Readings
The Performer’s Body: JAWS!!!
Jaw tension is the bane of my existence.
Watching “Quarterlife” last week drove me crazy, because ALL THE ACTORS on that show were Jaw-Acting. By this I mean they relied on their jaws to demonstrate emotions (think actively-contrived jaw-clenching to “show” anger). This drives me bonkers, because any kind of jaw-tension is a sign of [...]
The Performer’s Body: Part III. “Alexander Technique and the ‘Kinesthetic Sense.’ “
From the Introduction to “Alexander Technique: The Resurection of the Body.” This book is a collection of writings by F.Mathias Alexander himself. The Intro is by Edward Maisel.
I love this passage because it discusses a process that is so important to singers, dancers, actors, and anyone who’s body is their instrument. He describes the very [...]
The Performer’s Body: Part II
This is a reading from Martha Graham’s autobiography, entitled “Blood Memory.”
Martha Graham was one of the founding mothers of modern dance, and an icon in the New York performing arts community of the 20th century. She also happens to write brilliantly about being an artist - any kind of artist.
I discovered this book in my [...]
3 CommentsThe Performer’s Body: Part I
It’s new-series time! Welcome to Installment I of The Performer’s Body, a series of readings I’ll be doing from the vast literature of performance theory and technique.
Studying philosophies of performing technique is a hobby of mine. I’m fascinated by the mind-body connect that is so prevalent in modern theatre training. As performing [...]
Reading Jammy-Jam
http://www.indyish.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/indyish_jamcast_103007.mp3
Soil and Soul
Here’s that nice version of Ca the Yowes with me reading all over it. Soil and Soul is a really good book though, I wrote a bit about it here. And you can hear Ca the Yowes without the reading over it here.
Readings 7 - The Crying of Lot 49
A cryptic book about codes and conspiracies and connections, one of those in the pantheon of great postmodern texts. In the scene I chose the read the main character, Oedipa, is in a bar and leans about an underground mail system and begins to learn the history of the monopolized mail system. The book is [...]
Reading - Negotiating with the Dead
Ah Atwood - if you totally love or hate her you probably haven’t read enough, that’s what I think. She’ll swing you back and forth between poles of like and dis if you give her a chance. For this podcast taken from her recent non-fiction Negotiating with the Dead I chose a quote on [...]
Readings 5- Ubik by Philip K Dick
Ah, for this podcast James (the sound guy) and I got all gleefull playful with the sound effects. Future fiction being what it is, we played with nerdy noises.
In this section of Ubik you’ll hear the hero with a hangover arguing with the robot voices who run his apartment. He tries to get them [...]
Readings 4: The Waves
In Virgina Woolf’s The Waves the reader follows a group of friends through their minds and decades of growing up. At this point in the book, they are in university and I particularly enjoy the authenticity of the pompous yet honest inner angst of it. Thanks again to James Finnerty for the recording.
