It's oh so quiet...

On monday I had coaching for my monologue, and no sooner I started moving around and speaking, guess what? the cough was back. My coach was a bit concerned. My throat hurt. So yesterday, after my French phonetics class, I headed for the doctor. It seems that I caught some virus and my throat and lungs are a bit swollen. It's nothing to worry about, and it will be gone in a few days. But I need some vocal rest. No monologues, no singing, little speaking... and rest in the Easter holidays! I didn't have 1 free day the past weekend, so now I'll compensate. It's good to be have free time to enjoy... in silence.

A good critique

Thank you, Bonnie Gillespie, for the cool critique of my blog @ The Actor's Voice!!

In case you wonder what I'm talking about, Bonnie reviewed websites for her column in Showfax. Here's what she said about the very blog you're reading:

"Mariana is loving her blog. "It has a sense of purpose... some sense of brand," she told me. And that's when an actor blog is a good thing. It's focused and interesting to read, not just a bunch of disjointed ramblings. Yay!"

By the way, I strongly recommend anyone who's about to create a website, to have a look at the article. It has good recommendations and there's a visual with very clear examples. And, above all, you get to see the C.D.'s point of view. You can see the column here.

Flash Mob

I'm back from the flashmob*, and, guess what? Bouncing balls in a busy commercial street is FUN! At first, there was hardly any reaction. As though bouncing balls in the middle of the street was an everyday thing! Luckily, when they did, the pedestrians reacted well, so we just played with green and red balls in the street for about 10 minutes. And lots of kids joined us. It was kind of crazy... And, being in the heat of the action, it is hard for me to make any observations. The organizers will send feedback, so I'll have a more global perspective on how it all worked out. There will be a video, which I'll be able to either post here or have a link.

It was certainly an interesting experience. I do recommend anyone who gets the chance to participate in one, to give it a shot.

*Flash mob (or flashmob) is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse. (wikipedia)

All good things

Two posts today! I tried to fit it all into one, but it was a mess, ergo, a second post.

The happiness is back! Ok, it was never actually gone, but I've spent last week in a thoughtful/sore throat mood (whatever the latter is). A few things I'm happy about:

I'm happy about the outcome of the free Alexander technique class, which I had yesterday. I had an unexpected source of joy in the teacher's praise. She actually thought I had some previous training, due to how easily I could follow her instructions. When we finished, she said it had been a pleasure working with me. So it just seems that all my efforts to have a better posture and relax my shoulders are finally paying off! I had had a chance to prove it when my dance teacher, who hadn't seem me in 2 years, told me I looked taller. I knew it simply wasn't possible, but she insisted till I figured it might be the postural reeducation. She stated that it totally showed and went "You look great!" This is a HUGE achievment for me, because I had previously tried real hard to get rid of the tension, to little or no results. So at last!

I'm happy to see what a long way I've come. When I started drama school I was so shy, that it is quite something that I managed to graduate. I was reminded of this yesterday, when by chance I met a girl from high school. I still have a very long way to go, but so far it's been an amazing journey.

I'm happy acting just keeps on getting easier for me. It just seems to flow naturally. It hasn't always been this way. I'm happy to have a technique I can trust.

I'm happy to be going to New York. Especially since, now that my technique is stronger, I feel I'll really profit from those workshops.

I'm happy I have auditions for two shorts. One of them I learnt about today, and the audition is... tomorrow! I've just read the script, it's got a few dramatic moments, so I'll get down to business and prepare in less than a day. I can connect to the material so I think I have a good chance.

I'm happy to have so much to blog about.

I could probably keep on finding reasons for being happy, and I'm certain I'm forgetting a few. But this post can't last forever. Anyhow, I'm feeling optimistic so I know there are more good things on the way. And consequently, more posts!

Happy World Theatre Day

To all the actors, directors, writers, musicians, technicians, makeup artists, cds, etc, happy theatre day! I believe that, for those who, like me, are madly passionate about the theatre, every day is theatre day. But it's great to have an official day to celebrate.

