6th March - Masks

3rd Rehearsal > character focus

Hello lads and ladies, This is what we got up to this afternoon:

• Walking round the space, listening to the rhythm of the footfalls of the group and eventually all walking with the same rhythm. On top of that I sent a clap round the group, with one clap to send and one to receive. I tried to add another clap but it all got rather confusing.
  
• Walking round the space, at any time someone can start falling and the rest of the group have to run and catch them. An additional instruction is that at any time someone can stop and make a sound, everyone else has to stop, listen to the sound and then stand behind the original person and add to the sound, let it build then bring it to an end.
  
• Elements work > I talked the group through an exploration of water, earth, air and fire.
• We used a scale from 1-10 whereby 10 is the most extreme you can make the element and 1 is the most subtle. We found some adjectives that described the feeling of being that element, although these lists are by no means exhaustive.

• Fire = Sharp, Fast, Dynamic, Energetic, Passionate, Painful, Hot, Angry, Calculating.
  
• Air = Care free, Calm, Uncontrollable, Vast, Graceful, Tender, Free, Accepting, Forgetful.
• Earth = Rigid, Rooted, Stiff, Definite, Trapped, Methodic, Slow, Steady, Cracked, Deep, Old, Burdened, Persuasive, Final, Absolute, Sinister, Motivated, Intense, Unyielding.
• Water = Rhythmic, Open, Malleable, Free, Fluid, Unbounded, Fierce, Powerful, Accepting, Waiting, Calm, Ready, Grounded, Engulfing.

• We then changed the scale so that 10 is the extreme element and 1 is a human with the essence of the element. I introduced some scenarios and the group improvised little scenes with the elemental characters they had created.
  
• We talked about the characters in the play and discussed which elements suited them best. Zeus was EARTH and AIR, Epimetheus was FIRE and WATER, Prometheus was EARTH and FIRE, Pandora was AIR and WATER. Although we all agreed that these were likely to change and develop.
  
• We then devised two scenes one was where Zeus introduces temptation to Pandora which was very intense and clearly showed the power balance in the relationship. And the other was the scene where Prometheus warns Epimetheus about Pandora which showed Epimetheus as being quite Romeo-like and Prometheus being far more cynical.

I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures but I thought I'd add images to liven up the entry.
Until the next time amigos xx

Second Rehearsal

Our Second Rehearsal- 13/2/11

...In which we are all at ease and play a bit.

I led this rehearsal with vocal work in mind. I tried to show that singing isn't the only way of using your voice to make a beautiful or simply effective sound, and that as complicated as "music" is, just stretching and exploring your throat noises whilst naturally finding a beat can be just as productive.

Firstly, after bouncing and shaking and stretching, some vocal warm ups: "The lips, the tip of the tongue and the teeth" and "Ab Eb Ib Ob Ub" repeated with diction and clarity to the extreme and well as running your tongue around your teeth are good; think of how strong your tongue is, that small protruding muscle in your mouth that, teamed with the smack or softness of lips, can give words anything.

To increase your range and make the break in your voice more natural, place the tip of your tongue behind the back of your front bottom teeth, and the back of your tongue on the back of the roof of your mouth. This should lift your soft palette, the soft part of the top of your mouth, and give you a yawning sensation, making your voice smoother. Do some sirens or series of notes, test your extremities like this. Also if a note is too high for you to reach try and recreate the yawn feel; it instantly becomes easier.

"Pop-a-kettle-pop-a-kettle-pop-a-kettle-pop-a-kettle-pop-a-kettle-pop-a-kettle-pop-a-kettle-on"... "Siiiii-Aaaaaaaaa"... have fun with them.

Concentration Exercises

1...121...12321...1234321... etc, clap on 3, stamp on 5, plus a potential body tap on 1 and a click on 7. This is something I really enjoyed working on with everyone as the brain and voice and beat combination had a fantastic effort behind it.

Break 1: Knees-Clap-Knees

Break 2: Knees-Knees-Clap-Knees

Break 3:Knees-Knees-Clap-Clap-Knees-Knees-Clap-Clap-Knees-Knees-Clap-Knees

BREAK IT DOWN NOW

Break 4: Knees-Left-Right-Clap-Knees

Break 5: Knees-Left-Right-Clap-Knees,Knees-Clap-Knees,Knees-Left-Right-Clap-Knees

Break 6: Knees-Clap-Left-Right-Clap-Left-Right-Clap-Left-Right-Clap-Left-Right-Clap-Left-Right. (or right left)

With rhythm... we'll get there. I liked the determination with this, and how it can be used as a focusing method- BREAK 6- sudden participation. It also opened up the possibilities of body percussion, which became useful in the next exercise.

Spontaneous

Rhythmical, and

Occasionally

Melodic

Improvisation

1- Low Sounds, harsh, guttural, primal

2- High Sounds, wail, cry, fawn

3- Percussive Mouth Sounds, useful for finding a tempo, move with it

4- Hum Any Note, hopefully resulting in haunting discordance

5- Body Percussion, physical, expressive, explore

6- Lowest Note Sustained, drone, tribal

7- Highest Note Sustained, beautiful? Chilling? A little bit painful

8- Follow The Leader, feel the right time, be inventive, make it your own

9- Improvise, be comfortable and play, bring up a contrast, support the whole piece.

