The long and winding road

We went on a hike in the Pratomagno on Sunday with Scott and friends. Here are some notable pics (above is my favorite pic from this trip - Ben Sota on top of the Pratomagno):

William, Meredith, and I are about to start hiking:

Meredith and I take a water break.... seriously straight up:

YIKES!!!!

Even Persey is tired and she has four feet:

Ben and William make it to the top:

Lunch spot!

I'm tired:

My feet and legs take a rest during lunch:

Taylor and Jesse enjoying the view from the top:

Persey enjoys staring at her Daddy's sandwich:

Jesse being silly on top of the mountain:

Classic picture of Scott:

Jesse and I at lunch:

Meredith, Me, and Caroline on top of Pratomagno:

Jesse and I on top of Pratomagno:

A close-up on Ben on top of the cross:

The cross that Ben climbed (he's at the top):

Louise, Jesse Dunn, and Me:

Meredith and I coming down the serious hill:

We practiced the Greek Chorus on top of the Teatrino after the hike:Well, we have been busy again this week. If we have a week full of Acting, I won't be able to blog during those days and do homework, so I have to choose the homework because it is the priority, obviously and catch up on my blog when I can.

We started with Voice this week doing a warm-up that consisted of a self rub down, dry shower, and vertical shaking into jumps letting out sound. Then we worked on some tongue exercises. These are very good for me because I have a control issue with my tongue and it's connection to my jaw. I have a problem releasing both or using one and releasing the other. We went into some panting work with the nose, which is very good to build control in the lower stomach. Moving into stretching our lips then leaving them while humming. We worked with the difference between holding one nostril and humming then holding one and half closing the other while humming. We learned two new songs: Water Boy, a negro convict song, I knew this one cause Daddy used to sing it; Yo E Ma Mo, an african song, we used this as call and response.

In Acting this week we worked on the 4 ages on man: baby, 20, middle-aged, old. We added to the Boatman: fluid with repetition, Object in three different sizes - huge, small, toothpick - and improvising with a problem of some sort. For the Greek Chorus we added a second entry option, entering where the hero was before, telling a story, singing, and simultaneous movement. The simultaneous is harder, figuring out how to lead the group with your intention. You cannot waffle! 7 levels of tension - all released and no energy, sleepy walk, neutral, bubble inside, suspicious, angry tense guy, complete tension then release to the floor. We worked on the improvisations this time in threes... very interesting... now we are adding climate and characters. The newest thing we started was mannequins. Two and two for instance. You decide who these people are and what is there relationship. Then using as few movements as possible in the most efficiant way, you sculpt your partners. The point is to put two mannequins in a scene so there is some realistic qualities but there is always something just a little off. We decided to do this in Cabaret last night. Our mannequins were Meredith, Bob, and William who we made stand outside until we asked the audience for the scene. Courtney, Brian, Caroline, and I were the ones forming them. We asked our audience who Meredith is... they said Foxy Feline... Courtney took that to be a stripper named Foxy Feline. Then we asked, where are they... a shed... fantastic. Then we asked what is Bob and William's relationship to Foxy Feline... they are her cousins... wow. So we called our victims back in and made a pretty beautiful scene of Bob and William holding eachother scared - but William kind of wanted to look - while Meredith grabs her boob (poor Meredith - she was blushing hard) and looks are stripperesque. It turned out very nice I have to say.

In Movement today we started with three different speeds to music. First we gradually sped up as a warm-up, then we moved in slow motion exploring the a-semetric world, finally we had a free for all which was very nice and I found myself drawn to the wall for some reason. I really don't know why. We worked on rolling next. First as salmon rolls alternating front and back - difficult but interesting because you cannot use your hands or legs against the floor to move you - second sitting then a backwards roll - easier on my right rather than my left - third kneeling rolling backwards into another kneeling position then reversing the movement- fourth walking backwards then rolling backward and then continuing to walk back on the way up - we used a partner for this one as motivation and eye contact, the partner walks towards you as you walk backwards, it was very helpful in the dismount of the roll to keep walking backwards. We reviewed the bowling positions we used for handstand but modified it for cartwheels. Then we started doing cartwheels, first how we are used to doing it and then using the bowling position as our launch. I like cartwheels and have always been able to do them on my right side, but I have trouble on my left for sure. We presented our homework in pairs and started working on kinestetic response. Meredith and I will be working on ours together which will be really fun!