So, I guess, I'll start with art. Today with Mr. Ganes we started STAC Art in the form of Dada. It was such an interesting experience for me. To take something you love and all of the ideas in your head and to just, create. With no rules, no rhyme, no reason. Because that's what Dada is, to me at least. No rules, no rhyme, no reason. Anti-art.
At first, I got kind of uneasy, because art isn't my best subject to begin with. Anti-art? All I could think was "How the hell am I going to do this?" Well, I really don't know how, but I did. After a couple of minutes of just thinking, it finally just all came out. The time flew by and before I knew it, 3 periods were over, and I was almost finished with something that at first I thought I never could have accomplished. And I am really proud of how it's coming out so far. I can't wait to work on it again next week and see where it takes me.
My work on my Dada Art so far. Feeling really accomplished, and cannot wait to make it even more Dada then it currently is.
Acting. For a while, I've loved everything about acting. And I still do. Now, granted, I have a ton to learn, and I am so thankful that we are going to be having these weekly acting classes.
Before this class, in my head, when you acted, you became another person. That was like the unspoken rule to me. But now, after what Luke told us, I realized, to act you don't need to become another person. Not only that, but even if you think you are becoming another person, you're not. Deep down inside, no matter who I'm playing, I will still always be Sarah. Every character I play will always have a little bit of Sarah in them. And that is what acting is, or at least, that's what I got from the lesson.
Next, we started to walk around the stage. Because as Luke said, 90% of the time that you are on stage, you're either standing, walking, or moving. Not saying a line. So, we just walked. It may seem to some that walking is just trivial and that it doesn't help us act. But believe me, that was the most intense thing I ever had to do in an acting class. Well, besides steal the hat, but we'll get to that later.
As we walked Luke would call us out and ask questions about the first thing that came to our minds or what we were feeling or he would give us scenarios. For example, he told us to imagine someone who has really made us angry at some point in time. And to just visualize yourself walking up to them, and telling them everything that made you mad.
After I pictured it in my head, my jaw tightened and I stood straigher and walked faster. Just by picturing a personal experience, all of the emotions I had felt in that moment all came flooding back. And for a while after the exercize, the anger still lingered. Not for just me, but for a lot of people. Some, even sadness.
The walking exercises were extermely powerful. All night long all I could think about was that one person, that one scenario. And it really amazed me that one acting exercise could do that.
And then came, the hat. That damn, cheap cowboy hat. The hat that made all of us crazy. At first, the assignment seemed simple. Just pretend that you're walking in, stealing the hat, and leaving. Easy, right? Absolutely not. Stealing the hat had become the hardest thing I did that entire class.
When we picture stealing, or sneaking, we picture someone looking around constantly and being sly and suspicious. But, that's overacting. Actually, from what I understood, it isn't even acting at all. And a lot of us (and myself) struggled with that aspect. Everything we knew about sneaking had become fake. We had to take sneaking and make it real. Which is honestly a lot harder then you think it is.
So after countless (and yes, I mean countless) trial and error, I finally started to get the idea (though I never did actually get to bring that damn hat offstage). But it frustrated me. I just wanted to get the hat correctly. I just wanted to be right. But thankfully, Luke pushed me until I got it. If he hadn't pushed me, I wouldn't have learned half as much. At the time, sure, I was frustrated that I couldn't get it. But, I'm happy that I messed up, because I learned so much through my mistake. I'm really excited to go to acting again next week. I'm really open for a whole lot more knowledge and exercises, and I want to use the corrections that Luke gave me to improve.
And lastly, the Dada Dance Project. We all got split into groups based on our discipline (in this particular instance I was put into dance) and were told that we needed to create a Dada project with our discipline. Well, all I can say is how excited I am to start our Dada Dance Project. There's really not a ton of details now, we're still working, but once we have them, I cannot wait to blog all about it.
This second week in STAC has been amazing and has made me even more excited for the rest of the year. I honestly cannot wait to tackle more projects and to become a better actress and artist. So by the end of the year, I intend to be
Drawing, Singing, Acting, Dancing, Oh My.
WHat can I say? This is kind of a perfect blog post. You grabbed all sorts of good things out of what was thrown at you, and you're beginning to wrestle with the bigger questions of it all.
ReplyDeleteLet me help you a bit.
"We had to take sneaking and make it real."
Sneaking is a collection of symptoms that we call sneaking. When we are sneaking, we're never thinking, "Now I'm sneaking..." We're thinking, "WHat was that noise??? Is anyone there?? What will happen if I get caught..."
Does this lead you someplace?
"I just wanted to be right."
Hmmm... is there a correct way to sneak? Is there a correct way to cry?
There is only a truthful way to approach things. That's all. Theres' that, saying your lines clearly and loudly, not moving your body too much, and not walking off the stage or into the furniture.