my hair is longer than yours. / Friday, 30 September 2011 @ 01:55
Today in Theater we had to lie :p

We played a game where we had to come up with 3 things about ourself. One was a lie, the other two were truths. Then we chose a partner and told him/her those 3 things without revealing which were true and which were lies.

I paired up with Rueben and told him the following three things.

I love wearing high heels.
I have a cat and a dog.
I have a Liverpool jersey.

Then, the two partners had to volunteer and stand in front. Person A will tell what Person B said to him. Then the crowd had to determine which was the truths and which was the lie. It was really fun as we all had a go at guessing which one was a fake statement.

As we carried on, many of us tried putting on a poker face, making it hard for others to read. However, others were quite a giveaway as they would smile or shift their weight then the lie was told about them. When it was time for Rueben and I to perform, I tried my best to put on a poker face and not move my body. No one guessed the correct lie :p

Then we carried on to a Meisner technique which was the repetition exercise. According to Wikipedia,

"Two actors face each other and repeat their observations about one another, back and forth. An example of such an exchange might be: "You're smiling." "I'm smiling." "You're smiling!" "Yes, I'm smiling." Actors observe and respond to the other's behavior and the subtext therein. If they can "pick up the impulse"—or work spontaneously from how their partner's behavior affects them—their own behavior will arise directly from the stimulus of the other."

I found this exercise very interesting so I partnered with Chris and we jumped into it. I started by looking at Chris and saying, "my hair is longer than yours." Chris repeated the same thing back to me. Patiently, I repeated the same words back to him. As the ball went back and forth there was tension building up between Chris and I as we tried to convince each other that "my hair is longer than yours".

After a while, I was beginning to get a little bit frustrated but suddenly Chris let out a small chuckle and Ms Pat told us to stop. It was very refreshing and fun and Ms Pat commented that we both had equal amount of authority and the tension between us was very good. I felt that how Chris reacted also affected my reaction and vice versa.

plant a tree. / Wednesday, 28 September 2011 @ 13:30
Theater today was pretty fun. We didn't do any warmup, instead we jumped straight into the exercise. Ms Pat introduced the game that we would play. It's something like the telephone game, only that we used actions instead of sentences.

First we were told to come up with a series of seven tasks that told a story. We all went into our own corners and practiced our "tasks". I came up with a seven step plant-a-tree :)

Then we had to find partner and show our steps to each other. Then our partner had to carry the same steps and show it to another person. On the other hand, we had to remember their steps and show it to another partner. This was repeated four times. Honestly, this was not easy at all. We had to focus and remember all seven steps and we had to show them all to the next person. It required a lot of concentration and memory on our part.

Finally, we all separated. Half of us sat on the floor, the other half on the bleachers. We all took turns showing what we remembered from the previous partner. It was quite hilarious watching a slight struggle everyone had when trying to remember what we were shown. Once done, Ms Pat asked the crowd on the bleachers whose series of steps it belonged to. They then had to stand next to each other and perform the same series. It was no surprise that no two steps were the same.

Some were so mangled and different from the original that no one claimed ownership of it. Some even had two people saying it was theirs. It was quite a sight actually. When I saw Hyo Bin doing my steps, it was really funny cause it was so different from what I originally came up with. He finished earlier than I did when we stood side by side.

All in all, it was a pretty fun class :)

the joke is on me. / Monday, 26 September 2011 @ 18:06
Today in Theater was not that exciting. It was not a bad thing, it was actually good for a change.

Firstly, we started by getting a partner. Then we had to stretch while holding each others hand. While we stretched, we had to recite Life's Brief Candle, a poem that we already knew by heart :) I paired up with Melissa and we had quite a lot of fun discovering how well or not our body could stretch. 

After that, we all gathered in two circles according to guys and girls and we started to read the monologue scripts. Now, this was something I was looking forward to. I was eager to know what kind of characters we would be able to portray. I picked up the first sheet of paper I saw and started reading.

"I wanted to be a sex goddess."

That sentence actually struck something in my head. I was taken aback at how indiscreet and straight forward it was. I loved the fact that Ms Pat had so brilliantly allowed us to use such characters for a monologue. That sentence pretty much said it all and I immediately fell in love with the piece. As I kept reading on, I became well assured that this was the piece I wanted to do.

