After the initial excitement of knowing what it is I want to achieve, I now find myself wondering how to make it happen. At the weekend I covered another Meisner class at BSA.
This time I started the class with a group warm up.
Followed by a group meditation- using a simple visualisation I use with my Reiki clients. Afterwards the room had a sense of calm and focus. One of the students said she felt it hard to focus on the acting now- as she had “travelled somewhere” during the meditation.
That got me thinking. She ended up doing work that may have felt stifled and blocked to her. This was humbling and hard for her. I felt her pain. I’ve been there.
When what you always do no longer works. Those are the real breakthrough moments. I won’t catch up with this class for a few months now - but it will be interesting to see what impact this had had on her.
When what you always do no longer works: those are the real breakthrough moments
The other students had similar breakthroughs. I have only just realised this, as I sit to write this. A girl who had never expressed any emotion was suddenly stamping her feet and crying in an improvisation as she opened herself up. Another who never invested in the work was totally immersed in his activity during the improvisation.
Afterwards he said his mother - a healer and NLP practitioner - did similar meditations with her clients. So I know the meditations come from a blueprint that works. I’m starting to see they have a place in an acting class too.
I’ve started to put together ideas on the forms of storytelling I want to explore. These include Aboriginal, Korean, Shamanic, and North American and Siberian storytelling.
I am starting to think of people I know or contacts I have to get advice on course content or ideas for the initial seminar pitches. I know an incredible Shamanic healer in Brighton who is also an actor.
Even though he does not combine the two disciplines as yet, I have a feeling if he did he would create something unique or may be able to point me in the right direction. I am torn between contacting him with my idea and getting in touch too soon so my idea sounds vague and ill thought out.
That is a concern. For a long time I kept this idea as a guilty secret. Circumstances have led me to a place where I am sharing it. I still expect people to laugh though. Why?
I have the training and experience as an actress. I have a wealth of contacts from over eight years in the industry. I know many artists who are crying out for a place where they can start to experiment and combine their meditative practices with their art. Yet I feel like it’s such a big idea it may always stay one.
How do I root it? I write this blog. I also need to get much more disciplined about the work I do on this.
I have made a list of each thing I will do in a week for this project. Weeks one to two look like this: I shall contact this Brighton healer and plant the seed of the idea. See where it leads and be open to that. Spend an evening three times a week researching different forms of storytelling worldwide and find contacts to approach.
This week I want to start with Shamanic and Aboriginal storytelling. I shall start to look at the various forms of storytelling through movement- these include Laban and Tribal Dance. There must be others and I need to find these.
Vocal work: who are the next generation to Jill Purce and Stewart Pearce. There must be new blood out there that has taken sound healing to the next level. I need to research who these people are, do they even exist and would they consider lending an ear to something like this?
I shall start to record the way of approaching character I have always used with my students.
Perhaps I should get some feedback from them on what worked and what never did? I feel if I get it on paper it will start to show the light and dark in this process.
In a three-hour or half day workshop I would want to take new and jobbing actors through the process of approaching character using meditation and visualisation. Some shamanic journeying if possible. As well as looking at gentle exercises to start to unlock creativity through voice and dance work.
The aim would be to give them a taster and empower them as performers. I also see if I start to believe this school is a reality already it can be one too. Having a daily plan helps to break it down into baby steps.
