teacher

Swagger in the Classroom

Throughout my teaching experience, I have worked with many acting students who feel unqualified in their pursuit of acting. This feeling comes from a simple question:  “Am I doing it right?” Various methodologies and pedagogies attempt to reach students in different ways, whether via games, changing the pace of class, or adapting existing plans to meet the needs of the class. I believe that giving an actor a sense of swagger is the key to becoming a great actor because it encourages a willingness to invest in training. Swagger, in this case, means having the confidence to make brave choices in a space where they feel challenged and stimulated, rather than judged and criticized. The focus on confidence needs to be put at the forefront of an actor’s formative education to promote growth. As Michael Powell stated in The Acting Bible, “Tension and our habitual responses are often caused by fear and lack of trust in ourselves.” Trust comes from familiarity and the set expectation that everyone’s boundaries and needs will be respected and adequately met.

 

The term brave space was first propagated by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens in their book The Art of Effective Facilitation: Reflections from Social Justice Educators. They state that a brave space within a classroom environment contains five main elements. The first one, “controversy with civility,” defines the classroom as a place where everyone can have different opinions and have them be acknowledged. The second one is “owning intentions and impacts,” which means that students have the ability and space to recognize and discuss instances where a dialogue affects the emotional well-being of another person. The third concept is “challenge by choice,” in which the students in the classroom have an option to step in and out of challenging conversations. The next is “respect,” which needs no explanation. And lastly, “no attacks,” meaning that the students will all agree not to intentionally inflict harm on one another, whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally. The trauma-informed practices set forth by Theatrical Intimacy Education (T.I.E.) teaches us that we as educators must teach to the most vulnerable person in the room. I believe that best way to do so is to meet students where they are, as people. Creating brave spaces promotes room for growth and grants your students permission to be creative.

Another crucial idea that builds on individual swagger is an acceptance that nobody can know everything; the beauty of learning is pursuing answers through practice. Students cling to safety in the classroom due to prior conditioning through standardized testing and strict grading practices that lead them to believe there is only one correct answer. In theatre, there are multiple ways to reach the objective and it’s important to let students know this early on. Stanford Meisner said that the foundation of acting is the reality of doing. In numerous classrooms, professors start their curriculums by having students do academic readings or immediately begin pedagogical exercises. Students may feel uneasy about immediately starting their journey into pedagogical exercises. It's a scary new experience, and without getting a sense of community, it's difficult to navigate through it with full confidence. Building trust and relationships from the beginning will better help them make brave choices and grow confidently.

 

Without trust, students tend to set up walls to conceal their real selves in front of the other classmates and professor. I once had a professor give us an exercise on the first day that involved telling the whole class a story about a time we remember from the year 2008. He pointed out that we had all performed instead of simply telling a real story from our lives. As human beings, we tend to perform to seem more likable or please other people. Often, this performative shield is merely an empty attempt to seem more interesting than we are due to not feeling sure about oneself. Stanislavski noted this when critiquing one of his students for delivering a performance of Othello to impress his teacher:

Say to any one of us “Play a savage, without thinking about it, right now.” I’ll wager that most people will do just what you did during the show, because prowling about, baring one’s teeth, rolling the whites of one’s eyes have been associated in our imagination since time immemorial with a false representation of a savage.

 

It’s important for educators to know that being insecure is not the fault of the student. For most new college students, the past thirteen years has been spent focusing on obedience and compliance at school and home. College may be the first semblance of independence. Creating a classroom dynamic that is more community-based and flexible helps them to develop emotionally and academically. Intimacy direction in the classroom helps students know that they, as human beings, come before the training and allows them to feel comfortable in their environment. 

 Once students are comfortable with an educator, and each other, the practice becomes easy as trust is in the room. To quote Meisner again, “And if you’re really concentrated on just listening to cars or looking at a person, you don’t have to worry about being a character. You have one thing to do and concentrate on.” Actors have an easier time listening to each other when they feel that they can trust each other. Furthermore, this eliminates the mystery in our craft. Acting isn’t science or mathematical, it’s art. Students tend to fear their choices because they believe that acting is a series of mysterious choices they have yet to understand. Marlon Brando called acting “the least mysterious of all crafts. Whenever we want something from somebody or when we want to hide something or pretend, we’re acting. Most people do it all day long.” Acting is simple because it is a series of actions. Every moment of every day, humans are doing something. The job of a class facilitator is to encourage students to do what they do better than anyone else: be themselves. 

