DAY ELEVEN

YAY FOR MORE MASKS!!! aaaaaand HANDSTANDS!

I don't have a picture of my handstand yet. I did one good one today. I am practicing, though. When I have a good one I promise to show you!

BUT NOW ONTO MASKS! AAAAAH!

HERE THEY ARE!

But I am getting ahead of myself. We began with gestures. Stephanie prompted us. We were to do a gesture and hold it as if we were on a postcard. The prompts were: hi, oh joy, i'm frightened, but i have courage, i love you, what?!, i beg you, oh god, go away, (repeat). We repeated these about 10 or so times. Afterwards, a couple groups went up and did them in front of the class...then with masks. SO AMAZING. The more specific and held the positions were the more effective the masks became. We were told to allow ourselves to be the mask and not force our own agenda upon the mask. 

In many instances, in theatre being presentational is bad. But here, we are told that being presentational is being present for the audience. We are to treat the audience as another actor having an equal part in the story. It is a really cool, new way to look at the word 'presentational'.

Our next exercise was a bit silly. We had a partner. We began by throwing and receiving energy from them. We then evolved that into throwing and receiving focus from our partner. Once we received the focus, we were to take it then have a take to the audience and say our name, then throw the focus back to our partner. We then threw 'insults' with reaction take to the audience. These were funny. My partner and I said stuff like: perky ponytail, smart, pretty, and pink hairthing as insults. We then threw gestures with a reaction take to the audience. My partner and I got to present ours to the class and got a lot of laughs! (score!) (that was my reaction take to you!)

When putting on our masks, we were told to close our eyes when putting on the mask, when we opened our eyes, we were to see through the eyes of the mask. We worked with larval masks (precursors to character masks). I love the innocence of them. They live in the present. It is hard to imagine a past or future for these masks. The naivety of them is awesome! LOVE LOVE LOVE! 

LARVAL MASK EXPLORATION

(this is from a former class at Dell'Arte)

We then explored character masks. Everyone in the class had a different character mask. We walked around the space and explored the different relationships we could have with other masks. The first mask I had was blueish in color and had an expression of sadness. The second (my favorite) was of an older man with a very large nose. He was quirky and loved to dance. We all got to present our chosen mask to the audience. We had to have an entrance with a clear moment once on stage, an interaction with the mask entering to take it's spot and an exit. SUCH AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. I know I will be able to translate this work into other avenues of theatre. It helps us to become more specific with our movements and how to subtleties are just as, if not more, effective than big large gestures. They also help teach you how to take your time. If you rush through a moment with a mask, it either goes dead or the audience loses the action. Masks are so amazing and POWERFUL. They show human emotion in a pure way. Everyday we hide our emotions or thoughts with our own masks. But a mask can't hide it's emotion. And if we do our job as actors, we will embody these masks and allow them to live and breathe and tell their story. 

Here is my Larval Mask y'all!

DAY TEN

Today we began with stretches. Joe told us that stretching is a result of breath and form. I love the way the instructors turn my normal way of thinking about something and flip it upside down. It empowers the action rather than forcing it. He also went through our entire body pointing out the primary and secondary curves along our body.  You can see how there are curves that are concave and convex. For every convex curve, there is a concave one.  PRETTY AWESOME HUH? Here is a picture you can reference. Or you can see it on yourself!

We also went through the 8 Labon Efforts with Joan. As we were instructed through the different efforts we would demonstrate them with our whole body. We then did them again with isolated parts of our body keeping in mind what character would use that motion. The eight efforts go as such: wring, press, glide, float, flick, dab, punch, slash.



We then began our work in characterization, mask work, primarily. We did a mini project that involved creating creatures with body bags ALA mummenschanz. When we can create such wonderful pieces with our bodies such as this, I don't know why we would want to do anything else. I am totally re inspired. And after a rough day yesterday, it couldn't have come at a better time. 

Tips for the mask:
To see clearly.
To inhabit the entire body.
Have specific attitudes.
Work with what's inside of me.

AWESOME STUFF TODAY!

our bag creature

our creature moves

I. WANT. TO. DO. THIS.

oh wait. I KINDOF AM!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hiej--45oI8

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eazq_8jCOg&feature=related

"We live among the generation of the distracted. As artists, it is our job to bring people back to focus" -Joan's thought of the day

DAY NINE

 Believe. Behave. Behold. Become.

