Incorporating Movement Into Acting

Incorporating movement into the acting process has proven that the two should live in a coexisting and symbiotic relationship. Physicality tends to be the one aspect of the process that is left as an afterthought, or perhaps not taken into consideration at all. More likely than not, actors believe they are reverting to organic acting when they are simply neglecting a vital part of the process. Movement training and the acting process do differ in very specific ways, in that movement training allows for the actor to reach beyond what is considered normal and acceptable for them to play, whereas within the acting process, actors must have a strong sense of self before committing to playing other characters. In order to create the most efficient …show more content…
The easiest trap for actors to fall into is neglecting the use of physicality. One of the reasons why this happens is simply because actors don’t have a clear idea of how they are perceived by the audience, therefore, don’t have an understanding of their movement. Honoring the movement goes beyond merely being physical onstage; it has more to do with acknowledging that the actress’ body has a very specific relationship with the space as the character versus her own body in the space. That’s why exploring the space within character reaps so many benefits for the actress to explore the scene. Ultimately, the idea is to be committed to let the movement elicit an emotion within the audience instead of trying to generate one that isn’t true to herself or those watching her. The best ways to accomplish a performance that takes heed to the movement is participating, not anticipating in the scene and playing expectations, not the end. The former is the idea of not trying to control or stimulate a specific audience reaction. Doing this may come off illegitimate or ingenuine. The actress’ job is to tell a story as truthfully as possible, which is made nearly impossible if she is presumptuous about how people will respond. The latter refers to the tendency for actresses to go about an entire piece playing to the resolution, not allowing themselves to stay present moment-to-moment. This also goes along with the idea of the legitimacy of the storytelling. If actresses are dedicated to presenting any form of truth in their performances, farce or realism, they must recognize that the audience stays just as present in the moment as they are. In most cases, if the actress checks out of the piece until the end, the audience will do likewise. All in all, honoring the movement pertains to both of these concepts