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DIRECTION

DIRECTION VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2ONT NTS

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o ver hotoCover pho to cou rt esy o f the Stratford Fest ival ofCanada. From The Adventures of aides p ar t o f t he2003 season. Actors j onathon Goad and NazneenContractor, photographer Gabor jurina.

EditorialPaul Cook

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Back Issues and Subscription Form All Directions

News viewsfrom around the world

Cover StoryVarious Authors - see descriptions opposite

The Formulation of an Alexander Lesson Part 11The second of three by Mervyn Waldman

ProfessionalismMarcus Sly on compromising principles

Exploring the Space of InhibitionIn the context ofAikido Cathy Pollock

The Science ReportChris Stevens on science and control trials

Once again I have many peopl e to thank for theculmination of t hi s i ss ue . F i rs tly to Dan i. myassistant e di to r who h as s av ed me hours of workwith her talents. jean-Louis for collecting a goodselection of material. True Characters for images,Sue Laurie for dinner, David Billingham for lunch,Marcus Sly for the cuppa and to a ll the fantast icreviewers and contributors who faithfully supportDIRECTION with thei r tireless work each issue.Also to Peggy Williams, Erica Whittaker, WaIterCarrington, Marjory Barlow, Shirley Crawford andKen Thompson, who appear in lAD and kindlyallowed their photos to be taken whilst I visitedrecently. Sadly the photo of Marjory Barlow didn tturn out. and I neg lected to col lect a t rave l snap ofWaiter Carr ington and myself ...bu t he is here ingood spiri t Thank you to all f or the tremendoussupport [ r ec ei ve d a t t he r ec en t STAT AGM inEdinburgh.All images courtesy University of Washington ,taken from Two Sisters and a Piano b y N ilo Cruz,performed December 2002 for the Studio 2 1 series.ISSN 1039-3145. DIRECTION is published byDirection journal, a privately owned company. Theviews expressed i n t hi s journal are no t necessarilythose of the publisher. Copyright 2003 by Directionjournal, ABN 14832566 105. All r ights reserved.Please contact the publisher we hav e f ai led toacknowledge or reimburse the holder of copyrighton any photo used. Australian grammar is used andwe refer to The Macquarie Essential Dictionary.

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EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS

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E ITORI L Paul Cook

I couldn t ride a ike with crutches without the id of the AT .

Jean-Louis RodrigueISSUE E ITORI L

hi s priceless testimonial by a trainee actorcaptured my a tten tion some months ago and I havesince claimed it as a daily reminder of the importance ofAlexander Technique in my own life.

My bike is , of course, DIRECTION and th ecrutches are my countless other altruistic intentionsbubbling up under this inherited banner. But when ingood health, and independent of politics, why notexploit the potential that it offers?

So many remarkable institutions around th eworld integrate Alexander Technique into their actingprograms, but sadly, 40 pages of journal could never doall of them justice. A Performance Directory is the onlyway to mention them all. Instead, what we ve providedin this issue is a snapshot-a show case if you like---ofAlexander Technique in Performance, as it stands, 48years on from FM s departure. Articles have beencommissioned to cater for trainee and professional

ldou sHuxley believed that we are in a racebetween survival and disaster. He wrote continuously inBrave New World about t he necessi ty of ourunderstanding the politics of media. There is no doubtthat film, television, and th e digital mass media havechanged how we think , how we perceive, feel andmove. Michael Kahn, Art is ti c Dir ec to r of theShakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.e, describes thesituation most succinctly, Most young actors arrivewithout a sense of past history of American theatre oractual theatre role models. In many cases, more physicalapproaches are required .. . they have to use their body,their physicali ty and their imagination . As MichaelHoward, an acting teacher i n New York confirms, Massmedia hurts. encourages conventionalised character,reinforces cliche acting, sentimentality, minimalistnaturalism, a gush of tears, and mindless aggression .

