Theatre Training

Since 2006 I have been exploring the art of performance and theatre through three distinct methods of practice; Butoh, Suzuki Actor Training and Viewpoints. I wanted to record the Theatre Training Exercises that I have had the pleasure of undertaking during this process of the discovery of the movement of my body. I thought that a separate page for this blog could be a good place to record these exercises. I hope over time I can commit to updating this page to include new ideas and exercises that I encounter during my practise.

To start, I will record four exercises that I learnt during a weekend workshop with Dairakudakan Butoh Company in March 2009.

Body Water Bag Exercise

  • Start relaxed with feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, bend forward at hara, head relaxed and down, shoulders relaxed, arms hanging down;
  • Imagine water filling up the body as if the body is a water bag with skin surrounding;
  • As you imagine water filling the bag of skin from your feet, the water starts to move the body first through your hara;
  • Imagine the water filling the bag and pressurising the bag forcing your torso upwards and filling your shoulder, arms, hands and fingers;
  • When the bag is full of water, hold for a moment and then collapse as if the water is escaping from your feet, de-pressurising the bag of water resulting in your fingers, arms, shoulders and torso collapsing back to the resting position;
  • Repeat this process 5 or 6 times;
  • The 6th time you collapse, collapse to the right side bending from your hara again;
  • Imagine the water filling the bag again from your feet, this time when the bag of water is filling the water fills the bag forcing your hara to rise up from the right to the centre again as before;
  • Collapse again to the right and repeat this process 5 or 6 times then fall to the left and repeat the process;
  • The last time you collapse come to resting as a forward bend and slowly rise to standing;
  • repeat as necessary.

Marionette Lifting Exercise

  • Start laying on your back relaxed and comfortable;
  • Imagine a point on your body with a piece of string attached like a marionette;
  • Imagine that the string is being pulled and that point on your body moves upwards dragging the rest of your body with it;
  • As you are being pulled upwards the rest of your body is relaxed and heavy with lifelessness because there are no other strings attached to your body;
  • Rise to your feet lifting from the point of string attachment;
  • Imagine the marionette master starts to lower the string, your body falls to the ground with the point of string attachment falling last;
  • repeat as necessary.

Variation on Marionette Lifting Exercise

  • Start in a squat position, head relaxed and down, shoulders relaxed, arms hanging down beside your legs;
  • Imagine that a string is attached to the top of your head;
  • Imagine the string is being pulled by the marionette master upwards;
  • Your head rises first dragging the rest of your body, which is still relaxed and has no control of it’s own;
  • Your body is dragged upwards to a point and then the string is cut, you fall to the squatting position under gravities pull, all muscles have no control except for your balance;
  • Repeat this process as necessary.

Body as Water Bag

  • Start laying on yout back, relaxed and alert;
  • Imagine that your body is full of water, not under pressure but just full;
  • Imagine that this water inside yourself starts to rock from side to side starting from inside your hips;
  • Imagine that water rocking you from your hips in waves and bursts, slowly and fast and quickly and gently;

Shock – The State Inbetween

There is a place that exists outside of time and space that we come into contact with in our lives. Everyone has, everyone will. It is the place that exists in-between the rational and the not, the everyday and the extraordinary. It is neither of these opposites but the space between them. This exercise is designed to bring our attention to this place through the idea of the performance of an everyday action and having a shock. Brushing our teeth and banging our gums, the place after banging our gum and before the pain has started, the place after an unexpected loud noise and before our instinctual response, the place after we see something shocking and before our brain has recognised this. We want to get into this space and enlarge it, make it expand, take our time in the place of in between, and explore this space through our movement and our body reactions to this place.

  • Get comfortable and start to perform an everyday action of your choice;
  • Be in this action in full, in a mindless space of performing a robotic habit;
  • “CRACK” (loud noise from instrutor signalling the shock);
  • STOP
  • BE HERE
  • ONLY HERE
  • You have crossed over. Caught in time between;
  • WAIT
  • Imagine your body movement from this place that exists in between;
  • Imagine how your body reacts to being caught in the space between;