by Caitlin Guthrie Freeman Tell us something about yourself that we might not learn from the rest of your application.
This past summer, I attended Interlochen Arts Camp as a Shakespeare Theatre Production
Major. Wishing to further hone the knowledge I had gained during my previous summer at IAC, I auditioned for Advanced Acting Studio, and was accepted.
During the eight week session, one primary focus of the class was
on the different "energies" used in acting for the creation and development of a character. Our introduction to these energies seemed simple - we went outside, and were told to walk in any direction at our
normal speed and rhythm, using the shade of a large tree as a boundary. Then, as we were walking, Cindy, one of our three directors explained, "There are six different major types of energy used in acting -
percussive, vibratory, suspended, swing, collapsed, and sustained. These energies not only apply to acting, but to life in general." As we walked, she described them, saying that some would feel very natural to us,
while others might feel alien, even frightening. In turn, the twelve of us transformed our entire beings to mimic these descriptions:
Percussive. . . . Kate was naturally percussive. Her movements came like bursts of
energy, lots of short little fuses that were being burnt at intervals with no apparent rhythm. Even the way she spoke was joyfully random and unexpected. Instead of just standing up when she was called on, she would
leap from her chair.
The next energy we explored was vibratory. Vibratory is similar to percussive, but where as percussive is made up of seemingly random spurts of energy, vibratory is a constant flow of repetitive,
rhythmic beats. Jeff was vibratory. His feet would tap the ground while his fingers drummed on the arms of his chair and his upper body swayed back and forth to this constant drum-roll.
Before I met Michael, I would
have associated suspended with an upper class snob. Suspended people can have an air of being taller than the rest of us, chins tilted up wards, eyes gazing down at the people below, their entire being having the sense
of being pulled upward. Yet Michael was suspended without being imperious or haughty. He simply had very good posture, and an air of confidence that is so crucial in a performer. He was a dancer, and gave the impression
of floating across the ground as he walked. His energy was suspended, yet his personality was friendly.
People who are swing tend to be the people who skipped from place to place instead of running when they were
children. When they walk, they often swing their arms in wide arcs and let their bodies bob up and down as they move. The only swing person in our class was Rachael. She was like a mini roller coaster, her steps
swooping her up in to the sky and down again, making her body lift and fall as she walked.
One of the last energies that we experimented with was called collapsed. It is, for some, incredibly comfortable, for others,
unbearable. Collapsed energy can come in a variety of different forms. It can be just as it sounds, tired and lethargic, or it can manifest itself as a kind of indifference, an air of not seeing or caring that is some
times associated with Generation X and street gangs. Angela was collapsed. Not only was she slumped, but her spine seemed to telescope down upon itself, making her look about four inches shorter than she really was.
Even when she smiled or was excited she seemed tired, distant, as if her mind were focused elsewhere.
The final energy was sustained. It mirrors its dictionary definition - a stream of energy that is always constant.
Sustained energy is like a smooth line, it is the constant ebb and flow of the tide, the movement of clouds across the sky, snow falling steadily on a winter's day. It is not necessarily slow or fast, but it is
constant. I am sustained. When the other students in the class were asked how my energy should be described, they said with one voice, "Sustained. . . ."
In years previous, when I wanted to create a
character, I could only describe their basic energies in terms of analogies: She is very aloof like an aristocrat; he is jumpy and won't sit still, just like a child; her movements are very smooth and even, like a
dancer's. Now that I have the vocabulary to describe these characters more succinctly, I am able to access their movements and personalities more easily. Not only that, but I can change my own living energy, as well. I
can fine tune myself in different situations. These days, if I do get nervous, I don't have to spend a great amount of time trying to calm myself. Now all I have to say is, "Caitlin, you're too vibratory. Be
sustained."
