More Thoughts On Method

Ed,

The workshop with Lloyd and Hannes and Ian and Andy, and the group of attendees like me was satisfying in some ways, not in others.  Talking to my sister today, I realized that both of those events are useful – satisfaction and dissatisfaction.  I admired the efforts of Lloyd’s style and shared his goal, but felt his methods were abrupt.   Some weeks ago, Hope helped me realized that most of the performance world is going for the same thing, the techniques are simply all across the board, almost like religions all going toward a rich incomprehensible.  I think this is why things that nail it are transcendent in their satisfaction and achieve something like a universal consensus of success.  Like Pina’s work.  What I feel like I’ve heard about Mark Rylance, and what I’ve witnessed of Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Fearless, yes, but, my favorite word that I got from one of my soon to be teachers, Accurate.  So that our satisfaction, delight, in a way relief, is from recognizing an experience or condition, in a performance or a piece.

So one of the things I gained from listening to the director of DV8 verbally and sometimes physically pull, is that maybe we are allowed to declare things as “right” or “wrong”.  Though 99% of the time it only means debate, debate is the only way to get closer to what 99% of us are shooting for.  And instead of calling everything interesting, more interesting or less interesting, maybe I can jump on the band wagon and choose that things are right.  Debate ensues.  Hurray.

Mainly, I didn’t agree with Lloyd’s methods.  This might mean I am lazy, preferring vagueness and best efforts instead of exactitude.  This might mean I am more of an “actor” than a “dancer”, for the same reasons.  I admire dogged pursuit, especially a relentlessness in details, which I don’t have.  For me there is a certain playfulness that best accompanies wrestling an enigma.  Playfulness allows for failure, which is the only certainty, but keeps a certain positivity about the pursuit.  I gave up a long time ago finding exact right, perfection.  It is still something that taunts my conscience and my efforts in many areas in this life, but I feel generous relief when I settle with a smile on the truth of what all that sentimental crap sums up in a thousand ways about the journey being more important than the destination.  The reason I am going to school is that my glimpse of the Lecoq method, particularly clowning, offered something like both – a dogged pursuit of Right, that such a thing exists and it is worth being tenacious about, and that it exists in a blown wide open performer and near-insanely attentive playfulness.

Lloyd thought I needed to buckle down.  I think I need to unhinge, but with the same adamancy.  Probably neither of us is wrong, but I’m hoping for a joyful life with a playfulness that finds its way into most corners.

Miss you.  Miss the hotel.  It’s all very serious there, but I feel the best moments have playfulness, even if it’s of a devastating nature.

Beauty beauty beauty,

Accuracy.

Love,

Tim