During th e past thirty years, the AlexanderTechnique has been a fundamental tool in th ecurriculum of the major acting schools and professionalacting programs at universities around the world. hasbeen an invaluable way to access what is authentic inthe actor, ge t to the core of the individual, and reveal ina most a ston ishing way the r awness of the humancondition. In all performing circumstances, there is ageneral consensus that psycho-physical well-being isimportant to an ac tor s imaginat ive growth and isessential to the development of h is means of expression.And yet, there sti ll exists a lot of debate and confusion4

actors, Directors, University faculties and Alexanderteachers. Every branch of the Performing tree-I hopewill be swayed by the b reeze o f potential tha t theAlexander Technique offers.

Professionalism is gripping our community withvigour. is a topic of contention for many, and all but aforegone conclusion for others. Marcus Sly fills ourViewpoint this issue and I really look forward to readerresponses as we chart a course through these newwaters ...as a community.

I implore anyone who is considering writing forDIRECTION to either: visit th e website regularly tocheck the future issues page, or join ou r mailing list.Whilst we do consider all submissions, those arriving ona particular topic after deadline cannot be included dueto ou r tight editorial schedule. My apologies to thosewho missed the boat for this issue, a consolation is in theplanning stages now ... another crutch in the making

as to how to best use the principles of the to help theperformer.What I have learned from the twenty-three yearsof teaching the and the thirty-two years of workingwith actors and direc tors is very simple. The most

important things in acting are having full access to yourself and the world in which you live, understanding theforce of habit , and how i t works in everyday life, andhaving the bravery to live outside of habit and speak thetruth. In this issue of DIRECTION, my intention is tobring into focus the different ways teachers, directorsand performing artists can apply the princip les of the to their training and performance.In order to illuminate the subject, I have broughttogether an exceptional group of teachers to speakabout their work and expertise. These teachers representa wide cross-section of teaching styles and trainingbackgrounds. What they have in common is excellencein their commitment and skills to teach the AT asapplied to the performing arts. My decision to add AnnStocking s story was stimulated by the extraordinaryexper ience of working with her ove r th e pa st thr eeyears. I have learned so much through this relationshipabout listening, sensing, and directing in a non-judgmental way. I am enormously grateful for hergenerosity of spirit, her sharp wit, and willingness toshare her story. I hope you enjoy this article. My warmthanks to al l the contributing writers of this issue andmost of all to Paul Cook, for his vision and rigorousenergy in publishing this wonderful journal.

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INTEGR TE CTOR TR ININGby thy adden

ctorsand faculty alike use lexanderTechniqueas the glue to bind the many and diverse parts of theirtraining program togetherI was playing Alvaro in The Rose Tattoo Now thischaracter makes an entrance at fever pitch. He sbeen humiliated his whole life-insult upon insult-until he is driven off the road by a white southernsalesman. Alvaro is a Sicilian immigrant. Hesubsequently gets in a fight with the salesman and isknocked down and further humiliated. That s justthe entrance. Without the T1would ve pushed myidea of a Sicilian immigrant instead of allowing thegiven circumstances to affect me. The Tallows meto tolerate the moment-to-moment work that comeswith good acting. 1was able to be released enough toallow the operatic and comic sobs of this man railingagainst the wor ld without pushing. (Bury, PATP93)I currently play Princess Katherine in Henry V forthe Oregon Shakespeare Festival. 1 have a scenewhere 1 stand for a long period of time while beingabsolutely sti ll . 1 use Alexander both to help memaintain an active stillness and to prepare for mynext scene. helps me s tay in character and alsohelps me maintain emotional avai lab i li ty andsensitivity. (Champion, PATP 95)

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The Thelps me past the moment of frustrationwhen I can t get i t r ight . When 1 did a physicallychallenging Marley in hristmas arol 1knew that if1 squeezed down my energy, 1 would turn in awooden performance. The Tallowed me to gothrough the physical workout of the role, until 1was strong enough to generate (and release) theenergy necessary for the show. (Morden, P TP 93)

h s three stories come from graduates of theUniversity of Washington s Professional Actor TrainingProgram (PATP). They give a picture of how th e ATwork in the program has informed their professionalwork. To desc ribe the role of th e AT in the PATPtraining, 1 decided to consult the experts-the studentswho have graduated-to tell me how the Thas beenuseful to them, via an alumni survey. Their stories arewoven into this artic le to highlight our current work.I m going to let t hem speak on th e wide range ofapplications of the Tthat they include in their actingprocess.

