An Acrobat of the Heart Emily Defries

Emily's Book review

An Acrobat of the Heart

Stephen Wangh depicts a physical approach to acting inspired by the work of Jerzy Grotowski.

Stephen Wangh wrote this book for all actors who wish to connect their bodies more fully with their acting work. In this workbook Wangh writes detailed directions for exercises that connect the mind to the body. In this blog I am going to talk about 'An Actor's Warm-Up' as I feel this is essiential in our current work, and is a start in connecting the mind with body. Wangh calls this 'Tuning your inner strings.'

Konstantin Stanislavski wrote:

'You know that a sculptor kneads his clay before he begins to use it, and a singer warms up his voice before his concert. We need to do something similar to tune our innr strings, to test the keys, the pedals, and the stops[Stanislavski, 1936,p.250]

Wangh questions 'how does an actor do this?' and if there a warm-up that can prepare all these different parts of the actor's instrument and at the same time connect the body, voice, and emotional life with each other?Wangh comes to the conclusion when reflecting what he had learned from Growtowski, that it is in the awareness of the connections between the body, the mind, and the emotions, an awareness that can be reawakened and strengthened every day as part of the warm-up process. This warm up should not be a fixed regimen, it is a practice that will grow and change as your acting skills and your circumstances change.

The first question asked by Wangh, is what space to choose.

'One must create an atmosphere, a working system, in which the actor feels that he can do anything, and that nothing he does will be mocked, that all will be understood...Often, the moment the actor understands this, he reveals himself'-Jerzy Grotowski, Les Lettres Francais.

The process of finding a space is the first step toward connecting our unconscious. Wangh gives a detailed by point guide to finding a 'safe space' and it is surprising what affect the chosen space can have on your warm up.The body sense of actual, physical space acts as a barometer of inner, emotional space. Often we are unconscious of the connection between our outer actions and our inner state.

This simple space exploration of Wangh, helps to develop an awareness of the connection between your external choices and your internal feelings- 'the perception that something as simple as moving your body from place to place can have an immediate effect on your mental and emotional state.

Some of the exercises Wangh uses to achieve the connection of the mind to the body we have used in class. A particular one that sticks out is the undulation from the pelvis up and from the head down.

In a way, spinal movements act as a kind of massage for the entire nervous system- (Yoshi Oida, The Invisible Actor)

I found this exercise tricky in class however Wangh gives a step by step guide and describes the bodily process of this exercise. Wangh speaks of the spine 'as the central energy transporsition and communication lines for our body.' This is a great exercise of physical expression which Wangh goes into detail about in the book.

I would definitely recommend this book if you feel after a lesson that you have not quite understood a reason for one of the exercises or simply cannot get your head around it. This book is a great physical guide, and when you read it , it makes you want to get up on your feet and experiment!