making exercises to walk with the mask, like having lamps in your eyes, and only from there you can focus. Imaging you are walking for example in a dark forest, dark museum or park....

Hasta luego
Signe.

Janusz tuesday 31rd oct.

-Lying on the back, legs up (surprise ;-)
 Imagine you are looking to one side, while really looking to the other side.
-Look up and down, while imagining you are looking the opposite way.
- Turning the head to one side, while imagining you are turning it the other way.
-Turning the head up and down, while imagining you are turning it the other way.
-Taking up the leg, while imagining you are taking it down, and take it down, while imagining taking it up.
Afterwards try walking around. The exercizes makes you feel very relaxed, and can have an effect to make one open up to what is possible, because they are challeging your nerve-system. The whole day after these exercizes I felt very grounded.

After this we were asked to like many different kinds of plasticbags and -pieces. Janusz had one at the time in the air and was letting them fall, where after in two groups we were changing to be the plastic materials.
 After that we were working with being like bacon frying on a pan, then how and egg is frying, and then how they are frying on top of each other. First bacon, then egg. Groups of five.

Being and egg looks best lying on the floor with the stomach down.

By Signe :)

"Jordan, Gordon" and the famous music with Bus Stop Adventures

Well, folks, we did a lot today, so let's hop to it!

MIME

New stuff:

-Wavy arms, but this time we did them backwards and also with one arm going forward and the other going backwards. CRAZY! Try to have a "David Detachment" as the illustrious Ole put it.

-New warmup--rest your ankle on your knee, make sure your foot is hanging over your knee completely, and place your arm on the stretched leg. Do this while sitting down.

-And of course, we worked on Mime walks once again.

VOICE

-Lie on your back. "Stand up your legs" as Janusz puts it. Then cross one leg over the other as if you're crossing your legs like you would if you were sitting on a chair. Let your legs fall to the side of the leg on top. Then place your palms together above your head and push your arms to the side of your body keeping your arms straight and palms together all the time.

-Now, say the "Jordan, Gordon" poem while skipping, walking, and stomping. Be extravagent!

IMPROV

-Ole played two pieces of music for us this day and we did the following with them:

-The music is your partner. Start in an apartment, and open the door to your partner. At some point leave the apartment. Interact, really play with the music, and react to its changes and mood. We did this four times, so each of us had four different stories and four different partners (if we were lucky, yeow!).

-Bus stop with groups of four people. Listen to both the music and to each other. You may or may not actually get on the bus.

-Words from David: don't wait to see what your partners are imagining on stage (especially by pointing at something to try and find common ground), but just go with your partner's mood and intention and react. Listen to the music.

-You can react with or against the music. These are both perfectly reasonable and hilarious options.

Great work. That be it for today.

Much love,

David

7 novembre

hi hi hi people...
monday 7 nov.....
i had really really a beautiful day today.....
to be sincerly the school for me is becaming to be more and more nice and coinvolgent...funny and serios

however become with the 2 part ....
group work...movement of the style of the painter....for our group Frida and the other group Munch..
(for our group i think we did a good work,there were the colors,red and grey and the lines and her in the middle and this push and pull from the center,I think is what we wanted to present and that we worked for.....good work.Even the other group was good too.maybe more lines and more colors,we get only the dark colors ,so more colors)
I liked this task,we even studied her life and her style.A new painter in my knoweledges ha ha ha

Than we all took the masks that everybody has done Attention somebody hasnt done it....AIAIA
Good work .Nice masks.
And what we did?Was just giving life to the Masks

We saw that there are some masks that have already a strong character and there are the ones that just hide the actor ,the face of the actor.In the strong masks the character is already strong so the body or the movement shouldnt be strong,and the contrary if the masks are weak we have to find the right movements in order to give them life.....The masks with the stong character are the one full of colors,busy,that speaks by itself

Exerzise for focusing the whole of the key.....look through a small whole in your hand ....The masks focus like that...You pay more attention to the things,and move slowly ..
Dont forget to focus,small movements of the head and always always show the pubblic the mask
Focus on the pubblic.Share with the pubblic the mask and what you are watching

When you touch the masks you can see how much all the magic goes away immediatly.When the masks is not  human and we touch it with human fingers  aaaaaaaaaaa no good
So people dont touch the masks ,dont point with the fingers

Never dont be stoped by our human limit.When you put a mask you are not anymore you o not a human being....Improvise .Use the fantasy .Try  how can you take a contact with the mask.....

During the first part of the class we did the isolation of the varios part of the body...head, neck, chest, hips  use them ...was really good speacilly the head was beautifulll

we create groups of 3 o 4 took a masks and together we tryed to help each other how to reach to do as good movements......when you like one movement you say more more.....

OK During the first part of the class...
Stretching.....
Impulse
Isolation colored with different expressions.....
Ondulation


This for today people...
I love you all and i love this school a lot.....i am happy ....it make me happy

homeworks

for monday .....1..the group work of the painters style movements.....
                        2   understand how we go on the stairs

Isolations, torturous stretches and MUSIC!

The blogging enthusiasm is getting lower and lower,

we need to shape up guys!

Anyways...

MIME:

On today's mime lesson we worked mostly with some of the basics.