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INTEGRATED ACTOR TRAINING

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Y WORI am employed ful l- time by th e University of

Washington School of Drama PATE The T is embracedas an essential element in the means-whereby forcreating theatre. I work with al l areas of the facultyincluding th e singing class, Voice, Movement, SuzukiTraining, th e acting process classes, dance classes, andstage combat. There are several class structures that Iuse to teach the T and they have evolved over time atthe University.It helps immensely that I am t ra ined in theatrewhen teaching the co-taught classes. This is where Iwork in conjunction with another faculty teacher. Itherefore understand the processes involved. Very often,I ve done and/or taught the exercise that a student isstruggling to learn, or at least I ve done one enough likeit to understand what is happening. This is vital. Ialways see th e T as a t ool to help the actors learn thespecific things they need to learn about their voice, theirmovement, their acting. And I have always assumedthat the teacher that I am teaching with has the sameintention as I do-to help each actor be his or her mostcreative and powerful self. We may use vastly differentterminology th at we may need to negotiate with eachother, but my assumption is that it s possible to usegood coordination to accomplish the task at hand.Another way of teaching has been calledghosting by my students. It s called ghosting because Iwork with each student as they are doing what they aredoing without stopping them, talking to them,interrupting them. They a re s in gin g the ir song, orplaying their scene and I am a vocally-silent partner-moving with them, helping them to ask themselves for achange in coordination. Thi s works bec au se t heyunderstand that thei r consc ious part ic ipa t ion is aprerequisite for change. Working with the actor s thi sway provides clear moment-to-moment information.

The advantage for the students is that they havehelp in integrating thoughts about their coordination intheir training if I m actually there to help them. It helps8

in several ways: first, I can answer their questions aboutthe work as they have them; second, they see me in theirclasses so t he y know that their teachers supportincluding th e AT in the act ivity; and third, I get abroader picture of each student s habitual patterns whenI get to observe them in many different circumstances.

In the recent survey, Melissa Mascara PATP 1998)comments that this way of teach ing th e work wasparticularly helpful to her:I found the Alexander training was most

valuable (and the resul ts most dramatic) when I wasinvolved in the co-teaching sessions. Alexander (andCathy) had a much easier time with me when I wasfocused on Suzuki or a scene or a song. I had less energyto manage my body .... The effects of those sessionsseemed to be much more long- te rm because theybecame a part of my body s vocabulary with much lessinterference from my intellect.

Pedagogically, I find it essential to have an ATclass that is separate from the co-taught classes. It is inthe Alexander class that the principles of the work areconsistently taught and c la ri fied , somet imes inrelationship to work we ve done in th e c o-t au gh tclasses, and sometimes with work the students bringfrom other classes. The nature of the co-taught classes isthat the focus is on the Voice work, the Movement work,th e Acting, with the Alexander as a tool to do thosetasks. In th e Alexander class, the principles andapplication of the Alexander work is primary. Havingboth of these ways to teach th e work is wonderful.Hugh O Gorman PATP 1990) says:

I would say the AT class, coupled with th eapplication to an activity, either acting, staging, or voiceclass was most important to me. But it wa s definitely thecombination that had the greatest effect.

get a ro d picture of e chstudent s habitual patterns whenI get to o serve them in manydifferent circumstances

It is a remarkable education for me to help actorsthrough the many mazes tha t they confront in t he irwork. As Heath Kelts said of one unusual task heneeded to do in a play:

I could not ride a bike with crutches without theaid of the AT-I would ve hurt myself.

TH GLU OF TH PROGR MWhat is absolutely wonderful in the PATP is the

commitment of the enti re facul ty to training actors whodo not compromise their selves in order to gain someimagined theatrical end. The highly talented artists andeducators of the PATP faculty have seen how the ATreveals each actor s honesty, presence and power andhave absolutely supported its inclusion in all aspects of

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th e program. Their input, their quest ions , and theirexp er iment s h av e contr ibuted to a deepeningintegration of the AT in the actor s work. Steve Pearson,Head of th e PATP, has called th e AT th e glue of theprogram . He campaigned within the Universi ty tocreate a full-time position fo r the AT b ec au se h econsiders its presence in the program to be essential.

