Exercises 1

Grid work was our first focus in the lesson; this consisted of following imaginary grid lines on the floor. The objective at first was just to walk on these lines making sure not to fall of them, and to continuously fill empty spaces and make strong conscious decisions. Music accompanied us in this exercise, Sarah would repeat the beginning of the tracks again and again (heavy bass tracks from an album by Flume), this evoked a mental and physical urge to move my body faster and in time with the fast pace of the track. I noticed certain things about the way I responded to the music, such as making a sharp turn when the music dropped, or dramatically changed. I noticed this in others around me as well as we would turn at the same time and bump into each other, I found this similarity in the effect the music had on me and others really interesting. A new objective was then introduced this was to imagine an object, a human or a thing that you really wanted, and that was what was at the end of the grid lines. I instantly picked up the pace and started to walk with more energy and purpose, causing me to get physically tired the words ‘ you are not working hard enough’ and ‘push harder’  where repeatedly shouted, which in hand with the music was very hard hitting, this pushed me continuously further then I had previously been working. This exercise definitely warmed us up in all aspects as I felt more alert, more open and definitely warmer.  This grid exercise related to Artaud in the respect that as a practitioner he was not structured and select and many of his exercises prime purpose was to get the actors to open their minds and be more broad with meaning, his work was very free which acted as a disadvantage at the time as this made his work unpopular.

The knee game was physically gruelling, constantly I was twisting and turning my body to try and hit my partner Esme behind her knee. I found this really difficult as I was already exhausted from the previous task , but was still pushing myself harder and at a faster pace. The objective was clear and achievable therefore I felt more confident in achieving it this gave me more physical and mental power. I thought this task was successful in the respect that it got me working hard and thinking solely about the space and the objective, I also felt more at one with my body as I was working instinctively. The music again made me move faster and mimic its rhythm and beat. The fishing game followed after this, where a two partners stand either end of the room. One is the hooker and one is the hookee ( the thing being hooked). When I was the hooker I had to believe that I was really pulling the hookee in, that meant a strong throw of the hook and vigorous pulling of the imaginary rope or string. My arms and face where working the hardest here, my face showed strain and determination and my arms where strong and tense as they worked hard to bring my partner in. When being the hookee all body parts where working hard as I had to spontaneously move my body as if I were being pulled, my legs where kicking, my arms where  tense and scratching at the floor and my head and face where reacting to the harsh jolted pull on my body. The music again created a harsh and heavy atmosphere that matched the exercise.

Stopping your partner from leaving was the most physically challenging task in the lesson as between two partners the only objective was for A to stop B from leaving by any means possible. I was A to start with this consisted of me throwing myself on my partner Tyler and doing whatever it took to keep him from leaving me. Doing this cleared my mind as I became completely involved and infatuated by Tyler , my objective became my soul purpose in life therefore I threw my whole being into stopping Tyler. When I was B I felt oblivious to Tyler and my only objective was to keep walking no matter what, my surrounding became very minimal and I was only focused on walking to whatever was in front of me.  This task was insightful as I found the lengths I would go to to stop someone and how easy it was for me to block someone out and focus on one thing. Working in the dark was a new thing that was introduced this lesson, closing your eyes and the ability to not see gave me stronger senses and quicker instinct, this exercise was solely based on natural instinct and personal decisions. The music was turned on and we where to start moving naturally, feeling the music and responding to it. This task allowed me to connect my body and mind with music, the beginning of the track was slow and built up so my body started with a little bop and then progressed to more jumpy and violent movements. We did this exercise for around 40 minutes so after a while ( around ½ hour)  I was not able to make my body do what I wanted it to because it was so physically drained and tired, I had pushed my body to a limit it could not pass. My body felt chemistry and at one with the music and the lights off helped to strengthen the connection and made me personally feel more susceptible to anything that I felt like doing.