However, I had to give the other scripts a chance. I read a few more, but the words seemed to float around the page as I knew my mind and heart was set on being a Marilyn Monroe wannabee. But did I have the confidence for it? I consulted Ms Pat. However, her reaction gave me mixed feelings about my choice. But then again, I wouldn't settle for anything else.

I don't know what it was that happened when I read the script, but I was hopeful that I could pull this one off!

machinery magic. / Friday, 23 September 2011 @ 21:00
Today's warmup was really fun. We all gathered around in a circle and had to walk around in order and look around at everyone else.The catch was that someone would randomly turn around and start walking in the other direction. We all had to be at the tip of our toes and be very alert so that we won't crash into one another. At first it was hard to control the flow but after a few times, it became really easy.

The next exercise was one of my favourites so far. One person will stand in front and create an action. Any kind of action with his hands, feet or any other body part for the matter. Then another person will join and have another set of movement that somehow connects to the other person and have the same tempo. As more and more people join, it will become a huge machine-like picture with coordinated movements.

It was really fun to build the whole picture and when Ms Pat added the element of sound, it was even better. The whole class had a good time laughing at the silly movements that we came up with.

Then we learned something called the Whoop Whoop! This was a tough exercise for me. Two people had to stand in the middle of the room with the rest of us on the bleachers. Then we had to pretend that we were playing badminton with an imaginary racquet. Not only that, we had to shout "whoop" with every hit of the imaginary shuttlecock. When the music stops, we had to freeze in position and recite a line of Life's Brief Candle.

When it was my turn, I found it very tiring to keep jumping and hitting the air. The moment the music stopped and I had to freeze, reciting the lines were very difficult. First we had to ground ourselves from all the jumping and whooping. Then we had to remember our lines. It was key that we had to balance ourselves and Ms Pat mentioned that it brings out one's real emotions if this exercise was done properly. Personally, I didn't feel much emotion other than being tired and out of breath but Ms Pat did say it was a difficult exercise to master.

let the music flow. / Thursday, 22 September 2011 @ 22:00
Today we were expecting something really fun in class as Ms Pat told us that we would be dancing the whole week. When we got started, we did some stretching as usual. We also had our masks with us, so it added to the suspense of what we had in store.

Then we gathered at a corner of the room and Ms Pat said she would demonstrate the type of dance she wanted us to do. When the music came on, I felt goosebumps as it was so calming and yet creepy at the same time. Ms Pat started to dance in the middle of the room. She looked really graceful and her movements were very technical. However, she suddenly stopped halfway and turned off the music. She said that we were talking and she could hear us, even if we whispered. It was distracting towards the performer if people were talking and not paying attention. I totally understood where she was coming from as if I were to be performing, I wouldn't want people to be talking either.

She started her dance from the beginning once more. Multiple times during her dance I felt goosebumps wash over my whole body. I thought it looked really beautiful, especially since the mask "masked" her emotion. You could tell that there was a story that she was telling.

Then it was our turn, the students to do our dance. The girls were up first. I was genuinely nervous, even with the mask on as I wasn't sure how I was going to do this. But Ms Pat said to just listen to the music and let our body move on its own. We also had to be spatially aware of the other dancers around us. When I first listened to the music, I found my imagination placing me in the olden Chinese days. I felt that I was by the riverside, looking into the sky and playing with the clear waters. I tried to emulate what I thought into my movements and I felt that I was quite successful. When we were done, we received comments from the guys that were watching us.

Later was time for gentlemen to perform. Their music was different, a little bit more masculine compared to ours. When they started, my eyes were fixated on them and a lot of them showed a lot of emotion through their body language even though they were wearing masks. Many of them had a story to tell, you could see it with the actions that they were doing.

Finally, we gave some comments and the class was over. From this experience, I learned how to let loose and let the music take over instead of thinking so much. I love dancing, but not this contemporary dancing genre. I never had any background in this type of dance but for a beginner I think I did pretty well :)

dance up a storm. / Tuesday, 20 September 2011 @ 09:22
A new week in Theater after a long weekend as Friday was a public holiday. Ms Chan announced that we would be doing a lot of dance this week and I couldn't be more excited. I am usually quite open to dancing as it has always been my favourite form of expression.

