“You cannot afford to confine your studies to the classroom. The universe and all of history is your classroom.”
― Stella Adler, The Art of Acting
Many students in my acting classes who really want to learn acting will approach me and ask what they can do on a day to day basis to practice their actor’s craft and keep their acting instrument alive and fluid?
This is a good question and I will attempt to give you as many different acting exercises as I can in a few short blogs. It won’t be everything, but it can get you started on the right track in your actor training. (also see my other article: 7 Successful Habits For The Actor)
First off, I’d like to talk about discipline in acting classes. Because without it you are probably reading lots of acting books and taking lots of acting classes, but you are not practicing your actor’s craft on a day-to-day basis when you are on your own. In our Toronto acting school we teach our acting students that discipline requires you to take all the acting knowledge you’ve learned in acting classes and put them into embodied practice. Thinking about acting and taking acting classes simply isn’t enough!
THE ACTORS ARTFORM
Dancers stretch every day. Musicians play their scales every day. Athletes practice their fundamentals daily. Singers sing their scales every single day. But actors don’t seem to know what to do to keep their performance art alive in the down times.
All that time you’re putting into watching inspirational YouTube videos of actors talking about their acting craft, and reading books on the art of acting, and Googling about it; could be put into actually doing it! Maybe, if you know what to do with the acting tips you learn in acting classes that will be a good start.
In the image, an actor in our Toronto acting school reflect on an “acting tip adjustment” given during scene work
THE ACTOR’S INSTRUMENT
An actor’s practice is very different from any of the others I mentioned above. This is because the actor’s instrument is not separate from your very self. The actor is using her own psyche, his own imagination, her own body, his own emotions, her own voice and his own soul. I sometimes think this is why the actor can stay away from consistent daily practice because it demands opening up the instrument and feeling. (see my other article: The Actor’s Instrument-Introduction). The actor in my Toronto acting school has to face his own vulnerability, sensitivity, pain, hunger and longing both in class and in the world. And sometimes I think, the novice actor who begins taking acting classes would rather be removed from the experience instead of really living and inhabiting it. This is understandable and often the ‘holding’ of a good acting class helps to give the actor permission to do this.
As an acting teacher in the Toronto acting community, I recognize that it takes an enormous amount of courage for actors to drop into extremely profound and personal places and reveal this in public and in acting classes. It requires a real feeling of safety when practicing as opposed to performing.
THE ACTOR AND LIFE EXPERIENCE
In our Toronto school of acting, I teach that the way you live your life as an actor will vastly improve your acting ability. In order to stir your actor’s imagination, go and visit art museums, read fictional books (instead of watching TV), travel to different places, ask people about their life stories and daydream. As actors, every experience you have in life will add to your own story and will in turn add to your world of personal riches that you can channel into your acting career and life.
Now…. what a fun practice acting can be!
With love,
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Acting Teacher / Mentor / Life Coach Cindy Tanas, has run a highly reputable and successful Toronto acting school for over 25 years. She teaches Acting Classes for beginners and experienced actors. Cindy is a member of ACTRA, former Chair and member of TAAS (Toronto Association of Acting Studios) and member of Theatre Ontario.
Cindy Tanas Actors Studio offers a holistic approach to acting in Toronto since 1995. Both in person and online acting classes are available.
www.torontoactingstudios.com
www.actratoronto.com
www.theatreontario.org