The actor and the Alexander technique / Kelly McEvenue ; [foreword by Patsy Rodenburg].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McEvenue, Kelly.

Standardized Title:

Alexander technique for actors

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Alexander technique.

Actors--Health and hygiene.

Actors.

Physical Description:

xx, 148 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Edition:

First Palgrave Macmillan edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave, Macmillan, 2002.

Summary:

The Alexander Technique is a Study of Movement developed by F. M. Alexander (1869-1955) that encourages the body to move with greater ease and helps unlock the voice. The Actor and the Alexander Technique is the first book to show how performers can benefit from these methods and implement them in their work. Kelly McEvenue guides the reader through the main principles of the Alexander Technique and shows how to put them into practice when warming up, rehearsing, and performing on stage. Through a series of easy-to-follow exercises -- combined with first-hand accounts from professional actors -- we learn how the Alexander Technique can help arrest unwanted physical habits, improve stamina and liberate the voice. Applying these techniques directly to the stage, we are shown how to overcome the many problems and challenges that face actors: from performing in elaborate period costumes, wearing masks and appearing in drag to falling, "freezing" in tableau and working safely with injuries. This practical and accessible handbook unravels the mysteries surrounding the Alexander Technique and offers actors an alternative way to improve their skills and maximize their performance.

Contents:

F. M. Alexander's Story xviii

Part 1 The Alexander Technique in the Theatre 1

How the Alexander Technique Became My Vocation 3

The Alexander Teacher's Role in the Production of a Play 6

The Principles of the Alexander Technique 11

1. Recognition of Habit

2. Inhibition

Pausing for an Instant to Arrest a Habit

3. The 'Primary Control'

4. Giving Direction

Learning to Use Your Thinking to Make a Change

5. 'Feelings' May Give Unreliable Feedback

6. End-gaining

7. Non-doing

'Less is More'

The Anatomy Lesson 29

The Actor Prepares

Warming Up 37

Preparing the Actor for Rehearsal or Performance

Warm-up Exercises

1. Stretching on the Mat

Lying on the Back in the Semi-supine Position

2. Engaging the Adominal Wall and the Back Muscles

3. A Shoulder Stretch

4. Getting Up Off the Floor

5. Finding Balance or 'Centre'

6. Arm Stretching

7. Undulating Through Centre

8. Find the Hip Joint

9. The Rolling-over Exercise

10. Balancing into Walking

11. An Open-leg Stretch

Part 2 Putting the Alexander Technique to Work 55

Partner Work

Moving in Relationship 57

Partner Work and Spatial Awareness Exercises

1. Spatial Awareness Exercises

2. Endowment

Observing the Other

3. Stage 2 of Spatial Awareness

4. Contact Partner Work

5. Centrifugal Force and Opposition Exercises

6. A Mirroring Exercise

7. Status Work

Playing the High and the Low Brows

8. Tableau Exercise

Learning to Survive a 'Freeze'

The Table Work and the Alexander Technique 79

Lesson One

Lesson Two

Part 3 Alexander Technique and Voice Work 85

1. Alexander's Discovery

2. Voice Work and the Alexander Technique

3. Musical Theatre

4. Opera Singing and the Alexander Technique

5. The Whispered 'Ah' Exercise

Part 4 The Alexander Technique and Acting Challenges 99

Relevance of the Alexander Technique to Acting 101

1. The Actor and Fitness

2. Character Work and the Alexander Technique

3. Playing Another Gender

from the 'Trouser Role' to the Drag Act

4. Imitation

Mirroring

5. The Kissing Class

6. Nudity

7. Alexander with Costumes, Wigs and Period Accoutrements

8. Mask Work

9. The Zoo Project

An Animal Study

10. The Lion King

11. An Elizabethan Bear

12. The Injured Actor

13. Understudies

14. The Ageing Actor

15. Falling and Fainting On Stage

16. Drunkenness

17. Martial Arts and the Alexander Technique

The Stage

How the Actor Adapts to Playing the Space 140

1. The Proscenium-arch Stage

2. The Raked Stage

3. The Thrust Stage

4. Theatre In the Round

5. Outdoor Theatre.

Notes:

Previously published as: The Alexander technique for actors. London : Methuen, 2001.

ISBN:

0312295154

OCLC:

50325420