Letters
"Let Me Hear Your Body Talk" by Terrae Skia
Wintrose, Summer '99
Summer '99 Workshop Report by Barry Fernelius
Alessandra's Reflections on the BodySpeak(tm)
Summer 97 Workshop
Gregory Tobo's response/progress of the Summer 97
Workshop
Letter from Tanya Chartier, participant Summer97
Workshop
Letter from Tim Chartier, participant Summer97
Workshop
Letter from Alessandra to Mark
Olsen
by Terrae Skia Wintrose, Summer '99
In July, I attended The BodySpeak™ Summer Intensive, a week-long mime workshop, at the Le Centre du Silence Mime School located in Boulder, Colorado. Since my return, friends and co-workers have inquired about the workshop and my experience. It is no surprise to anyone that I have found mime difficult to talk about. After all, how do you talk about mime?You really can't talk about mime, but not because it is a form of silent communication. Samuel Avital teaches his students what he has learned from years of listening with his ears and eyes. From his perspective, words lie and we hide behind them. After introducing himself to the class, Samuel asked that we each share something about ourselves. He then asked us to share something about ourselves without using words.
As I stood before the class my heart pounded. Gently I raised my arms up to my head closing them together until my hands met side by side with fingers spread fan-like to obscure my face but allowing me to look at theirs as I moved my head left to right and back again. Then slowly I closed my fingers, separated my arms, and dropped them down to my sides as I stepped forward, stopped, then moved only my right leg from left to right marking the floor with my foot. Thereafter, I was known as "the shy one" and "the one who draws a line." An amazing first lesson! Clearly our bodies reveal more about us than our words. We would discover again and again that our bodies don't lie - the understatement of mime.
Samuel developed BodySpeak™ - The Avital Method of teaching mime from his many years of study, practice, and performance. Acceptance into this rigorous and challenging course required that we commit to a journey of awareness and be willing to embrace the difficult process of peeling away layers of learned and robotic responses. Samuel's method is nontraditional in that he doesn't teach you to duplicate his style. He gives you the tools to surface your own style. We studied laws of motion, explored movement and stillness, grounding and gravity, action and reaction, obstacles and illusions, and broke down movements into their finest components. We were challenged to unleash the artist within, to become the art form, and to create beauty in movement.
Samuel modeled and mirrored for us the spirit's ever-unfolding creativity, profound wisdom, integrity of being, and truth in communication. Through the exercises in the workshop, we came to understand how living in a society that relies on approval from external authorities creates a split between our bodies and minds resulting in much internal conflict. Fragmented expression became obvious when we practiced the cycles, when we witnessed ourselves thinking one thing and doing another. Samuel taught us the series of four cycles that he believes are keys to learning to live fully without guilt and fear.
The Longevity cycles (Flexibility, Regenerative, Integrative, and Self-Evolutionary), Samuel promises,will bring one to consciousness. Though consciousness raising, BodySpeak™ is not another New Age philosophy; it is a compilation of all philosophies. The cycles are tools for developing mental focus and physical discipline. Integration of thought and action, listening to your inner voice, and writing your own script are the goals of daily cycles practice.
For me, this one-week workshop was a "window that offered a view of unlimited possibilities." It was and continues to be "a journey to the creative edge that dares the awakening consciousness to go beyond."
(This article was written by Terrae Skia Wintrose for publication in the September, 1999, Excerpta Medica Employee Newsletter, EMI, in Belle Mead, New Jersey. Presently, Ms. Wintrose resides in New Jersey and works in the medical publishing field).
Summer Workshop 1999 Report by Barry Fernelius.Wed, 18 August 1999
Dear Samuel,
Thank you so much for doing the Summer Mime Workshop. BodySpeak™ has had some wonderful unexpected effects and side effects. Here is the report about the workshop that you requested.
Best Magical Wishes,
Barry R. Fernelius
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BodySpeak™ - WHAT IS IT?
John Hannon said it well: "Samuel, you are a kinesthetic philosopher." To that I'd add, "And BodySpeak™is the physical equivalent of the Socratic Method!"
Socrates used to say that he was wise because he knew that he did not know. "I know that I do not know" contains a pun as it is pronounced in Greek. By changing the accents, spacing, and emphasis, it can mean several things including:
1. I know that I do not know.
2. I know what I do not know.
3. I know whatever I do not know.
4. I know because I do not know.
Thanks to Samuel and BodySpeak™ , my body now knows things that it does not know. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER BodySpeak™ Workshop?
