Meyerhold's Etude - The Slap - An Acting Exercise
Written By Krista KaufmanI recently signed up for a course at the Open University care of Future Learn. I always enjoy their courses. One can learn quite a lot!
I found this course a short study about Meyerhold and his study on Acting Etudes quite informative and made me examine the motivation of it all. To discover; what was the lesson underlying it all?
Physical Theatre: Exploring the Slap University of Leeds
Here is what I discovered. The video of the Etude known as - The Slap is linked below. This is my commentary on it.
Meyerhold's Acting Etude -The Slap
Written By Krista KaufmanI recently signed up for a course at the Open University care of Future Learn. I always enjoy their courses. One can learn quite a lot!
I found this course a short study about Meyerhold and his study on Acting Etudes quite informative and made me examine the motivation of it all. To discover; what was the lesson underlying it all?
Physical Theatre: Exploring the Slap University of Leeds
Here is what I discovered. The video of the Etude known as - The Slap is linked below. This is my commentary on it.
Meyerhold's Acting Etude -The Slap
This etude shows that the passive is counter point to the active person in the scene.
Seeking to create balance and harmony.
That they are always engaging one another with the passive one making response in partnership to the active player almost mirroring them in the scene.
It then culminates with the full active players exuberance propelling the action forward in antagonism causing conflict and drama to the scene, with the passive players action compelled to change to the full active responder.
Seeking to create balance and harmony.
That they are always engaging one another with the passive one making response in partnership to the active player almost mirroring them in the scene.
It then culminates with the full active players exuberance propelling the action forward in antagonism causing conflict and drama to the scene, with the passive players action compelled to change to the full active responder.
The passive player changes to the dominant player for a short time, they now are leading the climatic action by response and the formerly active player then playing counter point to their response by reacting in partnership being passive.
The previous passive player individualizes now, takes the active lead being compelled to action.
Its full realization culminate in them being out of step, in conflict, forced to react.
Being violently put out of step and balance. They have a choice to make. What will their next action be? Confront the antagonist? Fight or Flight? Do they run? They decide. Then, as if uneasy by the imbalance, quickly they return to the interplay of the juxtaposition of counterpoint to each. They decide to remain subordinate, passive and they return to the status quo. Why to seek balance. Harmony. They quickly return to their old habit of mirroring the active party.
Its full realization culminate in them being out of step, in conflict, forced to react.
Being violently put out of step and balance. They have a choice to make. What will their next action be? Confront the antagonist? Fight or Flight? Do they run? They decide. Then, as if uneasy by the imbalance, quickly they return to the interplay of the juxtaposition of counterpoint to each. They decide to remain subordinate, passive and they return to the status quo. Why to seek balance. Harmony. They quickly return to their old habit of mirroring the active party.
Seeking harmony is their priority.
Denouement: They return to the former status quo and go back to the old habit of mirroring to create balance harmony and shift of power. Recreating the same patterns of partnership and interplay that previously existed to be in step and exist in harmony and partnership.
Denouement: They return to the former status quo and go back to the old habit of mirroring to create balance harmony and shift of power. Recreating the same patterns of partnership and interplay that previously existed to be in step and exist in harmony and partnership.
The active player who antagonized the conflict to individualize themselves, by forcing the passive to take some response of their own, to create the conflict to be independent.
The passive seems to know when the conflict increases anticipates it and knows the the active will strike and always plays counterpoint. In fact seems to prepare for it. Only differentiating the action , not mirroring by being in unison, with no other intent except to counter that of the active until their passive choice is prevented by the aggression then forced upon them in conflict. The passive is thrust into being made active and the only active choice made is to return to passivity to keep peace be in harmony. To do otherwise would be to oppose and the conflict would escalate. They choose to be weak rather than strong and oppose the aggression seeking to avoid the conflict.
The passive seems to know when the conflict increases anticipates it and knows the the active will strike and always plays counterpoint. In fact seems to prepare for it. Only differentiating the action , not mirroring by being in unison, with no other intent except to counter that of the active until their passive choice is prevented by the aggression then forced upon them in conflict. The passive is thrust into being made active and the only active choice made is to return to passivity to keep peace be in harmony. To do otherwise would be to oppose and the conflict would escalate. They choose to be weak rather than strong and oppose the aggression seeking to avoid the conflict.
At no time does the passive/ then active temporarily cause themselves to individuate to alter movement out of sync to the active to avoid the slap. They are submissive and co-dependant. They never do become the dominant but always remain passive and submissive to the active player.
