Viewpoints

I really enjoyed doing viewpoints. I mentioned this in the last post, but it challenged me to work with my classmates to achieve a certain goal. I liked the fact that i could go at my own pace at times. I did not need to move to slow or too fast, i just needed to have soft focus and pay attention to what my group members were doing. I feel like when we would walk around the space with music, everyone would come alive and create a character. I know at times i would be frantic, sad, or happy. These emotions would come from how other people's movements made me feel. It was just really awesome to play with that. I really liked when props were thrown in because they added a new element to the group. I was given a mask, and for some reason i really liked having it on. Looking back on it, I seemed like a scary character at first, but then it turned into trying to fit in with the rest of the group. The best part about that was that it was not planned. Like i said, i did that based on the reactions and movements of other people. I had an impulse to do certain things with the mask. Overall, I felt free in every part of viewpoints. I got to let go and connect with my classmates and it was fun. I felt alive and ready for anything that came my way. I guess that is what second circle feels like. I was constantly engaged and ready for possibility. It felt like stage presence, and it was a great feeling. At many times it put a smile on my face. I am glad i got to learn about viewpoints, and I will carry it over to other work that we do.

midterm part 2

Primary control is a dynamic, ever changing relationship that functions all the time, for better or worse, in every position. Our head, neck, and torso all have to be coordinated together in order for our body to function and move. Unreliable sensory appreciation was one of the tougher techniques to understand for me. I hope I explain this correctly, but i think it is just unnecessary tensions in the body. Our bad habits start to feel right to us, when in reality they aren't. The example for me would be slouching. I do not know I am doing it because I have done it for so long to where it starts to feel right. My kinesthetic sense is the reason I feel like it is right. Inhibition is the ability to stop, to delay our response until we are adequately prepared to make it. The example, given in the reading, is when Alexander changed his voice habits due to him being hoarse and his voice failing after a performance. He made the decision to change and fix the problem. If we choose not to respond in a habitual way, this will improve our primary control, which will give us a better balance of body and mind. Direction is giving yourself instruction before you start moving. Possibly like how Alexander gave himself direction to correct his vocals. This direction helped him have better primary control which made his voice stronger. I feel like the ends and means section just talks about the goals of Alexander while combining all of these techniques. He had to establish primary control by giving himself direction, using inhibition, and using unreliable sensory appreciation. Once he figured out his new method, he had to refine it and keep working to get better. These techniques helped him become a better actor and performer.

I am still a little confused about unreliable sensory appreciation. I understand having unnecessary tensions in the body, but I am just not sure in understand the concept of this term. Other than that, I enjoyed this reading and I liked how everything was connected. Alexander's techniques are quite interesting, and I would like to see how I can apply them to my body and overall movements. I want to finish this post with the viewpoints we learned about with Addie this week. I really enjoyed it. I felt present and in the moment, but most importantly I got to connect with my classmates. I do not know how to explain my feelings about everything, but I guess the best way to put it is that I felt like I was stepping outside of myself. I was not reserved or constricted in movement. I had a soft focus and was aware of the people around me and how they made me feel. I thought viewpoints was a great experience, and I did not think about anything, i just had an impulse to do things. Another way to say it is that I felt free, and it was a very good feeling.

Alexander Post

       The life of F.M. Alexander was one of self-discovery and practice. He loved horses and Theatre, especially Shakespeare. He was in school, but had respiratory issues and was taken out of school to be privately educated. At sixteen, financial troubles forced him to leave the country life and move to Mount Bischoff. He worked several jobs, and in the evenings he studied music, drama, and taught himself the violin. His violent temper, recurrent illness, and his distaste for commercial life enabled him to keep a job for very long. This led to him devoting himself to a career in acting. In performing his one-man shows, he found that his voice would fail and he would get very hoarse. The doctors he went to recommended that he rest his voice. There was a point where he rested his voice for two weeks, because he had a big show. During the show, his voice failed and this was a cause for great concern. The doctors recommended more rest, but he decided to take matters into his own hands and see if it was something in his performance that he was doing wrong that caused his voice to fail. He stood in front of a mirror and looked at him self while speaking. He noticed that his neck stiffened, which caused his head to retract, he depressed his larynx, and he took in breath with a gasp. He could not control all of these things, but was successful in pulling his head forward rather than back. This resulted in his voice not failing, and he did not have any lingering respiratory issues. The doctors were shocked and surprised, but were intrigued at his methods, and began to come to him on how to help some patients. These practices grew and led to alexander opening schools and training actors and non-actors on how to use their body properly. His practices ultimately increased quality of life, and trained people how to use their body properly. He died of a short illness in 1955, and his work has always been remembered. 

            "Few of us, hitherto, have given consideration to the question of the extent to which we are individually responsible for the ills our flesh is hier to." We have a choice to use our body properly, to make it more effective on stage. Alexander's bad habits caused problems with his functioning. Using the techniques of Alexander gives you better posture, which allows you to use your body better not just in everyday life, but on stage as well. His methods actually prevented illness and diseases. The toughest thing, is realizing that there is something wrong, and you want to change. Our power of choice is something Alexander calls, "Man's Supreme Inheritance." It is about using yourself in better ways to function, live, and perform. 

            Alexander argued that, "all training, of whatever kind, must be based on the understanding that the human organism always functions as a whole and can only be changed fundamentally as a whole." I think this relates to our discussion of mind and body acting against each other. If your body wants to do something, and your mind is telling you know, then you are not really acting as a whole self. We behave as if all of the things in our body work opposite of each other rather than thinking of ourselves as a whole being. A good point is made that in our education system, we are judged on our test scores, and understanding of the material. This teaches us to use our mind and learn. In physical education, we use our bodies more, but it is seen as just another school subject. I thought the interesting part was the term physical education and how the term suggests that the body and mind can be educated separately. I honestly do not think that is the case. You need your mind, just as well as your body for physical education. If we use our body and mind together, we become a whole person. This will in turn improve our use and functioning of our body as well. 

            I enjoyed reading this, and it all made sense. I never thought of the term physical education like that. Also, I did not know much about Alexander's life prior to this reading, so it was nice to see read about his journey and how he better used his body to become successful.