15 April 2014

How Do You Value Your Own Practice?

How do you value your own practice?

It’s easy at drama school to do your own practice.

You have assessment criteria to meet.
Some lecturer or other is encouraging you.
There are guidelines and deadlines.

But after, things are different. And maybe you never experienced this, because maybe, like many successful actors, you never went to drama school.

You know the industry has expectations of you. You know you have to be of a certain calibre to get the plum jobs. You know you have to be ready for that audition that is going to pop up tomorrow, this afternoon, in an hours time.....

I think many actors look in many places to keep them on track... whether it’s workshops, private sessions or online. Much of the time there is an outside source pushing toward that goal - the audition, the opening night, the visiting guru workshop.

What many artists lose sight of is the way in which they value their own practice. Consider this for a moment.... how is it that you value your own practice? Because if it’s from an outside source, as mentioned above, chances are, what you’re doing is sporadic and soon loses momentum after the goalpost has faded into the distance....you’ll only have to pick it up all over again when the next goalpost is erected. What have you done in the meantime?

What if we valued our practice at another level?

Place a value on your body - think of how alive and responsive your whole being is after you invest that bit of time warming into it, stretching it out and encouraging it to come to life and play. Then think how much more weight and value your voice and thoughts have on those around you.

Place a value on your knowledge - instead of constantly looking to that outside source for the answer, spend a week working on a poem or some other voice based work. Observe, listen and diagnose. You’ll be surprised how much you have retained and can do for yourself, without even having to step out the front door.

Place a value on your instinct - what is it that’s good for you today as an artist. Stop regarding someone else's ideas of a good warm up or voice session as superior to yours. What is it your body needs today, at this time, under these circumstances - stillness, activity, rest.... learn to value your body’s judgement, because it knows better than you do.

Place a value on your time - what is one hour worth to you - not in a monetary sense, but in a sense of being with friends, or reading a good book, or seeing a show. Now calculate all of the hours you have put into your voice practice - are you that apathetic that you could let this all go to waste?

So ask yourself again....how do you value your own practice?

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