Posts filed under 'Classes'
Jim from acting class forwarded me this announcement, which I am glad to pass on:
*****
Hello Everyone,
It is my pleasure to once again inform you about Andrea Small’s next
visit to the Czech Republic.
She will lead a workshop under the title “Singing for Joy” on Sunday
17th May in Ceske Budejovice. As usual it will be held at the Materske
Centrum Maj and will run from 10.30-4.30. The workshop is open to all adults and
teenagers, even if they believe they cannot sing. The cost is on a sliding scale from 375kč – 700kč
We are planning a shared lunch so please bring something – not too
much – to put on the table for us all to enjoy. Tea, coffee, water and
biscuits will be provided throughout the day.
I would be grateful if you could distribute the information about the
workshop as far and wide as possible. Word of mouth is still the best
recommendation. Flyers are attached but if you need printed ones please
let me know. You can have the flyers either in Czech or English.
You will also be able to find full information on www.expats.cz on the events
calendar.
Booking in advance is necessary so please contact me either on
gilbomber@cbox.cz or send a text to 608233310.
I look forward to hearing from you very soon and perhaps singing with
you in May
With best wishes
Gil
May 6th, 2009
The Prague Shakespeare Festival is offering a unique Master Class featuring Andrew Wade, one of the world’s foremost experts on Shakespearean Verse, May 23-24, 2009 in Prague, Czech Republic. Space for this exclusive Master Class will be limited to 20 participants and a select number of observers. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn from one of the most respected Shakespearean Theatre experts in the world.
http://www.pragueshakespeare.org/newsPage2.php?id=News
Shakespeare Master Class with Andrew Wade
May 23-24, 2009
Prague, Czech Republic
Saturday May 23, 2009 – 10:00-17:00
Sunday May 24, 2009 – 10:00-17:00
Cost:
Particpant (limit of 20 total) – 4,000 czk
Observer (limited seating) – 2 hours per day – 10:00-12:00 Sat & 14:00-16:00 Sun
1,000 kcz – both days
600 kcz – one day
To apply for the Andrew Wade Master Class, all applicants must submit via email a complete registration form, a headshot or photo, resume and personal statement (if also applying for a partial scholarship).
May 5th, 2009
Hi everyone!
I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.
On Wednesday, April 29th, the most striking issue, we had to deal with, was connecting to our respective partner(s). This article is about why connection is our mantra, what juggling has to do with the Meisner technique and how hard it is to stay connected, when more “Meisner-balls” are added to the exercise.
Click on the “ACTING CLASS” button above to read more about the class itself and where we meet!
Click the “(more…)”-button below to read about last night’s class!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Last night (Wednesday, April 29th), we were taught by Brian. And the emphasis of our exercises lay on connection. One of the most fundamental differences between the Meisner technique and other, more traditional ways of acting, is this: You need to be connected to your partner.
In a “normal” play or film, each member of the cast knows their lines. One delivers them at the right time in the right tempo and position on the set or stage. But it is of almost no importance, how your partner says his or her lines. If they mess up, that’s their problem. You might want to gloss it over some. But the main goal is to just get on with your lines.
Meisner hated this kind of behavior, because it lacked truthfulness. In real life we don’t talk to the person facing us without checking, if they got our message and how they took it. We change, what we have to say, according to how they react to us.
That is exactly, what Meisner demanded of his students as well – that is, what both Brian and Ben are telling us all the time: “Don’t do anything, unless your partner makes you do it!”
It’s Meisner’s mantra, really.
What can happen in class because of this mantra – and it happened to me yesterday – is this painful experience of humiliation…
I was bursting to deliver my lines – Paul and I are “doing” a scene from the Pinter play “Betrayal” at the moment – and Brian gets cross with me and tells me to forget the scene and just “repeat, repeat, repeat!“
Because of the fact, that I wanted to get into the scene so badly, I failed to connect with Paul, who in turn failed to make me snap out of my scene-spleen. I was in my head. At least there was some sheet of cerebralness, that put itself like a veil over the truth of the moment.
You might know this from normal life. You are chatting on your computer, while somebody is talking to you on the phone. Suddenly they yell at you: “What’s wrong with you?! You seem totally distracted. You are not paying attention to what I’m saying at all! Jerk!” For the same reason, it is prohibited by law to drive with a mobile phone clutched to your ear. If you do two things at the same time, you are bound to lose your full attention to either of them. Women, you might tell me differently: But having to think about Pinter’s play while trying to connect with a bloke, who is threading beads on a string to make earrings, is nearly impossible, even for you!