Whoever dominants and is the stronger active lead starts and finishes there, unless some uncharacteristic action of independence by the passive culminates in full separation and individuation of their own unique purpose. As if they need to find other motivation than to play the actives counterpoint to actually change things and alter course resulting in the same fate time and again.
That would cause power to shift and alter the whole dynamic of the social environment.
Upheaval.
As they find new purpose with the formerly active dominant would then need new purpose other than to control the passive.
It would dramatically change things! Lead to a new resolution or result. Whether good or bad is subjective. Depending on the relationship it could be good or bad.
If it was an abusive relationship then good for the sake of safety. Bad if it causes a divorce and a family to be torn apart.
There is so much STORY in a scenario like this! It is evidence of some of the basic building blocks needed to tell a story.
Upheaval.
As they find new purpose with the formerly active dominant would then need new purpose other than to control the passive.
It would dramatically change things! Lead to a new resolution or result. Whether good or bad is subjective. Depending on the relationship it could be good or bad.
If it was an abusive relationship then good for the sake of safety. Bad if it causes a divorce and a family to be torn apart.
There is so much STORY in a scenario like this! It is evidence of some of the basic building blocks needed to tell a story.
The acting lesson would teach about finding the purpose and motivation in each scene.
Making dramatic, very apparent who has the power and who does not.
That conflict is created by throwing the power imbalance off being out of step and at odds with the other player increasing tension and bringing the scene to a forced climax with the denouement after being a result of the choices the passive player makes.
Do they take action to change things for the better? Avoid harm or confront it? Or simply remain passive, counterpoint to the aggressor until they can't take it anymore.
Each dramatic scene culminates by what ever forces the status quo to change.
By the status quo being out of balance.
When a change is needed to shift focus and motivation and purpose or a simple, defeated mentality, of returning to the old habits or complacency to go back to status quo.
Making dramatic, very apparent who has the power and who does not.
That conflict is created by throwing the power imbalance off being out of step and at odds with the other player increasing tension and bringing the scene to a forced climax with the denouement after being a result of the choices the passive player makes.
Do they take action to change things for the better? Avoid harm or confront it? Or simply remain passive, counterpoint to the aggressor until they can't take it anymore.
Each dramatic scene culminates by what ever forces the status quo to change.
By the status quo being out of balance.
When a change is needed to shift focus and motivation and purpose or a simple, defeated mentality, of returning to the old habits or complacency to go back to status quo.
This basic premise is at the heart of every story.
Wanting the underdog, or passive player to make a change. Be an individual, to achieve something. Make choices, take action, succeed.
Wanting the underdog, or passive player to make a change. Be an individual, to achieve something. Make choices, take action, succeed.
But do they always? No.
Often it takes a catalyst, the moment when life changes irrevocably and life can no longer go back to the same old status quo to set a new course of events and put story into dramatic motion!
Events and circumstances antagonize us. Or people do. Or the choices we make, or fail to make, until there is no other choice but to take action.
Events and circumstances antagonize us. Or people do. Or the choices we make, or fail to make, until there is no other choice but to take action.
More times than not we try to go back to the comfortable. Habits. Try and seek balance in that way. But it is a perpetual cycle of failure and passivity that leads to defeat. Defeat of purpose. All because of lack of purpose, motivation or plan.
The only way to conquer it is not to be defensive, or reactionary to life circumstances but rather to be proactive! Make choices! Take dramatic action according to purpose and plan! That is how to succeed.
That is the underlying STORY we all want to see on screen. On television and in cinema! We want the Hero to conquer the antagonist, overcome all the obstacles and finally achieve their goals. We want to see them be PROACTIVE in life! To win. To have the VICTORY! We all want that happy resolution and denouement at the end.
That is the underlying STORY we all want to see on screen. On television and in cinema! We want the Hero to conquer the antagonist, overcome all the obstacles and finally achieve their goals. We want to see them be PROACTIVE in life! To win. To have the VICTORY! We all want that happy resolution and denouement at the end.
That is how to avoid the antagonists and how to succeed by being PROACTIVE! Making choices in ones own best interest and not the others. To be purpose driven with motivation to stay on track and achieve ones goals.
The passive HERO has to be no longer willing to be counterpoint to the active antagonists step, to make their choices in life, to actively be on the OFFENSIVE and NOT the DEFENSIVE of their antagonists actions or aggressions.
