The work of master acting coach Sanford Meisner is what's used in Meisner acting classes, and are comprised of a series of exercises, designed to build increasingly sophisticated acting tools as you progress. A student that experiences Meisner acting classes will soon discover that they will never be done learning the craft of acting. Phrases such as improvisation, personal response, emotional memory, emotional preparation will take on new meaning for the student as they work through these exercises from simple repetitive phrase exercises to scene studies with complex texts.
At first, a student of Meisner acting classes often thinks that the exercises are simplistic and perhaps a little silly, since the initial exercises use no text, there are no lines, no story. This is so the student will tune into the subtle changes in the meaning of simple repetitive phrases as they are said back and forth between them and an acting partner, which changes the meaning of the phrase and helps them recognize the emotional shifts. Fine tuning this reliance on emotional reaction, on committing in the moment, to the action that is happening, and to creating a new reality in the moment is what professional Meisner acting classes are about.
Fond of asking pointed questions of students to help them recognize what how they might be falling short, Meisner continually challenged students to commit and have a purpose for to every action and emotional response. Even listening or sleeping is thought of as an "action" and has a purpose when using the Meisner technique. Known to be a brilliant, yet tough task master, Meisner believed that "acting is doing," even if the moment in a piece calls for silence. If one had to sum up his theory about acting, it would be his other well known quote "an ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words." Dialogue is all important as it tells the story and shows the characters, but unless spoken by an actor working truthfully and authentically, the words won't matter.
The more immersed an actor can be the new reality that is being created, even if during a simple exercise, the more likely it is that they will be able to act in the moment. Acting classes nyc can teach you to take the sounds, feelings, emotions, the physical space, the emotions of others and incorporate it into a moment by moment performance, even if you are just participating in an exercise. This can eliminate bad acting habits, such as "pretending" rather than "being." Once bad habits are broken in Meisner acting classes an actor becomes completely self forgetful, able to "be" someone else, rather than merely pretending. Being mindful, with zero self awareness, of the new reality being created in a piece and being present in it fully as a character, is the greatest experience an actor can have. If this sounds difficult, then this training might be for you. Any actor that believes that delivering dialogue and reading lines as a character, full of the appropriate emotions and personalty, is in for some serious work. The Meisner acting technique will force you to work far more deeply than that. First, you become a different person, aware of your habits and pre-programmed emotional responses, and then you learn to do it all over again as a character. The work challenges you to become someone new, someone that constantly evolves, as the work moves forward.
Students learn to recognize the emotional truth in acting, the goal Meisner classes. This involves behavioral theories, including the elements of adaptation and communication which were aspects of the discipline known as Method acting. Sanford Meisner felt that American acting was different and put his own unique stamp on the training, while at the same time developing a whole new system, which has produced some of the greatest actors of all time.
In order to generate truthful behavior in a new imagined reality, which is what theatre and film are about, an actor must focus on two things: the other actors they are playing with and moving forward in a committed way to the next moment in the scene. If they are open, and have achieved self forgetfulness, the impulses generated by fellow actors will feed this forward, moment-by-moment movement. A performance based on these principles with have a spontaneity and an authenticity that is guaranteed to be mesmerizing. This, in fact, mimics life. This is, in fact, how we live; having no idea what may happen at any moment, how others might react, what they will say, what we will say in return. Gaining the ability to create this kind of spontaneity onstage with other actors, the lines and story emerging brand new every second, is the most rewarding things you will learn in Meisner acting.
At first, a student of Meisner acting classes often thinks that the exercises are simplistic and perhaps a little silly, since the initial exercises use no text, there are no lines, no story. This is so the student will tune into the subtle changes in the meaning of simple repetitive phrases as they are said back and forth between them and an acting partner, which changes the meaning of the phrase and helps them recognize the emotional shifts. Fine tuning this reliance on emotional reaction, on committing in the moment, to the action that is happening, and to creating a new reality in the moment is what professional Meisner acting classes are about.
Fond of asking pointed questions of students to help them recognize what how they might be falling short, Meisner continually challenged students to commit and have a purpose for to every action and emotional response. Even listening or sleeping is thought of as an "action" and has a purpose when using the Meisner technique. Known to be a brilliant, yet tough task master, Meisner believed that "acting is doing," even if the moment in a piece calls for silence. If one had to sum up his theory about acting, it would be his other well known quote "an ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words." Dialogue is all important as it tells the story and shows the characters, but unless spoken by an actor working truthfully and authentically, the words won't matter.
The more immersed an actor can be the new reality that is being created, even if during a simple exercise, the more likely it is that they will be able to act in the moment. Acting classes nyc can teach you to take the sounds, feelings, emotions, the physical space, the emotions of others and incorporate it into a moment by moment performance, even if you are just participating in an exercise. This can eliminate bad acting habits, such as "pretending" rather than "being." Once bad habits are broken in Meisner acting classes an actor becomes completely self forgetful, able to "be" someone else, rather than merely pretending. Being mindful, with zero self awareness, of the new reality being created in a piece and being present in it fully as a character, is the greatest experience an actor can have. If this sounds difficult, then this training might be for you. Any actor that believes that delivering dialogue and reading lines as a character, full of the appropriate emotions and personalty, is in for some serious work. The Meisner acting technique will force you to work far more deeply than that. First, you become a different person, aware of your habits and pre-programmed emotional responses, and then you learn to do it all over again as a character. The work challenges you to become someone new, someone that constantly evolves, as the work moves forward.
Students learn to recognize the emotional truth in acting, the goal Meisner classes. This involves behavioral theories, including the elements of adaptation and communication which were aspects of the discipline known as Method acting. Sanford Meisner felt that American acting was different and put his own unique stamp on the training, while at the same time developing a whole new system, which has produced some of the greatest actors of all time.
In order to generate truthful behavior in a new imagined reality, which is what theatre and film are about, an actor must focus on two things: the other actors they are playing with and moving forward in a committed way to the next moment in the scene. If they are open, and have achieved self forgetfulness, the impulses generated by fellow actors will feed this forward, moment-by-moment movement. A performance based on these principles with have a spontaneity and an authenticity that is guaranteed to be mesmerizing. This, in fact, mimics life. This is, in fact, how we live; having no idea what may happen at any moment, how others might react, what they will say, what we will say in return. Gaining the ability to create this kind of spontaneity onstage with other actors, the lines and story emerging brand new every second, is the most rewarding things you will learn in Meisner acting.
About the Author:
The Maggie Flanigan Studio provides acting classes nyc for serious, committed actors. To learn more about meisner summer intensive you can visit the studio website.
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