I was recently watching a group of kindergarten aged children playing a game of Sneaky Statues and I had somewhat of an epiphany. First, the way you play Sneaky Statues is like this: one person is "it" and is in the center of the circle while other children move about as the child who is "it" has his back to them. You need to complete your movement without the "it" child seeing you, otherwise you are out of the game. It is interesting how much you can learn about a child while watching him play this game. Some children will cautiously move a few inches, making sure that they are never seen, but also are barely moving at all. Other children will confidently zig and twirl about, knowing that there is a greater risk of being seen and less chance of winning the game. But, what really got me thinking was the sideline coaching of the children's teacher, DCTA instructor Lindsay Taylor, with her repeated comment of, "make a bold choice!"
This phrase is really the key to any kind of performing, and here, these children, being only 5 and 6 years old, were learning this very important lesson. You must have the confidence and vision to make a bold choice if you will succeed in any kind of performance discipline. At the risk of making a bit of a cheesy analogy, how often have we heard Randy Jackson's critique of an American Idol contender with the comment, "You just gotta make the song your own?" Playing it safe and singing a song the way it has been sung hundreds of times before may provide for a safer environment for the performer, but is less likely to be seen as meaningful to the audience. Bold choices will make the difference between a technically strong performance and one which will make the audience laugh or cry, to feel something they may not have felt before.
Last fall, I had the experience of taking an adult public speaking class from Ms. Taylor. Our breathing, phrasing, and eye contact were all things we worked on. And developing confidence was also a key component. In one exercize, we were asked to draw another person in class. You could hear the comments muttered under the breaths of each of the students as we struggled to not embarass ourselves with our drawing skills. Of course, the purpose of this exercize was not to provide us with any actual drawing skills, but was rather to make the point that we all were filled with self-doubt while we drew our pictures. Rather than confidently drawing our classmate, we mumbled and stammered, "I can't do this", "I have never been able to draw", and so on and so on...
My head filled with memories of my 7th grade art teacher tearing up my drawing of a tree at the front of the classroom and tossing it into the trash can. This experience has made a lasting impression on me, one which I obviously remember decades later. As traumatic as that was for me, it is likely that each member of the class had something similar in their childhood which evoked the same sense of failure inside of them.
It is something that even professional actors struggle with. The core of all acting is in making a choice. Children have a better ability to stay in the moment and are less likely to judge themselves, as opposed to their older counterparts. "Hanging on to that inner spirit which we see in young children" is a goal for the seasoned actor, says Ms. Taylor. "It's all about hanging on to believing in yourself."
Theater classes for young children promote this kind of thinking. In the game Magic Rocks, children are asked to turn into different kinds of objects. Here again, the children are called upon to make a bold choice, "without judging themselves, letting go of whether something is right or wrong." They may be asked to move like an old shoe or a drop of rain. This is a time for letting go of any particular expectations and encouraging the child to use his mind and imagination.
We all need to be reminded to let go of that self-doubt inside of us. Go out into the world each day with confidence and make that bold choice in everything you do!!
If you would like more info on the awesome classes at the Denver Center Theatre Academy, here is the link: http://denvercenter.org/education/education-main.aspx
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