MEISNER INTENSIVE (All Levels)
with guest artists
Jessica Greco & Patrice Goodman
Meisner Intensive (All Levels)
April 10-May 3 - Price: $525+HST
(5% discount for ACTRA, SAG, and CAEA members)
Students will work a minimum of twice each class. This kind of intensive training schedule builds emotional and physical stamina. It’s the most effective way to learn the technique, and is modeled after the schedule at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York.
Like going to the gym, this technique keeps your instrument alive, spontaneous and strong. Students will work at least twice, every class. The beginners will be integrated in with intermediate students. Which means advanced work will be done alongside the fundamentals of the technique. Creating an environment that challenges every student at their level.
This session has been scheduled on the weekend and weekday evenings because it is important for students to attend ALL THE DATES, if possible.
We will begin by laying the ground work of the Meisner Technique. Getting students comfortable repeating in a chair, then on their feet, observing, making authentic connections. Introducing a sense of play. Then, we will refine the work, focusing on an individual’s sticking points. Integrating all levels of experience forces the more advanced students to drill down and work simply, while the beginners enjoy the challenge of working with more experienced students. Our goal is to instill in each actor the confidence and conviction to demand consistent human connection. A high tide raises all ships.
THE MEISNER TECHNIQUE
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Connected. Impulsive. Reacting. Listening. Truthful. In the moment. Actors use these words to praise a good performance, but the question is: how do we get there?
From 1935 to 1990, Sanford Meisner was an esteemed acting teacher who founded the renowned NYC acting school The Neighborhood Playhouse. There he created The Meisner Technique, and an incredibly simple, yet riveting acting exercise called The Repetition. Specifically designed to enhance the key skills of listening and answering another human being fully. In this class, you will repeat with your classmates, embodying the art of “Living truthfully under the imaginary circumstances.”
This class happens in the moment, it cultivates the magic of acting by focusing on behaviour and how that translates out into the world or to another person. The approach puts you in your body, out of your head, and focused on the other actor. Every time you get up to work, (which is twice a class, every class) it will feel vulnerable and scary and exciting and unpredictable.
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This technique has garnered much success — 37 of Meisner’s students won or were
nominated for Academy Awards. Meisner-trained actors include Tom Cruise, Sandra Bullock, Chadwick Boseman, Diane Keaton, Allison Janney, James Gandolfini, Timothée Chalamet, Sam Rockwell, Jeff Bridges, Jim Carrey, Tatiana Maslany, Krysten Ritter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and so many more.