Andrew Boyer, a 1995 graduate of the programphrased it this way:

I found the AT to be perhaps the most useful tool Ilearned in school. Not only in practicing my craftbu t as a too l for learning as well. The techniqueallowed me a method for integrating the apparentlydisparate aspects of actor training I encountered. Bylearning that the same technique of awareness of mybody applied both to the strenuous and rigid form ofSuzuki, as well as to the fluid and unrestrainedpractice of Linklater voice technique, I was able tofind common ground and enrich my understandingof all the forms I studied.

The dual funct ion of th e AT-f i rs t , as a tool thatgives actors greater freedom in using their physical andvocal instruments and second, as a tool that enhancesthe learning process in general-is what makes it theglue of the program.

Itwas like a glue to al l th e disciplines I waslearning. I t really helped my ways of thinking aboutan act, a sound, a s imple movemen t. I stillimplement the AT when I confront new things inrehearsal and in life. The Technique allows for thosenew stimuli to be heard and reacted to. ( Kelts,PATP 1996)

THE FACULTY SPEAKIn researching this art icle, I asked the other core

faculty members to talk about their relationship of theirwork to th e AT Here is what they said:

Judy Shahn Senior Lecturer Voice A s a voiceteacher, the Alexander work is crucial to releasingthe body so the breath can work efficiently. It is away that actors can take charge of their own lettinggo, balance, efficiency so that the body can do whati t s meant to do and the voice can then express whatit s capable of expressing. The subtle hands on workof the AT then allows the actors to transfer into theirown thinking whatever shifts or adjustments arenecessary. Since the vocal work is so dependent onthe support of t he spine so that the breathingmuscles can function to their capacity, this intuitive,psychophysical work is a wonderful partner to thespeaking voice.Robyn Hunt Associate Professor Suzuki TrainingThe collaboration of Alexander w it h Suzuk it ra in ing has caused me to rethink how one bestbrings actors to an understanding of Mr. Suzuki sinner sensibility, and how this understanding cani nc reas e ove ra ll c oo rd in ati on a nd phy si ca larticulateness. The Alexander method s concern

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with th e body s practical use and expression inthree-dimensional space has inspired the inventionof several new forms in training class that combineMr. Suzuki s images ( waking as if from a hundredyears sleep, and moving toward something in thed is tance w ith fa r focus ) with an increasedinteraction between the actors that encourages fulluse of limbs, shifting focal points, and changingspeeds or dynamics. One exciting result has been anincrease in gestural freedom and in those par ts o ftraining that invite improvisation. The actors arenow less likely to employ habitual shapes, and seemmuch more open and ready to respond authenticallyand with greater originality in the moment.

I could not ride a bike withcrutches without the aid of the lexanderechniqueMark Jenkins Associate Professor Acting Theprimary occupational disease of the actor i s selfconsciousness that leads to a physi cal response ofmuscles tightening. This psychophysical cycleprecludes real freedom for creativity. The AT aspracticed by Cathy Madden is the only system that Ihave witnessed and experienced that addresses thisproblem head on and effectively. In my 5 years asan actor and as an acting teacher no other way ofdealing with the inefficiency resulting from muscletightening even comes close to the AT in itssimplicity, specificity, logic and usefulness, (notabstractly or in off s tage prepara tion but) while theactor is acting. In simple terms, the AT provides akind of lubrication so the actor s use of self isefficient and free. Further, the technique seems tounlock habitual psychic blocks in many actors as aby product of physical release. It seems often to be a

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catalyst for releasing old muscle memory resultingin improved quality of life. t is a remarkable tool forperformers.

ALUMNAE TESTIMONIALSWhen I received the alumnae surveys in the mail, I

was awed by the descriptions of how the Alexander workhad an d continued to ha ve on al l aspects of act ing,creative and business. The next sections speak on differentacting topics. f you are not familiar with theatre, someterminology may be unfamiliar. Hopefully, that will notprevent you from getting some idea of how useful theTechnique canbe at every stage of the acting process.