 

The first step in this journey is to establish the relationship between the facilitator and the students. Facilitation is about establishing the brave space and setting the tone early on so that students know what to expect. As Marsha Acker said in her book, The Art & Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams: 

It’s about creating the space for what’s needed to help people show up as their most naturally creative selves, voice their point of view authentically, hear different perspectives, develop a shared vision for the future, and decide on a direction forward. Facilitation does not fall for impossible outcomes in unrealistic time frames. It does not stand for unequal participation. It is for creating engaging and connected spaces where all voices are heard.

 

This means letting students know from the beginning that the journey is about discovery at their pace and individual bar of success. It’s our job as educators to let students know that they should work to their greatest potential and consistently measure themselves to their own standard of excellence. The technique being taught isn’t about finding the ‘right’ way to act; it’s more useful to think of it as eliminating all the hundreds of less effective ways, the acquired habits and obstacles that hamper even the most talented actors. Students grow frustrated when they see their peers “mastering” the technique in a way that they cannot, when they don’t understand that the peer is most likely confident in themselves in one area of the training but very likely not so much in another. Improvement is about identifying one's individual needs at the time.

To ensure that student needs are being met, the simple fix is just to ask them what they need. As Acker said, “People have to know what they will get out of the meeting, why you’re having it, and what you need from them.” Having a solid lesson plan isn’t enough, it’s important to continuously check in with the students by asking what direction would be more helpful for them to head in. It makes the students feel like their education is more important than meeting some sort of course “check list.” Students get more out of the lesson plan when a professor allows them to maybe slow things down and invest more time in studying their given scenes through the pedagogy. This is how I combat emotional and psychological barricades that often stop the creative process: I strive to give students ownership in the classroom. Opinions, personal fears, internal conflict, collegiate stereotypes - these obstacles build a barricade of self-doubt and hinder students from fully joining into the communal experience that is theatre. Swagger comes from freedom, and although there is no way to completely erase self-consciousness, there is a way to create an environment where they are free to grow their craft.

 

Swagger is the fundamental piece to an acting student’s development. If a student has the confidence to give the practice their best effort, they will have maximum growth throughout the process of the course. My role as an educator is to help students reach an artistic state where they can consistently contribute to their theatre community. My teaching philosophy is to motivate, stimulate, and encourage students to follow my lead: we as a “community” must promote bravery in acting spaces. It’s in these brave spaces that students will find their swagger.

Kaelem Camper is an actor from Philadelphia, PA who has written numerous plays, as well as directed shows as he crafts his personal consent-based pedagogy. He is an alumnus of Temple University (B.A.) and Long Island University (M.F.A.). Upon earning his Masters, he became an adjunct professor at both Five Towns College and Long Island University Post. He also has multiple certifications from Theatrical Intimacy Education (T.I.E.), which he puts into practice in his educational work, directorial work, and his intimacy coordination. 

 

Some Past Credits Include: Ralph D in The Motherf***** with the Hat, CB in Dog Sees God, Captain William Beatty in Fahrenheit 451, Michael in Tick, Tick, Boom, Silvius in As You Like It, Walter Beau Willie Jones/The Kid in The Colored Museum, Black Cindy in Orange is the New Musical, Rich in Lockhardt, Victor in Zooman and the Sign, Antonio/Trinculo in The Tempest, Howie Newsome in Our Town. He has directed many original plays, devised pieces, and multiple first year college showcases. Recently, he has become the co-creater of a non-profit theatrical film company called The Wonderstruck Uncut. For the company's opening season, Kaelem wrote and starred in a film titled Quandaries of the Living. He also directed a film titled Tumor.

 

HIS WEBSITE: kaelemvoncamper.com

HIS COMPANY: wonderstruckuncut.com

G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.

The Work: Why I Teach Scene Study

As an actor, director, instructor and mentor, I firmly believe that the professional actor must constantly be WORKING.  Whether gainfully employed as an actor or continually and diligently engaged in the study of your craft.

