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An Introduction to Margolis Method
a dynamic physical approach to actor training
The complete chapter has been published by Allworth Press, NY in a book entitled
MOVEMENT FOR ACTORS.
In working
to create a new modern theater I look to ancient theater forms and find
myself yearning for the reintegration of the actor as primal animal self.
If you trace Theater back to its ritualistic roots you will find a performer
who embodies both the actor and the dancer. Theater was a transforming and
communal experience in which one could not separate the experience of the
viewer from that of the performer.
Theater today must reclaim its roots, its sense of ceremony and celebration, its ability to provoke and to empower. Only modern western theater has so drastically separated the expressive human instrument in to what we now call the actor (mind) and the dancer (body).
Similarly, the actor's training in western theatre has become a series of disconnected experiences. Students often do text work with one teacher, train the voice out of dramatic context with another and take dance classes that do not connect to their other training. The student must then try to synthesize this information in order to emerge a whole and better actor. This disjointed method of training is like a flautist studying the fingering of the instrument with one teacher while learning to blow in to the flute from another. Impossible! Margolis Method is an organic process that creatively links the training of the actor's body with the voice.
Not only must the actor's body and voice be trained as one; they must also be trained within a dramatic context. The actor's ability to project him/herself in to imaginary situations is one of the actor's essential skills. The brain, like a muscle, needs to be flexed and stimulated in order to grow. In response, Margolis Method trains actors to hone their thinking process to recognize the poetry and metaphors in everyday experiences. By delicately balancing physical, intellectual and emotional expression an actor can work in what I call the "creative state". In this state of hyper-awareness the actor can access their deeper levels of creativity. The actor working within this state of integration has the power to engage audiences, stimulating their creative state as well.
Theater that speaks to an audience on a deeper, more metaphorical level, engages the audience in a creative living ritual experience. It is here that we can communicate in the universal language of all humanity; a language that goes beyond culturally specific gesture to speak to the souls of the spectators and stimulate their imaginations. It is this interpretive "underbelly" that makes theater a living communal art form and not simply a literary one.
While the actor derives inspiration from the actions of ordinary people, actors should not be ordinary. Just as great athletes stretch the limits of human physical ability, connecting us each to our own potential, the highly trained stage performer can connect us to our incredible emotional and intellectual potential as well. Actors should be extraordinarily trained to emote and create in ways that the "man on the street" does not.
Actor training must go beyond the idea that acting is only about exposing one's vulnerable self and being "real". An articulated technique allows actors to depersonalize their effort and approach their own bodies with the same egoless connection that a sculptor can approach an unformed mass of clay. Technique then becomes the link between the soul of the artist and the mind and heart of the audience.
In seeking to create a universal theater that speaks to all people I continually rediscover the laws of physics as fundamental building blocks of all communication; intrinsically connected to everything we do. The laws of physics are universal, not idiosyncratic, tangible not esoteric. By giving weight, force and time to emotions an actor can embody the laws of physics. We can look at an object and assess if it is too heavy for us to lift, moving too fast to reach or leaning too far to keep from falling. In the same way we can assess a person's mood. Perhaps they seem too stuck in their ways to bring up a new idea, too vulnerable to hear bad news, or too far-gone to receive any help.
By learning to embody the laws of physics the actor will develop a more sensitive instrument with which to communicate emotions and psychological states without having to gesticulate or indicate. For example, it is the expression of gravity that imbues the actor with a sense of life. As gravity is always flowing through the body even a character at rest is "active". Just the act of standing still would require the actor to express energy in at least two directions -- a downward force expressing the gravitational pull and an upward force expressing the character's will to remain standing. Void of will the actor would fall to the ground. Therefore, an actor standing on stage while not expressing at least these two directions of energy is merely indicating -- they may be standing on stage, but they are not acting!
Margolis Method encompasses many exercises for the actor to develop the skill of "muscular physics" as well as structured improvisations to learn to apply this knowledge within a specific dramatic context. The end result is an actor who can more freely access their creativity and has command of a greater vocabulary of dramatic possibilities.