Now comes in the metaphor of the juggler. If you repeat, which is the basic Meisner technique, you need to pay attention to your partner and how they make you feel. That’s two balls. Add a “door“: You need something, badly, from your partner. That occupies you, while you repeat: Another ball. Add an “activity“: You need to get something done, really fast and urgently: Another ball. Add a scene: You need to follow certain lines: Another ball.
That’s five balls.
Try to juggle with five balls! It’s really hard. How can you achieve it? Only by practicing and practicing and practicing, until one day, you actually forget about the balls and juggle them without having to think about it.
This can mean, that you have to go back to juggling three or four balls. Or, in the case of our scene, that you forget about it and pay attention to repeating, until some lines pop into your head and get flung out without your paying attention to it. That would be, as if you are juggling with four balls. And from time to time someone throws you a fifth ball, that you juggle for a short moment until you drop it and continue to juggle with four again.
The lessons to learn from this are manyfold:
Work step by step! Don’t juggle with too many balls too quickly! If you overload your system with stuff you struggle to achieve, you will drop more than just one ball and mess up everything. Be humble enough to resort to the basics: Repetition! If a strong connection builds, you might try another ball for a moment. Then again, you might not.
Be prepared for rough going! If you add a ball, you might drop it. That’s the name of the game. You need to try to add balls, though. Otherwise you won’t progress. But don’t overdo it! Don’t get frustrated, when a ball drops! Just try again and play with it. Go back and fourth! Give yourself room to expand but also to resort to well-known areas! Be fluid!
And last, but not least: “Von nichts kommt nichts!”, we Huns say, meaning: “Nothing comes from nothing!” If you don’t invest in the technique, you will not earn anything from it. Half-assed preparation will result in half-assed rehearsals, or worse still: half-assed exercises in class, resulting in humiliation or frustration – or both.
Try to see the goal less in the result but in the process, though. As long as you make the next step, you’re moving forward, no matter how slow.
And as Schwarzenegger always said when he took another round of steroids: “No pain, no gain!”
Try to say dat vissss an Austrian eccent and laugh about it, before you wreck your mind again, trying to come up with another one of those endless doors and activities. Look at it from the bright side! There you go!
That’s the right attitude!
**********************
General stuff:
Our acting class consists of some ten active members, who meet every Monday and Wednesday from 6.30 pm to about 8.30. We do Meisner. And the Meisner-technique really rocks!
If you want to connect with your inmost feelings, expressing them freely in an acting environment and thus getting to know yourself better and better, feel free to join us!
+++
About the author:
I am Boris Wilke, a German expat in Prague. I am a writer at large and have been studying Meisner since January 2008. If any of you know of any kind of acting work, that befits a laddish, tall 40-year-old, please leave a note!
April 30th, 2009
Hi everyone!
I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.
Last night’s class was all about being truthful to yourself and your partner. This article tells you why listening and being in the moment are instrumental to being truthful and why the truth is such a precious good in – of all things – the make believe world of acting.
Click on the “ACTING CLASS” button above to read more about the class itself and where we meet!
Click the “(more…)”-button to read about last night’s class!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This Monday’s class was taught by Ben Steel, who urged us to place our attention on the truth.
The truth in a Meisner context does not differ at all from the truth in any other context, which is the strangest and most wonderful aspect of the Meisner-technique. For in acting one would not necessarily expect any type of truth. It is make-believe after all.
Focussing on the truth in a Meisner exercise means to really listen to your partner and react to the way he or she is dealing with you.
If, for example, your partner winces from anxiety and jumps back because you yelled at him or her, the truth is, that he or she is scared of you or hurt by you or terrified. It would be rather far from the truth to tell them they are coward or effeminate.
If the person in front of you gives you the feeling they want to make love to you right there and then, the truth is to tell them: “You look like you want to have sex with me!” rather than laughing the emotion off, sneering at your partner or cursing them.
The truth has a name. And it is a simple call of your partner’s behavior.
The easy part is to feel it. The hard part is to deal with it and to acknowledge it without shying away from the uneasiness that is very often attached to the truth or – worse still – to judge it and thus file it away.
Being in the moment is another prerequisite to the truth. If your partner just sneered at you and called you a slut, but you let the moment pass and the person is now smiling at you and saying: “You make me feel warm inside!”, the truth of the moment is that: You make your partner feel warm inside – not the truth of a few seconds ago, when you were called a slut.
