The actor's secret : techniques for transforming habitual patterns and improving performance

314 Pages·2014·4.37 MB·English

by  Polatin

Electronic Edition: ISBN 978-1-58394-683-1
Copyright © 2013 by Betsy Polatin. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief
review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the written
permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.
Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712
Cover design by Brad Greene
The Actor’s Secret: Techniques for Transforming Habitual Patterns and Improving Performance is
sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational
corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking
various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences,
humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind,
body, and nature.
North Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For further
information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: The following information is intended for general information purposes
only. Individuals should always see their health care provider before administering any
suggestions made in this book. Any application of the material set forth in the following pages is
at the reader’s discretion and is his or her sole responsibility.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Polatin, Betsy.
The actor’s secret : techniques for transforming habitual patterns and improving performance /
Betsy Polatin.
pages cm
Summary: “The Actor’s Secret is comprised of explorations and exercises developed from the
Alexander Technique, a practical method for self-improvement and neuromuscular reeducation;
Breathing Coordination, an approach that increases breathing capacity and awareness; and
Somatic Experiencing, the body-based approach to healing trauma.”
ISBN 978-1-58394-682-4 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-1-58394-683-1
1. Acting—Study and teaching. 2. Alexander technique. I. Title.
PN2075.P64 2013
792.02’807—dc23
2013014090
v3.1
This book is dedicated to those who have the courage
and willingness to pursue change in themselves.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am very grateful to the teachers, mentors, and guides who have shared
their wealth of knowledge with me over the years. This knowledge has
come through books, hands-on experience, sensory feedback, deep
inquiry, and observation. I am grateful to the pioneering innovators of
somatic work, who had the courage to explore the unity of body, mind,
and spirit. Thank you to those visionaries who encouraged me to learn
and teach this work.
The exercises in this book are a synthesis of my physical, mental, and
spiritual training throughout my life of learning from many fine
teachers. My teachings and exercises have been influenced by F. M.
Alexander, Carl Stough, Peter Levine, Rivka Cohen, Patrick MacDonald,
Marjory Barlow, Frank Pierce Jones, Helen Jones, Tommy Thompson,
David Gorman, Rob MacDonald, Margaret Goldie, Pedro de Alcantara,
Kelly McEvenue, David Garlick, Frances Cott, Richard Schwartz, Jessica
Wolf, John Baron, Deirdre Fay, Raja Selvam, Diane Poole-Heller, Bessel
van der Kolk, and spiritual and meditation teachers. Many, many thanks
to all.
A very special thanks to Boston University’s College of Fine Arts
School of Theater faculty, my wonderfully skilled colleagues whom I
have the pleasure of working with on a daily basis. Much love and
appreciation to all my students whose lives I have had the privilege of
sharing. A special thank-you to Harry Miller Hobbs II, Clifton Dunn,
Dayna Cousins, Ben Thompson, Liza Burns, Hannah Burkhauser, and the
entire Boston University School of Theater acting class of 2010, for
demonstrating the exercises in the photos in this book.
Thank you to Chia Messina, photographer, for capturing a wonderful
moment for the back page photo. Thank you to Ion Sokhos,
photographer, for taking all the beautiful photos in the book. Thank you
to Nina Ryan for her clever and insightful editing and for her early
encouragement and interest in the book. Thank you to Janet Banks for
reading a draft and telling me, “You have a winner.” Thank you to Daria
Polatin for contributing her superb writing and editing skills, which,
combined with her knowledge and understanding of my work, helped
create a more seamless read. A very heartfelt thank-you to North
Atlantic Books and my editor, Jessica Sevey, for taking on this book.
Thank you to copy editor Christopher Church, and to the designer of the
book cover and interior, Brad Greene.
Thank you to all my loving friends and family for their unending
support and encouragement, especially to Daria and Ruby, my
daughters.
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Introduction
About The Actor’s Secret
My Approach
How to Use This Book
Part One: Principle
1. What Is the Actor’s Secret?
2. Innovators of Three Somatic Techniques
3. Use and Misuse
4. Five Principles
5. Suspension and Support
6. Breathing
7. Trauma
Part Two: Preparation
8. Presence and Inhibition
9. Voice
10. Character and Role
11. Emotion
Part Three: Performance
12. Warm-Ups
13. Monologues
14. Scenes
15. Auditions
16. Taking the Stage
17. Maintaining Health and Well-Being
Thoughts for Moving Forward
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
About The Actor’s Secret
After my first Alexander lesson, I walked out of the room thinking, “This
is still me, but not the me I always knew. Actually, a very different me
than I knew when I walked in.” This brief experience of an altered sense
of self excited and daunted me at the same time. I had moved through
an opening, pulled aside an inner veil, and been exposed to radical new
possibilities and choices of how I sensed myself and saw the world
around me. My body felt less constricted, my mind was less worried, and
my senses were more vibrant and alive. The colors of the world seemed
brighter. As I walked along the street that day, I knew I was still me, but
a different me: a new me.
I have continued exploring and teaching this experience of an
expanded self through a unique combination of approaches. In my forty
years of teaching and coaching, I have witnessed many students discover
their habits and feel their way through their own veils of delusion and
resistance into new worlds of artistic choice and experience. One
successful woman I taught said after a lesson, “I thought I had all there
was to have in life.” On the surface, she did. She had a successful career,
a good family, money, friends, and happiness. But after studying with
me in hands-on sessions, she said, “I see there is so much more to life
that I didn’t even know about: aspects of myself I had no idea existed.”
Actors express their version of the same idea. “I thought I understood
this role, but when I stopped doing what I was sure was so right, the
performance opened up in a way I never imagined.” This book is written
for you, the actor, who is able to lose his or her own habitual identity
and become another person in behavior, body, voice, and being. Actors
transform themselves to tell a story while an audience watches. In
performance, every word, gesture, and movement of an actor tells a