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Acting Technique Tips
The Alexander Technique
School for Film and Television Tip: Movement techniques of all kinds should form part of your actor training. Dance teaches you to move fluidly. Pantomime teaches non-verbal communication. But perhaps the most valuable lessons are to be had through the Alexander Technique.
Through the Alexander Technique, an actor learns to connect — in every possible sense of the word. Different parts of the body begin to work together. Breath connects to speech. Intention connects to gesture. Gestures flow from one to the other. Automatic habits are replaced by free choice. The result is the kind of poise and grace that radiates from being truly centered.
Many actors swear by the Alexander Technique. Since its creation over 100 years ago by F.M. Alexander, an actor himself, the Technique has been embraced in drama schools throughout the world. Some of the Technique's most famous students include Judi Dench, Hilary Swank, and Kevin Kline.
So if you're ready to pull your body, mind, and soul together, take some Alexander Technique lessons. Contact the American Society of Alexander Technique Teachers (http://www.alexandertech.org) to find a certified teacher near you.
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The Meisner Technique
School for Film and Television Tip: Sanford Meisner (1905-1997), together with Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, is generally regarded as one of America's most brilliant acting teachers. The Meisner Technique is one of the most popular acting techniques being taught and practiced today.
Meisner aimed to break an actor's dependence on easy tricks and to get him to respond truthfully to a given moment. He taught that a performer's attention should remain on his partner — on what the partner is saying and doing — and not on what he himself is preparing to say or do. The result: a far less self-conscious performance that resonates with authenticity.
The Meisner Technique owes a debt to the great Russian acting teacher, Constantin Stanislavski, who steered his students away from the stiff and affected acting that was common in his day. The interdependent series of exercises developed by Meisner expand on Stanislavski's teachings. Each exercise builds on the earlier ones and increases in complexity. Improvisation, emotional truth, and an actor's personal response to the script are all important aspects of this approach.
