Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Only When I'm Dancing Can I Feel This Free
My new favorite hobby is dancing with actors. At the cast party for "Julius Caesar" the weekend before last, there was a small dance floor at the Bowery Bar (i.e. the worst place on earth) & some of the cast members (since I had a teany part, including me) started dancing. There was Keith, a very fun, loose, weird dancer; William, a more self-conscious, "I am cool" dancer; Jordan, a dorky "I make a funny face when I dance but I'm having a good time" dancer; and me, more funny than cool & definitely striving to be loose.
This guy Brian, who played Caesar & who is about 6 foot 4, started dancing & he was all over the place -- flailing his arms about, moving his hips. His size alone is enough to make him a freak, but then he really showed his stuff on the dance floor and made everyone happy just watching him.
What I miss the most about "Julius Caesar" is actually the warm-up. The play was performed outside, so we warmed up outside & sometimes people would walk by & stop & watch. Actors warming up do funny things. Part of my vocal warmup was grabbing my belly and moving it up & down. Once, I sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" as a vocal warm-up (and also as a joke in response to something Brian said). I bent down & swung my arms back & forth like an elephant swings his trunk. I sighed a deep sigh, letting out all tension. I rubbed my jaw & cheeks & loosened my mouth.
All of these exercises make actors the loosest, silliest, and probably calmest people on earth. After a warm-up or after dancing with actors, I feel like I'm -- as actors would say -- in my body and out of my head. And, that's the happiest place to be. My head is a wreck.
-m
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My new favorite hobby is dancing with actors. At the cast party for "Julius Caesar" the weekend before last, there was a small dance floor at the Bowery Bar (i.e. the worst place on earth) & some of the cast members (since I had a teany part, including me) started dancing. There was Keith, a very fun, loose, weird dancer; William, a more self-conscious, "I am cool" dancer; Jordan, a dorky "I make a funny face when I dance but I'm having a good time" dancer; and me, more funny than cool & definitely striving to be loose.
This guy Brian, who played Caesar & who is about 6 foot 4, started dancing & he was all over the place -- flailing his arms about, moving his hips. His size alone is enough to make him a freak, but then he really showed his stuff on the dance floor and made everyone happy just watching him.
What I miss the most about "Julius Caesar" is actually the warm-up. The play was performed outside, so we warmed up outside & sometimes people would walk by & stop & watch. Actors warming up do funny things. Part of my vocal warmup was grabbing my belly and moving it up & down. Once, I sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" as a vocal warm-up (and also as a joke in response to something Brian said). I bent down & swung my arms back & forth like an elephant swings his trunk. I sighed a deep sigh, letting out all tension. I rubbed my jaw & cheeks & loosened my mouth.
All of these exercises make actors the loosest, silliest, and probably calmest people on earth. After a warm-up or after dancing with actors, I feel like I'm -- as actors would say -- in my body and out of my head. And, that's the happiest place to be. My head is a wreck.
-m