This phrase was repeated several times to us today. It has become the mantra of the week. And let's talk about getting back into the groove of things! We 'eased' our way back into things with an hour and a half cardio workout....or so it seemed. We were reminded that we weren't working out, we were just playing a different game. It was hard nonetheless. Now those who have taken Steve's movement class...or any acting class know polar bear, panther crawls and high skips. I thought the ten minutes we spent doing those was difficult. An hour of it makes it seem like nothing. We began the class walking. Joe, our professor (the one who threw the cookout for us) would prompt us to notice various parts of our body as we were walking. He would also have us move our heads around (up, down, up-left, down-right, down-left, up-right) and notice how the weight of our head affected our speed and/or made us spin around. As we walked around the space we walked with our eyes up and forward, as we made eye contact with someone,  our gaze would make us turn around as if we didn't want to break the stare.  We then had to find a point of the floor...and go to it. We ended up crawling in what is called 'polar bear' (same hand and foot moving), then moved to a crawl (hands and knees), then climb or panther (toes and hands as if we were climbing up a wall), then as swift as possible up to a skip, then a run, back down to polar bear. Whoever said being an actress or actor was easy CLEARLY never studied here. Joe kept shouting at us to HAVE FUN, FIND THE GAME! He also told us to not show that we were tired or out of breath, only that we were doing the movements and that we were not out of breath or tired, but INSPIRED. LOVE IT!

DAILY WORDS OF WISDOM FROM RONLIN: There is a point where you don't need language to tell a story and have meaning. It is our job as poets in the theatre to know when it is necessary to have language and when it is superfluous. 

Today was quite frustrating for me. We did a series of exercises that i didn't quite understand. Maybe (hopefully)  someday the meaning will hit me. I just have to keep reminding myself of a song that Hope Grandon showed to me whenever I was feeling down about my abilities or self worth. Here it is for all of you to enjoy and listen to when you feel bad. In the words of Steve Snyder YOU ARE ENOUGH

Our first exercise with Ronlin was to BECOME the music. Not interpret the music. Not respond to the music. We were to BE the music, to serve the music. As Grahm (the founder of modern dance) we needed to 'pull the tooth of music'. Here is one of the songs we worked to. We did about three of these exercises.

Mozart - Requiem in D Minor, KV 626 - 1. Introitus - Requiem Aeternam  

One of the basic lessons we had to learn was that, like language, our arms and legs are frivolous. Everything must come from the core. Acting comes from the torso. Ronlin said that we must always ride on catastrophe. We need to wake up our eye, because it reflects the soul. We need to respond to what we see and what we are called to do. In the contemporary age, he said, we are trained not to see because we must always act. So, we end up representing what we see. Our gaze becomes an ironic gaze because there is a detachment from what we see to what we SEE. 

Characterization, as explained, is not what we understand the character to be, but how to find that character IN us. This is how we can engage something that isn't us, by finding that seed within.  It is when theatre becomes conventional it becomes less epidemic...less able to excite/infect the audience. It is important to let the audience infer meaning. Everything means something. Sometimes, when we get too caught up in language or what things MEAN rather than feeling them and portraying them through our body, we force the audience to understand the opposite of what we are telling them. 

Our hands don't express, they contain and offer. 

One exercise was about how to make a stick come to life. We were given a wooden rod and had to make it come to life. Not pantomime, not project our own views on it, not manipulate it, but make it come to life. This is one exercise I DID NOT UNDERSTAND AT ALL. Most of us in the class were having a hard time. In mid instruction, Ronlin went up to one of my classmates (the tallest) and started climbing on him, going around his back, around his torso...and the student had to help. I am still trying to figure it out. So, if you have any insight i would be happy to hear it!

We then studied elements. We had to become water, fire and air. We started on the floor and had to work from the minimum to the maximum back to minimum (complete stillness). We also baked about 7 cakes to a variety of different music (one being the pink panther) again, not interpreting the music, or commenting on it, but BECOMING IT AND SERVING IT.

Ronlin told me that i need to FIND WHAT MOVES ME. That is my goal.

 

DAY EIGHT

 

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! I AM EXTREMELY BURNT!  I spent a couple hours chopping some wood as Steve would say. I laid out by the river reading Ragtime. I love how I now look like a raccoon because of my sunglasses tan ahahah. While i was reading, a dog kept coming up to me. She belonged to a woman not too far from where I was sitting. She would sniff my face,  lick my face, and then eventually sit next to me and lean on me. Maybe she knew I was missing my dog and wanted to make me feel better? That is one thing that amazes me about this place, the number of friendly wandering animals there are. Just the other day, we had two cats and a Chihuahua hanging out by our front door and later a big fluffy white dog came up to say hi. None of them are aggressive. They just want to be acknowledged, maybe get a bite to eat, and then they are on their merry way!

Later that night, one of the professors threw a big cookout for everyone. They say once you go to Dell'Arte you are part of the La Familiga. That is so true! The cookout felt like one big family get together. The professors (their families and children) were there, Dell'Arte Master's students and PTP students, and us. It is so great how there are absolutely no egos here. The older students have been coming up to us to talk about our experience and get to know us, as well as the professors. It is such an inviting atmosphere. 