Today I had my audition for the diapers commercial. It was quite badly organized, so I had to wait for about an hour in a crowded room full of babies, parents, grandparents... The casting department was on the verge of their patience, so it's a good thing I chose not to go in the afternoon. There were only two other actresses fot the same role as me (incidentally, both wearing white. The background also happened to be white.). When I entered the room I got a wee bit nervous. Not enough to blow it, since actually I did fine, but with more relaxation I would've done better. I wish it had been more fun but it wasn't a bad experience.

I just found out I was preselected for a film but I turned it down. It included various full nudity scenes, and I'm not ready for that. Plus, it wasn't specified in the breakdown (or I wouldn't have submitted myself). Also, I read a summery of the film and thought it was hideous! I mean, it was really violent and the ending was downright absurd. I really want to gain on-camera experience and build a reel, but it's not like I'll do anything I'm not 100% ok with. And this definitely didn't feel like something I'd be proud to show.

My Alexander technique class starts in two hours. In the meantime, I'll work on my monologue a bit. I'm feeling much better but I still cough and have a sore throat. The morning was grey but the sun's out now, so flashmob tomorrow! Happy World Theatre Day to all!!!

Field work

Tomorrow I have an audition for a commercial for a well known diapers brand. My instructions are to dress as a cool young mom, and wear light colours. I got the general idea, but since I wanted a walk, I took a small tour of my neighbourhood in order to observe a few cool young mothers. I went to the supermarket, and also looked through the windows of the toy stores and kid's clothing shops. The results of my field work:

• Young mothers generally wear flat shoes (so they can easily run after their kids).
• They keep their hair away from their faces.
• They don't use anything superfluous (such as necklaces and other accessories).
• They carry mid-size to big handbags (so they can carry all those things their kids may suddenly need).
• They love white! (but I'm obviously not wearing to the audition)
  
• They go through life in an alert attitude and have an ability to focus on various things at the same time (for instance, paying a bill, getting the goods and checking that the kids don't dart off).

After this brief investigation, I decided on a pair of somewhat faded jeans and a light greyish blue t-shirt, with very little makeup. I hope my small investigation will help in my audition. It was fun. And I expect the audition to be fun, too. After that, I'm going to a free Alexander technique class. I love a busy weekend!

Take a break & move on

Yesterday was a holiday in my country, although the circumstances that originated it make it hardly a festive occasion. We remember the beginning of the last military government, which started on March 24th 1976 and ended in 1983. We remember the 30,000 people that "disappeared" during those years, the people who still don't know their actual parents because they were expropiated from them as babies... and hopefully we appreciate that, however flawed, a democratic government is always preferable.

Besides giving the above a thought, I had planned on devoting my free day to my monologue. But I turned out to be ill. I caught a cold on Monday, which caused me to finish my singing lesson early due to a bad cough. I also missed my French phonetics class, since voice work was implied. Conclusion: my body didn't agree with my plan, so I ended up resting. And today also. I took a nap in the afternoon, and feel a bit better.

I do hope I'll feel better tomorrow. I've got new ideas for my monologue that I want to try out. And I think I've got an audition for a commercial in a few days (I'm expecting a call to schedule it). And the flashmob is on Sunday, since we expect fine weather. And a few other things are coming up. No time to miss my theatre group, luckily. Moving on...

The results

Luckily the flashmob was postponed, because it is raining quite hard, and it doesn't look like it will clear before 4 p.m.

Did I quit? Well, more or less. As I left for the meeting, I suddenly feared my desition was a bit rash. So, after they told some news, I plucked up my courage and said, "I don't know what to do. I'd thought I'd come here and quit." Then I proceeded to explain why. As I did, I encountered absolut silence, which gave me a notion that quitting (and my reasons for doing so) was not an altogether wild idea. They all agreed with me, some excuses/apologies were made... But since after that we left for the party, (and on good terms, too) I'm not sure whether they thought I quit or not. I'll realize soon, though. Anyway, if they didn't, I'll think about it and decide.