 

My ultimate focus in teaching is Scene Study.  I am resolute that professional actors must be constantly engaged in preparing, building and creating characters in class.  It is critical work, vital for satisfactorily attaining excellence in the actor’s art and craft.  Whether you are working a paid acting job, or investing in your career by attending class, you must always be studying and plying your art and craft.   This is the journey, the arc, and the ultimate objective of an acting career.  Always be studying, preparing, self-educating, researching, practicing, and performing.  This makes for more cultured and civilized artists, without whom, the world has significantly less humanity.  

 

As a preliminary note, when I teach, my class focuses on scenes from theatre plays. Scenes are chosen by the actors from the entire historical canon of the world’s plays, from the Ancient Greek to the World Theatre of today and every period in between.  Scenes from stage plays are most useful for instruction.  We do not perform our scene work from screenplays, teleplays, novels or short stories.  The primary reason for this is that the literature of the theatre is written specifically for the immediate live, emotional, spiritual and energetic exchange between actor and audience.  There is no experience quite like it.  Screenplays, teleplays, novels or short stories are created with the hope of that exchange to take place at a later time.  Film and Television are more of a visual medium, produced with intention for that same exchange happening through the screen, albeit in a delayed fashion.  Novels and short stories leave this exchange to the private imagination of the reader. 

 

Throughout time, theater has played an important role in societies all around the world. The theater helped societies develop their religions and myths and played a key role in influencing thought throughout recorded history.  Acting on the stage, doing the literature from the historical cannon is the focus of what I teach.  It helps students learn to read and think critically.  This training translates to professional acting in Feature Films and Television as well. 

 

Scene Study is, as the name clearly implies, the study of scenes.  It requires the preparation of a scene or segment of a play, performed with scene partners in front of the teaching director who will then give notes, directions, adjustments and suggestions to improve and advance the acting work along.  Scene study is a vital practice for the professional actor.   Like a good physical trainer, sports coach, or orchestral conductor, an insightful teaching director can avail much to the growth, experience and cohesion of the actor and their performances.

 

Scene study is the best environment to teach acting for the professional.  With their partners they perform a dramatic or comedic scene and are then offered input, direction and feedback from teachers, classmates, and each other.  Scene Study also allows the actor to learn how to prepare for performance by working out actions, objectives, blocking, and direction on their own before bringing it into acting class.  Once presented, it is up to the teacher to direct and guide the actors into a more realized, fulfilling and honest portrayal and presentation of the playwrights’ work.  This is how the actor grows, matures and keeps the total instrument sharp.  With the energy of mind, body, soul, imagination, emotions and memory, our goal is to get all senses firing on all cylinders.

 

The greatest actors, the very best professional performers I have ever known NEVER STOP WORKING.  If they are working on an acting gig for pay, they are working professionals. If they are paying to work on their craft in class, they are working professionals.  Both reap rewards artistically and financially.   This is the best way to invest in your acting career.  The dividends are real and valuable.

 

Scene study hones skills such as emotional connection and character development as well as objective, tactics, and action.  These are some of the intangible things that are not readily available to the actor working alone in a vacuum.

 

Scene Study class for professional working actors is best for the actors who already have a basic theatre education, training and technique and are ready to take their art and craft to a higher performance level that mirrors a paid work environment.  It provides the discipline and focus required for the paid professional performances you do in your working career.  Scene study class also allows the teacher to direct the actors so that they are very comfortable in the give and take of direction and in the collaborative artistic work environment.   

 

Scene study compels the actor to listen, react, and focus on scene partners, take and receive notes, make adjustments and implement direction.  This is important because it allows an actor to see if all the techniques and exercises they use in class can be utilized to create an honest and dynamic performance with their scene partner and director.  It compels us to focus on the other actor and listen actively. Acting is REACTING. If the actor fails to listen and react the viability and believability of the scene vaporizes.  

As to the networking and collaborative nature of our careers, one of my constant mantras is: “Work begets work, work begets friends and friends beget work.”  This is a tangible benefit of Scene Study class.

