15 February 2015

Amber-Lily Foxon �1

BE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU FORGET WHO YOU REALLY ARE!

The Variety Show

15 February 2015

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the ‘Clowning’ workshop with Claire at the start of the week. I liked how simple everything was for instances the use of bananas, talking jiba-jaba and using expressive dance was in my opinion hilarious because it was so basic. I thought it was interesting to look into a new style of performance that I had never considered before. Originally, I had no interest in this particular style of performance because I wouldn’t consider myself to be a funny person. However, I learnt that there are all different types of clowns for example; there are ‘Tramps/Hobo’s’ which are happy people that are just there for no reason at all, then you have ‘Auguste Clowns’ that want to be leaders but always fail and are usually considered to be sad/grumpy characters. Then finally you have ‘White Face Clowns’ that are usually a combination of both Tramp and Auguste clowns because they are known for being positive/happy characters that like leading and driving the work.

When I was asked to walk into the room and stand in front of an audience as myself, it felt very strange at first and almost awkward at times because personally, I’m so used to hiding behind different social masks I forgot how to be myself. After a while, I started to feel myself let go and relax which automatically made everything become more natural and it allowed me to connect more with my audience.

My favourite approach to clowning in this workshop was the imitation game. This game involved analysing the audiences body language and vocals so that you could pick up specific gestures or sounds through repeating and embodying them. I thought this game worked really well because it got the audience involved in what I was doing and it became interesting as a performer to see the role reversals and become in control of what’s going on. I found this workshop really beneficial because I do find it difficult to be myself, especially in interviews because I tend to put up a wall to protect myself but somehow I felt this workshop really helped me bring out my true self.

Amber-Lily Foxon �2

15 February 2015

During this workshop, I’ve discovered something really interesting about myself which I think as an actor is one of my biggest weaknesses. I think my problem is I don’t want people to know who I truly am because I have a fear of letting people in. I feel like emotions are a sign of weakness and that’s why I tend to hide mine but now I’m starting to realise that this defence mechanisms is having a negative effect on me. I want to improve this by becoming more open and honest with myself because I’ve realised that as an actor you have to be able to access that inner part of you to bring honesty and believability into your performances.

I think to be a good clown you need to able to connect with your audience which requires you being yourself. I think you need to find honesty in your performance and I believe you have to be able to open up and accept that vulnerability to then use it to your advantage. Good comedy comes from being yourself and finding that vulnerability from within side you and not being afraid to let go and just be in the moment.

"To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!"

– Charlie Chaplin

Amber-Lily Foxon �3

Credited: Google Images

15 February 2015

I didn’t enjoy the Mime Workshop as much as the clowning because I found it very frustrating and even boring at times. I found it mental and physically draining because physically I was constantly building up tension in my body which made me feel extremely tired and then mentally it just seemed impossible to imagine every little detail. From creating my own interpretations of mime by looking into the Principals of corporal mine, levels of tension, (Pulling, Pushing and Lifting) and from observing others in this workshop, I think overall this style of performance is very free yet I also think it’s restricting but I believe that is down to my ability. I think with mime you have to pay attention to detail and be very precise with your moments because if you do it wrong it may translate into something completely different. However, I do admire the people who have perfected this style of performance, I think there is a lot of skill and commitment involved in mime. I have leant that there are 3 different types of mime which all focus and specialise in different things.

Amber-Lily Foxon �4

Credited: Google Images

15 February 2015

Figurative mime ( being an object) - Just being

Cartoon mime ( space manipulation) - Focusing the audiences eyes on what you want them to see/looking a different perspectives/where you 

Corporal mime (weight)- Principle of showing a weight analyst and tension behind an object. 

After I experimented with each different approach, I personally found the Corporal Mime the most challenging because it required a huge amount of physicality and it was hard work. Although I found this workshop difficult because it required a lot of imagination and focus, I did discover something important. I realised that you have to believe in yourself in order for your audience to believe in you.

Variety Show:

Amber-Lily Foxon �5

Credited: Google Images

15 February 2015

Refining the Beyonce dance with Claire this week was really helpful because the counts needed adjusting and I felt like there was still something missing but I just didn't know what. I think as a group we have been working extremely well together because we have all had some sort of input which I feel has created a really dynamic piece. I defiantly feel like we have progressed with the dance this week in terms of making it sharper and I feel like the feedback we received from the others member of the company has had an influence on us because they told us it was lacking character so for me the next step is to develop a character and bring it into my dance.

At the end of the week, I started choreographing ‘Partition’ the final part of the Beyonce dance with Alex, Levi and Julia. We started incorporating chairs into the dance which I feel has given it a whole new dynamic and perspective. I’m excited about continuing on the dance next week.

Starting Point: ’Object Manipulation'

Banana Milkshake

Amber-Lily Foxon �6

Credited: Google Images

15 February 2015

Alex, Charley and I instantly came up with lots of ideas that involved food props which we decided to relate to a comedy style theme. I felt we worked really well together because within a matter of 45 minutes we had a clear vision of what we wanted to create. It became a dance routine that had lots of different music, we included characters and props such as whip cream, bananas, lollipops and water guns. I really enjoyed creating this routine I think there is room for change and improvements because we started playing with the idea of making the characters into Bouffons which I think could add something different to the show.

Amber-Lily Foxon �7