We started out with the 'classical' Ole warmup, the counting back stretches with a new element: bending forwards over one leg crossed over the other with the ankle over the supporting knee...

and also impulse excercises and the Idiot Says Hi.

We reached the final form of the screwdriwer excercise, doing one arm in one directions the other in the opposite which makes it into a kind of windmill and worked some more on the

frontal Mime Walk illusion.

HOMEWORK: Observe how the movements of people look walking towards us with a slanted eye 

(it should be easier to notice the images of the movements this way)

AND STUDY WALKING UP AND DOWN ON STAIRS for Monday!

We finsihed with some rather intense stretches:

Both feet pointing frowards we step forward with one leg straight (feet flat on the floor) support our weight with our hands on the floor then bending and stretching each leg.

On the IMPRO class we started working with music!

The main note for this class was to treat the music as our partner. Go with it, go against it, let the images conjured up by the music influence us... But do not dance with the music or ignore it. Definetly not ignore it.

Music is not just a wallpaper.

We wroked with Tristtango from Astor Piazzola and a Schuman piece called Finnegan's Cave individually and in groups. (both of which was trippy and hilarious)

My personal experience was that after getting to know the details of ech piece of music it helped both with getting the images clear and with the group communication (if we did not ignore the music, and forced our own stories...)

It seemed to me that even though our individual visions might have been VERY different listening to each other was much easier beacuase the music naturally provided a common thread, so we could switch the intellect off easier and follow the basic impulses of the partners much faster.

My personal experience 

2nd Family Meeting...Booya!

OPENING THOUGHTS

-Things are going pretty well for us, folks.

-Komol--He understands English fairly well, but he cannot speak it very well. If he needs us to repeat something, then he will ask us to. Pay attention to him, and make sure to check in for understanding. We're a family, people!!

-We're all progressing well. Yay us.

-This week was full of confusion and busy-ness.

-Let's support each other, especially as times get harder and busier, to make sure that we are patient and loving of one another during these stressful times.

-Let's push ourselves!

-If you have a proposal in the meeting, then you are allowed to speak out of turn by saying first, "I have a proposal." Then we will hear your potential solution.

PREVIOUS MEETING'S NOTES

-Cleaning week people OVERSEE cleaning. not do it yourself

-Ruth still apologizes.

-Cleaning has gotten better. Good job, folks. Keep it up.

-We're making too much of a mess in class, and we are talking too much during class. It's disturbing. Please try and be better about not talking while we're working in class (private conversations, go away), and also try to be better about cleaning up after yourself in the Work Space (gym) after classes.

-Talking over each other is especially a problem during group work rehearsals. Keep this in mind.

-Joking around is fine, and having fun is great, but we need to be much more focused and respectful while we are in classes. We are there to work. So, let's work.

COMMUNICATION

-We must take responsibility for ourselves and be on time for and aware of rehearsals. No more "5 minutes until rehearsal, people!" It is all about the WAY you say it. Don't force people and be aggressive in your tone, but be understanding and treat each other like adults. You don't have to teach anybody. We are all here to learn.

-Perhaps we should start more rehearsals on time instead of waiting for other members of the group? Or just be responsible for yourself and be on time, because we can't do group work unless everyone is prepared and on time. Communicate with the group. If you can't be on time, then maybe step out of the group and communicate that with them. Be there or don't be there!

-Treat each other as equals. No mommying or daddying others and bossing them around. Either that or we have for sure leaders in the group. What is the solution? Perhaps just don't tell each other what to do.

-We need people who are target oriented as well as process oriented, because it takes all sorts to make a successful group.

-Think before you speak.

-Speaking over each other is still a problem.

-Clear and Immediate communication. Don't talk with food in your mouth. Let's accept each other's small habits, no matter what they are. This means dealing with it on a one-on-one manner, not in public. If you have a problem with it, then tell that person directly; don't make it public knowledge.

2ND YEAR'S LIST

-Clean an extra 5% at the end of lunch

1) Please do not interrupt the 2nd Year's classes. Even opening the door is distracting, so please refrain from entering that space in any way while they are in class.

2) Kitchen. Clean it and make sure it is in order. This means keeping objects in sensible places (computers and electronics not on the kitchen counter, and even keeping them off of the top and bottom shelf of the coffee table, dishes clean and in the dish rack, or if your dishes are not clean then put them to the left of the sinks). Clean countertops and tables, please.

3) Shoes. Keep them on the shoe wracks, please. Thank you.

4) Who's going to take out the trash after classes. Two people in charge of cleaning for the week need to make arrangements for themselves. There are too many damn flies around!

5) Perhaps we should clear off the coat racks in the kitchen and dressing rooms and collect the extra stuff in a donation box. Or perhaps this idea is dumb.

-We just need to respect the space. For those of us who live here, we need to remember that this is not actually our space. It is a privilege to live here. However, for those of us who live here, we and our stuff are not invisible, so we perhaps can't be expected to keep our stuff more compact. Those of us who live here will take more space. Living here should not take away the focus of the school--to learn and grow as artists and professionals. Everyone, let's keep our stuff in compact spaces, instead of spreading it out all over the space. Respect the space. Respect the space. We must keep our personal lives (especially those of us who live at the school) and our work space separated at least mentally.

