Movers and Shakers and Validaters

 

A very misguided me

When I first heard that we were going to be engaging in a series of “movement workshops”  I formed some misguided ideas of what that would look like. Based on some movement work I have done in the past in Intro Acting I thought we would construct the movements of our character based on their physical features, facts from the play and also their personalities. For example, I thought that we might be looking at a physical attribute like the professor’s gout or Vanya’s depression and analyze how these attributes could contribute to the character’s walk, or the way he sits and stands. However, the movement workshop that followed challenged my thinking about the realm of physical movement on the stage and introduced me to the range of possibilities for physical expression in Vanya.

Themes revealed in physicality

I was surprised to see so many of the themes from Vanya naturally presenting themselves when we played Kali’s physical warm-up games. Furthermore participation in the warm-up games lead me to better understand these themes and the “world” of Vanya. ‘Validate me’, ‘hold on waffles we’re talking about something’) showed me that physical theatre can be so much more than just a connection between emotion -> movement but that it can embody broad physical essences. It never ceased to amaze me how a physical essence could travel until it was felt by each and every one of us at the same time. I recall a moment like “clusterfuck”-everyone clawing to be near each other or a moment when we were all hysterically laughing and then crying and then laugh-crying.   Throughout the various exercises Kali lead us through I observed that these ‘physical essences’ could also emerge from the moments between. When we started with the finger puppets and then gradually rose to full-body interpretive dance type movements I witnessed Jamie and Faye expressing the rollercoaster of emotions in between the words that were said. It was incredible to watch the essence of these feelings between the syllables of the words transform into movement on the stage. Only movement could express to the audience the sheer volume of the feelings and emotions of the characters and I can’t wait to see our Vanya fill up with the volume of movement and physical theatre.

…just the beginning of our physical journey

I can’t wait to continue exploring the physicality of these “moments between” with Fei and deconstruct the physical possibilities for Sonya. It is one thing to look into Sonya’s eyes and give a deep gaze of validation but another entirely to squeeze both her hands in mine and physically show Sonya that I am validating her.

-Cynth-bo-bynth

2 thoughts on “Movers and Shakers and Validaters

  1. Jules Odendahl-James

    Cynthia —

    I love your notions of “physical essences” and “spaces in between”. I don’t think you were the only who carried those perceptions of what a “movement workshop” might entail. Not that a more traditional “way in” to a character’s physicality is completely without merit; however, what I think you can see with what Kali’s workshops have given us is just how much information can be pulled out from movement informed by text but not yet embedded in/from that text (if that makes sense). Having these workshops moving alongside the table work helped marry things together in way that I’m still admiring.

    I was particularly struck about the “spaces in between” the character teams. By that I mean the way pairs explored the same actions with the same intentions but in ways that made those actions uniquely their own. For example, the time that you and Faye were working with Thomas as Vanya and, if I’m remembering correctly, trying to cajole the morphine out of his possession. Both of you were on your knees and touching his head and back when he was in that crumpled ball. But the way each of you comforted him was just different enough. You weren’t mirroring or copying each other but still seemed to be two halves of the same person. We won’t really have many of those paired moments on-stage (beyond the hand-offs of costume pieces) but they are at the heart of the sharing of these roles. And I don’t think we would have gotten to that kind of synchronicity with a solitary focus on text. As much as I revel in the words and how much those words were consciously and unconsciously informing all the movement dynamics and choices, I see so clearly what I already knew but never hurts to be reminded about: without body & voice, words are simply empty vessels.

    Really looking forward to how this work continues to inform all the work to come!

    –Jules

  2. Jeffrey

    Cynthia, Great entry. You have been changing so much as an actress over the last year from advanced acting. I think you are processing the expansive way in which the movement work can help you in the PROCESS of developing character instead of the RESULT of seeking the “right” answers. Can’t wait to get started actually working and blocking text. I am so glad you are a part of this experience. J

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