Monday, March 31, 2008

Do you experience Post-Performance Stress?

Examples of symptoms that might sometimes happen to you:

Take our survey!


• Do you feel emptied out? Exhausted?
• Do you feel overly excited? Restless?
• Do you feel sad? Depressed?
• Do you feel lonely?
• Do you have a hard time sleeping?
• Do you have a hard time forgetting the character and coming back to your normal self?
• Do you feel confused?
• Do you need to eat a lot?
• Do you want to drink alcohol more than usual?
• Do you crave sugar?
• Do you feel a loss?
• Do you cry easily?
• Do you feel overly emotional (get over-excited or have angry outbursts)?
• Do you feel a sense of void in your life after the show is over?
• Do you feel terrible about yourself and criticize your performance, reviewing each detail?
• Do you feel fear?
• Do you feel exhilaration?
• Do you need to have people around you?
• Do you feel numb?
• Do you get sick?


List your own symptoms and how often they happen:

Mental Stress? Physical Stress? Emotional Stress?

Do a self-evaluation and post your comments.
It would help others to know they are not alone...

© Starlight Acting Institute 2008

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Caring for your instrument

ENERGIZE SPRING 2008 NEWSLETTER
© Emmanuelle Chaulet 2008

Happy Spring!

It doesn’t feel yet like it in Maine, but the calendar says: it is time to get out of our shells! After the going inward contraction of the winter, spring is the time to expand, try new things and explore the world.

The seeds you have planted are now growing to see the light and will bloom in an abundance of colors and scents. Take this special moment to reflect on your own growth, and plant new seeds:

- Have you planted the seeds of self-care?
- Have you planted the seeds of a renewed spiritual commitment to your own growth?
- Have you planted the seeds of finding time for yourself?
- Have you planted the seeds of living in the present?
- Have you planted the seeds of gratitude?

The famous “Secret” of success is to change your vibration to a higher frequency that will attract what you love and want, instead of focusing on what you don’t want. Thought is power, thought is energy and will manifest in the tangible world. If you change your thoughts you can change your world.

This spring, watch your spiritual seeds grow, nurture them with water, sun, light and tender love and care. You’ll see an abundance of blooming results in a few weeks.

Be patient, (there is no need to tug on the young plants like a farmer once did!) just patiently watch, wait and enjoy the time, like you would do while watching a child grow. This is your spiritual evolution you are watching enfold.

As actors, you have a responsibility to the world: to teach and show a new way so we, human beings, learn to coexist in peace and respect each other and our planet. Your mission is no smaller than that.

You are a Living Work of Art, so take care of your precious instrument: yourself.

Namaste,
Emmanuelle Chaulet


Find support, invaluable information and powerful exercises in:

A BALANCING ACT,
the development of Energize! a holistic approach to acting

($24.95. ISBN: 978-0-9799063-0-5. 336 pages –Paperback-Illustrated) is currently exclusively available through:
STARLIGHT ACTING BOOKS:
By credit card, on line (shipping in a few days) at:
www.starlightacting.org/balancingact.html

Email: energize@starlightacting.org;

and by mail at:

Starlight Acting Books, P.O. Box 171, Gorham, Maine 04038.

Also available, at the University of Southern Maine Portland Bookstore, 96 Falmouth street, Portland, Maine, 04104; and at selected drama & theatre independent bookstores around the country.


Here are a few readers’ reactions on the book.
send your own comments to :
energize@starlightacting.org


"Emmanuelle Chaulet's work was a revelation to me. I found that her work with the 'Disowned Self' was a relevant to my work as a playwright as it was to my work as a performer. A Balancing Act is long overdue!"
Carolyn Gage, award-winning lesbian-feminist playwright, performer,
director, and activist

“I wish I had discovered Energize and A Balancing Act while I was training as an actor, it would have given me a stronger spine and a more colorful spectrum of the character 's energy. Our vital force is our engine, so how can an actor perform and not be aware of that energy? It is about time to accept the osmosis between art and energy...”
Marie Preaud-Hamann, actress, model, & photographer

