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Session 34 - 29th November
Started the session with hoops. We have moved on to 3 hoops between a pair of people. You throw just before you catch. And you are better at it than I am. And definitely better than Fed.
We then did the J'ox exercise - 'Sing - ah' - with hoops. Throw on the 'NG' catch on the 'AH'. Ahhsing....
Then we got into a circle and did it in a pattern. Umm... Just keep an eye on everyone else and throw when you partner throws at you. Try not to panic.
TC lay in the middle, being Odysseus asleep and watching the hoops flying over his nose. Then TC got the giggles. This was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.
J'ox then started talking about 'Pricking'. I got the giggles, then I felt like a prick. This is something the monks did.... One would sing a tune and the rest would harmonise instantly by starting on a different note but in the same scale. its easier than you think as long as you keep listening and don't let your brain get in the way.
When J'ox gives us a choard or starting note - we are dropping humming it out loud to check it. Do it in your head.
*Here is the little tune for "White-armed Nausicaa". First phrase is by Lizzie P; phrase 2 by Maz:
These choards are simply built on the bass, which is the tune suggested by Lizzie and Maz.
There followed an exercise to explore moving out of time to music. Singing a fast song: "Papa's got a head like a ping-pong ball" to the tune of the Lone Ranger to a slow movement in a phalanx formation; moving at random speeds to a constant slow "White armed Nausicaa". The latter is much more difficult. When we sang along to the miming of book 6, we found that we got slower and flatter as we went on, and the notes were less and less sustained. This tells us at least two things: in "a capella" singing, where there is no piano or orchestra to keep everything going, the tendency is to let it wind down gradually to a fade. We should resist that strongly. the other thing is that we tend to think that music is a by-product of action. But it can be a generator of action, but only if we invest in it.
(J'Ox)
We did book 6 by forming the croissant of focus - perfectly formed semi circle of people - make it perfect as you land. Ie: don't rush to a place and then wiggle about to make it perfect. keep eyes and ears on the group and form the perfect semicircle at the same time . This ensures the level of focus is up and out and switched on.
We assigned parts and were reminded to take proper notice of who was what. Reminded when the book started by J'ox humming the chord and us all singing our just made up version of 'white armed Nausicaa' x2, that to start with eye contact and form plans together is a good thing - rushing to do your ' idea' and not being flexible - is not good. if you have an offer - check to see if you've got everyone on board. If not ' no shame in being a tree' but do it as though you know what you were doing and like wise are willing to change if you need to. We were asked to do the story 'relative to the hoops' and reminded to LISTEN to the instruction. The hoops were not allowed to move. If we don't play the rules we look like idiots.
We told the story one word each. The keys were: Listen, Don't pause, Listen, Be willing to change, Listen, Don't split - really hard not t, but say your word as though its the best word you have and trust your neighbour, If you don't know what happens don't **** it up with a big word, find something innocuous until it reaches someone who does know.
Eventually we got a bit better.
Main rules discovered -
- The instructions to each book are a bit like the verse in Hamlet - It really helps to listen to them understand them and play by them, and not just on our own whims. Own whims = Tosser. Rules = Player
.-Listening Looking - Head up - Focus on everyone else - you get offers - you get saves - Its MUCH MORE FUN to play with everyone else.
-Taking pride in playing your part - even if its a girl maid, but if it is a girl maid - do it with taste like Jo Croll. We don't want a separatist girl maid but the odd one lingering after Odysseus is funny.
-If your character doesn't have much to do in the book, stay brave and hold your place - like ma and pa in the palace.
Main thing - focus on rest of group and play with them, don't panic, use rules.
X Maz
We then did the J'ox exercise - 'Sing - ah' - with hoops. Throw on the 'NG' catch on the 'AH'. Ahhsing....
Then we got into a circle and did it in a pattern. Umm... Just keep an eye on everyone else and throw when you partner throws at you. Try not to panic.
TC lay in the middle, being Odysseus asleep and watching the hoops flying over his nose. Then TC got the giggles. This was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.
J'ox then started talking about 'Pricking'. I got the giggles, then I felt like a prick. This is something the monks did.... One would sing a tune and the rest would harmonise instantly by starting on a different note but in the same scale. its easier than you think as long as you keep listening and don't let your brain get in the way.
When J'ox gives us a choard or starting note - we are dropping humming it out loud to check it. Do it in your head.
*Here is the little tune for "White-armed Nausicaa". First phrase is by Lizzie P; phrase 2 by Maz:
These choards are simply built on the bass, which is the tune suggested by Lizzie and Maz.
There followed an exercise to explore moving out of time to music. Singing a fast song: "Papa's got a head like a ping-pong ball" to the tune of the Lone Ranger to a slow movement in a phalanx formation; moving at random speeds to a constant slow "White armed Nausicaa". The latter is much more difficult. When we sang along to the miming of book 6, we found that we got slower and flatter as we went on, and the notes were less and less sustained. This tells us at least two things: in "a capella" singing, where there is no piano or orchestra to keep everything going, the tendency is to let it wind down gradually to a fade. We should resist that strongly. the other thing is that we tend to think that music is a by-product of action. But it can be a generator of action, but only if we invest in it.
(J'Ox)
We did book 6 by forming the croissant of focus - perfectly formed semi circle of people - make it perfect as you land. Ie: don't rush to a place and then wiggle about to make it perfect. keep eyes and ears on the group and form the perfect semicircle at the same time . This ensures the level of focus is up and out and switched on.