 Aaron and I!

 The boys were were taken down by some crazy 10 yr old girls! hahaha

 Oh hey! It is Drew!

 Dog!

 Of course the night wouldn't be complete without a massage circle!

 awwwww!

 Time for some sparklers!

Beatles and folk song sing-a-long!

Afterwards our Intensive group went down to the river to shoot off fireworks! Blue Lake doesn't have their own show, BUT it is legal to shoot them off here. Our were puny compared to the other peoples. One group shot some legitimate fireworks off the top of the bridge which was right above us. We had our own show! After every single one, we would cheer. It was too much fun and so funny. 

I hope you all had a wonderful fourth of July! I miss you all!

DAY SEVEN

For those wondering....HERE IS MY ADDRESS!

attn: Natalie Patrnchak
c/o Dell'Arte School
P.O. Box 128, Blue Lake CA 95525

NOW ONTO TODAY!

What do you get when you put a bunch of theatre kids together in a small town with one casino? KARAOKE NIGHT! It turns out that tonight was competition night! As a group we sang Total Eclipse of the Heart (guess who suggested that one). OH MY GOODNESS it was too much fun. We hadn't signed up ahead of time so we weren't in the contest, but one woman came up to a girl in our group saying it wasn't fair for us to be there because we are performers. I kindof took that as a compliment.

Here is our version of Total Eclipse of the Heart. If you turn your head to the left, it is right side up! ALSO: we probably didn't need the microphone. We were so dang loud, so...i advise NOT blasting this.

ENJOY!

Every time someone from our group would sing, there was a man who would come up and dance his little heart out right in the front. This video doesn't even begin to capture it.  It was brilliant.

THROW BACK TO DRAG SHOW REHEARSAL! whaa whaat!

DAY SIX

DAY OFF! So, I can wear jeans and jewelry! Today we explored a neighboring town, Arcata. Every Saturday they have a farmers market in the town square. After an extremely motion sick car ride, we arrived! Here are some pictures from our adventure. 

They have a woman who sells her poems. You tell her the subject and pay her what you want. This reminds me of the Showers that we do in acting class. She has to constantly create works, what an awesome writing exercise!...plus she gets some cash, and an occasional rock on the side! My subject was: Living in the Moment. Here is the link to her website: Poem Store

Afterwards we checked out the local thrift stores, vintage stores and yarn stores (I broke down and bought some yarn). The house I am staying in is similar to Arcadia. It has been in the Dell'Arte family for a while and rolls over from one group to the next. It is a lot cleaner, but has random things past groups have left behind. Since we are a group of 10 girls, we figured this would be the best addition. 

She is currently looking out of our window at all the local boys who have been ruthlessly flirting/following us around. Maybe she will scare them away!

Tonight I saw Dell'Arte's production of Mary Jane: The Musical. WELCOME TO HUMBOLDT COUNTY! ...or the Emerald City. This is one of the shows in the Mad River Festival Dell'Arte puts on every year. For those of you who don't know, Humboldt County is known for their premium weed. 

From the excerpt in the program: Humboldt County's name has long been synonymous with the production of high-quality cannabis. Humboldt's perfect climate lends itself to the healthy growing and harvesting of some of the best cannabis ever cultivated. Humboldt Growers

The production and sale of marijuana is what has kept this county alive. The musical was quite amazing. They commissioned a dozen local songwriters to write the songs. It was staged more like a cabaret. Joan, my professor, was Queen Mary Jane. Throughout the course of the musical, they talked about local issues and alluded to things within the community that I, an outsider, didn't understand. The first act comprised of songs that we all know are about weed and original songs that made us laugh and commented on life in Humboldt County. The second act talked about the reality of the business, like just how much the people here finically rely on the growing and selling of weed, raising children while being a grower and what the children see as a 'normal' lifestyle (To Me this is a Phase, to Them it is Life), the weed living in the houses and the people being homeless, and what would happen  if weed became legal. 

We sat in their outdoor amphitheater on blankets. As the sun went down it got quite chilly. It was PERFECT though. Mary Jane: the Musical is perfect. It is perfect because it is theatre for the people by the people. The actors were just the vessel to holding up a mirror to the life around them. What was perhaps just as entertaining as the show was the reactions to what was going on on stage. I didn't get a lot of the references, but everyone else sure did; they would laugh or comment or whisper a personal story to their neighbor. At one point they had a helicopter sound effect. The two  women behind me exclaimed: I was waiting for that! I'm so glad they put that in there! 

