Breathing, Movement, And Exploration By Barbara Sellers-Young
562 Words3 Pages
Breathing, Movement, and Exploration is a book written by Barbara Sellers-Young, Ph.D informing new actors/actresses or individuals who may have interest in the craft, the technical break down of acting composed of three important processes— the exploratory part of a creating a character, the actor's active control of breath, and the factor that unifies the first 2 thus bringing a character to life, imagery. Dr. Young is no stranger to the fine arts having an MS in Dance and a PhD in Theatre from the University of Oregon. Currently she works for the Dance Department at York University, where she had previously had the position of Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts. She has conducted many researches projects on the intersectionality between “performance, body and globalization” for which she has gained much support and popularity for in several countries, including Sudan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Nepal, China, England, and Australia. Most recently, in 2011,…show more content… XV) Dr. Young introduces the topic of acting to readers as not just playing the role of another person, but completely embodying the character in which one is playing. This is done through making use of our imaginations, our 5 senses, the environment around us, and thus responding to those factors in making the character act. It is by this method—perceiving ones environment, processing that information through the use of our senses, and then acting— that we understand the fundamentals of theatre acting. The objective of the book, therefore, according to Dr. Young, was to teach readers how to find the action of a character, or “creating a stage persona” all by process of exploring the character, as well as the actor’s self, the actor’s conscious control of breath and body movements, and finally the, unifying act of imagination. To simplify, in order to develop a character, the actor must integrate their entire self into the