Acting and devising 1
ACTING AND DEVISING 1 consists of 5 practical subjects: Acting, Movement, Voice, Music and Devising. The subjects follow a common progression with classes and work based on students working practically together as an ensemble.
The course fosters experimentation driven by curiosity, courage, and humour. Students are encouraged to try out ideas and to accept both success and failure as part of the learning process.
Acting consist of improvisation classes to develop acting skills and creativity.
In first part of the course, improvisation classes explore the psychology of everyday life and how people’s inner life is revealed by how they physically behave and relate to each other. This work develops basic improvisation skills of listening, reacting, and developing situations through play.
In the second part of the course, playing with the Neutral Mask is explored. This opens the door to a more heightened and poetic exploration the dynamics of life and nature. This work develops the actor’s presence, physicality, receptivity, sensitivity, and awareness of space, rhythm, timing, action and reaction.
The Neutral Mask leads to work on identification and physical, vocal and psychological transformation that extends the students’ range as performers.
In Voice and Movement students develop the functional and expressive use of voice and body for acting and performance.
In Music students work on basic musical skills. Ensemble singing and music using rhythm, listening, ear training and basic composition. The classes are practical and work through a physical method that doesn’t require any prior theoretical knowledge.
Devising
The students follow a sequence of devising tasks that build up knowledge of how to create engaging and original scenes. The devising work gives the student a creative way to refine their acting skills and develop devising methods. The short scenes form the basis of evaluating the student’s progress and are a point of critical reflection on the theory and practice of devising.
Knowledge
The student:
- Has a basic understanding of acting as an embodied process.
- Has experience and finer awareness of how movement and body language create dramatic play.
- Has a basic understanding of how to play with space, time, relation, action, reaction, rhythm, timing, scales, balance, and imbalance.
- Has a basic understanding of anatomy and functionality in voice and movement, and an awareness of their personal strengths and weaknesses.
- Has a basic understanding of how to actively research and imaginatively engage in methods of acting, alone and in groups.
- Has a basic understanding how to work collaboratively in exploring the subject of acting.
- Understands how openness, curiosity and courage facilitates learning and quality in acting work. has a basic knowledge how to work collaboratively in ensemble.
- Has a basic knowledge how to use play and acting to develop a scene.
- Knows about research and development in the artistic field and has an awareness of interdisciplinary influences in the arts.
- Has a basic knowledge how to update their knowledge of the artistic field.
- Has a basic knowledge about artistic processes.
- Has knowledge of creative processes within music.
- Has knowledge the function of music in theatre and film.
Skills
The student:
- Can play alone and with others on stage intuitively and truthfully.
- Can use non-verbal communication, movement, and voice to interact with space and other partners in improvised and text play.
- Can play with Neutral Mask.
- Can use observation and imaginative identification as an acting process.
- Can develop a character from different sources: movement, text, psychology and identification with elements and materials.
- Can improvise and explore imagined situations individually and with others.
- Can embody thoughts, feeling and intentions physically and vocally.
- Can place their voice (breath support).
- Can move efficiently and safely.
- Can use articulate movements and play with dynamics of moment.
- Can do basic acrobatics and stage combat.
- Can release unnecessary tension in movement and vocal work.
- Can manage group dynamics to make a good working environment.
- Can use listening skills to understand other people’s ideas.
- Can formulate and express their own idea clearly.
- Can make creative propositions with their acting skills.
- Can apply their critical reflections to find creative solutions in acting.
- Can sing with technique and voice care.
- Can keep time in rhythms.
- Can achieve group musical performance tasks.
- Can perform musical material.
- Can compose musical material.
General competence
The student:
- Knows how to prepare mentally, vocally, and physically to be ready to improvise, devise, rehearse or perform.
- Knows how to sustain a level of awareness and listening to work effectively.
- Knows how to work as part of a group in exploring theme through improvisation.
- Can play using movement, text, psychology and identification with elements and materials.
- Knows how to develop skeletal alignment for efficiency in movement and voice.
- Can work as part of team to conceive, plan, create and perform a short scene.
- Can exchange points of views and experiences, and contribute to the sharing of knowledge, new thinking, and innovation.
- Has insight into the ethics of artistic production.
All teaching takes place at the campus. The work is carried out as a whole class, in groups, and individually.
The instruction is organized in regular weekly work sessions and extended work sessions in connection with presentations. Periods of work outside of the scheduled times must be anticipated in specific periods.
The learning approach uses an inductive/problem-solving method. All tasks begin with a challenge, provocation, or foundational material, and it is the students' responsibility to find a coherence in the form of a scenic presentation based on the frameworks, constraints, and materials that have been agreed upon.
Teaching Methods
Movement:
- Regular instruction where students explore and develop the body's relationship to space, imagination, and interaction.
- Conducted through provided exercises, techniques, and assignments.
Acting Technique:
- Regular instruction where students explore and develop skills in acting and stage art production within specific themes.
- Classes focus on improvisation, stylistic analysis, and assigned tasks.
Voice:
- Regular instruction where students explore and develop the use of voice in relation to space, imagination, interaction, and text usage.
- Includes various exercises, techniques, and assigned tasks.
Assignments
- Presentation and staged performance of work with accompanying feedback and reflection.
- Task solving and skill training without guidance.
Mandatory Attendance
The work in the subject primarily takes place with the entire class or in groups, where everyone's participation and contribution are essential to the development of each individual. For this reason, the subject has mandatory attendance.
Nord University works continuously to improve the quality of its studies. In this work, we work closely with the students: in that the students participate in the evaluation of both the individual courses and the study as a whole. Evaluation in each course will take place by:
- At the start of a course: clarification of expectations between lecturer and students
- Continual evaluation throughout the semester
- Final evaluation
Comprehensive evaluation of the study takes place at regular meetings between representatives for the students and study leaders at Nord University. Students are also encouraged to participate in the central quality surveys.
The exam:
Practical group exam with individual assessment. Duration up to 6 hours. Grading scale Pass/Fail.Compulsory participation 90%. Approved not approved. Compulsory participation must be approved in order to receive a final grade in the course.
1st semester: Examination in groups with individual assessment. (stage performance) Grade: pass/fail
Work requirements (AK):10 scenic shows during the academic year are work requirements.