Now, I have been here a week and not once have heard a helicopter fly over this town, but there was a genuine response to it, so it has SOME meaning. I loved every minute of the show. It reminded me of why we do theatre and the reason it exists. It was created to inform and instruct. To imitate life. People weren't going to the show because it is a BIG NAME MUSICAL. They were going because they saw themselves in the show. This is amazing! This is what I love about theatre and I am honored to receive  training here, so I  can go out and serve an audience and community in the same way. 

DAY FIVE

I am so sorry i am a bit late. BUT you get a two sweet blogs today. The one for today will come later tonight after I see Mary Jane: the Musical. 

SO! As I reflect on this amazing week, I can honestly say that I feel an earthquake inside of me. I feel a change going on that I can't quite articulate yet. One of my roommates/classmates/new friend put: 

Everything comes back to rhythm and ritual. Learning to play is a lifelong journey. Theatre exists to vibrate the silence and keep us awake in the world.

This is such a perfect reflection on the week. All week we explored the concept of Play. So, we played A TON of games and as I talked about in a previous blog, the use of song in play. 

We started off our Friday with our normal body warm up and movement exercise. My group was chosen to play in front of the class. The exercise we do in hard to explain, but I will try. We are a group of five. When Ronlin gives us the GO, one person does a series of movements with a clear beginning, middle and end. This movement inspires someone else's which inspires someone else's and so on. The 'inspiration' could either be in the energy, weight, direction, etc. As in Dell'Arte fashion: IT NEVER SEEMS LIKE I AM DOING IT RIGHT. One thing that you never ever hear around here is "Good Job, You got it!" When you do a thing, the instructor automatically goes into how it can be better. So, when my group did ours in front of the class, we were made an example of of how it could have been better. This is a hard adjustment of thought that I had to do. As hard and frustrating as it is, you hear love in the teacher's voice, so it lessens the blow a bit. 

Words of Wisdom from Ronlin: 

WE NEED TO ALWAYS BE AWARE, AVAILABLE, AND RESPONSIVE. 

STILLNESS IS IMPERATIVE UNLESS AFFLICTED

Our next class consisted of some body mapping and then HEADSTANDS! The biggest thing I got out of our body mapping session was that we are really just spines. Everything else is an extension of the spine. Also, I don't know if I have mentioned this before or not, but every single person that works for this school is passionate and compassionate. You can tell that they love what they are doing and have a vested interest in us. It is really awesome. There is no sense of ego at all! LOVE LOVE LOVE

OKAY now back to headstands. It took me a couple tries and some embarrassing wipeouts, BUT I got it!  

Step One: Child's pose. Arms a little wider than shoulder length apart. Index fingers pointing foreward.

Step Two: Pull pelvis up. Walk legs to arms. Arms at a 90 degree angle. 

Step Four: When bringing legs up -  lift from the pelvis. When legs are up keep the focus on the front of your legs. This will keep you from falling back. When everything is aligned and balanced it feels like you are floating. It is AMAZING!

Step Five: Do fun stuff.

One major thing that we are constantly reminded that we can just put our mental energy into a part of our body and it will listen to us. We don't have to force our body to do anything.

Today = PERFORMANCE LAB This is when we present our assignments. Anyone can come to these. So....guess who came? DREW! YAY! It was so nice seeing a Bradley family member. I was super nervous to present our game. In addition to ALL THE OTHER PROFESSORS and classmates, the other students of Dell'Arte (PTP and Master's students and graduates) come to these too. EEP! TALK ABOUT PRESSURE! But they were so responsive and supportive, it was awesome! 

So we all did our different games. My group's was last. The old saying is true: You learn more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation. OH MA WURD. It was so funny!!! When someone would cheat, there was an honest uproar in the audience. We wanted to see justice. During our talk back after the games, Joan compared the games to Commedia. Clear characters emerged and our need for Justice. She believes that Justice should be included in the things we fight for, but it is often left out of the things that us, humans, want. But it is, at least in the Western Hemisphere such an intregal part of who we are. 

The game my group came up with was more of a thinking game than everyone else's. The judge had a list of wacky sayings from all over the world. EX: Stop putting saliva on your eyebrows (meaning: don't take things too seriously). The two groups had about 10 seconds to figure out what it meant and come up with a scene to use it in context. The audience (without knowing the true meaning) has to vote on what side they believes to be right. They are then told the meaning. In case of a tie, the group has to make up a saying that has the same meaning. One representative from each group delivers the line. It was a fun improv game!

Afterwards, it was nice seeing Drew and talking to him about what he saw and his reflections on it. We then met up for some drinks at the Tap Room. This is a microbrewery that is attached to the school. That is right, the Dell'Arte building is attached to a bar. I CANNOT tell you how grateful I am that I have Drew here. It is awesome how close our Bradley theatre community is. It really has felt like a family when i think about what we go through together and how we are still there for one another after Bradley. 

view from the bar

guess which one is mine

now bradley and dell'arte family members