Lecoq: Des Animaux 3

 Monday:

For a refreshing change, we got back into our bodies with Francois by doing some contact improv and isolation. We first paired off and poked each other at different parts of the body to engage an isolated muscle. The same thing in trios with the front and the back person having a dialogue through the middleman. At the end we played a small 'whack-a-mole': look, hand, look, hand, with different rhythms. Then with the feet, and then with all the parts of our bodies.

Reptiles with Eric had us trying really hard to stick our tongues out at a right rhythm. The snake, the lizard, the chameleon and the komodo dragon. Almost sounds like wizard of oz. The snake almost has a fixed point with his head, slow and slithery movements. It snatches food really quickly with its tongue, and then swallow it whole. The chameleon is a lot slower, taking some momentum before moving forward. Does it change color? Perhaps we can change emotions?

My first stress-free autocour has me playing as a dog. I won't even be performing on Friday!

No LEM for me (I'll get notes from someone else later), since I went to watch Majd's movie screening preview. He's the romantic interest in A Divan in Tunis. He's a good cop. Literally. And figuratively.

LEM notes: using batons and space between the batons to find forms for the passions. I.e. What is the movement of jealousy? Perhaps a mess of batons swarming around near the floor, until it explodes in every which way but the right one.


Tuesday:

With Eric in movement, we had an extended chaufing of the space, working on gliding from one hip to another. We are beginning to finish our journey of animal transposition this week - we choose an animal, then start from 100% and go all the way to 0% animal and 100% human. I chose the dolphin, and ended up being a stiff-y with open feet, waddling around. Very reminiscent of a penguin. The second animal I chose was the falcon, and I became an angry old man looking for his glasses. In the exercise, we go from 100% animal to 0%, then back to 100%, bringing the voice and character, finding gestures that have the rhythms of the animal. Are we prey or predator? A mini-improv where we wake up, and discover animal gestures. We are humans doing our daily chores, but here a stretch, and perhaps we discover a bit of cat, then we make our bed, and perhaps a little bit of a mouse's OCD, then maybe we snatch the glass of water with a bit of snake. The trick is to not think about the animal, and just do a motion with a rhythm, and let that remind you of an animal. Discovery is key.

Much like the giants, we visited the big animals with Yasuyo. First, a proposal by Remi of the giraffe, with the universal legs that run straight down then open at the bottom, how it articulates as it walks, and gallops. She becomes human, a fashionista with a dress at the mall. Next, a proposal by Florent to do a hippopotamus. He's getting really good at stocky and stout animals. Then we had 5 elephants in the space, moving, drinking, washing, and the same 5 elephants running from 2 lions. Transpose that onto 5 humans against 2, but staying away from anger, we have to play the spatial capacity of a fight. Perhaps some prostrating. The kid who stays back but bares his fangs next to his father. We visited les baleines (whales) at the end, beautiful ethereal creatures of the deep which surface once in a blue moon to capture air and blow out their airholes. As humans, they are eerily slow, a post-apocalyptic feature, or perhaps just 8 humans seeing the sun after 4 months of dark winter. In the final scene, we had a buffet with a waiter and 5 guests. What is a good casting? Crab waiter was fun to play, but octopus seems to have a lot more gestures to play with as a server. There is a huge animal coming into the space, perhaps she is high status? How do our relationships change in spatial regard?

Wednesday:

A bit of acrobatics, a bit of handstand, some forward flips and a lot of cartwheels.

In improv with Anne, we explored birds, especially birds in the office. What is some good casting for colleagues? Peacocks? Chicken? Hummingbird? 3 office workers and then the boss comes in and introduces the intern. Is the predator a good casting for the boss? A snake as a boss is really scary. What about a prey? We have to think about relationships. Whether we like each other. Who is the most veteran in the office? React to each other. Some good improv basics. Crab is a really fun animal to play.

In LEM, we explored marionettes with Yasuyo. By now we have completed what is called le George, which is basically a massive baton of our height, and which we've colored different segments in different colors in what we think the space is. I.e. Yellow for the feet, blue for the nose, red for the sex, black for the knees. There are 15 segments in the front, and 11 segments at the back. We've also chopped up le George at the articulations of the body, namely, the neck, solar plexus, the sex and the knees. Ankles are an articulation too, but 5 segments for now is enough. We began exploring the movements of le George as a human form, and then as a non-human form. With 3 people, we began to discover the fixed points, and the movements possible for this snakey form. Then we brought in another form (square / rectangle) to play with le George. Where is the fixed point? What draws le George into the space? Does it approach, or go away? Next, we have a human perform simple actions: I sit. I stand. I see. I go. I turn. I lie down. 2 people will have to mimic the motions with le George. After, we have the human interact with le George in some capacity. On scene, we watched as a human first moves without le George. The baton comes in soon after, and moves independently of the human, and then in relationship to the human. Can we switch in between? Can we use the form to represent the space of an emotion, anger, or pride perhaps? Lastly, we add the other form (square/ rectangle) in. Who is the fixed point? Who moves? Do we move independently, or in relation? Very good questions, Eugene, very good questions.


Thursday:

Movement with Anne had us exploring the work of a barman, with a million ways of juggling with the mixer. The first work, after discovering our own mix of the special cocktail of the day, was to chat with the guest while making the same cocktail. Next, we broke down the special cocktail of the day into movement. I see the mixer, I go, I go take, I take, I return. My other hand goes to hold the top of the mixer, I hold, I twist, I let go, I return. 3 twists in succession with lesser energy required to open the top of the mixer. Then I place the top down, I let go, I relax. The same to take the bottle of wine, and then the egg in the salad bowl. Other interesting points are when we crack the egg open and pour the egg from one half into the other, transposing the egg flow. Also, the dropping of the egg into the mixer has the same quality. The trashcan, even better, feet - hands - hands - feet - hands, to transpose the opening of the trashcan lid onto the hands. Now we're free to juggle the mixer, and then drink the disgusting wine-egg mixture.

It was the last improv with Paola for animals, and she came down hard on us. There is a mix of furniture in the room, and 5 animal-characters are supposed to come in to move. There is a boss, and 4 workers. Maybe one sous-chef? Or secretary. We discovered a lion boss as Jonas, a monkey boss as Mykola and a cock boss as Sasha. The territorial-ity of a lion and its walk, how it climbs the furniture and lands agile, on its feet. How it growls at its workers. How the monkey boss laughs and is completely low status, paces around the furniture scratching its head, maybe sits on the ground. How the cock adjusts its tie and shakes its head, how it struts around, and squawks orders at everyone else. Workers of note include Jeremie's horse, Rodrigo's pig, Elena's peacock, Joon's mouse, Alexandra's dog. How the dog waits attentively on the boss, perhaps a caress. How the peacock struts in strausbourg saint-denis, how she covers her eyes with her feathers or wings. How the mouse travels quickly, but yet sharp and attentive to detail. How the pig and the horse carry a bench together, how the pig takes up space, and the horse canters and throws his head, swipes his tail at the boss. I tried the tarantula - more difficult than I imagined - and probably a shitty casting for this improv. It's lighter on its feet, perhaps a secretary, and moves with eerie precision - foot, foot, hand, hand - to give the phone to the boss.

Friday:

Wedding with Ruichao!

I'm skipping my first autocour - what a stress-free week - I should take this energy into autocour more often.

Edit: Movement with Anne includes mixing 3 animals together. One for the head, one for the core, and one for the feet. Must have been hilarious to watch maybe a chicken head, crab body and monkey legs.