The Stanislavsky Method :: essays research papers

When I came off of the stage that first night, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I was ecstatic, on a vivid high. Suddenly, I had found my place in the world. As I assimilate gotten older and more experienced, I have learned that acting is not justreciting lines in front of an audience. There is a technique to acting. It is cognize as the method, method acting, or the Stanislavsky method.The method was created by Konstantin Stanislavsky, a Russian operator, director,producer and founder of the Moscow Art field which opened in 1898. Stanislavsky had many shortcomings as an prole and worked obsessively to modify his voice, diction and body movement. As a director and producer, Stanislavsky believed that the mere international behavior of an actor was not sufficient to portray the unique inner world of a character. He matt-up that once an actor felt what the character was feeling, the emotion would then manifest itself physically, making the performance beli evable. This mind wasthe basis for the method that Stanislavsky created, now the most common acting means in Western theatre.Stanislavskys method begins with relaxation. He called in an occupational disease. One of Stanislavskys most famous students, Lee Strasberg, believed it to be the actors worst enemy. The exercise Stanislavsky developed for relaxation is meant tohelp the actor visualise hidden tension in all muscles of the body, most importantly the face, where most mental tension manifests itself. The exercise begins with the actor sitting in a straight backed, armless chair. First, the actor must find the agency that he or shewould be most likely to sleep in, if utterly necessary. Then, starting with the fingers and working all the muscles in sequence, finding the tension hide in separately muscle, and will the muscle to relax. The first time I performed this exercise was in BeginningDrama, my freshman year. My instructor, Mrs. Daniels, had each student find a space o n the floor and lay down on their back. From there Ms. Daniels went through each of our muscles telling us to relax each one as we went through them. This exercise helps theactor find where they, personally, arrest their tension. Once an actor knows where they hold their tension, they can begin to release it, allow as little of themselves show through the character they are portraying.The beside exercise in the method is called Sense Memory.