Why does Magis place an emphasis on training?
Our company started from a desire to continue the kind of training we received in our advanced studies in theatre and from a desire to place this work in dialogue with other forms of training. What has evolved for us is a year -round plan that has three modes of training: fundamental skills, exploration of new work, and readiness for performance. We have found that these three components challenge us to stay fresh in our technique, provide a means to prepare others to become Magis trainers, and put us in contact with innovative approaches that deepens the integration of each actor’s personal craft.
What should I wear to training?
Comfortable clothing that allows you to move freely and rigorously. Some of our training requires gym shoes.
What do you mean by heightened language?
Any text that is bigger than our every day speech. Classical texts, poetic texts, some absurdist texts or non-linear texts… any of these show us that you can embody language that is just a little bit above and beyond our everyday way of speaking. We want to see you engage the imagination, and yet at the same time present the text fully and truthfully.
I don’t have a Shakespeare piece, should I memorize a new piece for the audition?
We would rather see you show something that you are already comfortable with. If you have different monologues that you regularly show, pick the one that you think makes the greatest demands in engaging your imagination and showing your range.
How is Magis training different than other forms of training?
Magis takes a holistic/ integrated approach to training. While some techniques focus on aspects of performance in isolation from each other, Magis training has developed a single vocabulary that unites seemingly opposed theatrical techniques. By using the same vocabulary for our work with voice, body and imagination, it provides ready channels to unite different approaches, some of which were previously thought of as inconsistent. Check the training page on our website to read about how our training has grown and how we have presented our training at national and international conferences and for theatre professionals and educators.
Is Magis a Union Company?
Currently all the actors of the Magis Theatre Company are members of Actors’ Equity. We operate closely with the union and have produced shows under Showcase, Mini, and LOA contracts.
Does Magis operate year round?
Yes. While we do only one production per year, and our typical run is 3 weeks, the company trains every week together. This is one of the goals of our company and we make a commitment to providing training through out the year. We take a 6 week hiatus in the summer. Our school outreach program operates for six months of the year as well.
Does Magis pay its actors?
Yes, we strive to pay our actors. This takes the form of a stipend for their work in our yearly production, but also part of the way we pay our actors is providing training free of charge. You can consider our training like a yearly membership to a gym or a studio. While other companies charge for workshops and training, we offer this freely to members of our company. We also regularly invite special guest instructors to lead workshops for our actors. All this is part of the way we give back to our actors who make a commitment to the company. Magis Company members who are administrators as well do not receive salaries for administrative roles in the company.
If I am selected for the company will I have to pay for workshops or training?
No. These are offered free of charge to members of our company.
If I am selected for the company, when can I expect to start performing?
We ask that members show proficiency in technique before taking part in a performance. Because we have only one production per year, typically actors are cast in the production after completing between 6-12 months of training with the company.
I am interested in teaching , can I be a part of the Magis Theatre school outreach program?
We welcome Magis actors to work with the students at the school where our company is in residence.
We provide materials and mentoring for Magis actors who are interested in teaching.
What kind of commitment am I expected to make to the company?
We expect our actors to be at training each week. We understand that there are exceptional circumstances that sometimes prevent full attendance, but we expect that when ever possible, the company training time be respected.
We also expect that our actors will bring themselves to our work by maintaining our work environment, sharing in what ever capacity is possible to facilitate training, and participating in projects that we provide for the school which hosts us. Each year we hold two workshop days for our students and we expect all company members to be in attendance to work with the students at these two workshops
Because we are a self-producing organization, company members all help out in realizing our productions.
If I am cast in a show outside the company will that affect my status as a company member in Magis?
Our actors are all working actors. When working outside Magis, we ask that people make it to training when they are not called for rehearsals of other shows, and if there is flexibility in those rehearsals, that a commitment to being at Magis training on Sundays is maintained whenever possible.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Viewpoints Sunday Nov 16th
Warm-Up: (7 minutes)
1. Walk through the room. Feel your feet, notice others around you, notice the gaps between you and move into those gaps. Find the empty spaces in the room, while also moving between the gaps between you and the others.
2. Pick a person to follow, don't let them know you are following them. Follow a new person. Now form a triangle with two people in the room. Move to make it a perfect triangle. Drop those two people and walk. Now find two new people and create a straight line with you on one end.
Lanes: (5 minutes)
3. Walk, run, jump, stop or fall.
A) Tempo...how fast can you do these activities? How slow?