-In summation: we have physical limitations (like not having access to the work space at times), but if we can keep it all organized and clean, then it can work.

-This is a School. Therefore, let's create a school atmosphere and environment, not a home atmosphere and environment. It is a learning space.

-Every time we have a family meeting, we will have a family clean up party afterwards, especially the coat racks. YAY!!!

-Shall we have a cleaning PARTY!!!! Ruth will put up a list where we can all sign up for the weekends we are available to clean every single corner of this place!

Meeting adjourned!

Love,

Uncle David

Walk, Talk, and Be in Touch with your Inner Element

Hello my studious (look it up) friends. Last Friday's notes (don't judge me, it's been a long week for all of us):

MIME

Well, we did Mime walks, and we learned a new one: "Walking forward as seen from the front"

-point your toe, put weight on your pointed toe foot, then push your other foot diagonally backwards behind your toed foot while maintaining a straight leg, get it?

We also walked through water. What an improvement, everybody!

Then, we rowed like the wind. Rowing...Woohoo! Remember to keep the rowing motion small with surges rowing forward and back.

Ooh ooh ooh! We also learned a new stretch! Sit down with legs straight in front of you. Now, spread your legs, place your hands underneath your ankles, and bend your arms up, forcing your legs to stretch around the pelvic area and other places if you try hard enough. ;-)

VOICE

Sit, spread legs, hug your chest and breathe into the three different lungs you have: top, middle, and bottom--bottom being at the bottom of your ribs, and top being at your breasts. Remember to breathe into the lungs on EACH side.

Now, say the Scotch Rhapsody. now say it with a cork in your mouth. Now say it with a partner, one line at a time. NOW say it as extravagantly as you can. A Rhapsody by definition should be as extravagant as possible.

MASK

Presentations!! -- Football field, restaurant, and a bar

Things I learned from these and remember from what Ole said:

1. Be more aware of each other and be more spontaneous in order to react in the moment and provoke each other. Air is pulled everywhere to fill the space.

2. Don't be too specific with the space and limit yourself.

3. Don't have too much character (water is not a drunk--it's water, fire is not a dancer--it's fire)

4. HAVE A CLEAN START AND A CLEAN FINISH!!!!!

After this, we humanized the elements. Be yourself with these characteristics:

1. Water--always moving even just a little.

2. Air--surprised by what is there when it turns, because it's head is the last thing to move.

3. Fire--react from the core, not just angry but also excited.

4. Earth--plant every movement, especially onto other actors.

Then, we became COLORS, which we all absolutely loved, yes!!!!! Don't be affected by emotions. Just show the colors.

The movements are guided by the following principles:

-Open vs. Closed

-High vs. Low

-High amount of released tension vs. Low amount of released tension

Much love. That's the end of today's post. Booya!

David of the Roby clan

hi hi people.........ok today is my turn..........i havent took notes so i will try to remeber all........

so began with the impulse......the leg in the ground should be really grounded strong stabil and the body too the head goes up...no tension in the hands leave them free   .....try to catch the moment when the hand are up they dont move ..........

the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 movements when you are sit down legs crossed as near to the body as possible.....

hands .....stick
               how is cold the hong kong ship     ......that is difficult people .we have to work on it....push and                              
              pull.....
             up and down left right     ....hands no move people....
2 part....
we did our movement of the architecture  that we had choice.....mm for me not so good...more color and more material......
then we continued  with the movement of the color and it was amazing.....
some notes maybe.....

light colors openess and less tension
dark colors closeness and more tension...
colors  movement ......

then we did movement of the paintings...even this amazing....i had good time

look this for the moment ...if i remember more i will join ....ok

good time people and notice how you cook...
what happen to the food when is cooked
another think. from me....
we have to become more concentrate in what we do in general how we do the most normal habits of our life...
this is love people .love in the things love in the movements....
all doing with love....
and most of all love all the people

Welcome to the material world

This thursday we had a few new acro moves moved on the study of different materials.

ACROBATICS:

We did big cartwheels trying to put one hand over another. The next level will be lifting the upper hand...

(Trying to make an upper hand joke here but nothing comes to my mind!)

We also did forward rolls... from handstands! The trick is to work a LOT with the arms.

The last new thing was making front rolls over each other. One squatting on the floor the other dives forward on the hands.

NEUTRAL MASK:


Ole  mentioned that the whole point of the neutral mask work we've been doing so far is provoking and being provoked... Just by the way :-)


We did a lot of mind blowing stuff.

Starting with embodying spring... The violence of spring.
Everything cracks open bursting with life.

Coccoons, eggs, plants from the frozen winter soil, animals shaking off hybernation.

It bursts, spreads and expands.

The movement of spring is a release of tension.

From here we moved on tho the materials:

We embodied different materials:

Clay, porcelain, glass, crystal and diamond. (In this order with increasing tension)

We studied how these materials would fall apart.
Striking a pose and collapsing on the sign of the snaredrum (I love the snaredrum!)

 In how many pieces and how much tension would they hold after collapsing. (The more tension a material had the more pieces it fell apart to, and the less tension it held...)