- I use fewer words with greater impact.
- Movements from the cycles are part of my daily exercise.
- I'm a much better observer of movement.
- Beauty is a part of my life every day.
- "I know that I do not know." This realization helps me to keep the cup empty...
Magically speaking, I've had a number of happy, unexpected discoveries, including a wonderful book by Juan Tamariz, _The_Five_Points_in_Magic_. Here is a short quote from the introduction:
"I realized that, if we want to communicate with our spectators and if we want to convey to them the sensation of the impossible, we must rely above all on ourselves."
Now, looking back, it seems obvious and even trivial, but I needed quiet and time before I realized that: neither the apparatus nor the tricks, nor the brilliant ideas, nor the stage decorations, the light or the electronic devices matter, if we fail in transmitting a magical atmosphere
We only have one way to transmit our feelings and thoughts to the audience: our body. Would you believe that I've improved several of my magical effects simply by changing the way in which I move my feet?!
THE MASK - A FEW MUSINGS
To sit quietly, holding a perfect inverse image of your face in your hands creates a strange revelation. For years I'd been in search of myself, and there I was, holding a three dimensional negative of my face, a perfect refutation of my illusions about self.
Although this might seem odd, I enjoyed the process of doing the finishing work on the mask. It was a wonderful, laborious, slow-motion process during which I entered into a calm, meditative state.
Throught the guided meditation, I experienced the sensation of integrating all parts of my self with the whole of nature. I felt as though I could truly focus the whole power of creation through my actions in the world, making anything possible.
The mask is and was and ever shall be a mysterious object of power.
MIME-ORIES
1. Monday, 5 July 1999 (Motion, Stillness, Flexibility Cycle, Mask Making I)
The lessons taught by the one who teaches the obvious: motion/stillness, body building blocks, statues, and masks - with flexibility along the way.
2. Tuesday, 6 July 1999 (The Edge, Bases/Foundation, Mask Making II)
Using my body as a basis for balancing in slow motion at the edge.
3. Wednesday, 7 July 1999 (Fixations, Leaders/Followers, Isolation/Undulation)
All of mime is made of parallels: leaders and followers, tension and release, movement and counter-movement. So it is with all of Nature.
4. Thursday, 8 July 1999 (The Snail, Sticks) It only works in the present tense!
5. Friday, 9 July 1999 (Masks, Applications, Dinner)
Facing the mysterious Being within me and (later) within the other members of the workshop.
Top of page
First of all, I'd like to say that I enjoy attending BodySpeak™ workshops because Samuel is an excellent teacher who has a very practical, systematic approach for teaching, but does it with a very ingenious creative edge. If one is "awake and ready," open to change and learning, one can discover great things about themselves and their bodies. No other form of learning (formal education, athletics, work experiences) has given me the level of satisfaction for living life like studying Mime with Samuel.The ten essential components of BodySpeak™ offers an individual a unique opportunity to explore their bodies in many different ways. Being a regular participant of BodySpeak™ workshops, I found participating in the 1997 Summer Mime Workshop to be quite a mind and body opener. I learned once again to activate all the sensors and feelers, eyes and ears throughout my whole body while we worked the individual BodySpeak™ components daily.
It's been almost a month now since the workshop, and I find that I'm alot more relaxed and seem to enjoy the passing of the days more. I find while at work, I am very focused, centered and not easily distracted from what I am doing at any given moment. Ideas have been turning into brilliant action. I don't find myself coming and going in ten different directions anymore. Like a boat, I'm "steady as she goes" with eyes on the horizon. I'm discovering how enjoyable it is to appreciate the "journey" towards a goal and not the "end product" of the goal. Before, I always found that achieving a goal to be less than satisfying. I was always asking myself, "What's next?" I don't ask that anymore...
The 1997 Summer workshop was a fantastic experience! Because of the wonderful people who were present, open to learning, ready to discover things about themselves, ready for body honest, there was an incredible amount of mind and body learning that took place. We also had lots of fun! I recommend that anyone who is bored with life, ready for a change, open to learning and can be totally honest with themselves will find participating in any BodySpeak™ program to be the ultimate in learning. It's the best Mime School around!!
Sincerely, Alessandra
Bon Jour, Samuel!I apologize for taking so long to write; preparation for my upcoming play has taken much of my focus.
I received both the collection of Mimeories, and the invitation to the Mask Retreat. Thank you. I hope to attend the Mask Workshop in November, but am waiting to see if I can arrange my schedule. I will let you know as soon as I can, if I will be attending.
