I'm teaching 2 classes in October - the long one

Here's a sneak peek at what I'm offering at Bellevue Community College. Neither of these is the scene study I've taught for seven years. In fact, Improv actually has NO out-of-class rehearsal. I'm posting the info here, because many actors read my blog.

For out-of-town readers, fyi -- BCC is a good community college, 4th in the nation. Their Continuing Ed (non-credit) classes make their bread and butter teaching computer skills to the Microsoft/Boeing/ biotech/nanotech folks. For me, BCC is a godsend. No curriculum, no requirements, just space, actors, and freedom. And, a highly international population. It's a lab. I have a repeat-core of actors who take it 2, 3, 4 or more times. We get more rehearsal time than most conservatories. It's basically where I do my work, so I love it.

Acting for the NonActor

Item 9471
Tues eves 6:30-9:30
10/5 - 11/23/2004
down at Factoria, 12400 SE 38TH, that upstairs glass room T205
instructor is listed as Vera Wong, I'm covering it
$169
has rehearsal outside of class
attendance required weeks 1, 2, 3, 8
register here (click "enroll" on the class)or 425-564-2263
full catalog description here

THE SCOOP:

We'll focus on acting, not scenes -- how to prepare, how to enter the work, how to connect, how to play. We'll work with scripts and without. We will have a final show, but what's in it will evolve during the quarter.

I guess I would call this the ur-craft. What is the thing an actor can always do, is always doing, no matter what the genre? How does an actor walk and move and speak and listen and connect and work? What lies at the heart of YOUR Actor's Gift? Before you are Cassius, or Juliet, or Medea, who are you? Before you are you, who are you? And how does THAT enter a space?

I'm not saying this very well, because there's some aspect of this is new to me. I can feel where it's going, but I can't tell what it looks like till we go there. And, be forewarned -- my work is getting more and more like this; you'll know even less, as time goes on, where we're going. But the going and the destination will keep getting better.

Acting: Improvisation

Item F9460
Saturday mornings 10-2
10/2 - 11/20/2004
up at the Northup location, 10700 Northup Way, in a new room W174
$189
no out-of-class rehearsal
attendance required weeks 1 & 2
register here (click "enroll" on the class)or 425-564-2263
full catalog description here

THE SCOOP:

Yep, you heard that right -- no out-of-class rehearsal. First time in seven years I haven't required rehearsal. This class will focus partly on classical improv -- status, relationship, environment, character, connection, scenes, games -- and partly on other uses of improvisation in acting. So, it'll be some of what you see on "Who's Line Is It Anyway" or Jet City Improv -- and some new. Deeper. I expect this class will be potent, because of the scarcity of time. That's part of the lesson of improv -- THIS present moment is all you have.

I got this idea from a band I was in, Shiver. We had two women singers, a fantastic guitarist and drummer -- a hot, near-techno, vocal band. In the middle of our 3-hour set, we'd do "electric jam." Our guitar player was white-hot. He was 20, hadn't worked in two years, just sat home and practiced. Well, electric jam meant he just flew, doing whatever he wanted, while the rest of us tried to keep up; and then with no warning, he'd stop -- bam. And we all had to stop with him. It kept us completely on our toes. Audiences LOVED this. They liked electric jam more than anything we wrote and practiced for hours.

I want to figure out how to make ensemble-improv-acting like electric jam. That's what we're exploring this quarter.