We assigned parts and were reminded to take proper notice of who was what. Reminded when the book started by J'ox humming the chord and us all singing our just made up version of 'white armed Nausicaa' x2, that to start with eye contact and form plans together is a good thing - rushing to do your ' idea' and not being flexible - is not good. if you have an offer - check to see if you've got everyone on board. If not ' no shame in being a tree' but do it as though you know what you were doing and like wise are willing to change if you need to. We were asked to do the story 'relative to the hoops' and reminded to LISTEN to the instruction. The hoops were not allowed to move. If we don't play the rules we look like idiots.
We told the story one word each. The keys were: Listen, Don't pause, Listen, Be willing to change, Listen, Don't split - really hard not t, but say your word as though its the best word you have and trust your neighbour, If you don't know what happens don't **** it up with a big word, find something innocuous until it reaches someone who does know.
Eventually we got a bit better.
Main rules discovered -
- The instructions to each book are a bit like the verse in Hamlet - It really helps to listen to them understand them and play by them, and not just on our own whims. Own whims = Tosser. Rules = Player
.-Listening Looking - Head up - Focus on everyone else - you get offers - you get saves - Its MUCH MORE FUN to play with everyone else.
-Taking pride in playing your part - even if its a girl maid, but if it is a girl maid - do it with taste like Jo Croll. We don't want a separatist girl maid but the odd one lingering after Odysseus is funny.
-If your character doesn't have much to do in the book, stay brave and hold your place - like ma and pa in the palace.
Main thing - focus on rest of group and play with them, don't panic, use rules.
X Maz
There was also a cool discussion and experiment about using counterpoint in making things, like keeping sustained movement if the music/singing is really quick, and vice versa. I think maybe it makes your brain operate at a higher frequency or something, putting together two contradictory rhythms. Like Michael Clark doing ballet to Bowie in the Turbine Hall. Or an opera singer suddenly doing an aria in a nightclub. It just does something. We also talked about training hard, for tasks even harder than that will be in the showing/ early shows.
Also, I just found this, have a look:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MajmI5j7Bs
Maddy xx
In the face of terror/panic, we often forget the principles of what we've learnt (eg. some of the things discussed by Maz, Maddy and David here: trying not to rush to your idea; listening to each other; and remembering our counterpoint potential), and perhaps we also forget them because we are concentrating on the rule which has just been given for the next book. (Incidentally, TC also talked about the fact that the audience are often listening to the instruction better than we are.) Could an antidote to this be...our croissant? We can use our moments of semicircular calm not only to make sure we are listening to the instructions, but also to remind ourselves of basic principles. This way, we'll hit the ground running on every book: heels on the ground, breathe, listen, eye contact with the group, check in with principles. Go.
Scott
In the face of terror/panic, we often forget the principles of what we've learnt (eg. some of the things discussed by Maz, Maddy and David here: trying not to rush to your idea; listening to each other; and remembering our counterpoint potential), and perhaps we also forget them because we are concentrating on the rule which has just been given for the next book. (Incidentally, TC also talked about the fact that the audience are often listening to the instruction better than we are.) Could an antidote to this be...our croissant? We can use our moments of semicircular calm not only to make sure we are listening to the instructions, but also to remind ourselves of basic principles. This way, we'll hit the ground running on every book: heels on the ground, breathe, listen, eye contact with the group, check in with principles. Go.
Scott
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| DavidPica | had another thought! | 0 | Dec 3 2011, 9:14 PM EST by DavidPica | ||
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Thread started: Dec 3 2011, 9:14 PM EST
Watch
Abandoning plans and/or steering the telling of the story. a very interesting thing here. editing and enacting and engaging. who decides the pace of the telling, the detail of the telling, the offer to embrace and run with when telling? when there is a disagreement, a detour, a falsehood or an inaccuracy, what do we do? are those considered offers that must be rejected in the accepting manner? Might those be some details that homer edited out?
I think we touched on it at the end, just a little - know the books better and accept and listen better (?) |
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| DavidPica | Yup Yup | 0 | Dec 3 2011, 9:14 PM EST by DavidPica | ||
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Thread started: Dec 3 2011, 9:14 PM EST
Watch
Federaysica, don't you listen to them. ... we now know if we need a hoop to hit TC or the ceiling, or fly out of the circle, YOU are the one up for the task. No one else was trying how fun that was. not until the end... and then the hoops went away.
It helped me to bounce a bit and think a 2 count instead of the 8... 1 - 2, 1- 2... Making up the songs was a great bit of fun. more of that, please! enacting the book and telling the book as a group, one word at a time. both are challenging. I struggled with the one word at a time rule because at first, I had no clue what went on in book 6. none. couldn't remember. and then, as i listened and as we built the story up, more and more was revealed. there indeed was always a word that would get the story on along to the next person who could provide a right touch of steering and even when slight detours were made, something interesting happened. it was great to learn what an audience's mind operates like -- there was a moment where the next word of steering came to me and i, for the life of me couldn't get a word out of my mouth, the inability (?) to speak a word broke the rhythm, stopped the flow -- TC said 'say something, anything, c'mon' or something to that effect and in hindsight, i'm so lucky to have experienced that firsthand, because I think i would have felt something else towards a flow-breaker (?) - compassion for getting strongly urged onwards by TC, maybe. but to have it happen to me - what a treat, what a lesson. the listeners have an active part in the telling of a story. their imaginations are at work and the telling of the story provides plentiful input for their minds to make the pictures of the story in their heads, but when the input jams, jut as paper jams in a printer, the momentum, the flow, the beauty of the machine is lost for a moment. |
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| TimCarroll | Yes | 1 | Dec 1 2011, 7:59 AM EST by Federay | ||
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Thread started: Dec 1 2011, 2:22 AM EST
Watch
Couldn't have put it better myself. Thank you x
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