Notice the rhythm of the collapse! How many movements and in what pace...

The first part of the excercise we've been doing the collapse with our whole body, then we moved on to the voice.

We would strike a pose again but we would start making the sound of the material.
While making the sound, we would loose the pose and do the breakdown with our voice.

Afterwards we would say a childhood rhyme with the sound of the materials.

The result's were hilarious, letting ourselves be provoked by the images of the materials (the sounds of images to be all synesthetic...) created some sounds that would be hard to find consciously.
Surprising ourselves is great!

NOTE: We often forgot to lose the pose, and to look at the audience.

Scotch Rapsody

"Scotch Rapsody"

'Do not take a bath in Jordan, Gordon,
On the holy Sabbath, on the peaceful day!'
Said the huntsman, playing on his old bagpipe,
Boring to death the pheasant and the snipe--
Boring the ptarmigan and grouse for fun--
Boring them worse than a nine-bore gun.
Till the flaxen leaves where the prunes are ripe
Heard the tartan wind a-droning in the pipe,
And they heard MacPherson say:
'Where do the waves go? What hotels
Hide their bustles and their gay ombrelles?
And would there be room? -- Would there be ROOM?
WOULD there be room for me?'
There is a hotel at Ostend
Cold as the wind, without an end,
Haunted by ghostly poor relations
Of Bostonian conversations
(Bagpipes rotting through the walls).
And there the pearl-ropes fall like shawls
With a noise like marine waterfalls.
And 'Another little drink wouldn't do us any harm'
Pierces through the Sabbatical calm.
And that is the place for me!
So do not take a bath in Jordan, Gordon,
On the holy Sabbath, on the peaceful day--
Or you'll never go to heaven, Gordon MacPherson,
And speaking purely as a private person
That is the place -- THAT is the place -- that is the PLACE
for me!

-by Edith Sitwell

Some Inspiration and possible good thoughts

Well, today in Acrobatics we pretty much reviewed stuff we've already learned:

-Legs of Liberty (shoulder stand, this is when we roll backwards from a sitting position to the headstands with our necks sideways and our hand in front of our faces on the floor with fingers pointed away, follow the movement of the head around, never stop the head from moving)

-Headstands

-Handstands (land soft on your hands leading with the fingers, reach out, watch your feet)

-The Throne (this is the one where someone sits on someone's feet, enough said)

-Stomach Crunchers (run into them, roll into them, have fun)

This is all good fun. But the real purpose of this particular blog is to share some thoughts I have that may or may not be helpful for you:

1. I personally am going to start making a list, not a journal, but just a list of the exercises and stretches that we do. I think this will make access to these exercises much easier in the future, and will therefore help me very much as an actor and especially as a teacher.

2. Let's remember to wear neutral clothing. We haven't much longer with the masks. We can make it.

3. I am going to try my best to give myself personal time each day, every single day, but only in order to give me the personal time necessary so that I may better listen to others, participate with others, and love others when I am not alone. This would mean that all day every day (except for maybe 30 minutes of alone time, obviously this amount of time would need to be different for different people) I will try to be as open and loving as possible, because for all day except half an hour I will be around people.

I think that's it for now.

Much love,

David from America

hi hi people..here fationa ...24 ottober

all day with ole ..we i think have just done the usuall movements....

1    began the day with impulse .....
         (leg up and down ,accompained with the hands,leg left right ,hand all around ,up and down and that pass behind the head.....)

2    than sit down and follows all the exercises for the back ....back straight back,in front ,down up...count till 8 and again..
with open legs fall down and pull pull always breathing and let yourself going down more in every breath...
always sith down legs in front crossed the head on the side let it fall and breath and move the back slowly and then fast.....

3   samurai stick ....you have the stick leave relax pose take change position and rebegin leave relax pose  
          and take....
4   ah i dont know how we called this but the 9 movements of the slash...
       look go pose take move the body in fron and then slashthen again look go pose take look the other                       hand leave look again the hand move the body and then slash

5      move only your foot ....(try as you are looking from the window and try to spost your body by moving your feet...try to do in the bar

6      exersises for the polse of the hands .move around ....than with the hands as straight as possible up and down....

7      and at last a series of movement of the prt of the body in isolation..
head.breast hips  left right in front back.....try to move slowly in all the posittions

2 part of the day

1        the game of the handkechief........close your eyes and let yourself be pulled by the handkechief
       walking and running
2          the game of recognizing an old friend .......

3       2 people sit in front of each other and keep saying YES to each other
           than NO ,MAYBE .GREEN ,YELLOW ,UP IN THE ROOF,DOWN IN THE CELLAR.YOU ME...and so on ,and then all they together......(it was really nice)

4      MASK     and you are the waterfall.and the moisty water of the waterfall.
            be off balance,fill the space,extension hands legs body,hand in the air,dont be afraid to loose balance,and the most imposrtant stay with the image always in your eyes.

5      the last part with the mask....
       you come out from the forest open the view reach the beach ,look a stone on the sand take it and through in the see................................

With the mask you are not anymore a person allow the mask for helping you to be the forest.The mask demands a certain time .You have to move when it ask to you to move
Keep the image always in you mind ,dont loose it

Acro, improv and Ruth in retrospect... By Signe

Acro:

-The flyer: It can also be done with running up into the flying position.