So reacting freely and fluidly to anything that your partner does, having them make you do things, having them hit stuff out of you – in the moment and totally shamelessly truthful – is the name of the game and much more easily said than done.
**********************
General stuff:
Our acting class consists of some ten active members, who meet every Monday and Wednesday from 6.30 pm to about 8.30. We do Meisner. And the Meisner-technique really rocks!
If you want to connect with your inmost feelings, expressing them freely in an acting environment and thus getting to know yourself better and better, feel free to join us!
+++
About the author:
I am Boris Wilke, a German expat in Prague. I am a writer at large and have been studying Meisner since January 2008. If any of you know of any kind of acting work, that befits a laddish, tall 40-year-old, please leave a note!
April 28th, 2009
Hi everyone!
I’m Boris Wilke, member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group and will blog about our class activities.
Class started into a new quarter yesterday – and as always, quite a few lessons were to be learned:
Stepping into “it” by facing “the beast” instead of shying away from any unpleasant feelings was and will remain one of the main issues. It’s interesting how some students try to resort to sadness and sentimentality to cover up emotions they are not yet ready to express fully, while others yell and get aggressive. Some “play” unaffected and blithe, while others get cynical. We all have our escape mechanisms. But we all are willing to let go of them. That is a great thing! For a good actor is a vulnerable one. And to achieve that, one has to accept weakness, which, paradoxically enough, is a sign of strength.
Another issue, that I saw yet again and will never cease to be fascinated by is the fact,that each one of us needs a unique approach and is thus treated differently by Brian, our teacher:
What might work for one of us is a no-go-zone for another. Student A might be told to refrain from being offensive while student B is encouraged to finally let his anger spill over and “blow his lid”. Student C should focus on being intimate and seek private and subtle moments while student D ought to be brash, broad and loud.
And yes, I did see frustration on more than one face while having to listen to Brians observations. (OK, I didn’t have a mirror… But I could feel myself blush, too.)
There is this old German saying which goes: “Was zutrifft, trifft.” It translates roughly into: If it hurts, it means it hit home. And we want stuff to HIT us, don’t we?! 
A lot of people seem to be involved with projects relating to the Fringe festival these days. Or they are in films or plays.
Congratulations and good luck with everything!
See you next Monday, I hope!
Take care and remember to rehearse!
Boris
**********************
General stuff:
Our acting class consists of some ten active members, who meet every Monday and Wednesday from 6.30 pm to about 8.30. We do Meisner. And the Meisner-technique really rocks!
If you want to connect with your inmost feelings, expressing them freely in an acting environment and thus getting to know yourself better and better, feel free to join us!
+++
About the author:
I am Boris Wilke, a German expat in Prague. I am a writer at large and have been studying Meisner since January 2008. If any of you know of any kind of acting work, that befits a laddish, tall 40-year-old, please leave a note!
April 16th, 2009
Just a reminder to all of you who are coming to acting class that we’re now on spring break until April 15. If you aren’t currently a student but would like to audit the class, you’re more than welcome! Just check out the information on the Meisner acting page and come to the class to see it in action!
March 31st, 2009
Divadlo Miloco will be holding a series of workshops focused on devising original performance material in rehearsal. Highlighting movement, improvisation, clown, rhythm and song, these workshops are designed both to develop individual actors’ skills and explore the creative potential of an ensemble.
Of primary importance will be the creation of a space where the group of performers work as one, yet allow for and strengthen each other’s individuality.
The workshops will combine intense physical work with ensemble movement excersises, designed to break down barriers that inhibit open creativity and expression. In tandem with movement and ensemble work, we will also explore improvisation and clowning techniques as ways to create performance material.
As the workshops progress, we will spend more and more time on storytelling, incorporating the physical and improvisation work into a context where an actual performance material can be created.
These workshops are desinged for both experienced, professional actors as well as students. The workshops will be conducted in English and Czech. While the course is free, we will ask all participants to contribute 50kc/session in order to cover costs of heating, electricity, etc.
The workshops will begin on Thursday the 4th of December at 19:00 and will take place every Thursday until the end of January (there will be a Christmas break)
The workshops will be lead by Daniel Brown and Andrea Miltnerova.
Miloco is currently looking to expand its performance ensemble for productions in 2009.
