On Performance and Preparation

On Preparation and Anxiety

[quote]
Overcoming Performance Anxiety, Pt. 2: Developing Growth Mindset
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Performance anxiety in students isn’t simply restricted to recitals and other performances, but shows itself in lessons, too.
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One of the strange things I did at UCSB as a director was to always, for some reason, end up using younger folks that were not exactly "experienced" in theater, or performance in general. And the successes of it was something that I will always cherish, and I know the folks that acted them, will as well ...

Ex: Larry's on his first role. David had done some school stuff. I worked the exercises and rehearsals differently ... all this done in rehearsal! 1. Go through all your lines as if you were just talking to me or anyone ... and both went through their lines fast and easy as they were sitting down in the dark ... an important part of it btw ... DARK ... remember that (more on that later). 2. Breathe in and out and relax. 3. Now do your lines in character in the same dark space and sitting, and visualize your movement while doing it. BINGO ... this exercise helped them not have to "think about it", while on stage rehearsing or performing. 4. (Tough one that somehow worked!!!) Now, I'm gonna turn on the lights and you are going to go through the whole performance WITHOUT A SINGLE word ... in other words both guys learned to use/move with the space between them. 5. Shake it out and relax. Discussions of the exercise were not allowed for at least 24 hours, so both players had a chance to look at their work and how they did it ...

Ex: The girl's first time on stage. She had a nice touch I liked and was not sure about it, but somehow it felt right. During the rehearsals I kept throwing things around them, and even ran a vacuum cleaner between them as they rehearsed/performed ... and this helped later in an incredible moment. It also took the "fear" of their delivery out for the most part ... but they could not ignore the details and had to continue with the rehearsal, and not break the line flow other than the usual quick stops to acknowledge them and then continue what they were at. The Organizer (his character) took these moments in a funny way ... he would go pick up the things on the floor and arrange them neatly somewhere which continuing his interview with the girl. Come performance day ... we had a huge map of the world that we borrowed from the library and it was 10 feet high and probably 20 feet wide. And in the story the girl had to go to the map and point out where she wanted to be born ... and she did that ... and the interviewer ... said you can't in that spot ... another one? and she had a "spot" on the third try ... and she turns around to go back to her chair to continue the interview and the pad falls off one side right over her ... and she fiddles trying to get from under it, and then after looking at the map and the interviewer she decides to bring the map to him, which would remove it from the other 2 spots ... and by that time the audience was ... insane ... laughing so hard ... and one of the least experienced of folks, all of a sudden showed, that there was a lot more to performing than we imagine, and that things could/would/might happen ... and in the end, it made her comfortable for 2 more performances ... and the map didn't fall again ... oh well ... Professor Harrop asked me how I was able to get that done and get the actors stay in one piece and not break anything ... I told him ... the same kind of preparation that you learned in West End ... you have to prepare the lines, the physical and the location/stage together into one thing.

Thus, I, accidentally, found something that could break the fear, and the anxieties associated with performance ... and not a single show I did ever had any issues on that account, which was not exactly easy theater ... I always did the more experimental things and was not afraid of lights and sound! And used them fearlessly and exclusively!

On an instrument, and you have a great example with the trumpet, I think that I might like to create FUN EXERCISES, and FAKE EXERCISES, to try and find a thread/point that the student seems to enjoy ... not many enjoy a trumpet in a lot of rock music unless the band is Chicago or Tower of Power, for example, but one day, your student needs to hear PDQ Bach and how it was used, as well as the bicycle wheel, the kazoos (important lesson here!!! Seasonings 1/2 TSP) and everything else, and all of these were done by LOCAL folks ... not a travelling band! You can imagine how folks were scared, but you would not be able to think that because you were laughing so hard!

[quote]
two states of mind: growth mindset vs. fixed mindset.
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I never "measured" or tried to define any actor's abilities ... it didn't matter to me, and later, this was an issue as some of the more experienced actors wondered why I didn't work with them. Easy answer ... for many of them it was a posture and deliver ... and it was empty. Now tell your trumpet player to do the musical exercise as if they were at a funeral. Then have the trumpet player be a part of the USC marching band! Then have the trumpet player be a part of Henry Cow ... and then ... sit with the student and listen to what Robert Wyatt did with it on one of his songs!

That kind of stuff eats up the fear and the anxiety fairly well ... but you want to make sure the student has the necessary mechanics, or is warmed up to do one bit that requires it, and has the ability to "change" feelings for the exercises ... I would not try to have the student do the same exercise the same way 14 days in a row to ensure they know what they are doing ... and you may want to create a totally different exercise to help the student bring the music up ... can they do it without the instrument, so to speak, so that by the time they get onto the instrument, they can feel like they know what they have to do. This sets in motion the "direction" of a rehearsal ... by creating moments that help the student learn the piece in more detail, other than just "memory" which can easily be interrupted and is the cause of a lot of performance anxiety ... I don't like this piece, or somehow a minute before the piece, the person hears their significant other scream at them for ...all of these important small details, that have to be addressed in rehearsal, to ensure that the time for it is handled with really good concentration ... if you have that concentration, I'm not sure that fear or anxiety will be there ... as has been the case for me with various actors.

[quote]
Learning an instrument is a complicated, perpetually challenging task.
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I suppose that Shakespeare is very different to Beckett. But I have NEVER looked at any of these words are complicated, or something that was hard. It's too easy to say that this bit here or there in a soliloquy, is tough, but that is the way we think ... and it might not be for the actors, if/when they all of a sudden can fly through that moment! You can't hurry up with Godot, but the important side of things is how to use the quiet times and the rest of the space on the stage, to take what we would think is complicated, and challenging, completely out of the way ...

By very far, the one example that most showed to me how great someone was on stage, and how fearless that person also was ... Andres Segovia. In a concert in Madison, in the middle of a piece a string broke, and it didn't bother him ... he continued seamlessly into another set of frets and 10 minutes later he was done and quietly asked ... did that sound alright? It was more important for him to do the piece right, and a broken string was not enough to break his concentration ... and that, is one of the most beautiful things that we can possibly see on stage ... but remember, all your students were "born" in the rap days, and the guitar solo days, or even the growl days ... so your ability to also find a way for thoses to help you ... would be the greatest secret of them all ... the student will feel much more comfortable with your instructions ... heck, have the kid have some hun and do one of his favorite pieces on the trumpet and help the student make that piece come alive so the student ends up enjoying the experience, and not have counter ideas that will not help the learning process.

All quotes by Mr. Robert Beasley

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