-Standing on your partner, standing on the flour on the knees. Afterwards running into the same position. Fly together in a lower position.

-the bar chair.

-Handstand.Be straight, no banana, push up the shoulders :)

Improvisation with Ruth with the mask

1)The mask is for the first time waking up in a forest.

2) Be the autumn. Just move from one way in the hall to the other being the autumn. Feeel it!

3) Come walking from one end. Then you see a stone and you throw it.

Warming up exercises to this class was:

-Rowng: Alone and with partner, who then give resistence. (With stick...)

-Shake the whole body, part after part

- The exercise with the "clear lines"

from 14/10/11

Signe's awsome note from a beautiful monday :)

New things in acrobatics

Nose-cruncher: Put down your  forearms on the ground infront of you with the elbow in shoulderwidth. Then swing up your legs while trying not to make banana bag. 

New tricks for hand-stand: Go close to a wall, and when you swing up the legs, put your hands very close to the wall on the floor. Now try to place the ass on the wall, without touching the wall with your feet. This will help you not to make a banana :)

Another trick: While going up, first look at your feed in the air, then look down in the floor. Will also help you avoid the banana!

Last part, two stretching exercises:

-Lie on the floor, hold your hands around the neck, put one leg on top of the other and turn to one side. Then start bending up the head in front of you and to the one side. Breath out when bending forward.

- Lie on the floor, bend your legs. Take your hands around your neck. Then swing the knees to the elbows. Watch out that the head stays on the floor.

Ole recomments to do these two every day as many times as it fits to you.

Janusz

THE ELEMENTS

First, movements to get the pelvis-region activated. Turn around the pelvis 6-12, and around the clock.

Lift the pelvis to 3 and look the same way while moving the arm from the same side over your head, bended. Move the head to the opposite side. Afterwards try to move it to the same side.

Then exercises with the bone in your chest. (Please help me fill this out have forgotten how exactly it was?!)

After these movements, walk around on your own. And feel how your walk is. Then go together two and two. One is holding the other with one hand on the chestbone, the other hand on the back between the shoulder-blade. Now the one being hold shall keep totally relaxed, the other one are leading the person around. Focus on the direction of the movement, not big movements.

Afterwards the person who is moving the other should move as well in the whole body.

After this we were walking around being the wind.

After that we were changing to the water, first leading each other like before, but now holding around the hips.

Then we were walking around independently being the water.

Then we were splitting in two groups, some being water, some being the wind. And meeting each other and see how we influence each other.

After that we were being the fire.

Then we talked about the earth. Remember it is solid, but can also be blown away by the wind.

Last thing we did: A park bench. The four different elements are sitting together. What happens... we never found out because we only had two minutes to do the excercise...

Blogging Framework

We need to get better at this!

Now we are five people so we could have a day each:

FATIONA - MONDAY

SIGNE - TUESDAY

KAY - WEDNESDAY

IMRE - THURSDAY

DAVID - FRIDAY

Objections?

Where is this in our curiculum?

Pull up into Standing Flag

Well, folks, it was another rousing day of classes. Most of us were fairly exhausted, but all of us were ready to rock!! I mean that literally...because we worked on earth in mask class...and because it's funny. Anyway.

Acrobatics

Well, most of what we did today was review. But there were a couple new things I remember, so read on reader.

-We did piggy back rides to the extreme. "Find a partner. Jump on there back. Now, switch!"

-We did the pull up into what I call the Standing Flag. The Standing Flag is when you stand facing each other, holding each other's arms, then one of you jumps up "straight as a stick" and you stand on your partner's legs while they remain in a sitting position.

Now, the other day we did the exercise where one person is lying on the floor and the other pulls them up onto their backs. Remember this? So, today we put these two together. We pulled each other up into the Standing Flag. Good work, folks!

-Handstands. Now, when you do handstands against a wall, make sure your butt hits the wall before your feet do. This is to prevent a BANANA BACK!!!!

-Big Cartwheels! Everyone loves these!

Okay, the rest of what we did in Mask today you can find attached to Imre's post "The Four Elements." Look for my words on Water and Earth.

Lets get some sleep some day, eh? But until then, let's inspire the higgins out of each other!!!!

Love and adoration,

David Roby

The Four Elements

Since I chickened out from today lesson I had a good opportunity to observe and take notes.
Here is a short summary of the 2 days of elemental studies we had so far:

The four elements have different centers in the body where the impulse of the movement starts from:

AIR: upprer side of the torso - chest, lungs, upper back and ribs

FIRE: under the navel - agnii chakra or fire center in yoga

WATER: pelvis - as seen in crossing the river excercise

EARTH: not as much of a center as a direction - down into the earth (we will come back to this)

We've been let free to discover our individual elements but all four have certain guidlines we need to be aware of.

AIR:

The most important aspect of the movement of air is that it is being pulled.
All movements of air is initiated from the chest, being pulled from the chest. Remember the excercises when we disect the undulations. Air fills all spaces, dare to be big and follow the movements with the arms as well (we have a tendency to leave them hanging)
Air definetly does not make loud thumps with the feet (be light and relaxed)
The movement of air is a constant flow, out of balance, one impulse after another involving the whole body (as in the neutral opening closing excercise and the movement lesson of yesterday)
As if the movement of air is a constant fall.

