Thoughts After the First 2 Classes

Well friends, I have now officially taught two movement for actors classes and let me tell you, I absolutely love it. My first class was more of a private session and the second class had three students. Now, I will point out that so far these students have been personal friends who support me and have been interested in my studies during the GL-CMA program. It is so wonderful to be able to share my knowledge with them and I think there is a level of trust there on both ends. It did get me thinking how exciting and different the experience will be once I begin teaching people I don't know personally.

This evening I am musing about what a movement class entails for both the teacher and the student. First and foremost, there is a certain level of vulnerability one may experience in a movement class. I find that my class in particular, because it has the goal of enhancing an actor's personal knowledge of their body, requires a lot of inward reflection, assessment, and letting go of the body. And by letting go, I mean that one is allowed to move in a way without judgment and tapping in to natural responses and connective patterns of the body.

I am currently teaching from Peggy Hackney's book "Making Connections", and introducing the patterns of connectivity in the body which not only make movement efficient, but also emphasize how the more we are connected inwardly to ourselves, the more we can connect outwardly in our world. I find this to be an incredible resource for actors.

To do this kind of body level work, it does take courage on the part of the student participating. I realize that I am in a privileged position to be leading people into uncharted territory with their bodies and I take that seriously. I cannot speak on behalf of the students I have had so far, but by the end of class, the awareness that I see in them, the look on their faces as they assess how their body feels, the changes they went through in the past hour, the way they carry themselves, shows me that I am on the right track. It shows me that they have opened themselves up to a new experience, they have let go of something (whatever that may be on an individual basis), and they are now grounded and in touch with not only themselves, but also have an acute external awareness, as well.

It has been a lovely start to this journey and thank you to the individuals who have kicked this off. I look forward to the upcoming 2 weeks of classes, hopefully with some familiar and some new faces.