On December 20, we were fortunate to have Dan Mills give us a master class in acting skills, the rudiments that we combine to develop a character and a story. Here are some reminders of what he taught us.
“Learn to tell the story with collaborative movement and attractive staging so that the audience sees and hears what is important and engages emotionally with the characters.”
Body Positions
- Stances:
- centered
- powered
- alert
- graceful
- relaxed (angular)
- Body positions:
- full front – strongest
- quarter front
- profile
- quarter back
- full back – 2nd strongest
- Stage positions:
- downstage – strong
- upstage
- left and right
- center – strong
Stage Movements
- Cross to
- Cross away
- Cross in front
- Upstage cross
- Counter
- Sweeping turn
- Run and stop – manifests urgency
- Back away, then turn to run and stop
- Give and Take:
- “Take” the stage when you speak; weaken when you don’t
- “Give” the stage when you are not the speaker
- One character moves at a time
- Start moving just before your line; weaken after the line
- Arrays:
- In a line
- Open spacing
- Relating – touch, have interactions that reveal how you feel about one another now
- Large groups
- Tight groups
- Three to five members
- No air space within the group
- Angular positions
- Levels
- Heads toward the middle
- Common emotion or story telling
- Balance the stage
- Air space between groups
- Approach / Avoidance – subtext of doubt
- Struggle
- Hold the tableau