ON THE ACTING PROCESS ANDTHE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE:

The AT helped tremendously with not pushing mot ion to a ll ow mor e ease with the emot ionalexpression. (Campbell, PATP 95

Bringing characters t o l ife , phys ica lly, haschanged for me. Before being introduced to the AT Iwould make physical adjustments, to realise charactersno matter how those adjustments felt. AT showed methat it s possible to make these adjustments in a morecomfortable way. (Hill, PATP 93

People talk about Meisner repetitions as a key toreal listening onstage. I wonder if these repetitions areuseless without th e AT. Whole body listening andresponse are what both seek. (Kelts, PATP 96By encouraging me to t rust fully thepsychological, physical and emotional impulses I maybe having, the AT taught me that I have it all in me.(Lockwood, PATP 97

ON FOCUS AND CONCENTRATIONI guess I would call it ease in activation . Prior

to Alexander I always felt that ease was an oppositeforce to action: that in activity, focusing on an intentionth e introduction o f ea se would cause los s o f focus ,fuzziness, With Alexander, I found the opposite wastrue, Ease increases focus, and w ith it action, andintention, and the sharpness of th e scene. (Ludwig,PATP 931 think the use of the AT helped me realise thedifference between trying to see an image onstage, orrecall a character s specific memory, and believing 1 cansee or recall. Alexander also helped my concentration;th e energy not expended on tension can be used tofocus. (Mercouffer, PATP 95

ON STAGE FRIGHT AND OTHER FEARI integrate the AT in every aspect ofmy process. 1remember once filming a big scene for Melrose Placeand 1 started to get this sweat going on. 1 couldn t stop

the feeling and began to sweat even more. t hi t me then,I was pulling down, pinched off, and that was causingme to restrict my body s ability to be at res t. 1began tothink forward and up . Within minutes 1 had stoppedsweating, and was cool as a cucumber, The make-up10

lady didn t know what 1 did, but she was grateful.(Reiser, PATP, 94ON SUZUKI TRAININGThe theatre work of Tadashi Suzuki is a part of thetraining at the University of Washington. ischaracterised by exploration ofwide ranges of movement,

some qui te strenuous, in combination with continualpractice in creating and reacting to images, the buildingblocks of the imaginative world. While the world image isoften thought to be a v isual wor ld, it is important to notethat as we use it at UW, images come from the wholeself-thought, movement, all of the senses.

I n Suzuki training in particular I found thecontrast between the seemingly r ig id ity of the form vs,keeping f lu id an d alig ned u sin g th e AT to be anextremely useful metaphor. (McAdams, PATP 97

ON VOICE AND SINGINGA tenor can t hi t good high notes while pushingdown; yet t ha t s wha t fear does when one gets into

high territory. Free up your larynx, free up purer,higher, FULLER notes. (Ludwig, PATP 93n my acting, the AT had its greatest impact on

my breath/voice work, which, for me is also generallywhere 1 find my character. n one piece 1played severalwidely different character which 1 needed to shift intoquickly and easily. As soon as 1 was offstage as onecharacter, 1would remind myself of the various spacesin my body, got my b re at h a nc ho red u sin g bothAlexander and Suzuki cues and the new character couldjust slip right in, easy as pie. My body and voice wouldliterally become someone else with these very simplereminders and 1was back onstage as another person.(Segal, PATP 90

ON UNIFIED FIELD OF ATTENTIONYou told once me a very wise thing allow theaudience to come to you. There is somuch wisdom in thatremark and 1 remind myself of that before every audition,interview, and performance. (Reeves, PATP 95

ABOUT THE WRITERCatherine Madden is AssociateProfessor for the University ofWashington School of Drama, anddoes workshops and classes in herprivate studio. She has been aguest at teacher training schools,and has done teacher refreshercourses in England, Germany,Japan, and Switzerland. She was aCongress Teacher at theInternational Congress held in Sydney in 1994 and afeatured speaker at the 1999 International Congress inFreiburg, Germany. Cathy shldied with Marjorie Barstowfor over 15 years and served as her assistant in workshopsfor over ten years. Cathy is the Chair of AlexanderTechnique International ATI .11042 27thvenueNE Seattle, 98125 el 206 368 8544Email: [email protected]

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