On our previous class, while looking at physical interaction and comunication exercises we made some lifting and balancing of 2 bodies, this coordination was easy at first, because of its simplicity, like the "baby" lifting or hanging onto another person from behind, but then as the exercises became more complicated, like when one had to be standing on their hands and the another one would grab his feet and pull them forward so he would stand up, difficulties started arising. First of all, coordination. Coordination between two people if they are looking at each other is one thing, but with no visual support if the people are facing away from each other its a completely different thing, the success lies on both trust and the connection between the weights of the two bodies. Linking this exercise to a video we saw earlier on the week called "Traces in the snow" by Roberta Carreri, she explains how there's a big difference between thinking about doing something and then doing it, and being decided on what to do from the start, body and mind have to be decided on what they are going to do in order to successfully do something right. Going back to the exercise, to be decided was the key for it to work, there was no room for doubt. At first for example when I tried to stand on my hands so that my partner would grab my feet I hesitated and wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it so I wouldn't come up too short or too far away as to push him. And after a few tries I just decided to let go and do it. And just like the video said, being decided makes all the difference. The weight of my partner and mine once he was carrying me on his shoulders seemed to equilibrate as if the two bodies were the same, for a moment I could actually feel our centre of gravity, so this exercise made me understand that every actor has a different weight and height, but when familiarized with these actors can even go as far as to merge them and create something completely different.

Why is it that we give sight such an importance to what we do if its only 1 of our 5 senses?

Sin Titulo (review)

The play " Sin titulo" by the acting group "Yuyachkani" was something very interesting and fresh to watch, it had elements i hadnt seen before like a "moving stage" or information on the walls, and overall the lighting, sounds, and scenery were stunning. One thing ive noticed by going to a few of Yuyachkani's plays is that they almost always show peruvian culture and issues it has had, and how those issues have shaped our society to what it is now. The experience of the play started just as i walked into the corridor which led to the stage, for the walls were full of phrases and objects that showed different stages in peruvian history, specially the most challenging ones like the war against Chile or the terrorism in the 80´s and 90´s. 

The stage wasnt fixed, it moved through the acting space throughout the play in the form of 4 big tables which moved from one place to another. This is something i hadnt seen in theatre before and at first it seemed like it wouldnt be that effective because people would block your sight, or myabe you were seeing the actors back, yet as the play continued it all seemed to come together and the audience learnt to adapt. One positive aspect of having this Changing stage is that it creates a different connection with the audience, it wasnt exactly full-on interaction but it made me feel closer to the action. 

In terms of lighting and sound effects i found them really effective, for example the part in which the jungle woman and the andean woman have statements written on their clothes the "students" (actors wearing student clothes) would illuminate the dresses so the audience could see and would drive everyones attention to specific spots, so i certainly think lighting was very helpful in terms of directing the audience's attention which was needed in this kind of stage. The sound effects and music were not only enjoyable but also had aspects of peruvian culture that contributed to the play, like when the school girl rings the bell and all of the attention immediately turns toward her, so they did prove effective. Something else that is almost always present on this acting group's plays is live music, the actors playing the instruments while on character, like the girl playing the accordeon, which is totally different than recorded muisc beacuse it also comes with an expression and mood the actor gives altogether.

The plot of the play, even though i recognized a few moments and symbols, wasnt all clear to me, i did get the notion that history teaches us things and that those things shouldnt be f orgotten so they do not happen again. basically what i found confusing was the sudden transitions between the moments in time and some historical groups and characters that i didnt either recognize or know about  like the grupo colina or the judges which seemed to "play" with the economy, yet i did get the message these were trying to transmit. The educational system was something i noticed was present throughout the play, first when the whole corrupt educational system was displayed, with the teacher being specially harsh on the children and putting pressures and ideas onto them, the uniform the kids wore were all the same, which was the case in Peru when the military government was in place; it showed a lack of individuality and psicological opression that originated in government passed on to the educational system and got to the children. The people pushing the table/carts were actors dressed as students, maybe giving the impression that even if we didnt live history, we learn it.

The actors did a very good job not only impersonating people from different ages/time/culture but also in making a smooth transition between them, for example when the christ and mary start transforming to andean people and then start performing rituals, this transition was special in the sense that it passed from one religious culture to another, also, actors showed a lot of different skills, like at the beggining when they were like static staues and they remaind like that for a long while which requires a lot of concentration, and as part of the audience i felt that sort of tension to know when they were going to start moving. There was a very good use of the levels on stage, not only interms of the positions of the actors bodies but also the positions on the stage, like the man who wrote on his typewriter at the top, and the christ which was laying below one of the acting tables. And as mentioned before, the live music and singing also displayed unique qualities that blended perfectly with the play.

Overall it was a play that even if i didnt fully understand, i really enjoyed watching and it left me with many different questions about my own culure and my country's history that i want to know about, and the innovative way that they used lights sound and space really broadened my view of what theatre can be like, it opened my mind to new possibilities, which is one of the reasons i always like going to plays by Yuyachkani, they always have something new for me to see and learn. 

In the last few classes we have started focusing a bit more on the connection between the body and breathing, as well as exploring the voice and its boundaries by trying to say words at the same time as we made different sounds, this last one showed to be impressively tricky, because i couldnt imagine myself saying a sentence at the same time as i was emulating the sound of a car engine, i just couldnt find a reasonable method behind it, and apparently the only way to do it was by "just doing it". So that exercise was quite confusing. The exploration of the voice does seem very important in character creation, and i certainly agree, yet it is probably one of the toughest areas ive explored. When exploring the body i did feel more comfortable because its something we have worked with for such a long time, and one of the only limitations are imagination and physical capabilities, for some characters require high physical fitness, or flexibility. These exercises were useful towards not only our exploration of voice and body, but also towards our understanding about the connection between the two. Another exercise that i found interesting was the passing of an energy ball between two people which we had to keep in constant movement, because it was as if the enrgy controlled you and not the other way around, obviously if we go down to the core of how our mind works, we realize that what we are doing when moving the ball is to vaguely predict how it is going to move relative to its direction and force before it reaches you, and then just let it "flow", it was a really interesting exercise in terms of understanding what "energy" is and how it works on us. Overall it has been a mildly challenging week, which i sort of expected, and im looking forward to seeing what we do next.

To what extent is energy an abstract force which we channel through our bodies and not just our own interpretation of a flow of actions?

A new year just started, bringing the IB programme with it, and as far as the Drama IB course goes I am still quite nervous and full of doubts and expectations about whats going to happen throughout these 2 years. Last class we started exploring the boundaries and corners of our voice and breathing, which made me see the wide spectrum of voices one could use to create a character, for we are normally used to only talk in one register, which really limits our characterisation and exploration of a character. In terms of the breathing it was really interesting to try and understand how voice was originated in the first place, because by merely letting air through our throat some sounds are produced, and we slowly started 'finding' our voice. I felt a certain level of awkwardness while exploring my voice, and i think this is due to the fact that i am used to talk in the same type of voice all of the time and that is the voice that i feel makes me who i am, and by changing it you immediately become different to the people around you, which adds to the fact about how important voice is towards characterization. This exercise was really interesting to be a part of and I do feel i've learnt something very useful in terms of acting skills and character creation.

Why do many actors keep exactly the same voice for their roles when there's so much room for exploration?