Resources for any and ALL participants in our workshops at Texas State University San Marcos
This page will be updated throughout the week, so please check back soon!
Where Do We Start: tips and tools for self producing creative work - Thursday, Feb 24 at 1:00
Start with Art - What do you want to do? What do you feel in your soul must get out into the world?
Know Yourself - Check out the Enneagram and learn more about who you might be and who folks around you interact with life!
Find Your People - Sometimes “your people” are the folks directly around you in your department/class. Sometimes “your people” are across campus in a completely different discipline. And sometimes “your people” are discovered in the unlikeliest places. Keep your mind open to who these people could be
Put a Date on the Calendar - Set a goal. Maybe you just present the MVP (minimum viable product) of your Art, your Idea, your Concept. But DO IT.
Fringe - Find a festival! CAFF: https://fringefestivals.com/ Edinburgh: https://www.edfringe.com/ USAFF: https://www.usaff.org/ Orlando: https://orlandofringe.org/ And check out the documentary.
You Are Your Instrument: Performance Workshop for Vocalists - Thursday, Feb 24 3:30
Yogic breathing - we did a shortened Sun Salutation concentrating on connecting breath to body, keeping both body and breath moving
Tuning Meditation by Pauline Oliveros - “Using any vowel sound, sing a tone you hear in your imagination. After contributing your tone, listen for someone else’s tone and tune to its pitch as exactly as possible. Continue by alternating between singing a tone of your own and tuning to the tone of another voice. Introduce new tones at will and tune to as many different voices as are present. Sing warmly.” This exercise got our voices working in a tuneful manner while opening our ears to all the possibilities available to us in the room.
Gesture Telephone - we took a ball of energy, defined and shaped it, then passed it around the circle. This helped bring our creativity from the inside to the outside, connected us with folks on either side of us, made something out of an abstract concept. We also incorporated our voices in unconventional ways to help describe the object we saw in our imaginations.
Stage Presence 101 - Thursday, Feb 24 6:30
How to Take a Bow - This is an important thing to learn! Your audience is there to see your performance and taking a bow is your way of thanking them for joining you, and humbling yourself when they appreciate your efforts. To take a bow, first acknowledge the applause by looking at your audience. Utilize eye contact - they’re people like you! Then, fold at the waist, humbling yourself. Look at your toes and take a breath. Come back up and continue smiling (with teeth!) and looking at your audience, accepting the adulation. Then, continue with your day (exit the stage, begin the piece, talk to the audience etc).
Subtext! - The subtext you give yourself before you enter the stage matters and impacts your first impression not just for the audience, but for yourself. There is a story that before George Clooney became famous, he wasn’t winning any auditions. He realized that the folks on the other side of the casting table were praying for the right person. So, he changed how he entered the room. He would introduce himself (“Hello, my name is George Clooney.”) and then in his mind he would say, “and I might be the answer to your prayers.” This change of subtext in how he entered that audition space is what made him start getting cast in roles. It’s about supporting yourself and finding the right energy to send you on stage
Alphabet - We sent an alphabet around the circle, sending and receiving information. We used eye contact to establish a human connection. We then added using a stage voice to help better communicate with our audiences and each other. Adding additional alphabets split our focus and challenged us to stay in the moment - something that’s incredibly important when we’re onstage.
Music for Dancers: You Are Your Instrument - Friday, Feb 25 11:00
Grouping Game - This is a silly thing and we’re going to enjoy being silly together.
Pass the Face - Send a face and noise around the circle. Basically a game of telephone in which the you copy only what you see and directly before you. Fast paced!
Tuning Meditation by Pauline Oliveros - “Using any vowel sound, sing a tone you hear in your imagination. After contributing your tone, listen for someone else’s tone and tune to its pitch as exactly as possible. Continue by alternating between singing a tone of your own and tuning to the tone of another voice. Introduce new tones at will and tune to as many different voices as are present. Sing warmly.” This exercise got our voices working in a tuneful manner while opening our ears to all the possibilities available to us in the room.
Moving Meditation -
Sway. Find a group tempo. Hold and maintain tempo. You have the choice to hold for a count then switch oscillation
Start with Step 1. You can now add a gesture with your upper body that you’ll repeat. Others can copy or offer their own
(optional) Morphs into flocking
Moving in a Soundscape - Move to the soundscape you are hearing. How does it make you feel. To add on, follow sounds of an individual musician as opposed to the entire ensemble
North South East West - Beginning in quartets all facing one direction, the leader initiates a gesture, trying to be as clear as possible. These gestures are repeated, but morph into new gestures. The leader can turn the diamond quartet to create a new leader, who takes the previous gesture and makes it their own, morphing it into something new.
NSEW with earbuds and musical embodiment - Begin in the same orientation, but this time the leader is wearing wireless headphones and is moving to the music only they can hear. It is their job to physically convey their music to the rest of the ensemble. As the leadership changes to a new person, the new leader can at first attempt to keep that silent music alive, but can also change it to something else. How does that effect what the original leader is feeling since they can still hear the original music?
The Games: Hybrid Arts Activities for Interdisciplinary Education - Friday, Feb 25 4:00
Alphabet - finding a common tempo, maintaining a beat, alphabet practice, attention, focus, giving and receiving information, can be dynamics, can be notes of a scale, adjusting tempo
Ways of Walking/Walking in a Soundscape - having music in mind, responding to music, creative movement, connect dynamics to force of movement, cross-connecting artistic expression vocabulary, experiencing music
Crazy Conductor - rhythm, dynamics, pitch, leading, watching, expression
Fruit Basket - ostinatos, tempo, dynamics, combining sound and gesture, listening, leading musical changes
NSEW - leading/following, ensemble skills, clarity of intent, cueing, paying attention to the larger gesture, paying attention to small details, macro- and micro- moments
Machines - ensemble skills, listening, looping, consistency, improvisation