{"id":19308,"date":"2023-04-13T15:08:43","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T15:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/?p=19308"},"modified":"2023-10-18T00:09:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T00:09:32","slug":"begin-again-acting-for-dancers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/13\/begin-again-acting-for-dancers\/","title":{"rendered":"Begin Again: Acting for Dancers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s my personal belief that at the center of every electrifying dance performance is a story. Even the works that are supposedly plotless have something evocative going on behind the eyes\u2014in the way the body floats, jabs, crumples, and reaches. Sure, dancers tell their own tales from time to time, but more often than not, they embody a character onstage (think&nbsp;Giselle&nbsp;or&nbsp;the Sugar Plum Fairy, for example.) Ultimately, dancers are actors. And yet, most have limited (if any) formal acting training. It\u2019s a truth choreographer Marguerite Derricks often lectures young students on. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dancemagazine.com\/choreographing-for-celebrities\/\">recent interview<\/a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<em>Dance Magazine<\/em>, she told me, \u201cYou can kick and spin and pas de bourr\u00e9e, but the magic is how you put it all together in a story. Acting brings greater depth to your dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I began acting in college while in the depths of my illness. At the time my body was barely functioning well enough to accomplish basic tasks, let alone sustain&nbsp;grand&nbsp;all\u00e9gro. But my heart yearned for performance and creative expression, so I decided to try my hand at something dance adjacent\u2014acting.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Begin Again&quot; Vlog: Episode 18 - Acting for Dancers\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TkobMcO2I28?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>I was terrified on my first day of class. I had no idea what to expect or how to prepare. I wanted to be respectful of the customs of an acting class, and I didn\u2019t want to look silly. (Spoiler alert, there is no way to avoid looking silly, so just lean into it.) I wanted a play-by-play of what to expect, but instead, I had to jump in blind and hope everything went okay. (It did, but I could have done without the added anxiety.)<\/p>\n<p>So for those of you who are looking to improve your dancing through acting, I caught up with my teacher, Andrew Polk, who leads the class I\u2019m taking on on-camera technique at The Freeman Studio. You may recognize him from films like&nbsp;<em>Armageddon Time<\/em>&nbsp;and television shows like&nbsp;<em>Billions<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>House of Cards<\/em>, and more.&nbsp;Here, he shares what to expect, how to prepare, and what he thinks dancers could take away from a class like his.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to Expect<\/h2>\n<p>First, it\u2019s important to know that every acting class is going to be a little bit different. Each teacher will have a unique approach, and the medium (theater or on-camera) will change the experience entirely. For example,&nbsp;Polk wants dancers to know that they are not at a disadvantage in an on-camera class because they don\u2019t have heavy theater training as actors. \u201cWorking on camera is like another art form. It\u2019s like you were playing basketball your whole life and then someone asked you to play the violin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That said, you can likely plan on a few things regardless of the teacher or medium. First, you will likely perform a scene at the front of the room with your teacher and class watching. Then the teacher will provide feedback for you to apply to your work (just like in a dance class). You will then have the opportunity to watch other class members perform their respective scenes, as well.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video autoplay loop muted src=\"https:\/\/www.dancemagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/giphy-1.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Prepare<\/h2>\n<p>For Polk\u2019s class, scene assignments are sent out a few days before the first day of class and we are expected to have done text analysis and be off-book (memorized) by the time class begins.&nbsp;Each subsequent week follows this same pattern. In other courses I\u2019ve taken in college or at&nbsp;The Freeman Studio, the first day of class has been more of an introduction to the course while the teacher outlines their expectations, and then we\u2019re expected to be off-book by the next class. If your instructor doesn\u2019t send out an email ahead of time to let you know what to prepare, I recommend reaching out and politely asking what their expectations are for your first day.<\/p>\n<p>You can prepare by reading the scene, digging into the given circumstances, and familiarizing yourself with your character (and, of course, your lines). \u201cPreparation is necessary\u2014you need that kind of discipline,\u201d Polk says.\u201d&nbsp;Even more important than that, he wants you to bring your instincts.&nbsp;\u201cA lot of what I teach is to trust your instinctual response to the material,\u201d&nbsp;he&nbsp;says. \u201cOften that is hard. A lot of people want to approach things the right way, but there is no \u2018right way.\u2019 Dancers are really in touch with their instincts and their bodies, and I think that would be very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Classroom Rules<\/h2>\n<p>Each acting teacher will have different expectations for classroom etiquette, but for&nbsp;Polk, he wants students to be prepared, on time, and void of judgment. \u201cDon\u2019t judge your character or other actors,\u201d&nbsp;he&nbsp;says. \u201cIn my class you spend a lot of time watching others. We are not there to perform for each other, we are there to work. So when you see other people work, you shouldn\u2019t judge them, you should imagine you&nbsp;<em>are<\/em>&nbsp;them. It\u2019s a really great way to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Polk Believes Dancers Can Benefit From Acting<\/h2>\n<p>When students finish a cycle of his class, Polk hopes they know what it feels like to successfully act for the camera.&nbsp;\u201cI want them to have progressed,\u201d&nbsp;he&nbsp;says.&nbsp;For dancers specifically, he would hope that a class like his would expand their performance.&nbsp;\u201cCan you tell a story that is not technical? Can you let go of your technical ability and lean into the story and into the character and be messy? If you are creating life, if you are creating a moment, that is what you are aiming for. That is the main challenge and reward for a dancer who is not used to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Curious about what an acting class actually looks like? Head on over to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@DanceMagazine\"><em>Dance Magazine<\/em>\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>.&nbsp;There I share a day in my life as I prepare for, and attend, one of&nbsp;Polk\u2019s \u201cOn Camera Technique\u201d classes.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dancemagazine.com\/begin-again-acting-dancers\/\">Begin Again: Acting for Dancers<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dancemagazine.com\">Dance Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text-justify mb-2\" >It\u2019s my personal belief that at the center of every electrifying dance performance is a story. Even the works that are supposedly plotless have something evocative going on behind the eyes\u2014in the way the body floats, jabs, crumples, and reaches. Sure, dancers tell their own [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19308"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19309,"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19308\/revisions\/19309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leigh-annemccaguecouture.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}