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Log Ten

As we are drawing nearer and nearer to our devised pieces we are no longer taking part in regular technique classes this I feel is a good thing as we need to focus on applying to those techniques to our pieces and putting on our focus into creating great pieces of work. For me this whole process has been about trying to better my fitness and although I have only improved a little I feel I have achieved a lot within the process. Although I still struggle with confidence I do feel I am now more focused to achieve movement and that I do put my energy into trying to learn movement sections, pieces, techniques etc. I also feel that my stamina has improved as I am no longer struggling to keep up with others in the class towards the end of sessions. Another big thing that I have improved in is focus I can now focus more on movement then I had before as I have more interest in it and it is no longer a scary prospect to me. However my flexibility hasn’t improved and I need to stick to this and all the other things I struggle with to gain better fitness and stamina so that I can portray characters correctly. I am however a lot healthier and no longer eat microwave dinners and eat plenty more fruit and vegetables, I have also downloaded an app called 7 minute workout that I have been doing every day to improve my fitness.     

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Log Eight.

Today we didn’t have a session as we were more focused on our showing of Berkoff’s ‘Greek’. This play however involves a lot of characterisation involving posture, gesture and movement. This is something that has been highly influenced by previous movement and technique classes and has helped me achieve character successfully. The character of Eddies father is one that is old and a little crooked for this I leant forward a lot with my chine facing upwards and kept a wide stance to do this took strong muscles in the legs and back and was a good test of my stamina. Eddie the other character I played in the piece had more of an open stance and was led by his crotch which was jutted forwards this again tested my back muscles and leg muscles. However I feel throughout the pieces I kept stances perfectly and could not have done this without training my body to withstand the postures of these characters first. I am also feeling a lot healthier I realised then I had before I have been trying to eat more fruit then I had before and am trying to be more focused on character movement but also my own for instance not slouching when I sit on the sofa. Today was a testament to how technique classes are helping me to create characters and help me achieve pieces of successful work without hurting myself. However I know there are still hurdles for me to face with such things as my confidence and stamina levels, I also need to try more to focus on my flexibility. I still can’t reach my toes!

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Log Nine.

Today’s technique session was based on contact work this technique is when two or more people focus on keeping contact throughout a piece only breaking apart if needed. With this being something some of us explored last year I felt confident within exploring this technique. We began with a warm up, first we stretched helping to warm our muscles up we then did a more energetic exercise that involved us moving around the space first as just focus walks then we were given numbers in which we had to place an action with – I found this to actually be quiet tiring already highlighting again that my stamina still needs work. We then got into pairs and was given the task using contact work to explore getting across the other side of the room finding different ledges, different movements and different spaces to work ourselves into, we were to do this with improvisation and to not over plan our movements. This exercise is always useful in finding new and interesting forms of movement or interesting shapes created with the body. I also found it useful to see how much I can deal with working as a pair and not individually – this I always find I feel quite easy, with early nerves now not there any longer from last year I can adapt to working with all the members of our group confidently. I feel out of all the technique lessons this has been the one that I felt the most comfortable in and one that I grasped the easiest as it is the technique I am the most familiar with.   

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Log Six.

In today's technique lesson we learnt about travelling across the space and exploring fluid movement within pieces. This is particularly important when creating physical theatre pieces as it ensures that the pieces flow perfectly without any unnecessary awkward or uncomfortable looking areas happening in someone’s piece. This involved a lot of different techniques including turns, floor work, lifts and jumps but was helpful as it showed a variety of helpful things to explore within our own pieces - I know I have used some of these techniques in my own devised piece. Kate then created a small routine based around the techniques we had explored this was quite high intensity and although I struggled I tried to keep up with the rest of the class and found that I enjoyed the exercise!! However by the end of the lesson my stamina had definitely dropped and I became less focused on the routine and more focused on negative thinking towards not keeping up with my fellow class mates - this is something I Regularly struggle with and don't enjoy about the lessons and will discourage me from focusing. To counteract this I must; one, be more willing to practise moves over and over until I get them right and two be less caring of if I go wrong in a simple routine. Although I did face these struggles within this technique lesson I also feel I have achieved and learnt so much to help me within physical theatre and even plain dance.

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Log Five.

Today we had a technique lesson based again on the Laban scale this time it was focused upon the actual scale rather than a routine. Again I found this beneficial as it explored the natural movement of the body, something that is vital in showing everyday character and movement. After today’s technique lesson I worked on the devised piece that I am a part of this is the piece that Hannah is directing. She had already set out a plan for the scene which was very helpful as she gave clear instruction on what she wanted. We are busy people who are making our way to work, this scene involves a lot of travel work and has a mini set routine placed in the middle that all characters in the scene are part of. It also focuses on a lot of repeated movement of our own creation. I have found this session interesting and useful as it is interesting to see how Hannah has used different techniques to create the scene such as dynamics, repeated movement and travelling. I also feel that I am applying the work I have been doing to create meaning and movement to my character. The only thing I feel I need to work on is characterization and a goal for what my character is doing as I sometimes lose focus and posture slipping back into Holly and the way in which she walks/moves. My flexibility is making progress as well I have been ensuring to do exercises at home to improve this as I want to be able to reach my goal of reaching my toes. However I need to make sure that I am focusing on my posture as it is again beginning to slip from earlier sessions that I had focused on. Warm ups and cool downs are also essential when rehearsing and I need to take this into mind as they too are beginning to slip out of remembrance.  

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Log Four.