 

Unlike the painter and his canvas, the musician and her violin, the dancer at the ballet barre, or even the woodworker and his lathe, the actor cannot exclusively work alone, without collaboration.  Naturally, you can work your monologues, memorize and rehearse lines alone, but ultimately acting is a collaborative art.  It requires an exchange of thoughts, words, energy, ideas and action between two or more souls.  Other than being engaged in a paid acting job, most of our work as actors must be done in the constant pursuit of bettering and honing all of the necessary tools of the trade.  The best place for that is in a solid and ongoing Scene Study Class with other professional actors and a strong teaching director.  Truth be told, much of the professional work I have gotten in my entertainment career has come from friends and colleagues I’ve met on jobs and in acting classes.  Those bookings far outweigh the auditions I have received from my agents over the years.  Work, friends, networking, and acting class have all helped me book many, many lucrative acting jobs.  

 

Let’s look at some simple definitions from the Oxford Dictionary.

 

·      TECHNIQUE:  A way of carrying out a particular task, especially the execution or performance of an artistic work.  Acting is a Technique.

·      METHOD:  A particular form of procedure for accomplishing or approaching something.  Acting is a Method.

·      ART:  The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.  Acting is Art.

·      CRAFT:  An occupation or trade requiring skill as an artist. Acting is a craft. 

·      GIFT:  A notable capacity, talent or endowment.  Acting is a gift.

 

The results are interesting and have a common theme.  Each definition above was the first result of researching each word.  The importance of this bears further investigation and focus.

 

Being an actor requires acquiring and applying a wide range of skills encompassing the following:

  • TECHNIQUE: Good stage, screen or vocal presence.

  • METHOD: The ability to enter into another character and engage an audience.

  • MEMORY: The ability to memorize lines, movement, moments, memories.

  • INTELLECT: Good understanding of dramatic techniques.

  • INSPIRATION: Having the confidence, energy and dedication to perform.

  • IMAGINATION: Creative insight.

 

I am often posed with the question, “What is the difference between ‘Method Acting’ and ‘Classical/Technical ’ acting practices?”  To which do I adhere to and teach?  I always answer: why limit yourself to one style or discipline?  Both are required to serve and inform the actor’s performance.   Let’s briefly define each of these disciplines as both approaches to acting can be vital tools in the actor's quest for a truly believable performance.  

 

Very simply put, “Method Acting” as we know it today began with Constantin Stanislavski at the Moscow Arts Theatre, which he co-founded in 1898 and developed until his death in 1938.  Stanislavski method acting techniques, originally known as “The System” were developed to help actors build believable characters. The process, which allows actors to use their personal histories to express authentic emotion and create rich characters, has been taught by many great teachers since, including Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner among others.  It has matured and evolved over the ensuing years and has been the basis for many of history’s greatest performances.  Method acting helps actors create believable emotions and actions in the characters they portray.   

 

But even Stanislavski believed in and taught Classical Training or “Technique” as it is referred to today; it was necessary as a foundation to successful and memorable acting performances.  He believed that the actor must possess in-depth knowledge of different classical techniques and principles through which they can improve their acting.  Therefore, why try to separate the physical from the emotional experience in your practice and performance? 

 

 

Technique or Classical Acting has been around for centuries, although it has its modern roots in the British theater.  More focused on control and precision in performance, classical actors are more action-oriented rather than emotion-oriented. Classical actors often bring their characters to life with exactness and meticulousness and the solid delivery of a well-written scene can make a deep and memorable impact on audiences all the same.  

 

Classical acting is a very broad term that takes into consideration the foundations of training and skills the actor acquires through study and practice.  This includes: voice production, movement, speech, and practicing those skills while working on classical as well as modern plays.  A classically trained actor also knows how to handle verse and understands the classics from the Greeks to Shakespeare, to the modern drama of today.  Quite simply, Classical Acting suggests that the actor has spent a considerable amount of time in Classical Training.  These are very brief definitions of the acting philosophies I believe in and teach. 

 

It is my firm belief that actors must bring together both method and technique into their art and craft.  You must have a deep working knowledge and expertise in both method acting and technical acting so that you have a smooth blend of both.  A careful, calibrated and deft blending of both acting philosophies, results in a more satisfying and fulfilling “Method/Technique.”  Either discipline practiced to the exclusion of the other has less gratifying results, in many cases for both the performer and the audience.   So, is acting an art or a craft?  I say the two are most definitely inextricable.   As the years go by, with constant work, your gift set coupled with craftsmanship can result in an ownership of your art, in other words: mastery.  