The HERO will only succeed and evade it by being in step with their own choice and ACTIVELY going on the offensive and thereby avoiding and EVADING the antagonist and their traps!
THAT leads to victory! THAT is the success we all want to see. With the formerly passive HERO being now changed and suddenly PROACTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL!
The passive HERO has to be no longer willing to be counterpoint to the active antagonists step, to make their choices in life, to actively be on the OFFENSIVE and NOT the DEFENSIVE of their antagonists actions or aggressions.
The HERO will only succeed and evade it by being in step with their own choice and ACTIVELY going on the offensive and thereby avoiding and EVADING the antagonist and their traps!
THAT leads to victory! THAT is the success we all want to see. With the formerly passive HERO being now changed and suddenly PROACTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL!
That is what the audience craves and wants as resolution, NOT a return to status quo BUT rather a full culmination and climax propelling the Protagonist and Hero forward on their journey!
Every acting lesson ULTIMATELY seeks to TEACH THAT! Because it is at the HEART OF EVERY STORY!
To find ones OWN PURPOSE and MOTIVATION!
To find ones OWN PURPOSE and MOTIVATION!
It is how people prevail.
How we win.
How we succeed in life.
We learn by watching others, to see what it takes to succeed.
Watch what we can learn to avoid, by seeking to avoid making the same mistakes they did.
That is why people crave story.
It teaches us how to survive and thrive in our culture in our very own lives!
It is the heart of every story and underlying theme and message at the core of every film, television show or book we read and stage play we see. It is the need to see the protagonist achieve their goals, ambitions, and dreams. To watch them fulfill their purpose and achieve their motivation to succeed. THAT is happiness. That is what we all strive for in life. To fulfill our calling and our destiny and reach our fate.
We all hope and pray it is a good one in the end!
With the --Grace of God-- Let that BE! For us ALL! Amen! :)
How we win.
How we succeed in life.
We learn by watching others, to see what it takes to succeed.
Watch what we can learn to avoid, by seeking to avoid making the same mistakes they did.
That is why people crave story.
It teaches us how to survive and thrive in our culture in our very own lives!
It is the heart of every story and underlying theme and message at the core of every film, television show or book we read and stage play we see. It is the need to see the protagonist achieve their goals, ambitions, and dreams. To watch them fulfill their purpose and achieve their motivation to succeed. THAT is happiness. That is what we all strive for in life. To fulfill our calling and our destiny and reach our fate.
We all hope and pray it is a good one in the end!
With the --Grace of God-- Let that BE! For us ALL! Amen! :)
https://view.vzaar.com/6761623/video
- Video Attribution -Courtesy of the Open University - University of Leeds
Meyerhold_reads_Chekhov's_The_Seagull_in_1898
Here is some basic terms for Meyerholds- Biomechanic approach.
Biomechanics
•collective term for Meyerhold’s training exercises after the Revolution. Can encompass the simplest tricks, right the way through to the most complex of improvisations.
Tradition
•a discernible history of actor training ideas, passed on from teacher to student, and constantly undergoing change. A tradition is defined by its opposite term – innovation.
Playfulness
•the sense of lightness, fun and irreverence needed in the biomechanical actor to keep the actions from being simply mechanical. Related to some of Meyerhold’s influences, for instance circus and commedia dell’arte.
Commedia dell’arte
•playful and improvisational popular theatre form emerging from Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Used stock characters, masks and knockabout antics known as lazzi. An important influence for Meyerhold and the études.
Stylisation
•Meyerhold’s term for a theatre that rebelled against the style of naturalism. Stylised theatre celebrated its own theatricality, and did not try to conceal it. Biomechanics was a training devised to deliver Meyerhold’s model of stylisation: rhythmically exact, consciously choreographed and exploiting a direct and playful relationship to the audience.
Musicality
•both a literal and metaphoric use of music in Meyerhold’s theatre – literally when he structured his productions to meet an exacting musical score (e.g in Lady of the Camellias, 1934) and metaphorically when he demanded the smooth flowing, rhythmically-exact quality of music in his actors’ work.
Etude
•literally: study. In both music and in theatre, used as a term to describe a repeatable and challenging exercise task. Should never be shown as part of a performance.
Embodied knowledge-learning through Etudes
•knowledge that is retained, often unconsciously, in the muscles and bones of the participant, rather than as rationalised thought processes.
Active
•the state of the leading partner in any pair étude (including the slap). The active partner dictates the rhythm of the étude until halfway through (in the example of the slap). After that, active and passive swap.
