actor training
We measure the ability of an Actor by how fully they can convince themselves they are experiencing something they are not. There are many other factors, but this is the corner stone. Why? Authenticity activates empathy.
Witnessing someone engage in a genuine internal process activates an audience’s empathy, leaving them feeling touched, drawn in, and impacted by the performance.
Many approaches to Actor training focus on the mind as the main tool to help the actor find this authenticity- imagination, emotional recall, psychological intention. I, however, am a part of the lineage that looks to the body as the main tool for internal transformation.
I facilitate an exploration of our internal landscapes. It is through this process that Actors have the potential to becomes experts in their own experiences, and use this embodied wisdom to become agile, dynamic and - most importantly - authentic during their performances.
My work is highly physical. It involves group work, moving in space together, semi-improvised processes, partner work (some involving physical contact), solo work, peer observation and theoretical discussion. My practice fits within a variety of contexts, such as-
one off masterclasses
long term training modules
practitioner focused workshops
integrated into a devising process / directing
integrated into a rehearsal process / directing
for projects on screen
1:1 training sessions
dancer / circus / performer movement training
As performers, our best work in executed when we are head-to-toe, inside-and-outside, mind-and-body committed to our expression. With the pressures of working in a creative industry, and the realities of modern life, it can be extremely hard for us to remain engaged in our practice.
I help performers build and maintain a sense of holistic integrity by reconnecting them with their bodies. By honing our awareness, we uncover layers of feeling and sensation that can become the fire from which we perform.
It is easy as a dancer, circus performer or mover to become stagnant in the physical form of our work, but when we lose the internal drive that once fuelled it, we lose what makes our work outstanding.
I work with a variety of performers whose work centres around their body, reconnecting them to their internal world and deeply rooting their material in authenticity, for both themselves and their audiences.