The Actor and the Alexander Technique

by McEvenue, Kelly; Rodenburg, Patsy

• ISBN13: 9780312295158
• ISBN10: 0312295154
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781466886339
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-17
• Publisher: Griffin
• More Book Details

Summary

.M. Alexander developed the Alexander Technique of movement in the early 20th century. Combining vocal clarity and body movement, Alexander developed a performance coaching method that is used by dancers, actors, singers, and other performers. In The Actor and the Alexander Technique, Kelly McEvenue writes the first basic book about how this unique technique can help actors feel more natural on the stage. She provides warm-up exercises, balance and center exercises, and spatial awareness exercises. She talks about imitation, theuse of masks, nudity on the stage, and dealing with injury and aging. She also provides examples of specific productions, including The Lion Kingx that have successfully used the Alexander Technique. With a foreword by Patsy Rodenburg, the author of the phenomenal The Actor Speaks, this is a book that belongs on the shelf of every working and studying actor.

Author Biography

Kelly McEvenue is a certified teacher of the Alexander technique. She is one of the main acting coaches for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.

Patsy Rodenburg is Director of Voice at London's Royal National Theater and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	viii
Foreword	ix
Patsy Rodenburg
An Introduction to The Actor and the Alexander Technique	xiii
Introduction	xv
F.M. Alexander's Story	xviii
Part 1 The Alexander Technique in the Theatre	1	(54)
How the Alexander Technique Became My Vocation	3	(3)
The Alexander Teacher's Role in the Production of a Play	6	(5)
The Principles of the Alexander Technique	11	(18)
Recognition of Habit
Inhibition-Pausing for an Instant to Arrest a Habit
The `Primary Control'
Giving Direction - Learning to Use Your Thinking to Make a Change
`Fillings' May Give Unreliable Feedback
End-gaining
Non-doing-`Less is More'
The Anatomy Lesson	29	(8)
The Actor Prepares-Warming Up	37	(18)
Preparing the Actor for Rehearsal or Performance Warm-up Exercises
Stretching on the Mat-Lying on the Back in the Semi-supine Position
Engaging the Adominal Wall and the Back Muscles
A Shoulder Stretch
Getting Up Off the Floor
Finding Balance or `Centre'
Arm Stretching
Undulating Through Centre
Find the Hip Joint
The Rolling-over Exercise
Balancing into Walking
An Open-leg Stretch
Part 2 Putting the Alexander Technique to Work	55	(30)
Partner Work-Moving in Relationship	57	(22)
Partner Work and Spatial Awareness Exercises
Spatial Awareness Exercises
Endowment - Observing the Other
Stage 2 of Spatial Awareness
Contact Partner Work
Centrifugal Force and Opposition Exercises
A Mirroring Exercise
Status Work - Playing the High and the Low Brows
Tableau Exercise - Learning to Survive a `Freeze'
The Table Work and the Alexander Technique	79	(6)
Lesson One
Lesson Two
Part 3 Alexander Technique and Voice Work	85	(14)
Alexander's Discovery
Voice Work anti the Alexander Technique
Musical Theatre
Opera Singing and the Alexander Technique
The Whispered `Ah' Exercise
Part 4 The Alexander Technique and Acting Challenges	99	(46)
Relevance of the Alexander Technique to Acting	101	(39)
The Actor and Fitness
Character Work and the Alexander Technique
Playing Another Gender- from the `Trouser Role' to the Drag Act
Imitation - Mirroring
The Kissing Class
Nudity
Alexander with Costumes, Wigs and Period Accoutrements
Mask Work
The Zoo Project-An Animal Study
The Lion King
An Elizabethan Bear
The Injured Actor
Understudies
The Ageing Actor
Falling and Fainting On Stage
Drunkenness
Martial Arts and the Alexander Technique
The State-How the Actor Adapts to Playing the Space	140	(5)
The Proscenium-arch Stage
The Raked Stage
The Thrust Stage
Theatre In the Round
Outdoor Theatre
Epilogue	145	(2)
Addresses	147