Physical Expression on Stage and Screen: Using the Alexander Technique to Create Unforgettable Performances

Description

A tight throat; held breath; stiff muscles; stage fright: impediments to performance come in many guises, but they all spring from the same source-tension. In Physical Expression on Stage and Screen Bill Connington, a renowned teacher of the Alexander Technique, shows you how to recognize and release the tension that keeps you from performing at your best. If you're ever not certain of what to do with your hands or how to make a meaningful gesture, or if your movement feels fine in daily life but then you suddenly become self-conscious when onstage or in front of a camera, this book is here to help. More than one hundred clear, accessible exercises-including many filmed tutorials available online-will enable you to * Move more naturally and easily * Breathe more freely * Speak more clearly * Free your creative impulses * Play a character with an unfamiliar physicality

Bill Connington has devoted his career to helping performers-including Broadway actors, Metropolitan Opera singers, and renowned instrumentalists-manage their art through managing themselves. The former chairman of the board of the American Center for the Alexander Technique, Bill is currently a lecturer in acting at the Yale School of Drama and has taught performers at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, the Juilliard School, and the Actors Studio MFA Program.

A clear, detailed, and practical account of how the Alexander Technique can help liberate performers from habitual psychophysical tensions, allowing them to access the deepest and most creative impulses in their work. * Walton Wilson, Chair, Department of Acting, and Head of Voice and Speech, Yale School of Drama * In small, doable steps, Bill guides the actor toward a healthy, creative life as a performer-always with a supportive, encouraging tone and attention to process as opposed to results. * Kim Jessor, faculty, Tisch School of the Arts at the New York University Graduate Acting Program * Bill Connington writes with insight, clarity, and flair about a subject he loves and shares his valuable perspective on the training of actors by exploring the all-important connection between body, mind, and spirit. In a voice both friendly and knowledgeable, Physical Expression on Stage and Screen guides the actor from class to rehearsal to performance. * Jessica Wolf, Assistant Professor, Yale School of Drama; director of 'Jessica Wolf's Art of Breathing' * Physical Expression on Stage and Screen provides new insight into the Alexander technique, which was pioneered by F. M. Alexander in the late 1800s ... The best part of the book is the exercises (more than 100) that help actors explore their unique styles. Many of the exercises are also supported by free online videos created by the author. This no-nonsense explanation of the Alexander technique is accessible to untrained students and a good refresher for those knowledgeable about acting. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals -- E. C. Skiles, Lone Star College-Kingwood * CHOICE *