This worked. Think of how to create interest, keep it moving; what can you do to shift the mood? How can you relate to what's happening around you? Every time it was different, yet always raw. We heard some combinations go better than others, and this will help throughout our devising process, as every time we do it something fresh will arise.

We recorded it, but were reluctant to listen back in case it didn't sound as good as it felt.

Singing

With Sam and Pete singing Tenor together, and Helena, Claud and I on Alto, we attempted "Balulalow", which looked simple, sweet and English to begin with, but then revealed lots of ridiculous time signatures and clashy harmonies. Nevertheless, it is a challenge, and a few of us took copies to look over. We then looked at block harmony in the form of backing vocals of a song off The Lion King score, which took no time to sink in and sounded pure and strong. Everyone's voices left a positive, lasting impression, and it was good to see where everyone was with their voice, their rhythm and their confidence with them.

In order for musical waffle to not make it sound more complicated than it really is, here are a few terms we used in our rehearsal and their meaning, to decode this wondrous, mostly Latin nonsense:

"In 3 4" - three beats in a bar

"In 4 4" - four beats in a bar

"Soprano"- higher female voice part

"Alto"- lower female voice part

"Tenor"- "higher male voice part

"Bass"- lower male voice part

"Staccato"- short, quick- how the word sounds

"Legato"- smooth, ditto

"Crescendo"- get louder

"Diminuendo"- get quieter

"Forte"- loud

"Piano"- Quiet

"Glissando"- Scale

"A Capella"- No backing, only vocals

"Vibrato"- Wobble in sound

Lets break out of our comfort zone please?

Impressed and Excited.

<3

Our First Rehearsal - 02/02/11

I led the first workshop on Wedesday and although we weren't able to rehearse in the large space we had envisaged using, I was incredibly happy that everyone kept their focus and dedication throughout the day.

Here are some notes, bits of feedback and photos from throughout the day.
(If it's slightly confusing - Some are my notes previous to the rehearsal, some post-)

Breathing – Get a good posture, 10 deep breaths into the diaphragm. With each inhalation I want you to focus on concentrating all your worries into your breath with the exhalation picture the atoms of your breath filled with the negative energy lifting and rising from the room out into the sky and drifting into space. Feel the freedom and ease of the moment knowing we are in this space to create and play without the inhibitions and worries of everything else.

Now sitting quietly, steadily arriving in the space, becoming more aware of the subtleties of your breath. How deep are you naturally breathing? How long is the breath? Note the qualities and understand that your breath is the most pertinent thing in your life. Focus on thanking your body, appreciate how your system functions and is mostly out of your control.

Think about the size of the universe and how your breath is affecting it. The vastness of it all serves to remind us that we are all free to enjoy this moment without anxiousness or negativity. Realise absolutely that there is nothing but this now, the ever-changing present and that it is impossible to fear in this now.

Stretching

Concentration and Awareness- Walk around filling the space. Be aware of the gaps without especially looking at them.

Start to explore different speeds, how does this affect your feelings and intentions?

Whilst still fulfilling both of the previous things start to vary your levels and your width, how does this affect your feelings and intentions?

I say a word and without thinking, whilst being aware of the space I want you to move directly into a speed and use of level that you feel best represents the word for you.

When I clap my hands I want you to absolutely reverse this physical representation of the word.

Moving into…

Individual Movement Improvisation

Paired Movement - Work in pairs feeling your way into a shape without thought allow your body to move instinctively react to your partner, read poems at random for inspiration, how does the uses of text alter and affect the movement and in turn the emotion,

Script Work – Worked with Pete individually. Developing his sense of false power born through his weakness got him to feedback on his preliminary character ideas. Whilst this was ongoing, Helena, Claud and Stef quickly read through Pinter’s play ‘The New World Order’. I then brought Pete in blindfolded and sat him down in the throng of Pinter’s dialogue. I wanted to see how Pete would feel in character moving from a position of supposed power to that of enforced weakness. This exercise was partially affective I believe it gave Pete a greater sense of how his character would react under the pressure of intimidation.

Post Lunch Discussion – We talked about the story more; trying to find more human driven emotions and intentions…still needs work.

Music Workshop – I taught Claud and Helena a short piece of music that I wrote the night before. Not really supposed to be anything firm, I just wanted to get a sense of how they both learnt and responded to the sounds and harmony.

Movement – Whilst doing the above I asked Pete and Stef to devise a movement piece in response to their characters intentions. They were unsure, but brilliant.

Performance – We finished the day by combining the two and seeing what effect they had on each other and the combined power of them in unison.

Ohhhh and most importantly...a pesto powered lunch. :)

They are beautiful.

Premier Post

Yo!

The hope is that this space will become a log off all that Pandora is throughout the process. Here is some bits from our first focused discussion session (wonderfully notated by Miss Martini):

There was also:
Great pie...
Bleak, cross-media viewing.
Serious smart-phone usage.

I'll log the first workshop before Sunday and hopefully the leader of each workshop will continue the trend.

Peas and Loaf.

Sam