B) Duration...how long can you lie down for? How long can you jump for, explore the extremes.
C) Kinesthetic Response....notice and respond to the sounds and movements of the others in the room.
Grid: (5 minutes)
4. Open it up into a grid of straight lines. Walk, run, jump, stop or fall on the grid.
A) Continue to work with a focus on tempo, duration and kinesthetic response.
B) Spatial Relationship...notice the space around you, in you, between you and others. Allow yourself to be a moving body in space, free, spontaneous and infinite. Notice the shape of your body, notice the shapes all of our bodies make together.
Open Viewpoints (5 minutes)
5. Open it up to the whole space
C) Gesture. Add in everday behavioral gestures. Physical gestures you see in the pilates studio, the Met, the elevator at Fordham, the office, the zendo, the subway, the street. Let them be bigger. Let the gestures expand, let them transform.
D) Repetition...repeat the gestures of others.
E) Architecture. Use the room, the floor, the walls, the stage, be aware of the ceiling and the huge space above your head, be aware of the floor, and your feet and your breathing and the wave.
Viewpointing with audience (8 to 10 minutes)
6. Divide into two groups. Some up some down. Begin. Use all of the different aspects of viewpoints: Tempo, duration, kinesthetic response, spatial relationship, gestures, repetition, architecture
7. Switch.
1. Walk through the room. Feel your feet, notice others around you, notice the gaps between you and move into those gaps. Find the empty spaces in the room, while also moving between the gaps between you and the others.
2. Pick a person to follow, don't let them know you are following them. Follow a new person. Now form a triangle with two people in the room. Move to make it a perfect triangle. Drop those two people and walk. Now find two new people and create a straight line with you on one end.
Lanes: (5 minutes)
3. Walk, run, jump, stop or fall.
A) Tempo...how fast can you do these activities? How slow?
B) Duration...how long can you lie down for? How long can you jump for, explore the extremes.
C) Kinesthetic Response....notice and respond to the sounds and movements of the others in the room.
Grid: (5 minutes)
4. Open it up into a grid of straight lines. Walk, run, jump, stop or fall on the grid.
A) Continue to work with a focus on tempo, duration and kinesthetic response.
B) Spatial Relationship...notice the space around you, in you, between you and others. Allow yourself to be a moving body in space, free, spontaneous and infinite. Notice the shape of your body, notice the shapes all of our bodies make together.
Open Viewpoints (5 minutes)
5. Open it up to the whole space
C) Gesture. Add in everday behavioral gestures. Physical gestures you see in the pilates studio, the Met, the elevator at Fordham, the office, the zendo, the subway, the street. Let them be bigger. Let the gestures expand, let them transform.
D) Repetition...repeat the gestures of others.
E) Architecture. Use the room, the floor, the walls, the stage, be aware of the ceiling and the huge space above your head, be aware of the floor, and your feet and your breathing and the wave.
Viewpointing with audience (8 to 10 minutes)
6. Divide into two groups. Some up some down. Begin. Use all of the different aspects of viewpoints: Tempo, duration, kinesthetic response, spatial relationship, gestures, repetition, architecture
7. Switch.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Tayloring our Viewpoints
I would like to lead Viewpoints after Gabe leads us in the Robert Taylor work. I will follow a similar pattern to the Viewpoints session that I lead 2 weeks ago, however this time I would like to add in the Taylor energies and gestures.
1. Lanes. Stand in your lane. Become aware of your body taking up space in the room. Feel your feet, allow your breath to naturally come in and out. Feel your feet. Let go of any tension. Notice where you have muscular tension and breathe through that area. Do the wave forwards and backwards. Can you be aware of other people making waves? This time let the energy pool at your feet, but instead of the wave, let us find the JUMP.
Movement possibilities: a) Walk b) jump c) crawl d) lie down e) reverse direction f) dramatic jump g) lyric jump h) epic jump.
2. Lanes. Introduce: a) tempo b)duration c) repetition
3. Freestyle: Introduce: a) Gestures: Robert Taylor: direct, thoughtful, sympathy, antipathy, feeling forward, retreating...allow more freedom with these gestures, let them organically emerge from your body, can you find something completely new in them?
b) spatial relationships
c) architecture
4. Big Group viewpoints
5. Small Group viewpoints
1. Lanes. Stand in your lane. Become aware of your body taking up space in the room. Feel your feet, allow your breath to naturally come in and out. Feel your feet. Let go of any tension. Notice where you have muscular tension and breathe through that area. Do the wave forwards and backwards. Can you be aware of other people making waves? This time let the energy pool at your feet, but instead of the wave, let us find the JUMP.
