After spending almost a full semester on Viewpoints – drilling and drilling through the patterns, shapes, and movements, the time came for us to put all nine of the Viewpoint together and create a finishing project. My assisgnement to the students was for them to create an authentic view of themself that they were to divide into 3-5 chapters. How could they tell their life story (short as it is) with their body only? This year I restricted the excercise quite a bit. I did not allow the actor to work beyond the mat set in a corner of the room. I did not allow music of any kind; sometimes I feel their body moves more to the music than to the story they are trying to tell. If they want to use “music”, the will have to make this music with the slaps and slides of their bodies on the mat. Properties were limited to a hanging, out-of-reach, light bulb above the playing space, and one broom handle wedged between a rehearsal block to allow it to stand upright. That was it. The rest was going to be just their bodies.
Today we were able to get through three students and I was amazed. I began with one of the students who had taken the course last year and was most in touch with her body and its power. She sailed. She used every feature of viewpoints to move her story from thought to movemnent. She created shapes and moved them through space in a way I cold not having imagined. It was working.
Then I had a performance by a student who is not as strong and flexible as this young lady. Also this student is much more often caught in his head – able to explain what is happening to the character, but less able to SHOW what is happening. His work in this excercise was equally wonderful and surprising. FINALLY, he was free of all that thinking and could just BE on the mat as his fingers and toes moved through his life story.
I am anxious to write of the success of other student in the days ahead. I know it going to be a real treat for everyone. BUT today, I just want to give myself a “high 5” for taking all of the somewhat tedious time developing this work with the student. My predictions were right. It’s worth the time to spend on process!