Rooted in the work of master acting teacher Sanford Meisner, Meisner acting classes use a series of exercises that build upon each other progressively, until the most complex skills are mastered. A student that experiences Meisner acting classes will soon discover that they will never be done learning the craft of acting. Phrases such as improvisation, personal response, emotional memory, emotional preparation will take on new meaning for the student as they work through these exercises from simple repetitive phrase exercises to scene studies with complex texts.
In the beginning, Meisner acting classes may seem too simplistic, lacking real dialogue or "story" to work with. The aim of these beginning exercises is to remove the crutch of dialogue and storyline, and instead teach the students to use emotional clues they get from other actors. Over time, if they remain open to the process, students in Meisner acting classes learn to rely on the emotional cues they get from other players in a scene or exercise and use them to create and live in a new reality they are creating in the moment.
Known for asking the same pointed questions again and again as students worked, Meisner's goal was to make the student aware that they needed to be fully committed to their emotional responses and have a purpose for actions that would propel the story forward. With the Meisner technique even sleeping or being still is considered an "action" that requires purpose. Meisner was considered by many to be a tough, yet brilliant coach, who was known for coining the phrase "acting is doing." His other well known saying "an ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words," is a good way to sum up his theory about acting. Dialogue will have no meaning, unless it is delivered by someone living a truthful life, with authentic emotions and behaviors.
The student who excels is one who recognizes this and discovers an ability to create a new reality every time they act, even if for a simple acting class exercise. Many acting classes nyc will train the actor to use sound, feeling, emotion, physical space, and the sounds, emotions and physical expression of the other players to create an edgy exciting performance full of spontaneity. This can eliminate bad acting habits, such as "pretending" rather than "being." Once bad habits are broken in Meisner acting classes an actor becomes completely self forgetful, able to "be" someone else, rather than merely pretending. The aim is to eliminate self awareness while acting, and always be present in the moment, as the character, and use that energy to create the new reality of the story. If this seems challenging, it is, and being aware of this might be an indication that this technique is for you. Any actor that believes that delivering dialogue and reading lines as a character, full of the appropriate emotions and personalty, is in for some serious work. The Meisner acting technique will force you to work far more deeply than that. Yes, you essentially become someone else but, not a pre-determined someone else. Instead you become someone new,someone real, that changes as the work progresses in unrehearsed ways.
By creating an imagined set of circumstances, including a character's history of needs and wants, failures etc, and living them out, the student of Meisner learns to allow the character emerge and change as the project story plays out. This involves behavioral theories, including the elements of adaptation and communication which were aspects of the discipline known as Method acting. Putting his own stamp on method acting principles, Sanford Meisner developed a whole new training technique which has produced some of the most legendary actors of all time.
In order to generate truthful behavior in a new imagined reality, which is what theatre and film are about, an actor must focus on two things: the other actors they are playing with and moving forward in a committed way to the next moment in the scene. If they are open, and have achieved self forgetfulness, the impulses generated by fellow actors will feed this forward, moment-by-moment movement. The performance will have an edge, a sense of reality that is hard to create unless spontaneity is constantly at work. In the end this is also what real life is like. Not knowing what will happen at any moment, we take in what another person says, we react, we respond, we move toward the next thing. Gaining the ability to create this kind of spontaneity onstage with other actors, the lines and story emerging brand new every second, is the most rewarding things you will learn in Meisner acting.
In the beginning, Meisner acting classes may seem too simplistic, lacking real dialogue or "story" to work with. The aim of these beginning exercises is to remove the crutch of dialogue and storyline, and instead teach the students to use emotional clues they get from other actors. Over time, if they remain open to the process, students in Meisner acting classes learn to rely on the emotional cues they get from other players in a scene or exercise and use them to create and live in a new reality they are creating in the moment.
Known for asking the same pointed questions again and again as students worked, Meisner's goal was to make the student aware that they needed to be fully committed to their emotional responses and have a purpose for actions that would propel the story forward. With the Meisner technique even sleeping or being still is considered an "action" that requires purpose. Meisner was considered by many to be a tough, yet brilliant coach, who was known for coining the phrase "acting is doing." His other well known saying "an ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words," is a good way to sum up his theory about acting. Dialogue will have no meaning, unless it is delivered by someone living a truthful life, with authentic emotions and behaviors.
The student who excels is one who recognizes this and discovers an ability to create a new reality every time they act, even if for a simple acting class exercise. Many acting classes nyc will train the actor to use sound, feeling, emotion, physical space, and the sounds, emotions and physical expression of the other players to create an edgy exciting performance full of spontaneity. This can eliminate bad acting habits, such as "pretending" rather than "being." Once bad habits are broken in Meisner acting classes an actor becomes completely self forgetful, able to "be" someone else, rather than merely pretending. The aim is to eliminate self awareness while acting, and always be present in the moment, as the character, and use that energy to create the new reality of the story. If this seems challenging, it is, and being aware of this might be an indication that this technique is for you. Any actor that believes that delivering dialogue and reading lines as a character, full of the appropriate emotions and personalty, is in for some serious work. The Meisner acting technique will force you to work far more deeply than that. Yes, you essentially become someone else but, not a pre-determined someone else. Instead you become someone new,someone real, that changes as the work progresses in unrehearsed ways.
By creating an imagined set of circumstances, including a character's history of needs and wants, failures etc, and living them out, the student of Meisner learns to allow the character emerge and change as the project story plays out. This involves behavioral theories, including the elements of adaptation and communication which were aspects of the discipline known as Method acting. Putting his own stamp on method acting principles, Sanford Meisner developed a whole new training technique which has produced some of the most legendary actors of all time.
In order to generate truthful behavior in a new imagined reality, which is what theatre and film are about, an actor must focus on two things: the other actors they are playing with and moving forward in a committed way to the next moment in the scene. If they are open, and have achieved self forgetfulness, the impulses generated by fellow actors will feed this forward, moment-by-moment movement. The performance will have an edge, a sense of reality that is hard to create unless spontaneity is constantly at work. In the end this is also what real life is like. Not knowing what will happen at any moment, we take in what another person says, we react, we respond, we move toward the next thing. Gaining the ability to create this kind of spontaneity onstage with other actors, the lines and story emerging brand new every second, is the most rewarding things you will learn in Meisner acting.
About the Author:
The Maggie Flanigan Studio provides acting classes nyc for serious, committed actors. To learn more about meisner intensive nyc you can visit the studio website.