“Just letting you know that I have just finished reading [A Balancing Act] Energize- it has taken me a while as I wanted to really enjoy every part of the book. I absolutely loved it and felt it addressed a lot of the issues that I face as an actress. I already work with the Michael Chekhov technique and feel that this takes it all a step further and answers questions that I still didn't think had been answered. I am looking forward to putting it all into practice and will be reading it again. I would highly recommend this book. Please pass on my best wishes to Emmanuelle and thank her for creating such a much-needed acting book.
Warmest wishes”
Claire Cordingley, actress. London


“Hi Emmanuelle,
What a beautiful book! The cover is gorgeous and the color inserts are beautiful.
You did a wonderful job. You must be so happy with this.
And I am so thrilled to have an RPT bringing this work out into the theatrical world.
Best to you,”
Nancy Risley, author, RYSE, Tools for Life, Holding Your Personal Power and Life Force and developer of RYSE


"Members who experience post-performance stress disorder may be interested in a new book, A Balancing Act, by Emmanuelle Chaulet, international film actress and theatre director, Fulbright scholar and adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre."
Actors’ Equity Association -Winter Newsletter 2008

An Actor's Purpose

An Actor’s Purpose


© Emmanuelle Chaulet 2008

Eckhart Tolle, two times bestseller author (The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to your Life’s Purpose) says, “We are running out of time.”

There is no more time. Wherever you look there are conflicts, environmental issues, abuse of one culture by another, of one class by another, and of one race by another. Things must change now or humanity will simply destroy itself and its planet.

We, as actors, are a prime instrument of the change necessary to awaken the human race to a new consciousness and understanding. We are the contemporary teachers that can show, demonstrate and engage people in choosing the right path and make the right decisions so the planet finally evolves to an era of peace, understanding and compassion.

People nowadays generally watch movies more than they go to church, read books, or study spiritual teachings. Movies – and plays -– are an extraordinarily powerful way of teaching humanity. We cannot let film – and theatre– become a tool of oppression that keeps people in a state of numbness. We as actors, must rise to the challenge and transform the way we work to bring it far beyond entertainment. As actors, we are spiritual acolytes serving a greater good and we must reconnect with our higher purpose, our higher selves and raise our vibration so we can lead the way. We are much more than entertainers. We are spiritual leaders.

So, let’s examine our state of consciousness and raise it to the next level of awareness so in turn, we raise the consciousness of others. “To work on your art, work on yourself,” says Chekhov. We as actors need to learn the tools, and study the extraordinary potential of energy. With the knowledge and understanding of the subtle energetic system, we can develop our presence, our “radiation” to touch the audience – and the casting directors – at a whole other level. We can bring the consciousness of our spectators to a higher state, transform the world AND keep ourselves sane and balanced throughout that journey.

The human energy field is the part of the iceberg below the water line: the biggest, strongest, most powerful and stabilizing part; yet it is invisible. It connects you to the subtle realms of higher vibrations, and to your higher consciousness. It can elevate you to your Highest Creative Self, your Highest Acting Self.

Your next challenge is to understand the anatomy of this energetic system, practice its mechanism, and learn how to use it to its greatest potential.
The truth is: it is very easy….
You only need the very tools an actor uses every day: mind power and imagination!

So play with it, explore and Energize your work.

Emmanuelle Chaulet
Adjunct faculty/ Artist in Residence,
University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre
Author, A Balancing Act: the development of Energize! a holistic approach to acting
Paper back -336 pages – Illustrated
Published in 2008 by STARLIGHT ACTING BOOKS

To get the book visit:
http://www.starlightacting.org/balancingact.html
to contact Emmanuelle: energize@starlightacting.org

This Blog's Intent

Welcome to A BALANCING ACT Blog.
This blog is a forum to discuss holistic acting techniques, and in particular Energize! a holistic approach to acting.
We welcome your comments and feed back on the book:
" A BALANCING ACT, the development of Energize! a holistic approach to acting,"
by F. Emmanuelle Chaulet and published by Starlight Acting Books
http://www.starlightacting.org/balancingact.html

Discussion topics can include: energy work for actors, post-performance stress, pre-performance anxiety, the actor's higher purpose, connecting with the essence of your character, character withrawal, post-performance blues, finding closure, life style choices for optimal performance, and finding your highest creative self...

Write, share, discuss, learn, enjoy...

Energize your work!

Emmanuelle Chaulet