Better Late Than Never

Class notes STOR 5230: Friday, July 15, 2011
After a brief review of performance strategies and techniques gleaned from the first week of class, we participated in an ensemble exercise in which each of us offered one line phrases from our stories in a spontaneous turn-taking that challenged us to consider each narrative out of its linear plot structure.
Next, David instructed us to find our own progression of stories by “listening” for our individual entrances, as we had done on the first day of class, and then after all five stories had been told, provided us with the following director’s notes.
Whole class: David began with the reassurance that each teller had accomplished his or her primary task with a successful first performance. He then reminded us to always bring awareness to our bodies in space as instrument, taking account of lighting, seating, wall decor, etc., before we begin to tell; identified the issues of stance, breath, voice and opening remarks as areas of emphasis to which we all need to pay attention during revised tellings of these pieces; and invited each of us to participate with him during his individual critiques, calling for our own self-assessments and encouraging us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our drafts. Lastly, he explained that the teller’s task is to “pay attention” to the problems identified during critique in order to devise one’s own solutions for revisions.
Rebecca: Watch issues of breath thinness; further exploit the rich sounds of the truly lovely sentences in the piece; and attempt an increased rootedness of stance, perhaps sitting down during a revised telling.
Patrick: Watch tension in hands; focus eye gaze onto audience; and provide greater clarity of orientation for the listener through simplification of plot. Wonderful vocal variety—great fullness and distinction of articulation.
Fynn: Watch dropped gaze and diminished voicing at the end of sentences. Better to end strongly so to combat any suggestion of nervousness. Great use of space and terrific delivery of effective language in a clean, straightforward telling of the tale.
Chris: Bring fullness of voice to emotionally powerful moments instead of breathy delivery. Improve pronunciation of Hawaiian words and move towards greater exploration of the percussion of gesture and movement in the telling.
Danielle: Work to neutralize the nervous energy contained in the legs. Great choice of literary story that compliments personal sense of humor and linguistic style. Nice condensing of original text.
As a closing recommendation, David encouraged us to discover ways to utilize the potentially unsettling rush of nervous tension at the beginning of a telling so that we may be “served” as opposed to “undone” by the effect.