Performance Workshop Notes Part 1 24/01/17

Term 3 Exercises Review 3

Term Three Exercises

Meditation

• Originally meditating for 9 hours for 10 days. However, for educational purposes we meditated in silence for 30 minutes.

Connecting with the sense of touch

• Closing your eyes and using your skin to connect with what’s around them.

Contact Improvisation

• In partners we keep our eyes shut and make contact with our skin. Creating a sequence of non linear actions.

Riffing

• A circle of simple and synchronised movements create an atmosphere of energy that get sent into the person in the middle trying to find themselves. They soon refine a movement and then someone goes in to copy the movement and then explores movements with them.

Choral Riffing

• The whole group start off with changing between laughing and crying. Then everyone follows their instincts and does what they feel is right. Then the actions combine into a group movement. Then the whole class merge with each other to create a class movement. Then someone changes the movement and the class does the moment making the leader disappear.

Ganzfeld Effect

• We make a mask out of paper and cover our eyes with it. This allows us to only see the colour white. Then we lie down for half an hour whilst listening to a white noise or a very low base and then identify what happened to us individually.

Choral Choreography

• It is similar to the choral riffing because everyone gradually does a similar move however this is more looking at one person doing something and everyone else feeding into that movement to develop it going even further. Then someone doing something else and waiting for the rest of the class to respond.

Speaking Your Inner Monologue (The Dark)

• We all had to lie down and stare into pitch black. We have to disconnect from everyone and listen to our inner voices. And with what our inner voices say we need to repeat everything they say out loud.

Writing Your Inner Monologue

• We need to get a piece of paper and pen. We got two sentence starters to use so we can write what first comes into our minds in relation to those sentence starters. The sentence starters are ‘I remember’ and ‘ One day’.  The point is to continue writing what we think and don’t stop until the time is up.

Speaking Your Inner Monologue (Sentence Starters)

• Instead of lying down in the dark this time you are in partners and you use sentence starters to help stimulate thoughts. You continue speaking until times up.

Pointing Out The Obvious

• We get into partners and we both take turns to point out what we see from the other person. This could simply be describing their appearance. But the thing you can’t do is give your opinion.

How To Use Drugs

Performance Workshop Notes Part 2 17/01/17

From looking at all the exercises that we have done so far, I have come to the conclusion of the ones that would really help to make the end of term performance and show the potential of experimental theatre.

Contact Improvisation is a very good exercise. If we are looking towards showing the unconscious mind in action then this exercise would be good because it makes you forget about the people around you and makes you connect with yourself and the senses that you tend to not pay attention to. For example touch. The theme that this show needs to highlight and project to the audience is that we are representing drugs that affect the mind. Or in other words ‘the impacts of external stimulus.’ Using your skin to get to know external stimuli gives you a new and different perspective of thing than if you used the sense of sight, hearing and/ or smell.

Riffing is a good exercise even though from an outside viewer the people do it may look a bit pathetic. However, it’s know that riffing can be very useful when searching for yourself or physically finding a story to tell. From taking part in the exercise, I can express that I have never felt so vulnerable yet so free when doing an in-class exercises. Being in the circle and having my eyes shut, I must admit I felt so stupid moving about, but eventually I let everything go and I let my body speak for myself. I accepted the energy from everyone else and built up myself esteem. It was a moment that was different, yet so beautiful with creativity, freedom, confidence and acceptance.

Ganzfeld Effect is a good exercise mainly for the intention of gaining inspiration from the depths of your mind. It was relaxing, and interesting because I went through things that I never really questioned or thought about before. For example When I managed to get into it I started to feel this fuzzy feeling within my body. It wasn’t exactly pins and needles and I’m not so sure if it actually was the feeling of my blood rushing through my body because the feeling differentiated every few minutes. It was hard to say but that strong feeling I can only describe and relaxing and pleasurable. From staring at nothing for such a long time I believe I started to hallucinate things. I saw different colours in forms of steam/smoke that spread across my provisional vision and merged into shapes and other colours. I assumed that happened because my sense of sight became hungry in the need on seeing colour and the things around me or I saw theses things because it was a feature that simply occurred in my mind and whatever happened in my mind , my inner voice didn’t simply speak out like usual, as a matter of fact it used my sense of sight to project it right in front of me. I went further into analysing this as I thought that the colours could of represented how I felt and the smoke/steam was recreating the images from my memory/mind. This became a sort of inspiration that made me want to use this in my work.

