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

Chairs and Birds

Acrobatics:

This day we practised the ”chair” – one person lying down, holding the other on the feed while supporting with the hands.

We also made the ”bird” where one person on the floor lifts the other up on the feet. Important things to remember is the tempo in the lift..

Other new things was the handstand. Starting with jumping up, clapping the feet together, afterwards the handstand with spotter.

The spotter is VERY important in pair acrobatics.

Janusz:

Exercises on the floor:

Lying on the floor with legs up.

New things:

At first imaging to turn the head from side to side while moving the legs from up and down in the ”pelvis-manner”.

After that actually turning the head from side to side while moving the legs up and down. Now come into standing position and feel how the body feels.

Two-person exercises:

1)

Moving together standing in front of each other. Feeling each others weight and slowly pushing each other while still holding the arms in the same position. The hands can move. Change partner at least a couple of times.

2)

One person is lying on the floor with legs up. The other person sitting in front of the legs, then begins to slowly move one leg up and down, while holding on to the knee. Start with moving it up and down about then times with each leg.

After that take to legs at the time. Moving them together to both sides, and a part at the same time. Make it without any pattern for the person lying down to feel the movements not possible to presuppose. After that the person who was lying down

3)

Telling a story together with your body.

The group are standing in a circle. One persons starts with a movement. It should indicate some action and/or feeling without using any face-expressions. The next person in the circle then continues the story. Think about following up on the story while also adding a new aspect or something unpredictable, where there is a new opening to the story. The next person follows up and so it continues in the circle. To follow up on the story you can also choose to make a new chapter, the movements should be inspired from each other, but with a new chapter they can change.

"Fly Me to the Moon" and The Crazy at the Cafeteria

I'm going by memory here, and I didn't take notes. So...sorry about that. If you have something to add...this is what blogs are for.

Okay.

We started with Acrobatics, of course, where we jumped right in to swinging our arms like monkeys, doing the insane roll-over push-up routine, rolling over our shoulders (arch your backs, people), headstands (work your hips, your hips, your hips, you must have COMPLETE control, or else don't move on to the next step), and pulling our feet into a heads from the back. Rehearse rehearse rehearse! Practice practice practice! Work work work! This is what we came here for!!!

Next, we moved on to the stomach cruncher (or doggy hug, if you like). Added twist: Run toward your partner and enter seamlessly into the stomach cruncher. Next added twist: Do the front roll into the stomach cruncher. Booya!

Finally, the favorite of the day was the "Fly Me to the Moon" jump.

Steps:

1. Lie on your back, knees up. (Partner place one foot in between partner's feet.)

2. Hold wrists, or hands firmly while keeping shoulders and arms relaxed. Impossible? Keep practicing, son.

3. Standing partner pulls up lying down partner while turning around and taking a step in the opposite direction, and pulling lying down partner's arm straight over your shoulder. (Lying down partner, you must remain relaxed in the arm and jump up from the ground.)

4. Lying down partner will now land on standing partner's back and the two will walk away like an adorable couple (consisting of a cave person and a quadriplegic, sorry if that offends anyone...Sam, sorry if that offends your cave Auntie. Kay, sorry if that offends Sam.)

Now, on to Improv. *fanfare*

We proceeded with the Classroom exercise for all those who missed it the first time. Build the story. Build it to a really high level and don't drag it on too long. Keep it building, not remaining flat ever.

I hope you all enjoyed this exercise, because apparently we will not return to it until April. Holy Spring Rolls, Batman!

Next, we introduced a new exercise. (Woot!) The Crazy at the Cafeteria. Listen to each other. It needs to build together. Play. Play a lot. Then play some more. Be playful. Crazy person, you need to enjoy what you're doing--don't make it too grotesque. Non-crazy person get some food, pay for the food, then sit down and let it build, then allow something to interrupt you (like falling of the chair, or simply cut yourself off at the peak when you suddenly notice how you and the Crazy are the same person).

Well, there's that. Hope you enjoyed today's installment of...CLASSNOTES!!!!

Remember to rehearse the 19 wall-climbing steps!

"Keep your hands perfectly flat. Not mostly flat, but perfectly flat. Perfectly flat!" -- Ole Brekke

With love and pure affection,

David of Roby

Imre's Song

Ilju (the first 3 verses)


Hej, de gyűlnek hadba, édes,
Hej, de gyűlnek hadba kócsáni pogányok,
Anyám édes, kócsáni pogányok.

Hej, de vasra vernék, édes,
Hej, de vasra vernék Ilju haramiát,
Anyám édes, Ilju haramiát.

Hej, de nincs ott Ilju, édes,
Hej, de nincs ott Ilju széles Kríva víznél,
Anyám édes, széles Kríva víznél.

19 steps of wall hopping, shoulder torture and jailbreak

I was late with my blog duty, so I'll just condense the notes from friday and monday together in this post...

MIME:

Heel-heel, Toe-Toe walk:
Sideways slide walk with triangular feet... I hope someone gets what i mean.

We extended the wall hoppping excercesise with 14 more steps (into a total of 19)

First five:

- Look up.

-Pose for jump.

-Jump (on toes, reach up, hands straight, shoulders down)

-Grab the wall (hands go horizontal, fixed point)

-Drop (heels go down, shoulders up, hands stay flat on fixed point)

and 14 more:

-Pose for pulling your self up (shoulders down, heels go up)

-Pull your self up (hands go down till shoulder, arm paralel to body)

-One elbow goes up

-Other elbow goes up

-Push your self further up (hands go down flat, arms straighten, heels go down again and shoulders come up)

-Lift one foot

-Put foot on wall (keep it in line with hands)

-Pull the body over the wall.

-Push wall down with hands and foot (keep the straight line)

-Lift the hand closer to legs.

-Put other foot down where hand was

-Lift other hand

-Get ready for jump

-Jump! ("stay in the air..." and throw your hands in the air)

Be carefull with fixed points and keep hands PERFECTLY flat!

Mime walk No.1:

Whoohoo... I'll try to break this down.

One foot steps forward (both legs straight, heel down, foot flexed, lowest position of head) 

Other leg bends, as the foot in front goes back (heel stays down all the way back, highest head position)

Well that is pretty much it. Just make sure that your arms follow the legs (opposite arms)

Ice Skating

It is esentially the sideward leg swing excercise that we do as a warm up....

When the foot moves to the side it remains flexed and goes while the hips turn out slightly.

As the foot comes back forward the other foot is being thursted out to the side.

Note that the head should not be moving up and down (keep knees bent)


Some new STRETCHES:


We learned a few new couple stretches...

The Shoulder Torture:


One sits on a chair while the other pushes the tensions in the shoulders with elbows and lower arms.

and the Ass Grabbing Thigh Stretch:


Pulling feet back while lying on the floor to stretch thigh while partner help with pushing hips down/forward and pulling the thighs up.