FIRE:

We had no specific notes on fire apart from the personal and group investigations.
We've been discovering different aspects of fire: matches, candles, grills, vulcanoes
(many of them had a feeling of epileptic seizure... Which is probably a good way to go since seizures start from the fire center)

WATER:

This was with Ruth as well as with Ole. Water is smooth. It starts at the pelvis, so let everything else follow the pelvis. This includes the hands and the head. The pelvis is being pushed and pulled as it moves in waves.

Also, let us explore how different types of water can change how you use your body to express it. With bubbly, freezing, boiling, or flowing water it all changes, you see. You knew that already, though, huh. Yuppers.

Ruth took us on an epic journey from the fresh water of a river (over the rocks and through tree roots and down a waterfall) to the salt water of the sea.

Water has very little resistence, which means it flows around objects. It is also somewhat continuous in motion, without pauses. So, keep it moving, bub!

EARTH:

Earth is grounded in its movement...obviously. Like clay, earth moves quite slowly and with a great deal of resistence. (It may help to either think of pushing and pulling your body through clay, or it may help more to think of yourself as an Ent from Lord of the Rings.)

Each time you move, it is uprooting yourself and then replanting yourself (either into the ground, an object, or another person).

We also climbed mountains in this way, not being people, but being the earth. You see, when you experience these elements with the mask on, it is like the mask is giving you a grand tour of these elements. It is showing you how they move and where they live (and who they love). Follow the mask without hesitation and with full confidence...and try not to bump into your partners on stage, please and thank you very much.

Holding hands,

Team Imre and David

SlowMo and Elemental Extasy

On today's MIME class we've been working with different speeds and levels...

Walking as fast as we can (still keeping the 'normal' walk), walking in slow motion, going down on and standing up in slowmo and walking while gradually going down with our knees and stretching up.

This was the warmup for further studies of the neutral opening and closing of the body.
We repeated the excercise from last week focusing on starting the movement from the center, moving together with the breathing and keeping the entire body in motion. Our specific task was to find in which parts of our bodies does this constant movement stop or break.

From this excercise we went on to the undulations back, fort and to the sides, working more with our bodies being lead by impulses f different parts, letting the impulse take us out of ballance, and let the new impulse lead the way again as we find our ballance again in a flow like manner.

We spanet the last minutes of the class practicing the chase.


With Ruth we continued the journey of the neutral mask, introducing the elements of water and fire.

At first we worked all on the floor individually exploring and incorporating the movements of the elements in different shapes and sizes. (Holy shit it was intense!) Afterwards we presented different aspects of elements for the class individually the in groups, without and with masks.

We've been reminded not to turn introverted, to go against the natural tendency of any expression focusing on the movements  body that head (the face and the focus) gets lost.
Having the mask on akes it really visible if the performer is turning inside or is giving the mask (being aware and communicating)

Bikash' and Kamal's song

Chhati Ma Mero Yo Chhoto Bhoto (Nepali Folk Song)

Chatima mero yochoto bhoto
kammar ma khurpeto sodh ramalai
manako dhani paunema chhainau

ma jasto koi keto sodh ramalai

aaha kalilo tamalai sodh ramalai

dhaka topi sirma mero kammarma pet(i)
manchhe herda ketaketi kura garchhau jethi
hami jasto pauda aru hidchan marimeti
bholi kura garchhu timro bau a ma lai bheti

haina bhane!

aaha kalilo tama lai sodh ramalai
aaha kalilo tamalai sodh ramalai

The Chase

The Chase Scene!!!

My original post got lost in cyberspace..  So here's what I could save from a lonely draft.

NOTE: Double check if your post have actually arrived on the Blog. Internet can be quite a bitch sometimes.

The Wall Climbing reached it's final phase with 52(!!!) steps.
It turned out to be a short scene of being chased by someone or something in a narrow alley.

Here's the breakdown:


1-7: 7 steps straight slowing down from full speed running to full stop (start with left)

8: Turn around

9:  See the chaser, react (Back leg bends, body falls backwards)

10: Turn aback

11: See doorway move head only

12: Pose for running to doorway, front knee up, foot in air (it will also be the left if the count was right....)

13 - 17: 5 steps into doorway, on 17 back against the door, facing towards the alley

18: Look at chaser (only head)

19: Chaser doesn't notice and runs on... Follow chaser with head.