Performance Workshop Notes Part 1 17/01/17

Choral Riffing

- Being instinctual. Don't think about what you need to do, just do what you feel is right.
- To use physical communication between each other and use that to start a new thing.
- Don't take the comfortable option because you would be to obsessed to not look like an idiot.
- Don't go with a stereotype idea. (They are a form. We are playing away from form.)
- Let the movement and ideas develop and blossom.
- To push positive energy and we will get to a point of acceptance and no shame.
- Playing to each other boundaries.
- Allowing ourselves to be tested.
- Have the confidence to lead the group and put trust in yourself.
- Full access to my mind.
- Access to our full senses and body.
- Don't block and accept the offers you are given and use that to create a strong ergonomic flow.
- Live in the moment ( the answer).
- When we leave our zone of freedom we return back to our shame.
- Letting go of ego and popularity desire and you need to let that go and be yourself.
- Don't have a set state of mind or belief that you are a certain type of person.
- Atavistic: to be subconscious.
- Allow yourself to be emotionally vulnerable so you can share feelings.
- Work through the grey and accept that we need to discover.

Ganzfeld Effect

With not being able to see and have the music occupy my hearing I felt more exposed and vulnerable than I ever did before. I felt like anything could happen to me or around me and I didn't even know it.
I felt more connected with my sense of touch. With the style of the music I felt like the music was effecting me and that the longer I stayed still my body became more heavy and I took more notice of the flow of my blood and the feeling of pins and needles. My thought process was gone.
Light and shapes would appear and then when you concentrate on it it disappears.

Hofesh Schechter

- The ability to manifest physical portrayals.

Choral Choreography

- When the movement is emotionally connected and locomotive then it becomes interesting.
- The individual has to disappear and let the collective work together.
- Transmutation needs to work.
- You can't let anything outside distract you.
- Being present makes you become timeless.
- Use of levels and dynamics.
- Inspiring choral trust.
- Taking chances and coming out of your comfort zone.
- We accept the feeling.
- Keep discovering until you get what you want.
- By finding your own emotional connection it can differentiate from others.
- Become the observer to help find your instinct.

Overloading Senses

- Sound: pathway- audience member walks down the path and in the other direction the sound travels down the path and passes the moving audience member and then rebounds back to where it started.
- Touch using rhythm and tapping different in places. Have a choreographed rhythm.
- Touch taking turns to pat down the audience.
- To confuse the audience to have heavy metal, give them something sweet, have a fragrance.
- Sight: the use of shadow.
- Noise cancelling headphones and shouting.
- Cohesive torture techniques.
- Having loads of boxes and have lots of different things.

Term 3 Exercise Review 2

Term Three Exercises

Meditation

• Originally meditating for 9 hours for 10 days. However, for educational purposes we meditated in silence for 30 minutes.

Connecting with the sense of touch

• Closing your eyes and using your skin to connect with what’s around them.

Contact Improvisation

• In partners we keep our eyes shut and make contact with our skin. Creating a sequence of non linear actions.

Riffing

• A circle of simple and synchronised movements create an atmosphere of energy that get sent into the person in the middle trying to find themselves. They soon refine a movement and then someone goes in to copy the movement and then explores movements with them.

Choral Riffing

• The whole group start off with changing between laughing and crying. Then everyone follows their instincts and does what they feel is right. Then the actions combine into a group movement. Then the whole class merge with each other to create a class movement. Then someone changes the movement and the class does the moment making the leader disappear.

Ganzfeld Effect

• We make a mask out of paper and cover our eyes with it. This allows us to only see the colour white. Then we lie down for half an hour whilst listening to a white noise or a very low base and then identify what happened to us individually.

Choral Choreography

• It is similar to the choral riffing because everyone gradually does a similar move however this is more looking at one person doing something and everyone else feeding into that movement to develop it going even further. Then someone doing something else and waiting for the rest of the class to respond.

