The arts contain numerous paradoxes. That's particularly true for the art of acting. Those who master it know to play on the opposite of what is called for, thereby enhancing it, as if real acting is counter acting.
The essay has been moved to my personal website:
So in summary acting is about of lying. Just the opposite of our art the aikido, which is about truth and honesty, thanks for the nice post Stefan.
ReplyDeleteOr acting can be described as ura, as opposed to omote...
DeleteI love this blog post! Especially the idea of acting as being ura. However, there are times when omote is present...Aikido and acting are remarkably the same...
ReplyDeleteI disagree that acting is about 'lying'. I understand acting as being the character's 'truth'. Lying suggests pretending. As an actor you must 'be'. In life we suppress strong emotions. We learn to do so at a very early age in order to be socially appropriate. Drama "holds a mirror up to nature". I am not lying when I try to suppress the level of drunkeness/anger/love, I am protecting myself from embarrassment/shame/rejection. What is beautiful about the skilled actor, is the ability to release just enough of the truth to allow the audience to feel the tug-of-war within.
I worked as a professional actress for 10 years. The year I stopped I started practicing Aikido. The connection between the two never fails to captivate me:)
Dear Jude,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your enlightening comment. I agree with you, and I think of Aristotle's conception of mimesis, which is also the way we humans learn from our predecessors. It's how knowledge is passed on. Not a bad thing.
I can see how you naturally find aikido to substitute acting, just as well as the opposite would work. I trained actor students in aikido, a number of years back, and I found them particularly talented with the mimesis necessary. That can take you very far, indeed.
Thank you. I am currently teaching voice and accents to acting students. I am particularly interested in introducing Aikido principles to my teaching practice. I'll let you know to what success:)
ReplyDeleteI look forward to it. My experience is that there's a lot to be gained from applying aikido principles to the arts. No surprise, since that's what aikido is, too: an art.
DeleteHi Jude,
ReplyDeleteI don't know you, but from reading what you wrote I tend to believe, that you are still more an actress than an aikidoka. Maybe I'm wrong, never been an actress, just the opposite.
Wish you a nice sunday
Carina