20. Look at wall

21. Left foot steps out.

23: Look after chaser (head stay facing this way till count 26)

24 - 26: Short steps towards wall spying after chaser

27. Look up wall

28. Pose for jumping (keep looking up)

29. Jump (shoulders down, on tiptoes, straight arms, flat hands vertical)

30. Catch wall (same as 29 but with flat hands horizontal)

31. Drop. (Look forward, hands fixed, shoulders down, heels down)

32. Attack (back to no. 30)

33. Pull body up (Hands move down till chest - fixed point, elbows pointing down)

34. Left elbow turns up

35. Right elbow turns up.

36. Push wall down (arms straight down, shoulders up, heels down)

37. Left foot up.

38. Left leg pose for wall (keep straight line with hands over the wall')

39. Move body over.

40. Push down the wall with 2 hands + left foot (keep straight line!)

41. Left hand up, right foot up.

42. Right foot goes to the place of left hand.

43. Lift right hand up.

44. Pose for jump (looking down!)

45. Jump down (still looking down...)

46. Stand up

47. Dust hands off (be aware of the direction of the movement..)

48. Turn around.

49. See chaser, react

50. Turn back again

51. Pose for run.

52. RUN!

Next weeks group assignment is to create a choreography with these 52 steps, The order of the moves can not be changed but we can play around with the tempo doing it in forwards and reverse, and can put music under it...

Here's a little inspiration from a Japanese dance company - the bastards don't allow me to embed the video so it's just a link this time. (Sally posted on Facebook not so long ago)

------ > http://youtu.be/ZxT-v9cxf7g  <-----

MORE NOTES:

When working with the Wall be aware of the dynamics of the movements:

SPEED - RESISTANCE - PUSHING - PULLING 

First Family Meeting--Notes

Opening Thoughts

-We are a great group--good people. This is good news.

-During meetings, spirit fingers and the way of showing that you agree with something someone has said.

-We will have Family Meetings once a month, and Emergency Meetings as necessary (only one person needs to say "let's have a meeting" for it to happen, unless of course the topic of discussion can be solved between one or two people). Let's try to attend these and make them a priority, please.

Cleaning

-Clean up after yourself (dishes, crumbs, tables, personal items, etc.).

-This school is not free. There is a lot of pressure with money, because none of us have a lot of it. Therefore, it is difficult to spend time cleaning up after other people, because it is hard enough to keep ourselves going. Let's be sensitive to this. None of us are alone. Each of us is struggling with money. Let's remember this, please, and support one another.

-Cleaning Weeks start this Monday (17/10/11). Each week there is one 1st Year and one 2nd Year responsible for cleaning. There will be a detailed list of things to clean accompanying this Cleaning Week Schedule. Cleaning Week Responsibilities include: Trash (bathrooms and kitchen), making sure everyone cleans up after themselves, cleaning and organizing the common area (tables, couches, kitchen area).

Communication

-Stop talking over each other, please.

-Listen! This means not thinking about what you want to say next, but instead really soaking in what the other person is saying. It's serving the center, if you will.

-We all came here for different reasons; we all want to come out of this schooling to go different directions and do different things. So, let's do more listening and serving each other. Let's keep counting to 100, folks!

-Keep individual conflicts to yourself. Leave the Common Space to sort out these conflicts.

-Be considerate and kind. Don't provoke conflict. Essentially, love and be understanding.

-Keep each other accountable. Professionalism and Honesty. Feel the freedom to say to someone, "Hey you! You're not listening." This will come with time. Let's not force it and be inconsiderate.

-Mediators. This is a good idea if a conflict is unable to be solved among just two people. Signe has offered to be a mediator. However, the mediator must be agreed on by both people involved in the conflict.

-"Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life" by Marshall B Rosenberg. Try and read this, says Kay.

-Respect, don't demand. Don't force behavior, but remember that we all want to get different things out of this training.

-We each have our own issues. Be flexible. We each have our own baggage. Don't fight the tension, but learn from it. What is my baggage?

-We all get tired as we participate in this training. These are the times we need to be the most understanding with each other and aware of our own personal limits.

-Let's grow, huh?

Phones

-Turn OFF your phones in class!!! The only exception is if there is an emergency, but even then please consider returning the important call during a break or after/before class.

(Outer) Space

-Keep personal objects and personal problems out of the Classroom. The gym is a Work Space, so we will only use it for work. The Common Space is for personal and leisure activities. Also, there is no need to reserve the work space. We can all rehearse different things there at the same time.

-All items will be put in the left corner of the gym as you first enter the gym from the Common Space. This includes socks, cups, bags, etc. Also, please do not place objects on the benches. We always use the benches during class, so let's not clutter them and waste time.

-Please prepare mentally and physically before classes, so there are as few distractions as possible. Ask for help if you need it.

Extra Exercises

-Let's share our experience and exercises with the group. When you have an idea for a workshop, spread the word. Perhaps post a sign up sheet on the Common Board (but remember that we cannot use the space Tuesday and Friday nights from 18:00-22:00, and Saturday mornings from 6:30-8:30).

-Please remember that priority is work for classes, then we can have these supplemental workshops.

Family Dinner

-We'll have one soon. Potluck style. Kay will organize it. Yum.

Blog

-Updating the blog is done in a rotation system.

-Sign up, please. We really only need five people to sign up, then each person only has to post on the blog once a week. No biggie.

-Ruth apologizes.

-Bikash and Kay do not have computers. This can make it difficult for them to update the blog. The rest of us understand. If you still want to contribute, then we'll work something out, I'm sure.

-Perhaps there will be a list created on the blog and in the Common Space of what the blogging order is.

-Feel free to add to each other's blogs if someone left something out or for any reason at all, really.