First we spread across the room and Ms Chan told us to practice some techniques with bending our knees. Our back had to be straight and knees slightly bent. This keeps us very grounded and when she pushed us, we would be able to hold still. Then we moved on to stomping our feet. It wasn't really stomping, more like slapping the floor with our feet with quick movement. At first I couldn't seem to get it right. It felt wrong in all the places and the soles of my feet began to hurt. I later learnt that this only meant that my nerves were all activated which is why they hurt a bit.

Later we went in diagonal lines across the room, stomping our feet and pretending to be holding bamboo sticks. It was okay at first, but when Ms Chan told us to go in a circle, that was when the hard work showed. We had to do it for a full song of Kat De Luna's Run The Show. My thighs began to ache like crazy, and Ms Chan commented that I was hopping for a moment. I worked on getting it right and used the 10 count breathing techniques that Ms Chan taught us. It was a really good exercise and I was sweating a lot.

Then was a another exercise which I can't remember the name. We were told to stand in two lines across each other. Then Ms Chan demonstrated a style of walking. We had to put our two feet in front of one another and take really slow steps. It was as if we were slowing peeling our feet of the ground and moving forward. It was hard to master for me at first, but I felt that I got the hang of it. Again, I used the breathing methods that Ms Chan taught us and although I was wobbly in the beginning, after a few rounds I became very grounded and I think I did pretty well.

Ms Chan added another element, which was using hand gestures as we turned when walking across the room. It was supposed to be slow and we could do any gesture we wanted. I felt as if we were in a martial arts era especially with the really nice music. As I turned I felt the hand postures came naturally to me and it was actually quite comfortable. Another thing Ms Chan stressed on was teamwork. We had to make sure that the whole group was in line, and no one was to be too fast or too slow. Hence we also had to look in the corner of our eyes at our partners in crime. It was very meditative and I enjoyed it very much. We also recited a few lines of Life's Brief Candle.

In the end, it was really about keeping ourselves grounded and breathing properly. Excited to see what else is in store :)

black statues. / Thursday, 15 September 2011 @ 01:56
I was really excited to see what Ms Chan had in store for us this class as we were told to dress in all black before coming to class. We were also given masks prior to the class which just added to all the excitement.

When class started, we didn't even do warmup. Ms Chan went straight to briefing us about what we had to do. To my surprise, we were going to be statues outdoors! We were to wear the masks and move in groups. The rules were that we must not talk, and had to change position when Ms Chan blew the whistle. Simple? How wrong I was.

The moment we stepped out wearing our masks, people were already staring at us. We went down to the large area with the squares near the lake and went into our first position. Someone had to lead first and the rest of us will fit into the picture, doing similar poses.

The first 5 minutes were okay. But eventually, it started becoming really hot and sweaty especially wearing the mask. My arms and legs were beginning to ache as the lactic acid was forming where my muscles had to stretch and stay in place. I could hardly refrain from moving myself and even allowed myself to relax a few times, hehe.

When it was my turn to lead, I had no idea what to do so I spontaneously looked at the sky as if there were something there. My group mates gathered near me and fell into similar poses. There was one point where someone actually took photos of us and smiled at us. Ms Chan also took photos. I felt that it was okay cause I was wearing a mask and they probably didn't recognize me.

We finally went back to the Experimental Theater feeling all tired. It was a refreshing experience for me, and I wouldn't mind doing it again :)

define me. / Monday, 12 September 2011 @ 19:26
Brand new week, brand new day :)
It's time for Theater again. I'm beginning to like how Theater kickstarts my whole week as it's the first class of the day on Mondays. It warms me up and sorta gets me hyped up to take on the week.

Today's warmup was a reaaaaal workout. We played a game that Ms. Chan called "Keepy Uppy" which made me giggle like a child. She presented us a ball made of thin rubber and it was really light and bouncy. The aim of the game was really simple- keep the ball up at all times. Hence, keepy uppy. At first we all stood around and started throwing the ball at each other. Some of us were even afraid of the ball, haha. Reuben and I decided to be a little too ambitious and wanted to break the record which was at 50 people who kept the ball up. We were aiming for 300, hahaha.