If you are interested in participating, please call Daniel Brown on +420 773660065 or email: info@miloco.cz
For more information visit www.miloco.cz
December 2nd, 2008
Shakespeare’s Sword
Rapier & Broadsword Stage Combat Workshop
Nov 18 & 20, 2008 – 7pm-10pm
Led by accomplished fight director Guy Roberts (member of the Society of American Fight Directors), this class will teach safe and disciplined basic rapier and broadsword stage fighting techniques. The workshop will culminate with a student performance of stage combat choreography directed by Roberts. Participants should bring a pair of light gloves (leather or batting gloves preferred), must wear comfortable clothing and be ready to break a sweat. Students may bring their own rapier and/or broadsword provided the weapon is combat-worthy. The instructor will make final determination regarding the weapon(s) and no weapon(s) not approved by the instructor will be allowed in the workshop. Practice swords provided by instructor.
Space is limited so make reservations early.
Workshop Dates & Locations:
Prague: November 18 & 20, 2008 – 7pm-10pm The English International School Brunelova 960/12
142 00 Prague 4
Directions to EISP:
To reach the school by public transport from the centre, take the red line (C) to Kačerov followed by bus number 117 or 215 to bus-stop Sidliště Libuš. The journey takes approximately 30 minutes and the campus is located directly opposite the bus stop.
Cost – Prague:
1700kc Standard Workshop Fee
1350kc Students & Theatre Artists Workshop Fee (no other discounts apply)
To apply applicants must submit via email a complete registration form (download below).
All balances must be paid prior to the first day of the workshop.
For more info and to register for Shakespeare’s Sword email:guy@guyroberts.com
November 10th, 2008
Intensive Acting Shakespeare Workshop
Led by Guy Roberts, this is the perfect introduction to acting Shakespeare’s texts for the beginner and the perfect exploration and tune-up for the advanced actor. Shakespeare’s characters express themselves by thought, choosing language moment to moment. This intensive workshop explores the link between the structure of the language and the thought the structure expresses. Once the actor fully understands and commands the tools of Shakespeare’s language the possibilities are limitless. The aim is to empower actors to make Shakespeare’s language roll “trippingly” from their tongues. Participants will workshop a selected Shakespeare speech or scene and the weekend concludes with a Mock Audition experience and individualized instructor feedback on the “audition”.
Details and a daily breakdown below:
L’Espace Electrique
Milady Horakove 39, Praha 7
www.unlockingshakespeare.com
Space is limited so make reservations early.
For more info and to register for Unlocking Shakespeare email: guy@guyroberts.com
1700czk Standard Workshop Fee
1350czk Students & Theatre Artists Workshop Fee (no other discounts apply)
**Payment plans accepted on individual basis upon consultation & approval of instructor
**Note: European Workshops conducted entirely in English
Saturday, Oct 25 10am – 5pm
Introduction to Hearing Shakespeare vs. Seeing Shakespeare, Shakespearean theatrical and stage traditions to the present time. Examination of Shakespearean verse structure, how the structure of the verse frees the actor providing dynamic and exciting playing options, Why Language is Character, Shakespearean Rhetoric and the Art of Persuasion, Speech/Thought Structure, and the value of consulting Folio texts. Introduction to effective vocal, physical & textual preparation and rehearsal techniques that the actor can apply to any production or rehearsal session. Monologues and/or scene work is selected for ongoing work.
Sunday, Oct. 26 12pm – 5pm
Ongoing, hands-on work on: Sound and Meaning in Shakespeare, Vowels and Consonants in Shakespeare, Imagery and Antithesis, Order in the Elizabethan World and Prose in Shakespeare. Individual coaching of selected monologues and scenes. One hour private rehearsal/lunch break (participant must provide own meal) at 1:30pm.
Tuesday, Oct 28 7pm – 10pm
Ongoing, hands-on work on: Speaking with Power and Truth and Connecting the Breath to the Voice and the Voice to the Thought. Continued individual coaching of selected monologues and scenes. Workshop ends with Mock Audition followed by individual feedback and coaching.
October 17th, 2008
Nancy is launching several types of new workshops to expand her “brand” if we can call it that. Marketing for Actors will cover how actors can get themselves out there in the world (through new media: youtube, facebook, search engines, blogging; as well as old: resume and showreel critique). There will be a special focus on “self casting” using the new website for actors to send their castings directly to producers. Presumably the workshop will also cover how casting directors view and use this marketing. Right now it looks like she’s only scheduled classes in the UK. Maybe we can persuede her to bring her class back home!
October 2nd, 2008
Next Posts
Previous Posts