While this chapter only serves as an introduction to the overall Margolis Method the exercises included in this chapter do cover a wide spectrum of concepts. What they all share is a philosophy fundamental to Margolis Method -- acting is a tangible art form with guiding principles and concrete skills. Each of the exercises can be practiced and over time have a profound affect on an actor and their craft.
Theater today must reclaim its roots, its sense of ceremony and celebration, its ability to provoke and to empower. Only modern western theater has so drastically separated the expressive human instrument in to what we now call the actor (mind) and the dancer (body).
Similarly, the actor's training in western theatre has become a series of disconnected experiences. Students often do text work with one teacher, train the voice out of dramatic context with another and take dance classes that do not connect to their other training. The student must then try to synthesize this information in order to emerge a whole and better actor. This disjointed method of training is like a flautist studying the fingering of the instrument with one teacher while learning to blow in to the flute from another. Impossible! Margolis Method is an organic process that creatively links the training of the actor's body with the voice.
Not only must the actor's body and voice be trained as one; they must also be trained within a dramatic context. The actor's ability to project him/herself in to imaginary situations is one of the actor's essential skills. The brain, like a muscle, needs to be flexed and stimulated in order to grow. In response, Margolis Method trains actors to hone their thinking process to recognize the poetry and metaphors in everyday experiences. By delicately balancing physical, intellectual and emotional expression an actor can work in what I call the "creative state". In this state of hyper-awareness the actor can access their deeper levels of creativity. The actor working within this state of integration has the power to engage audiences, stimulating their creative state as well.
Theater that speaks to an audience on a deeper, more metaphorical level, engages the audience in a creative living ritual experience. It is here that we can communicate in the universal language of all humanity; a language that goes beyond culturally specific gesture to speak to the souls of the spectators and stimulate their imaginations. It is this interpretive "underbelly" that makes theater a living communal art form and not simply a literary one.
While the actor derives inspiration from the actions of ordinary people, actors should not be ordinary. Just as great athletes stretch the limits of human physical ability, connecting us each to our own potential, the highly trained stage performer can connect us to our incredible emotional and intellectual potential as well. Actors should be extraordinarily trained to emote and create in ways that the "man on the street" does not.
Actor training must go beyond the idea that acting is only about exposing one's vulnerable self and being "real". An articulated technique allows actors to depersonalize their effort and approach their own bodies with the same egoless connection that a sculptor can approach an unformed mass of clay. Technique then becomes the link between the soul of the artist and the mind and heart of the audience.
In seeking to create a universal theater that speaks to all people I continually rediscover the laws of physics as fundamental building blocks of all communication; intrinsically connected to everything we do. The laws of physics are universal, not idiosyncratic, tangible not esoteric. By giving weight, force and time to emotions an actor can embody the laws of physics. We can look at an object and assess if it is too heavy for us to lift, moving too fast to reach or leaning too far to keep from falling. In the same way we can assess a person's mood. Perhaps they seem too stuck in their ways to bring up a new idea, too vulnerable to hear bad news, or too far-gone to receive any help.
By learning to embody the laws of physics the actor will develop a more sensitive instrument with which to communicate emotions and psychological states without having to gesticulate or indicate. For example, it is the expression of gravity that imbues the actor with a sense of life. As gravity is always flowing through the body even a character at rest is "active". Just the act of standing still would require the actor to express energy in at least two directions -- a downward force expressing the gravitational pull and an upward force expressing the character's will to remain standing. Void of will the actor would fall to the ground. Therefore, an actor standing on stage while not expressing at least these two directions of energy is merely indicating -- they may be standing on stage, but they are not acting!
Margolis Method encompasses many exercises for the actor to develop the skill of "muscular physics" as well as structured improvisations to learn to apply this knowledge within a specific dramatic context. The end result is an actor who can more freely access their creativity and has command of a greater vocabulary of dramatic possibilities.
While this chapter only serves as an introduction to the overall Margolis Method the exercises included in this chapter do cover a wide spectrum of concepts. What they all share is a philosophy fundamental to Margolis Method -- acting is a tangible art form with guiding principles and concrete skills. Each of the exercises can be practiced and over time have a profound affect on an actor and their craft.