 

The painter, the potter, the musician, the dancer and the actor must all have a solid foundation, grasp and proficiency with their technique or craft, before they can truly be free to create art.  If the painter doesn’t know the brushes, canvases and paints thoroughly it restrains their freedom and ultimately their art.  Also, the painter must have knowledge of art history, individual artists, the masters, the canon of world art, art methodology, and art theory as they all inform artists in their individual art and in their individual creative moments. 

 

As an Actor, getting yourself a broad education in basic acting technique, stagecraft, scenic design, lighting design, costuming, makeup, stage direction, stage management, theatre history, drama, comedy, the classics, and Shakespeare are all critical building blocks. Having this overarching knowledge of the theatre allows all of that study to be in you, part of you, and readily available to you.  It informs your performances consciously and subconsciously.  It brings comfort, peace and relaxation to your creative being.  In this case knowledge truly IS power.  Then and only then can you be the complete artist to freely prepare, build, and create living characters, roles, and performances.

 

By definition, the word craft refers to a set of skills that with sustained learning and practice over time leads to high levels of proficiency.  Gaining a craft is a commitment.  For some, it is a lifelong journey.  For the very best work, it is required.  Actors are tradesmen and acting is, as a vocation, the plying of your craftsmanship in an artistic way.  This takes practice, technique, skill and a certain gift set. Mastering it takes a lifetime.

 

 

 What is being gifted?  For starters, it is a blessing.  However it is just the beginning of art.  Your gift set is the starting point and without diligent application it can be squandered.  Instinct, imagination, intellect, vision, a sharp mind, a good instrument, and inspiration… these are all gifts. Happy are those who have multiple gifts, but that is simply the beginning. The actor must blend their gift set with focused, continual practice of the art and craft of acting.  That is the work.  A. B. C. = Always Be Creating!

 

Acting as your ART requires Action, Imagination, Concentration, Relaxation, Emotion, Memory, Motivation, a Sense of Truth and Faith and ultimately, Communion with others.  Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, and recognizing that is where true genius lies.  Applying that knowledge is the key to success.  The Actor must relentlessly pursue THE WORK.  This all adds up to real moments of living the scene and the character in unison with your fellow actors.  It allows your body, mind, emotions, and soul to remain loose while your art, craft, technique, and performances remain tight.  You have to stay loose to be tight.  Artistic flow comes from this work and its discipline.  Artistry comes from a solid classical foundation with incessant study and practice.

 

The premise and philosophy of what I teach in my professional scene study class, entitled “THE WORK” is very direct, very straightforward and very simple.  Actors MUST always be working, whether you are being paid to work, or paying to do your work.  Every professional actor knows there will always be times between paying acting jobs.  It is vital to always be practicing your art and craft, even between those paying jobs.  Like a doctor practices medicine and a lawyer practices law, so too must professional actors practice their art and craft thus rendering a career as viable as medicine or law, and for a select few just as lucrative.  The continual and constant scene study we practice in class ensures the professional actor is persistently and diligently studying, working and growing, honing, and sharpening their tools.   Our art demands it of us and that’s exactly what scene study class is for and why it is so vitally imperative.

Christopher “Chiz” Chisholm is a classically trained, award-winning Actor, Director, Producer, Writer, Creative Executive and acting teacher who has spent his career in all facets of the entertainment industry.  As an actor he has appeared on the New York stage and Hollywood soundstages, as well as repertory and regional theatres across the country and around the globe.  Mr. Chisholm has performed in over 200 stage productions, feature films and television shows in his rich career.  From Shakespeare to Shepard and Albee to Williams, Chiz has starred in classics, comedies, dramas and dozens of musicals over the years.  Chiz has been teaching Acting, Technique, Scene Study, Audition Preparation and The Business of Show Business for over 30 years from coast to coast and around the globe.  From New York to Los Angeles, Miami and Texas to Minneapolis, Chiz has worked with professional adult actors to assist in the honing of their craft, navigating their acting career paths and helping them to book jobs. Chisholm currently runs an ongoing scene study studio called THE WORK.

G&E In Motion does not necessarily agree with the opinions of our guest bloggers. That would be boring and counterproductive. We have simply found the author’s thoughts to be interesting, intelligent, unique, insightful, and/or important. We may not agree on the words but we surely agree on their right to express them and proudly present this platform as a means to do so.