After the meeting we headed for a party/fest that took place at a student's residence. I did a monologue I had learned with Andrea a while ago. It went great! That's something, considering I had only had one rehearsal after root canal, and my mouth was still partly numb due to the anesthesia. The girl who helped me prepare (Luz) had some good ideas for the mise en scène. I'd never shown it to an audience before, but it worked just fine. It is strange to address a lot of people holding glasses of beer (they weren't drunk yet, luckily), but I could connect with them, they laughed, and I got a good round of applause and cheers when I was through.

Another funny detail was that since the place wasn't a theatre, I had to change in a shed and rely on Tamara for makeup, since I had no mirror. I must have been quite a sight, because when Luz came to see if I was ready she laughed her head off. Hopefully, I'll be able to see a picture.

Independence

My favourite type of acting class is the one that doesn't solve it all for you. The one in which the teacher provides you with some tools, but then gives you an excersise to solve on your own. The beauty of the process is being able to discover something by your self.

I already told you that I'm not in acting class right now, and won't be till N.Y.C. I'm currently working on an audition speech for some of the courses I'll take there. I want to get some coaching, but since both my coach and I have crazy schedules, I'll work the speech mostly on my own and meet with her once or twice. So once more I have the chance to explore on my own a bit, and have my coach's point of view then.

Not having a yearly acting course can feel a bit lonely, but it can be empowering, too. After all, my growth as an actress has never been more up to me!

NYC, one step closer

Today I got my visa!! It was a looong process but it's done! Well, almost: my passport with the visa on it will reach me next week. But what matters is that now my much desired trip is practically a fact.

My appointment was at 10 a.m. I had been warned that the whole thing would last three hours at most, so before I left home I picked a novel from my bookshelves, thinking I would spend the whole time reading. I made it on time, and had to queue on the pavement, under the hot summer sun and the gaze of Abraham Lincoln (some posters displaying Lincoln's achievements had been placed on the bars). Reading at this stage was a guaranteed headache, since the sun hit me right on the head, so I decided not to. At that point, all I wanted was not to enter the building, but to reach the shade of the tree close to the door. That finally happened and eventually I was admitted in. By then, one full hour had gone by.

On entering the building, I underwent an airport style routine, and then headed to another building, where they took my fingerprints and interviewed me. In the interval between fingerprints and the interview, I managed to read a bit, but not as much as I had imagined I would. The actual interview was just going to a counter, handing my passport and form, showing my letter of admission to my course and answering a few rouitne questions. Must have took 5 minutes at most. At that stage, I started feeling that my brain had got somewhat sticky... When I heard that they were accepting my visa request, I could hardly believe that was all. Funnily, time seemed to fly inside the building, but actually another 50 minutes had gone by.

All that was left for me to do then was hand a slip in the DHL stand. That implied queueing for another 15 minutes, this time under a semi transluscent roof that only partially screened the sun. That done, I finally headed home with slightly reddened shoulders and sticky brains... and my visa approval, of course!

Getting better

A few things I'm working on in order to improve my skills:

Monologue: It's actually an audition piece for one of my New York courses. It's also my first video audition! And this seems to be monologue year: I trained on one with a fellow actress about a month ago (and got pretty amazing results) and the play I'm soon to start rehearsing is a monologue, too.

Singing: I've been taking lessons for years, but I'm with this coach for about 8 months now. It was so worth the change. In these few months I've learnt more than in all those years! I'm currently working on my voice's timbre (wikipedia: "the quality of a musical note or sound that distinguishes different types of sound production").

Postural re-education: Ok, this is not too artistic. But I had to get rid of the pain and the tension! And acquire a better posture too. It's basically kinesiology and streching out. It is working so far! I already feel more relaxed and the straight back makes me look taller :)

Mise-en-scène and production: This is the only annual course I'm taking because the work is individual and the teacher doesn't mind my disappearing for a few months, since I can actually continue working and e-mail her my work. Truth be told, so far I find the course boring. But I hope to learn a lot of useful things, so I'm not dropping out. I'll need those skills to self-produce!

I'll probably address each of these aspects separately in the near future. Have a great week!