To update you on my progress since the workshop:
I have continued to use the Flexibility Cycle to observe how I use my body. I've used other movement systems in my theatre work, but this is the first timeI've approached the work as an exploration. Each time I practice the Cycle becomes an opportunity for discovery. Lately, I have been watching how I use my pelvis. A pelvis too far back is an invitation to "locked" knees. A pelvis too far forward collapses my chest. I've also discovered that I have difficulty tilting my pelvis to the right, so spend extra time stretching this area--and this has helped relieve some tension I have in my lower back.
Also I have been watching my breathing during the Flexibility Cycle. I have a tendency during the movements to build tension in my torso and abdomen, which constricts my breathing. I am working now to do each movement with heightened awareness of any extraneous tension I may be creating. Each time I catch myself, and succeed in performing the movement without excess tension, my body learns a new possibility for movement.
On a psychological level, new possibilities continue to unfold. While directing my play, I've discovered a tendency to try to resolve my anxiety by spending money. My hidden belief seems to be that the success of the play is dependent on my buying the right prop, or buying a book with all the answers. Working on the play has provided me with an opportunity to explore how I deal with anxiety, and to explore a new possibility--the possibility that the answers lie within myself, and that I don't have to "buy" a solution.
I enjoyed very much the Sufi tales you told during the Workshop, and have continued to read additional tales as collected by IdrIes Shah. The teachings are very gentle, as they work on so many levels.
I highly recommend the Summer Mime Workshop to anyone who is willing to advance beyond the ordinary. So much of how we move--how we live--is left unexamined during the normal course of our lives. Samuel's approach has helped me to unleash the endless possibilities of my body and my life. I look forward to the adventure which lies ahead...
My play, Sawing a Woman in Half, will run Thursday through Sunday, August 14th through 17th at 8:00 (Thursday, Friday, and Sunday) and 9:00 (Saturday) at Kakes Studios. Please let me know if you would like to attend as you will be most welcome.
You have given me much food for thought...I continue to digest...
Your Companero,
Gregory Tobo
Tanya Chartier's reflections to Samuel Avital, on her participation at the BodySpeak(tm) training of The 1997 International Summer Mime Workshop
Thursday, July 31, 1997
Samuel,
As I reflect on the International Mime Workshop, many things come to mind...
Preparing for teaching middle school reading and drama this fall, I can recognize many ways in which your workshop has impacted me. I am present within my task, awake and ready to write/plan lessons that will teach my students some of the very concepts that I just have learned. I am excited to help them recognize the amazingly complex, yet simple, connection between the body and the mind.
The dichotomous learning that frequently goes on in classrooms has been a frustration for me for quite some time, and I have worked to expand my repertoire of kinesthetic learning activities. Your workshop has contributed greatly to this. I have already incorporated Leader/Follower and The Great Puzzle into my plans and am working at using portions of the cycles for warm-up and focusing activities.
Many people will think it natural that I incorporate mime exercises into drama, but may be surprised that I truly believe that my reading students will benefit as much or more. I will utilize Leader/Follower as a model for the use of reading strategies. Just as people don't often think of leading their walk with the elbow or the chin, many of my students don't think of using the various reading strategies, such as highlighting or graphic organizers, to make meaning from their reading. It all depends on the purpose and what one is trying to get out of the text -- be it the body or the written word. I find the beauty of mime reveals many things that can be taught within the world of words.
From my perspective as a student in your workshop, I have learned much about the beauty behind the integrated art of mime. The essence of mime is something I understand to a better degree than before the workshop. I have often been able to sense an artist at work within technique, but knew that technique only was not the answer to the deep messages that came forth from the art. Technique is essential; however, it cannot communicate without the artist being wholly present and within the moment. I now find myself more focused and expressive within simple movement. I believe I am learning about myself as well as mime.
I thank you for your intensity for life and your focused teaching. Your workshop was an experience of inquiry into the body and what it means to live in full recognition of the body, not simply in spite of it. I feel more connected to myself and am amazed at how giving attention to my entire body can help it health-wise.
Sincerely,
Tanya Chartier
Like the art of its teacher, the Avital Method is beyond words. Describing Samuel's classroom calls for imagery and shape. In an effort to describe The International Summer Mime Workshop, I turn to the BodySpeak™(tm) logo and its use of contrasts.For a moment, look at the picture. Notice the curves, the lines, the contrasts, the separateness, and the wholeness. The picture calls the viewer to look at the differences and yet, the image is a collected whole.
