Let's create some!
dra·ma /ˈdrämə/
noun
1. a play for theater, radio, or television.
2. an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances.
Just as Charlie Chaplin did back in the age of silent films, we as dancers need to create an exciting, emotional performance with our movement and expressions.
Growing up dancing I never really thought of myself as an actress because I was never a part of the plays at school or took an acting class. In fact, the thought of speaking in front of people scared the crap out of me! Dancing no problem, but speaking?!!!! Oh heck no.
The reality is dancers need to be actors too.
That is why I am so excited to be giving you this free workshop with NEW updated PDF worksheets for dancers to explore their dramatic side. Anyone is welcome to take the workshop and you can do it at your own pace as it's prerecorded. To have it emailed to you click here,sign up and get your name on the list.
It was a natural progression for me as I got older in my dance career to merge into acting. It was a huge challenge that just felt right. I have always been on a journey of self discovery and diving into acting is just that for me. When starting out I had the opportunity to study at prestigious schools in Los Angeles like Lesy Kahn & Co & The BGB Studios. ( infact I still study at BGB) While taking these classes I learned a ton of new techniques and tools. However, I also saw a huge parallel between recognizing the necessary beats in making a scene interesting and finding the moments in a dance routine to draw in the audience....
....Just as it says above in the definition of drama...an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances. We as artists need to keep creating drama to keep the audience leaning in for more.
During the free character development workshop we will explore how to break down a dance into events or set of circumstances to take the audience on an emotional ride. You will also gain a better understanding of the importance of being as specific as possible in your answers to create a much more interesting performance.
One thing that I would like to stress however is there are no wrong answers!! You might be able to get more specific as time goes on and you get better at breaking dances down, but the beauty is... I'm going to say this one more time, "There are no wrong answers!".
Why do I want to stress this so much?
Well, I think often as dancers we get a little creatively bruised. So often we are bing told, "that is wrong technique, do it like this" and we get bound by the rights and wrongs. We forget that at the end of the day dance is a creative, dramatic expression through movement. If you keep working on the technique it will come. For me, dance, acting and performing is about the emotional connection... the artistry. If I'm watching a performance and they pull me into their world I'm sold.
This last summer I taught an amazing group of young dancers that were around 7/8 years old. Now, I usually don't teach kids who are that young but I did and I am so thankful I had that opportunity. I talk more about in my blog named, "I don't teach little kids" The cliff notes version of the blog is, they nailed the improv excersise!! They nailed it FAR more then the older, more trained dancers I taught that same day. They listened to their music, "got back into their heads"( I explain this quote in the FREE workshop) and used their imaginations!!!! I'm sure each one of those little girls without realizing it knew exactly what their costumes would look like and took themselves out of the dance studio and into a whole new imaginary world.
That is acting in a nutshell ~ Imagination. Playing. Creating a character. Young kids rock at this!!! Let's not get boring in our old age. Lol.
I love opening dancers up to the acting side of performance. I'm in the process of creating more workshops and exercises to exlore this methodology. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments to add so I can address them in posts and content to come.
If you want to check out some scenes from the latest movie I worked on click here. I had so much fun with this character. "Lindsey" will forever make me giggle.
I also want to celebrate the amazing performances from The L.A.X. dancers who came to Accentz in August. You have to watch them, click here!! It's not easy to capture an audience through a lens but they knocked it out of the park! This learning opportunity is why I am so passionate about providing The L.A.X. Dance Experience to dancers everywhere. If you'd like to learn more about The L.A.X. click here or message me.
Happy creating.