The Six Questions: Acting Technique For Dance Performance

241 Pages·1997·2.05 MB·English

by  Daniel Nagrin

The Six Questions
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The Six Questions
Acting Technique for Dance Performance
Daniel Nagrin
University of Pittsburgh Press
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Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15261
Copyright © 1997, Daniel Nagrin Theatre, Film and Dance Foundation, Inc.
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid-free paper
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Library of Congress Cataloging–in–Publication Data and acknowledgments of permissions will be
found at the end of this book.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Helen Tamiris
These pages are dedicated to
1902–66
She gave me and many others the liberating insight
that the art of dance and the art of acting were rivers
waiting to be joined as one.
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Contents
acknowledgments xi
introduction xxiii
Part One. The Theory
1. Work on the Self 3
Pride in Your Physical Presence 4
When You Dance, You Can Lose Your Mind 6
Relish the Game of Pretending 7
Recall Your Earliest Performing Instructions 9
Observation, Imitation and Imagination 13
Keep a Journal 16
Read a Book 17
Too Much and Not Enough 18
2. Eroding Elements of the Performing State 21
The Crutches of Style 21
Performing for the Audience: Seen and Unseen 25
The Intolerance of Uncertainty 27
Vanity Versus Self-hatred 29
Reaching for the Result 31
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3. The Six Questions: The Syntax of the Performing State 33
Who or What? 35
Is Doing What? 37
To Whom or What? 44
Where or When? 45
To What End? 47
The Obstacle? 48
Emotion Memory 49
Direction 50
Summary of the Six Questions: Questions, Doubts, Paradoxes
and Contradictions 52
4. More Work on the Role 58
Impulse Analysis 58
Relationship to the Music 60
Sense-memory Work 61
Passive or Active? 62
Controlled or Released? 63
Focus: Internal or External? 65
An Event, a Recurrence or a Ritual? 68
The Inner Rhythm of the Role 68
Contradiction 69
Living with the Magic “If” 70
Justification 72
Living with the Game of Oscillation 73
Taste 75
Pursue the Mannerism/Probe the Cliché 76
Determining Style 76
5. Performing 87
Lining Up Your Energies 87
Rivers of Energy Pouring Into Each Moment of Performance 94
Stage Concentration Versus Oscillation 99
Dealing with What Is, Not with What Was 100
Interacting with the Others and the Environment 100
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Energy: Too Much/Too Little/Just Enough 101
Competition 102
The Stage Space 103
Dealing with Failure or Negative Criticism 103
Success Is a Serious Problem 104
Taking Risks 104
The Next Step 105
Part Two. The Workbook
6. Introduction and Outline 125
7. First Assignments 128
8. Exercises: Level 1 133
9. Exercises: Level 2 144
10. Exercises: Level 3 157
11. Exercises: Level 4 173
12. Exercises: Level 5 176
13. Exercises: Level 6 182
appendix a: Anecdotal Material 195
appendix b: A Beat Analysis of Dance in the Sun 200
appendix c: Susanne K. Langer on Performance: A Critique 203
appendix d: “The Duende,” by Federico Garcia Lorca 208
index 217
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