Now that you have looked at the image, let me describe Samuel's workshop within this imagery.
Samuel teaches through contrasts--from understanding to misunderstanding, from risk to safety, from comfort to struggle, from failure to success. The contrasts are often stark. Still, there is a cycle to the contrasts; there is a flow and a rhythm. We undulate from safety to risk to safety again. We float from struggle to comfort to struggle. The pattern is intentional and still spontaneous and personal. Like drops of water in a river, we flow on our own paths. Some drops find quick currents and others discover contemplative, placid pools. At the same time, we form a community, a unison, and a connectedness. We flow together toward something unseen. Yet all along, the river seems to know the direction.
Samuel searches the individual. Like the image, his eyes are open. He looks at you, around you, and into you. He offers the same for his students. He shares himself--his humor, his depth, his opinions, and his learnings. Samuel calls for honesty and openness. He strives to find the core--of the learning, of the individual, and of the community. To succeed, we all must be attentive, awake, ready, and searching. For in any moment, life can unfold quickly and subtly. We must be ready and alert to see the truths and nuances.
Samuel Avital offers a classic image of teaching where the learner is free to learn, free to discover, and free to explore. He searches for the simplest avenue to the destination. The path is so direct that he sometimes doesn't even offer us a map. He extends his gentle hands and simply calls us to come, to follow, to play, to dance, as well as to silence.
Samuel's teaching calls you whoever you are, whatever your interests, and whatever your path. He offers an environment to discover yourself in a fuller, creative way. He asks that you come with your light and darkness, with your edges and curves. He calls you to come as you. If you want to learn, come ready to teach. If you come to receive, be ready to give. If you come to connect with others, be ready to connect with yourself. Yet, no matter your goals, your wishes, your dreams, I believe Samuel offers avenues for you to reach for your stars in new ways. Why do I say this? Samuel Avital searches for an environment in which each of us can find ourselves, knowing that he, himself, will also grow -- and through the process we learn together in community.
Tim Chartier
Dear Mark:Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself of how and what it has been like to study with Samuel Avital. I can really related to your article. I have been a student of Samuel's for approximately 3 and half years now and will be participating in his 1997 Summer Workshop. I find that I am experiencing the same growths and struggles as a Mime that you related in your article, "Mark my Words".
Where I'm at now, I feel is between the so called "crack" that Samuel speaks of as where creative things take place. This crack is between technique and performance. I have spent many hours alone and with my invisible friends practicing, refining, rehearsing storylines, or should I say bits of stories, but as of yet, nothing has come together. It's very frustrating at times to have the will and desire to want to perform Mime, and for some reason what appears beyond my comprehension or have not yet figured out - I've not popped out into the world as a Mime. So I continue to be open and patient and wait for this talented Mime to do it. Did you ever experience these feelings in your earlier studies of Mime? Did you ever feel like nothing was ever going to come together?
Thank you for sharing your one experience of working with Samuel in the l980's in New York. I loved your description of how you two worked together on stage and in the workshop. It was breathtaking in my mind and heart. I, too, have the same passion and love for Mime that you spoke of early on in your article. And with Samuel's continual loving guidance, have had to go through many stages of metamorphosis in Mime.
Not to say that it's all been fun, but every part of the journey has brought me to a more clearer state of consciousness on the subject of Mime. Now I'm just waiting for my body to catch up with what I know.
I am not a person who grew up in and around the theatre. My arts consisted basically of musical instruments, choir and dancing. Because of this, I am working with pure natural abilities and talents to be able to be expressive in Mime. I am grateful for this but, the most frustrating part has been waiting for elan (the natural spice of Mime).
Not to say that I haven't tried out my Mime in different ways, but it's been crude. I've strolled, I've cajoled. I love to work with kids so I've performed at libraries and day care centers. I've dressed up as an apparent Mime clown and have done birthday parties and special events, but these in themselves have not satisfied the Mime in me. I have strolled among the people and played on the streets, but my one desire to perform on stage has not yet transpired. I yearn to feel that feeling of "soaring" on the stage and my ultimate goal is to travel and perform Mime Worldwide.
I know where I am going and with the grace of Samuel, I continue to stay true to my so called "mission". In the meantime until that time comes of performing on stage, I will continue to work and play in my studio with Mime and be happy with my other activities as an Artist - graphics, painting and pastels, as an athlete and all the other things daily that I choose to do.
Thank you again for relating your experiences in "Mark, my Words".
From a Friend in Mime,
Love, Alessandra