Sessions Complete

It is all over now. Most of us have gone our ways. Some home. Some abroad. Some still in town. As I get ready to leave London there are so many things going through my brain that I cannot even organize. I am thankful that I no longer have to sleep on that cot of a "bed". I rejoice in knowing that I am no longer surrounded my Italian teenagers as I attempt to get into and out of my room. I am headed back to the states where coins are not worth much and I can throw them in the bottom of my bag without discovering later that I have a hoard of money. I am no longer on a real schedule. There are no longer 11 other people depending on me to show up so we can get started. And theoretically I will not walk out into the sun only to be soaking wet 10 minutes later after getting caught in a random down pour.

I loved this trip. I loved the program more than I can say. I have learned so much and enjoyed so much that it is hard to determine what the best part was. I am going to miss the wonderful people that I have met here in london. I am going to miss the fantastic shows that I have seen while in London. I am going to miss all the laughter and memories that were made at almost every turn. There is so much of this Academy that I will bring into my own classroom when I get home. I am going to try to encourage everybody I know to do the program so that the fabulous teachings can be shared. I am creating an entire Shakespeare unit for my Advanced Drama class and using many of the exercises in my other classes as well, including English.

I know I have made a number of professional contacts that I will be able to use throughout the rest of my career. Yet I have also made more friends than I can remember making since college.

This truly was an experience of a lifetime.

Chris' Email

Chris.s@Shakespearesglobe.com

Other books like the Macbeth one

So there's that book on Macbeth that is on sale at the Globe store, but I found the website where you can pre-order the rest:

http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Schools/English/Globe-Education-Shakespeare.aspx

There's R&J, Midsummer, and Much Ado. Although, you will most likely be able to eventually get them on Amazon as well!

Warm-ups with Bill

Here are three very useful warm-ups Bill used with his group on "opening night":

Scare tactics

Objective: to develop ensemble awareness.

1. Form a circle.
2. All but the leader close their eyes.
3. Leader goes around the circle a few times and taps one person on the shoulder. No one else knows who has been tapped.
4. All open their eyes.
5. After about 30 seconds, the person who has been tapped shouts in a scary way, without warning. Everyone else must try to follow this person's lead as nearly as possible.

The Grand Old Duke of York

Objective: to develop reflexes, mental agility

1. Form a circle.
2. In unison, march in place to "The Grand Old Duke of York." (Lyrics below.)
3. Add hand motions: up, down, halfway.
4. Repeat, marching forward on up, backwards on down.
5. Repeat, dropping the word "up."
6. Repeat, dropping the word "down."
7. Repeat, dropping both "up" and "down."

Oh, the grand old Duke of York,

He had ten thousand men;

He marched them up to the top of the hill,

And he marched them down again!

And when they were up, they were up;

And when they were down, they were down;

And when they were only half way up,

They were neither up nor down!

Hurl Your Words

Objective: to develop greater precision and projection of lines

1. Form pairs.
2. Person A chooses an imaginary object to hurl at his/her partner, Person B. This can be a stone, a dart, a spear, a book, a box: anything that can be held in the hand.
3. Person A "hurls" this object at Person B, making an appropriate noise of exertion as he/she does so.
4. Person B reacts to the object appropriately: it should feel different to be hit with a boulder than with a book.
5. Person B now hurls an object at Person A.
6. After a few rounds with imaginary objects, partners choose key words from their lines to hurl at one another.

Don't Carry the Baggage!

When you are on stage and something goes wrong. You either forget a line or something. Don't flub it. Do not freak out and start going crazy because everything else will start to go wrong. Don't carry the baggage. It is a bit like driving. If you freak out about just missing a crash, you will crash. However, if you keeping looking ahead you can keep going and fix things.

If you mess up, don't carry the baggage. Keep going.

Respond to things in the moment.

~Speech given by Tom

Dance Resources

Nonsuch Early Music and Dance

http://www.nonsuchdance.co.uk/6.html

http://www.dancebooks.co.uk/

When you put in earlydance.co.uk you get:

http://baroquedance.co.uk/

More Vocal Tips

Never move the jaw from side to side for fear of dislocation. Also, do not have young girls try to drop their voice because it can cause damage. Instead, teach the girls to resonate by shaping vowels, consonants, and supporting their voice with proper breathing.