Passive
•the state of the following partner in any pair étude (including the slap). The passive partner follows closely the rhythms of the active partner until a point in the étude where they swap.
Rhythm
•in biomechanics, this is the three-fold structure of otkaz, posil and tochka. More generally it is the conscious, musically-inspired composition of an action, a scene, or a whole production. Rhythm is everything in Meyerhold’s theatre.
Otkaz
•biomechanics terminology for the first action in the tripartite (three-fold) rhythm of each action in the études. Otkaz is the preparation before the action itself, often signalling a small movement in the opposite direction.
Posil
•biomechanics terminology for the second action in the tripartite (three-fold) rhythm of each action in the études. Posil, literally meaning ‘to send’, is the action itself – of throwing, slapping, shaking etc
tochka/stoika
Vsevolod Meyerhold
Theatre Director Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre. During the Great Purge, Meyerhold was arrested, tortured and executed in February 1940.
He created Etudes on Acting based on Stylisation of Biometrics.
He created Etudes on Acting based on Stylisation of Biometrics.
Here is some basic terms for Meyerholds- Biomechanic approach.
Biomechanics
•collective term for Meyerhold’s training exercises after the Revolution. Can encompass the simplest tricks, right the way through to the most complex of improvisations.
Tradition
•a discernible history of actor training ideas, passed on from teacher to student, and constantly undergoing change. A tradition is defined by its opposite term – innovation.
Playfulness
•the sense of lightness, fun and irreverence needed in the biomechanical actor to keep the actions from being simply mechanical. Related to some of Meyerhold’s influences, for instance circus and commedia dell’arte.
Commedia dell’arte
•playful and improvisational popular theatre form emerging from Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Used stock characters, masks and knockabout antics known as lazzi. An important influence for Meyerhold and the études.
Stylisation
•Meyerhold’s term for a theatre that rebelled against the style of naturalism. Stylised theatre celebrated its own theatricality, and did not try to conceal it. Biomechanics was a training devised to deliver Meyerhold’s model of stylisation: rhythmically exact, consciously choreographed and exploiting a direct and playful relationship to the audience.
Musicality
•both a literal and metaphoric use of music in Meyerhold’s theatre – literally when he structured his productions to meet an exacting musical score (e.g in Lady of the Camellias, 1934) and metaphorically when he demanded the smooth flowing, rhythmically-exact quality of music in his actors’ work.
Etude
•literally: study. In both music and in theatre, used as a term to describe a repeatable and challenging exercise task. Should never be shown as part of a performance.
Embodied knowledge-learning through Etudes
•knowledge that is retained, often unconsciously, in the muscles and bones of the participant, rather than as rationalised thought processes.
Active
•the state of the leading partner in any pair étude (including the slap). The active partner dictates the rhythm of the étude until halfway through (in the example of the slap). After that, active and passive swap.
Passive
•the state of the following partner in any pair étude (including the slap). The passive partner follows closely the rhythms of the active partner until a point in the étude where they swap.
Rhythm
•in biomechanics, this is the three-fold structure of otkaz, posil and tochka. More generally it is the conscious, musically-inspired composition of an action, a scene, or a whole production. Rhythm is everything in Meyerhold’s theatre.
Otkaz
•biomechanics terminology for the first action in the tripartite (three-fold) rhythm of each action in the études. Otkaz is the preparation before the action itself, often signalling a small movement in the opposite direction.
Posil
•biomechanics terminology for the second action in the tripartite (three-fold) rhythm of each action in the études. Posil, literally meaning ‘to send’, is the action itself – of throwing, slapping, shaking etc
tochka/stoika
•biomechanics terminology for the third action in the tripartite (three-fold) rhythm of each action in the études. Tochka, is the moment of settling and pause after the action itself. Never to be thought of as a final point, it always anticipates further action. Some practitioners use the term stoika, literally ‘stance’, instead.
In biomechanics, the three-fold almost musical structure of otkaz, posil and tochka.
The action, in a scene, or a whole production the rhythm is everything in Meyerhold’s theatre.
It creates the action and pacing.
With people making momentum counter to the following action, opposite of what is coming, then making the dramatic gesture with increased pace and momentum then the reaction to the culmination and climactic action.
The three part orchestration of a scene that provide drama through the conflict created by active and passive.
In the Etude- The Slap it is the aggression and antagonism the compels the reaction and the passive player being forced to react suddenly then consider whether remaining in conflict or whether to return to passivity for the sake of balance and harmony to resolve discord.
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