This was a great meeting. We all agreed on its relevance and worthwhileness. We'll see the family together again in a month.

Love,

Uncle David

A Walk in the Forest...Casually and Neutrally

Hello Shoppers.

Today's date: 13/10/2011

Janusz

Basically, we did the Feldenkrais thing and rolled our head, pelvis, eyes, and tongues up and down and left and right opposite from other parts of our body. This is to notice how each part of our bodies react to the movements of other parts and how to keep them relaxed and available for discovery at the same time.

One must relax and be casual, especially while walking in a small square of space while alternately touching someone and saying someone else's name. Noted.

Then, let's play corners, but the person in the center must sing a song. I think the idea was to keep yourself relaxed but focused while in the center.

Improv

React, don't analyze.

First, let's play the Ball Game, where someone's in the center throwing a ball to someone in the circle around them in rhythm. However, let's add an extra level so that someone new can take the place of the person in the center when they say "go."

Then, sit down with a partner and say "yes" and "no" and "maybe" and "down in the cellar" and "up on the roof" and "green" and "yellow" and "me" and "naturally". It's different when facing each other, now isn't it?

Then, how about we do the recognition exercise, yes? Yes. Be open and available to react genuinely.

THOUGHT: Perhaps neutrality is just acting (not reacting). It is acting upon objects and discoveries, but not letting them affect you. Thoughts?

Now, on the masks.

Mask

Wake up in the forest. It's like you're an animal. The purpose is just to move around the forest. Like a deer. A deer does not struggle to move around in the forest, it just moves around, because that's natural for it. This is what the metaphysical/neutral mask demands: being natural and aware. Efficiency of movement.

Now, walk through a forest for a little while, then notice a beach, then run to the beach, then notice a rock, then throw the rock, then watch it land in the water. RELAX!!!! BREATHE!!!!

Be aware and serve the mask. Serve the center. It's not about you, dude. It's about the mask, or about the story, or about the action, or about the atmosphere, or about the environment. It depends on the medium of performance, you see.

There are thoughts by David Roby for today. Thank you, and tune in next time.

David of Roby

Silly's Song

Revolutsioon


Ma tean üht meest üle suure vee
Kelle lugu ma jutustan
Ta tahtis minna üle kolme maa
Mille taga ta vabaks saab

Ta astus õue pimedal ööl
Kui aeg oli küpseks saanud
Jalad murul süda rinnas
Oma teed tema teretas

Chorus (2x)

Igaühe hinges on revolutsioon
Lase südamel rääkida
Igaühe hinges on revolutsioon
Lase hingel hingata

Humpety Dumpety walking down the hall

Hello 2013ers!

Today in history:

Acrobatics:

Today was mostly review while adding little things. We did the stretches we usually do (small handstands, balancing on heels, counting stretches, etc). Then...

-Humpety Dumpety (you know, this is the one where we life someone up who is sitting on our feet, the one that looks like someone is sitting on a throne made out of someone's legs). The thing we added is the different way of getting up into this balance position. You stand in front of someone's legs who is lying on their back on the floor with their legs up. You place one foot in the lying down person's hand, then you push their feet between your legs into the same Humpety Dumpety position while swiftly stepping into their other hand. Got it?

-We also did Jumping Handstands. This is when you are standing up with your arms out in front of you and you go into a handstand. Try it against a wall! Push those shoulders and straighten those legs, people!

-We did big cartwheels which are everyone's favorite, of course. Stretch your arms out and look forward, baby!!

-Finally, we wrapped up with the Stomach Cruncher. Run into it. Also, you can try doing the stomach cruncher where the person who is usually on their hands and knees is actually standing up with their hands on their knees and arms straight. The person crunching the stomach must bail out if they are falling by letting go with the arm closest to the hips of the person standing. Got it? Good.

NEXT

Improv/Mask:

Day 2 of mask work. I...love...this.

-We learned the 7 levels of tension today.

1. Lie on floor limp and attempt to get up, like a bird stuck in tar.

2. Hands and knees, try to stand up but it doesn't really work, like being drunk or trying to move with noodles for arms and legs.

3. Extremely relaxed walk. Walk around and acknowledge each other in this relaxed way.

4. Casual walk. Casual greetings. Aware of movement, but not completely alert.

5. This is neutral. You are hyper aware and hyper sensitive, noticing every little thing, not exploring or experimenting, but always being distracted by new discoveries.

6. Robot walk.

7. Barely able to move. Whole body is tense. The exact opposite of level 1...obviously.

-Rhythm Ball. Stand in a circle around one person and throw the ball in rhythm to each other, one or two balls at a time. Keep the rhythm. The most important thing is to SERVE THE CENTER!!! Make is easy for the center and always concentrate on the center. The circle is the servant of the center.

-Mask. Wake up for the first time in a forrest. Be at level 5 of tension. Don't experiment and play, don't allow yourself to be distracted, but constantly be discovering. Each discovery leads to another one. Keep alert and aware, but neutral.

-Mask. Put mask on. Turn around. Breathe. Walk down a hall. Notice a door. Walk through the door. Notice a chair. Sit in the chair. Remain neutral and efficient.

There it is, classmates. Let's eat paste together and have a mask-making party!!!

David of Roby