"The VDSUs are Flocking!"

"Flocking"  is something Jane, my choreographer, and I have taught and experienced as dance and theatre folk--but mostly as a finite, one-time exercise.  It's a directed, non-verbal group exercise that focuses on the interaction between people...For example, WE might say to a group of 8 to 10 people, "Put yourselves in a triangle formation and let the point  people pass a movement around the out edge of the triangle.  Let your body move in different levels and make sure everyone in the group lets the movement pass through them."  When we were preparing our audition material and trying to find something that would let potential cast members show us their ability to work as ensemble we created a "flocking" segment for auditions.   Even during auditions, the work that actors did--and the activity itself--created both truly beautiful stage pictures, and highlighted those actors who were tuned into others' bodies and peripheral movement. It was a happy accident of discovery.

We've discovered, in fact, that it is such a useful tool that we continue to reference it in rehearsals...and what's even better is that our cast knows what we mean when we say "try it in a flocking way".  They understand that it's a movement style and vocabulary that is particular to what we're trying to create.

So, we scheduled three blocking rehearsals this week that include large numbers of cast:  Paris Beggars, Paris, Attempted Robbery and The People's Song.  I try--as you know--to come in as prepared as possible for rehearsals, but I hit a roadblock and needed to experiment with some possibilities using actual people!  What this means for our cast is a lot of hurry up and wait, standing around while I work with small groups within the big group.

AS rehearsals unfolded, I became more and more fretful about how much everyone was standing around, and more and more anxious about my preparation.  I felt like I was failing my cast.  I rushed through what I had, put it on their bodies and stepped back to view it--yuck.  Not happy at all.  So, back to the drawing board and see what I can do to fix it:  too many people, static where it needs to be dynamic, not enough real business for actors, where are the stories?, etc., etc.,  I also realized--in the middle of trying to fix things on paper--Holy Crap--there is no way those two set pieces are going to be able to move into place in one measure of music.  I try to use the movement of the set pieces as part of the dynamics of the entire transition into Paris Beggars.  It seems to work on paper , so I bring it to my cast and explain what has to happen.  Margaret, my Madame Thenardier, says "The VDSUs are Flocking!"  and My God, she's right!  The cast is nodding their heads and they get the transition in a whole different way--and so do I.  Its going to work!  There is a lot still to fix, but the scene is on target and moving toward where it needs to be ...and my actors continue to be collaborators in the best possible way.

Let's FLOCK our way To The Barricades!

Kelly