Movement possibilities: a) Walk b) jump c) crawl d) lie down e) reverse direction f) dramatic jump g) lyric jump h) epic jump.
2. Lanes. Introduce: a) tempo b)duration c) repetition
3. Freestyle: Introduce: a) Gestures: Robert Taylor: direct, thoughtful, sympathy, antipathy, feeling forward, retreating...allow more freedom with these gestures, let them organically emerge from your body, can you find something completely new in them?
b) spatial relationships
c) architecture
4. Big Group viewpoints
5. Small Group viewpoints
Monday, November 3, 2008
Gabe leading Taylor. Lesson II for 11/9
We will start with the breath then leading to the shape.
1) Sipping breaths into each chamber of the body.
2) Breath count to 8, then 12, then 16, then 20.
3) Dramatic:
A) Inhaling and then exhaling on the rhythm of Dramatic first. Next, going over the form by drawing the parallels of the wave; how momentum, suspension and gravity are prevalent in the shape and its release.
B) Doing four dramatics.
C) Inhaling and exhaling on the rhythm of dramatic; drawing the parallels of Cicely Berry’s work which will pertain to "releasing the thought" and "pursuing the thought".
E) Inhaling then exhaling with text; reinforcing “releasing the thought.” Using one line of text—using the same line throughout.
F) Finally, with “releasing the thought” in mind and using the form of dramatic, the exhale is the text and the entire action of performing the shape of dramatic is the "release of the thought".
G) Review the forms of the 6 Revelations of Speech; 1)Direct 2) Sympathy 3) Antipathy 4) Thoughtful 5) Retreating-to-one’s-own-ground and 6) Feeling-forward-against-the-hindrance. We will use the line of text with the Energy of Dramatic with each Revelation.
H) I will now focus on "pursuing the thought". Continuing using the same text (going onto the subsequent lines) and using the different revelations to “chase” that thought.
4) Lyric- Steps A-H using the Lyric shape.
5) Epic- Steps A-H using the Epic shape.
6) Text Circle.
A) Zip-Zap-Zop
B) “Text”-“Text”-concentrating on not compromising speed for connection.
C) One line in, one line out
D) Full open exchanges/freestyle!
After the Taylor session, if time allows, I am volunteering myself to go first on “Monologue/Proposition feedback” (as we discussed last week in Training (11/2) and in our meeting in June). I would still like to employ this aspect into our training. Thanks for your time and have a fabulous day.
Gabe :)
1) Sipping breaths into each chamber of the body.
2) Breath count to 8, then 12, then 16, then 20.
3) Dramatic:
A) Inhaling and then exhaling on the rhythm of Dramatic first. Next, going over the form by drawing the parallels of the wave; how momentum, suspension and gravity are prevalent in the shape and its release.
B) Doing four dramatics.
C) Inhaling and exhaling on the rhythm of dramatic; drawing the parallels of Cicely Berry’s work which will pertain to "releasing the thought" and "pursuing the thought".
E) Inhaling then exhaling with text; reinforcing “releasing the thought.” Using one line of text—using the same line throughout.
F) Finally, with “releasing the thought” in mind and using the form of dramatic, the exhale is the text and the entire action of performing the shape of dramatic is the "release of the thought".
G) Review the forms of the 6 Revelations of Speech; 1)Direct 2) Sympathy 3) Antipathy 4) Thoughtful 5) Retreating-to-one’s-own-ground and 6) Feeling-forward-against-the-hindrance. We will use the line of text with the Energy of Dramatic with each Revelation.
H) I will now focus on "pursuing the thought". Continuing using the same text (going onto the subsequent lines) and using the different revelations to “chase” that thought.
4) Lyric- Steps A-H using the Lyric shape.
5) Epic- Steps A-H using the Epic shape.
6) Text Circle.
A) Zip-Zap-Zop
B) “Text”-“Text”-concentrating on not compromising speed for connection.
C) One line in, one line out
D) Full open exchanges/freestyle!
After the Taylor session, if time allows, I am volunteering myself to go first on “Monologue/Proposition feedback” (as we discussed last week in Training (11/2) and in our meeting in June). I would still like to employ this aspect into our training. Thanks for your time and have a fabulous day.
Gabe :)
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