Biomechanics and Tai Chi

This past week has been a major focus on Prospective Development for me, as I've been at the NET micro-fest USA in Minneapolis (Myque was there too!). There's so much to write about, but I won't go into it all in this particular blog. I'm going to hone in on the Biomechanics workshop I took last Thursday.

Meyerhold Biomechanics. It was Meyerhold's response to Stanislavsky and Naturalism. According to our instructors, he is a grandfather of Lecoq, Grotovsky, etc. (Not sure if that's true or if they were just proud. They said it, so I'm assuming there's some truth in it.)

In the workshop, we threw and caught sticks in a particular physical form and then we learned a short phrase of movements, or "etude," that is created to help develop balance, coordination and focus for the actor. We were encouraged to move with economy. The movements/postures were slightly awkward (i.e. knees turned inward, body 2-dimensional, as inspired by Greek sculptures), but when I actually found myself in a "correct" posture, I found that I could hold it for a while. I wouldn't say it was comfortable, but it was surprisingly easeful.

Reflecting on the workshop later, I most closely related the class to studying Tai Chi. Another participant made the same connection. I was studying a very particular form and, as one of our instructors said, in the "focus" sense, it becomes a meditation.

Because of my experience with Tai Chi, I was surprisingly gentle with myself every time I dropped the stick (which was almost every time we threw it) and every time I made the same mistake in the "etude" (which was often.) Of course, I heard that nagging voice saying, "Come on, Nicholette. You're a dancer and a Tai Chi-er. Get it together!" But I told it to bug off and just had fun. I learned to drop the stick with "economy" and make mistakes with a bubble of joy behind them.

Besides, when the instructor actually showed us the full etude, he made tons of mistakes (as narrated to us by the second instructor). And he was, supposedly, a protege and master teacher of this form. I don't know what conclusion to make of that. I guess that we're all still learning. And that Biomechanics is out-dated. And dumb.

Okay, not really. The history is actually quite moving. Meyerhold was executed by Stalin for taking risks in the theatre. And the practical applications of the training build awareness, focus, clarity of movement, etc. So it's good, just not for me.