Re: RAT Words

[Anntracy1@aol.com]

hi there.....
this is Ann Tracy from Beyond the Proscenium in Sacramento....

vis-a-vis the Anne Bogart thing....  having done a workshop with her 
Viewpoints and with her SITI company...  I probably have a slightly different 
perspective....

I think  her ultimate aim is to reunite the actor's mind and body with her 
technique.  Let's face it most American actor training... is very 
intellectual, head-oriented....  there are very few people out there trying 
to do this, that I know of....  it's just a different way to work.  might 
work for you, might not.

When I was in Europe and then performing in Edinburgh at the Fringe, I 
noticed that many of the German and Polish companies I saw seemed to have a 
fuller total body committment to their work - they were very physical... In 
fact, some of the best theatre I saw was in German and Polish... and even 
though I didn't know the language, I did understand the shows... of course 
many of them were variations on Shakespeare, so I did know the basic plot 
lines and characters...  but even in the more obscure plays that I wasn't 
familar with, the actors had so unified their heads and bodies, that the work 
was dynamic and brilliant.

so... I guess what I'm saying... is that you can be in your head (as we all 
are typing these words on the screen) but I wouldn't knock something unless I 
had direct experience with it....  so check out Bogart's work, or do a 
workshop and see what happens....

ann