Testimonial

My experience with the Ashley Wint Movement Co. has been inspiring, insightful, and spiritual.
Every day we wake up in our bodies, use our bodies throughout the day, and go to sleep with them at night, but rarely pay attention to them, really listen and notice. When we do pay attention to our body it is in an almost cruel way, at the gym we push ourselves through the pain, repeat mantras in our head like “push harder” and “don’t be weak.” We don’t notice or forgive our bodies for just being.

In Ashley Wint’s class I was allowed to take the time to notice and expand my understanding of how my body moves and how it reflects who I am. Now, to the untrained eye, it may have looked as if we were just rolling around on the floor, and at first that is how I felt, but the way that Wint guides her students, I was able to allow myself to relax and let go with focusing on the conversation that was happening between the space of the room and my body. Besides her obvious knowledge and passion of movement, her ability to recognize the different levels of her students is what made the time in class that much more comfortable—I feel as if I received a one on one.

As a theatre professional, I have seen the lack of importance given to the training of the body. The voice, which is important, is given more focus. However, without the body and only the voice, actors are nothing more than talking heads. As a director who has worked with actors ages 7 to 56, movement is one of the hardest things to address in a constructive and successful way. Even if you tell actors to walk across the stage a certain way, if they are not strongly connected to their bodies they have not hope of truly manipulating it.

Wint’s movement company has a strong mission that you start to feel a part of the moment you leave class. I am excited to continue my study about how my body moves and how I can utilize that understanding in the theatre.

Whitney Hershberger
Theatre Teaching Artist and Director
MFA in Arts Administration, Southern Utah University

Last Class of October

Last class of October is this Saturday, 10/29 at 2pm. Come move around before celebrating Halloween!

Also, classes will be on hiatus for the rest of the year due to the holidays. However, if you are interested in private lessons, coaching, or organizing a group class/workshop, please contact Ashley at wint.ash@gmail.com

Thanks for your support!

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.

Classes!

WHERE: The Den Theatre
1333 N. Milwaukee Ave, 2nd Floor
(Off Division Blue Line)

WHEN: Saturdays 2:00pm-3:00pm
10/8
10/15
10/22
10/29


COST: $10/class


ETC: Wear comfortable clothes you can move in. Layering clothes is recommended.
You're also welcome to bring pen and paper for any notes you might want to take. 
Class starts at 2:00 but you're more than welcome to arrive early, warm up, hang out, or chat!