Since we only had 2 hours for our rehearsal today, Ben made the decision that we were not to begin with a Side Stretch. Although I thought I was going to be happy not doing it (as it is quite demanding), I then realised that I wasn't as I did not feel like I was in the zone to rehearse some Shakespeare; my body did not feel warmed up nor did I feel like I had created a certain bond with the rest of the cast. By not starting the lesson off with a Side Stretch, I truly learnt the importance of it, as well as learning the benefits I could gain by doing it.
Trees
We all got into a circle laying down, with our feet touching and keeping the circle together, not moving. Slowly, we would become more animated when using our right hands and using them to guide the rest of our bodies. I started raising mine and then moving it to my wrist, then moving it to my arm (etc) until, eventually, our bodies were getting off the floor and then becoming trees that interlinked with other trees, as if we were a forest that characters would walk through.
When Sybil and Lauren began to walk, we became chains of trees, so that once they passed us, we would then join the end and create a never ending path. I liked this illusion created although it was quite hard at first since there were so many of us, making it hard to get past each other and also find where the end of the chain is to then move to it. Another thing that made it harder was the fact that another pair joined so there were two chains of trees having to be created and you didn't know the difference between them.
To improve our techniques, we got into groups of five - two walkers and three trees - to see how we can use space and speed to create an effective looking path without it being too crowded. People in my group were rolling past each other and leaving space between one another so that it ended up looking very effective and ninja-like. I think if we all find a technique that works for everyone, we could end up having a very effective looking forest.
Big Tree Ideas
For the rest of the lesson, the class was split into two parts - performers who were rehearsing and people who were trying to find a way to create a big tree that Izzy and Tia could fall from (when they die) in a safe way.
It started off very good as there were a lot of ideas thrown around. Fifi had the idea that they could get on the backs of people down below and roly-poly off of their backs. Since I am too weak to carry any weight, I was the 'guinea pig' in this so I rolled off Fifi's back and I found it to be a really good idea however, when Izzy and Tia tried it, they found that they couldn't do it in a neat way. We threw around many ideas however they were all shut down when we remembered that they will be falling from a higher platform so it will be harder to bring them down in a safe way without them sitting on the edge first. At the end of this, we still did not have a definite idea but I think once we see the platform, it will be easier to work with it instead of just envisioning it.
Finishing the lesson off, we were still using the idea of a tree to create a way to hang one of the characters. Samara acted as the person being hung. We found a way to hang her by doing a cheerleading lift, as well as having two people grabbing each of her arms, and the rest of us creating the tree around this set up. Samara then had to push her weight down into her arms to lift herself up and perfectly distribute her weight across each person. This looked very effective and it was a really good way to make sure that her weight wasn't all on one person however the only problem might be maintaining the pushing of her weight.
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