Today we were given a short routine to work on that Kate had devised to show us a new technique that was based on that of the Laban scale - a movement technique that is focused on everyday movement and the more mundane of movements. This routine focused on a lot of dynamic and sometimes quite static movement and involved many levels from low on the floor to reaching high. It was a slower routine to that of the one before that we had explored - this I was grateful of as I found it easier to grasp the movement and remain focused and on task rather than having a defeatist attitude towards the routine. I enjoyed exploring the different dynamics of the piece. I feel through this techniques session I am definitely showing improvement from the ones before and that my strength and stamina for movement work has drastically improved from the start of the year, I am less tired after a technique lesson than I would have been and I am able to hold my own body weight (only a little) but for much more longer, and again in other pieces I am working in I have found my posture and character technique is strong. I am also finding it a lot easier to focus and direct pieces of physical theatre work for my own pieces of work - that includes my devising and my historical context piece. I have found today’s session to be useful in the way that I have been able to grasp todays routine as well as again inspiring future work for my devised piece, I definitely feel my piece needs to be more dynamic to portray the story that I want to portray within my piece and this lesson has helped me to focus on those dynamics, I have also realized how happy I am with the personal progress I am making in and out of lessons.

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Log Three.

Today we recapped on our postures for those who missed thee before technique lesson this time when reviewing over my neutral standing position I had approved drastically from before, ensuring that I was focusing on my plum line and that I wasn’t leaning as much as before.  After this quick recap we began to look at a routine of work that was focused on body release and flexibility. I was grateful of this as part of my fitness plan was to improve on my flexibility so that I can finally reach my toes!! Release work is also a powerful technique to have as it allows for the performer to move more freely with the body and gives more of an emotional feel to a piece. However the routine was a hard one to follow and I often lost the momentum to keep up with the pace of the rest of the class, discouraged a little and not pushing to do it, I don't feel I focused on this technique lesson as much as I could have. However I did benefit from the movement I did undertake and things such as the leg swing on the floor into other movement gave me inspiration towards movement in my own devising piece. Although focus did slip through this session I do feel I have improved widely since starting this piece of work that I have become more active and more focused on the subject of movement rather than being disenchanted with the idea. I have also started to ensure that it is applied to other pieces of work such as that of the Berkoff piece 'Greek' we are currently working on, the posture session last week has really helped me to come into better grips with my characters and has helped me to create a good character posture. I have also started to eat more regularly and with healthier foods - I am trying to cut down on microwave dinners for convenience as this often makes me sluggish. 

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Log Seven.

I arrived rather late to today’s session and therefore did not warm up properly this was frustrating as I knew then I was not ready for the lesson. Today’s technique lesson was only a brief session as we are now coming closer and closer to the time of our devising pieces to be shown so much of our time is spent planning and creating work for such pieces. The lesson focused on floor work and again like the previous lesson how to travel across the space this time on the floor and coming from off the floor back down again, this involved some more complex movement and when Kate came to showing the routine she had to reflect on this involved a backwards roll into lying on the floor. This I found was incredibly difficult to achieve and found myself refusing to do through fear of hurting myself, this I found was frustrating for me and unfortunately made me lose a lot of focus throughout the rest of the routine so I struggled completing it. This was frustrating for me as I had wanted to put into practise what I hadn’t done in the last session; to become more confident with moves but also to not be to disengaged when I go wrong but however this fell short due to my lack of confidence in one move. With this in mind I took my anger into the following lessons and focused my energy into Holly A’s piece. This I found made me more determined to achieve something good for her, however I wish it had come from a more positive energy.

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Log Two.

Today the main focus of our technique lesson was that of posture and the way that we hold ourselves in neutral position and to understand it and how we can correct it to become healthier performers. Neutral position is a good starting point to adopt any posture. Posture is an important aspect of performance as it ensures that different characters can be portrayed correctly on stage whether it being an older character who has heavier footsteps or a bent back to a young hero with strong posture and a wide stance. Of course as well posture and neutral position are vital in keeping the muscles and bones properly aligned and this is what Kate focused on showing us. One by one our neutral standing positions were examined - first off how we believed we should be standing - and one by one we were corrected slightly as Kate picked up on things we hadn't noticed about ourselves before. For me I need to ensure that I correct my plum line to do this I need to balance out my left side so that it is straighter. I can do this by opening through the pectoral muscles and putting my shoulder blades down. This can also be helped by  correcting the bit of my foot that pronates (the inner bit of my foot) that I am standing on the correct bit of my foot. I also need to remember to  extend my back as it stands flat and imagine a string being pulled through the centre of my head that is keeping my posture straight up as well as my head so that it isn't naturally leaning to one side or the other and raising me from my feet. I found that this session was helpful in correcting my posture and will help me in many future projects.

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Log One.

Today was the start of our fitness technique lessons, these lessons will be helping towards my fitness programme I initially set up. These sessions will hopefully help me to achieve the goals I set myself such as improve my stamina and flexibility as well as contribute towards my ideas and the finalisation for my final devised piece.

to start our techniques session we began by participating in an aerobic/Pilates warm up preparing us by warming up our bodies/muscles for the lesson ahead as well as making our bodies flexible as well as giving us ideas for future warm up plans. This was particularly interesting for me as I have not really experienced exploring Pilates based exercises before. After we had warmed up our bodies Kate put into action showing us a floor based routine this work also showed a wide range of release work, this further helped us to warm up for creating our pieces in later sessions but also showed us new technique involving moving across the floor/space and making our movements more fluid and flowing. This is a good technique helps to create flowing pieces as it highlights ways in which you can connect bigger movement sections together but also grasp how to make pieces that are based upon the floor and also how that can then be moved to standing without it looking awkward or robotic. This routine also helped to highlight centre of alignment as the release work helps to focus on the muscles that are closest to the centre of the body then takes that energy and moves it outwards through the rest of the body ensuring movement that it focused and on point. I found todays technique lesson to be helpful as I like to take new ideas to adapt and use in my own devised piece, I also feel it helped to highlight how floor and release work can be used.