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My career is balanced between the performing and the healing arts. My performance history has been a journey through dance, circus and theatre, in several languages, cultures and countries. It was during my training in the FM Alexander Technique that I learned how to teach presence in performance, which is the core element of my work. I am as passionate about teaching as I am about creating, performing and directing.
I have been delighted to discover that when I lead
Teaching as Performance workshops to non-performers and I ask the participants “why do you teach what you teach?” the answers are strikingly similar to those of artists when asked about why they create. "I love what I do." "I'm interested in fostering understanding between different cultures." "I think it is important." "I'm curious about the world." "I'm following a lifelong interest." "I want to give a voice to people who don't have a voice." "It is a way to express myself."
| ....foundational performance techniques and concepts can be valuable to create a space where performer (the teacher) and audience (the students) engage together in the performance (the class) |
In order to refine the focus of my workshops, I began asking the question, "What can a performance experience offer teachers who are already so clearly passionate about their work?" What I discovered was that often passion does not translate from the podium across the lecture hall to students who would rather be browsing Facebook than engaging as an active listener. This is where some foundational performance techniques and concepts can be valuable to create a space where performer (the teacher) and audience (the students) engage together in the performance (the class). Since performance and teaching are three-dimensional activities that utilize all six of our senses - sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, and proprioception - it is a challenge for me to share that experience with you in the form of an article. That said, I have chosen to list a few ideas that easily can be pondered and practiced from page to stage.
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Have an Awareness of Self Be aware, as you are
reading, of your six senses. Which senses are activated in the
present moment? Which senses are you engaging to read this article?
Which senses are not within your active awareness in this moment? This is a simple exercise that can take as little as a minute, with the great benefit of inviting yourself and your students to be present in their bodies.
Breathe Take the time to do this. Rhythm comes from breath. Performers spend extensive time attending to the rhythm of how they speak and move on stage in order to engage an audience. When a performer breathes, the audience breathes. Breath facilitates presence. When you are present, your students will be present. If their breathing is constricted, their ability to focus will be impaired.
Have an Awareness of Space Set up your environment so that it is comfortable for you and your students. Some classrooms are small enough to arrange the chairs in various configurations. There is obviously less flexibility in a lecture hall, however, be mindful of where you place yourself on the stage and ask students to fill in the house/lecture hall in different configurations.
Move Allow yourself to move - from the subtle movement of breath to actually changing your position in the room. Allow your students to do the same. Our neuro-muscular-skeletal system is designed to move, with constant, subtle postural shifts. When students sense your physical tension, they will become tense. When they sense your physical ease (originating from breath) they will become more relaxed thus more attentive. F.M. Alexander, who founded the technique named after him, would often say that we confuse stillness with immobility.
Listen Listen to yourself and your students, with a willingness to explore new perspectives and engage in lifelong learning and research.
Project and Articulate In order to be heard clearly
actors need to be attentive to speaking in a manner that allows them
to be understood as well as to communicate their intended message.
Remember that you teach because you
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want to share your knowledge, and clear
communication will allow you to do that.
Direct Your Focus Performers usually have every moment on stage planned and practiced. Of course there is always room to respond to a new stimulus that arrives in any given moment. The ability to respond is based on the solid foundation of the moments that have been previously planned. When we teach, we have our plan and we need to be present to engage with our students.
Make Surprise Changes Vary Rhythms and Pause A well-scripted and directed piece has rhythmic shifts that keep the audience engaged. How we communicate the material we are teaching will facilitate our students’ abilities to absorb the material.
Foster Audience Participation This can be a direct moment when a performer actively engages with the audience or an awareness of if and how the audience is responding to the action. Performers will instinctively make subtle adjustments during a performance in order to connect with their audience. In teaching this can be achieved simply by asking questions.
Share Research Performers are always continuing to train, expanding their vocabularies and perspectives. It is exciting when a director or fellow performer shares the process of their development and focus. It is equally exciting when we share with our students how we are applying the material we are teaching to our own research and development. Students will engage more fully when they are inspired.
If you would like more information about other performance techniques that can be adapted and utilized for teaching, or would like specific information on how to implement these concepts in your classroom, please feel free to contact me at lfelbain@umd.edu.
Break a leg!
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