The Living Gallery 12/01/17

Idea development and evaluation

[To do with the painting

Red- pain and damage
White- untouched part of mind, what hasn't been affected
Black- the missing memories/ nothingness/ the bad things]

Double shock machine

If we both press the buzzer we both get a massive shock
If one of us presses the buzzer the other person gets a light shock
If neither of us press the buzzer we both get a large shock
This will show how we condition ourselves to work together to minimise the pain we feel. At first we will just receive and give the shocks randomly but we will gradually show a change as we create a rhythm to minimise our pain

Make a dialogue
Link with shock machine
Inset with physical

Physical theatre (scrap)
Short argument
Shock machine- learn to work together
Repeat

Chris’ suggestion “As the couple are arguing, the audience can be standing either side of the couple and there will be something written on their shirts/ jumpers etc. The couple would gradually strip of a piece of clothing to break down a layer of their personality. When they regain the closes it shows that the couple never really learnt anything and didn’t change to begin with.”

We have decided to change the whole idea completely. We cut out the physical theatre part of the routine due to the fact it didn’t fit in with our much more developed idea. We agreed to try and develop the idea of using one of the experiments one of the scientist from the documentary did but turn it in a way that can work the arguing couple. By using this idea it shows the couple being taught not to fight however, from discovering that the shocks only worked for a certain amount of time, they really didn't learn anything and resume back to behaving badly and arguing.

Term 3 Exercise Review 1

Term Three Exercises

Meditation

• Originally meditating for 9 hours for 10 days. However, for educational purposes we meditated in silence for 30 minutes.

Connecting with the sense of touch

• Closing your eyes and using your skin to connect with what’s around them.

Contact Improvisation

• In partners we keep our eyes shut and make contact with our skin. Creating a sequence of non linear actions.

Riffing

• A circle of simple and synchronised movements create an atmosphere of energy that get sent into the person in the middle trying to find themselves. They soon refine a movement and then someone goes in to copy the movement and then explores movements with them.

Performance Workshop Notes Part 2 10/01/17

Statements:
The world should allow itself to think less
You can be yourself when you are not worried about thing around them
It would be better to live in a world that doesn't judge
I would like us to not care about others opinions
When we let go and become stimulated there's more honesty and freedom
To be able to apart full child like acceptance
To be less closed off and more open and to make more connection
To acknowledge there are more levels of consciousness
To get rid of shame

Questions:
How can we think less?
How can we careless about other people think?
-  And them feel safe and a supported.
How can we display child like freedom?
How can we access other levels of consciousness?
How can we abolish shame?
How can we open our hearts to strangers?
How can we be more respective to stimulus?


____________________________________________________________________

In pairs think of some ideas for the group piece of the performance.

• Sight: colourful light display
• Soundscape/circles of attention
• Pleasure paradise simulator- sound, smells, nice view, massaging/hugs/calming placements
• Shift of negative to positive

Performance Workshop Notes Part 1 10/01/17

In class notes:

The Living Gallery 05/01/17

Luke and Sherene- Duet- The Mind

Plan A

To have a physical theatre piece that represents craziness, conflict and confusion. No linear story line towards it, just a simple routine that can easily be put on repeat. The aim of this piece is to make the audience feel incomplete and confused when watching the piece. This will let the audience interpret the performance in their own way. [Every mind has a different perspective/ interpretation of a certain reality/scenario]

Question: Is everything in life what it seems? Are we always in control of our own minds?

Comment: Nothing is what it seems. Sometimes what we think is real is only an illusion our minds have created.

Plan B

To have a physical theatre piece that has a bit of a story to it. A couple that go through alot together: love, hatred, sacrifice and betrayal. Using the routine that we want from plan A we would show the emotional journey that the two people get put through when they don’t listen to their hearts but in fact rely on the judgements and limitations they have made in their minds. We want the audience to feel empathy with the performers pain.

Question: Do our thoughts and beliefs restrict our true feelings?

Comment: Every mind has a level of strength that can convince a person what they feel might not be true. Everyone has the strength to overcome that power from the mind.

Introduction

This term is the experimental theatre term. Our topic that is going to inspire this term's performance is 'The Mind'. Performance Workshop lessons are crossed-over with our Site- Specific lessons that we have on a Thursday. On Thursdays I work on the living gallery part of the show with my partner Luke and on Tuesdays the whole class is working on a group performance based on the brain and impacts on the brain by stimulus (drugs).