As the title suggests Wangh's work focuses on techniques and exercises of physical acting. My favorite point in the book was when Wangh discussed "Just Stand Exercises" (Wangh 120). In these exercises he would start by telling his students to one at a time stand in front of their class and "don't try to do anything" (120). He would tell the student to start and one minute later ask them to stop.
After the exercise they discussed as a class what happened. Most people talked about uncomfortable shuffling or seeing someone try to suppress a smile or fidget.
Wangh continues to explain, "we are so used to doing things, that even when given an opportunity to do nothing, it is easier for us to interpret that opportunity as a requirement to do nothing than a chance not to do anything" (121). So students rather than not trying to do anything, were focusing their energies on doing nothing. Later he explored how this general nervousness is "the energy of feeling watched. In other words, it is the essential energy of performance itself. And it is the same substance whether you call it stage fright or just energy," (124).
I wish that Julia Cameron's work, The Artist's Way, went more in this direction with the exploration of energy rather than comparing it to divine intervention.
I think that the exploration of energy in performance is incredibly important. I also liked the idea of "the energy of feeling watched" I thought this connected well to the theme of visibility in my SYE. The idea that things that always happen are somehow different when they are brought into visibility right in front of us was intriguing since it applies in everyday life as well as in stage performance. As brought up in the Performance and Communication Arts Mission Statement:
After the exercise they discussed as a class what happened. Most people talked about uncomfortable shuffling or seeing someone try to suppress a smile or fidget.
Wangh continues to explain, "we are so used to doing things, that even when given an opportunity to do nothing, it is easier for us to interpret that opportunity as a requirement to do nothing than a chance not to do anything" (121). So students rather than not trying to do anything, were focusing their energies on doing nothing. Later he explored how this general nervousness is "the energy of feeling watched. In other words, it is the essential energy of performance itself. And it is the same substance whether you call it stage fright or just energy," (124).
I wish that Julia Cameron's work, The Artist's Way, went more in this direction with the exploration of energy rather than comparing it to divine intervention.
I think that the exploration of energy in performance is incredibly important. I also liked the idea of "the energy of feeling watched" I thought this connected well to the theme of visibility in my SYE. The idea that things that always happen are somehow different when they are brought into visibility right in front of us was intriguing since it applies in everyday life as well as in stage performance. As brought up in the Performance and Communication Arts Mission Statement:
- All performances are acts of communication, and all acts of communication are performances;
- All humans communicate, and all humans perform;