And it was a major fail! We hardly reached 30 and not many of us were really running to get the ball. But after a few rounds, many of us warmed up and starting running and jumping even more. After that, we were split into two groups to see who could get the most people to keep the ball above the groud. It was really fun, and from this, we learnt the importance of teamwork.

The next activity- my favourite so far- was called "School of Fish". It was a game where we had to huddle in groups, and the person that was infront would lead with a certain way of walking around the room and the rest had to follow suit. We could do any action we wanted and once the leader turned and the group followed, the next person that was in front had to lead.

I found this really fun because I got to do any action I wanted, but of course it had to be an action that everyone could also do. This was where the leadership element was shown. Another thing that I noticed was a sense of competitiveness. This was when we were moving around the room, we had to be wary of the other groups as well. At the same time, we had to fight for our space as everyone was moving at the same time. This was especially significant when Ms Chan added the element of sound where we could make any sound we wanted while marching, walking, crawling, jumping around the room. Every group tried their best to make their own sound heard and I was even cheeky to just walk through another group's space when I was leading. Of course I only did that for fun and it was not encouraged :p

The next activity was one that affected me quite a bit. Ms Chan called it self definition. Everyone was told to sit in one corner of the room. Then, two people (due to time constraints) had to stand in the middle of the room, facing the crowd and be quiet for 2 minutes. The moment Ms Chan explained the activity to me, I was immediately nervous.

This is because I have always had low self esteem, especially a few years ago when I wasn't confident with my body size and shape. Although many people say that I have confidence and can speak up when I want to, deep down I was still quite shy and never liked a lot of attention or to be in the limelight. Giving speeches, doing performances was never one of my strengths. But I suppose that's what Theater class is about right?

So when it was finally my turn, my hands were getting sweaty and there were pleny of butterflies in my tummy. I stood in the center and watched the crowd. I tried not to make eye contact with anyone. The two mintues felt really really long to me. I became very aware of my posture and position and even noticed that I was biting my lower lip a lot. Later I learnt from Ms Chan that these were "gadgets" that we used to make ourself feel comfortable. In the end, I survived the "ordeal" and probably learnt a little more about myself- on how I feel about myself and my confidence.

Truly it was one of my favourite classes.

make pretend. / Friday, 9 September 2011 @ 04:23

just breathe. / Wednesday, 7 September 2011 @ 19:18

trip to the beach. / Monday, 5 September 2011 @ 16:14
Theater class was the first class after the raya holidays. I was feeling groggy and was still stuck in the holiday mode, but I knew I could count on Ms Chan to fix that :)

The first thing we did today was warm ups as usual, starting with walks around the class and gradually speeding up. We played traffic lights today, where Ms Chan would shout the colours of a traffic light and we would do an action according to that colour. Red was to stop in our tracks, green was to go and yellow was to run. It was a great warmup that had us stopping, running and walking like there was no tomorrow.

The next activity we did was called point of contact where we can only make contact with the floor according to a number that Ms Chan will call out. First we worked individually, then we worked in groups. The numbers varied from 1 to 10 to even 50+ especially when we worked in groups. We even had to include calculating to make sure we had the right number of points of contact.

Then we played a game that was really interesting. We all sat in a circle, and there was a chair right in the middle. Two people will be using the chair as their "house" whereas everyone else were thieves. The aim of the game was to steal a set of keys that the two people will be proctecting. The catch? The two people will be blindfolded. The game was supposed to be quiet, and the two people were supposed to use their other senses to protect the key. However, most of us ran for the keys in the first few rounds. We worked as a team to distract their attention and moved really fast between the two protectors.

Lastly, we took a trip to the beach. Not literally of course. We all found our space in the room and were told to lie down. We practiced some breathing methods in the counts of ten. We learnt to use our diaphragm to breathe instead of our mouth or throat. Then we were told to relax and imagine that we were lying down on a beachside. We listened to the sounds around us, felt the heat of the sun above us. Then we slowly stood up and walked towards the water. We took a short swin and immersed ourselves completely in the water. Then we went back to our original place. I actually found this exercise really fun. It was almost as though I was really at the beach. Something like hypnosis, but not really. Just using our minds to imagine :)

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