Anne Bogart

Anne Bogart, a world-famous author, director, and theatre practitioner, was the keynote speaker at the Utah Theatre Conference this past weekend.  She is famous for her application of dance techniques to acting, known as Viewpoints.  Anne is one of the most influential theatre-practitioners of our time, and has in countless ways, revolutionized the world of theatre.  Hearing her speak was really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... and her insight and advice was incredible!

I understand that non-theatre people might not fully appreciate what it means to learn from her, but I felt like her thoughts applied not only to theatre, but to life in general!

Here's what she had to share (sorry if it's hard to make sense of my bullet points):

1. Follow the pulse!
• As an actor and individual, you must follow your own unique impressions and impulses.
• Be attentive to that "goosebump factor" and don't ignore it when it comes.
• Never talk down to your audience... instead, enlighten them.
• Enthusiasm is everything!
• When something happens, you must follow it!
2. Make a mark!
• Picasso said: "The first stroke on a page is always a mistake.  All the rest are to correct it."
• Don't be afraid of that first step.
• The French word for "rehearsal" is "repetition."
• What are you going to do that is worth watching?
• Make a memory!
• Watching something literally releases hormones in your brain that create memories...
3. Create the world you want to live in!
• "Theatre is the one art form where the subject is always society."
• We must ask the question: Can we get along?  How?
• We can and must create a model society within our rehearsals.
• Theatre (verb): to remember.
4. Finish the sentence!
• The reason for using phrases like "And I was like... You know... Umm..." is political
• Thost who can't finish sentences are no threat to anyone.
• "Being an artist means being articulate in the face of uncertainty."
• "Find your words... The first won't always work out, but some eventually will/"
• D. Schwartz said: "In dreams begin responsibilities."
• What are you responsible for?
• Don't describe yourself in low terms.
• Use words that give value to what you do!
5. Be unreasonable!
• Your actions must have some logic, but must be centered on something that seems unreasonably impossible.
• "In every action you do, you have to take a leap of faith in the middle of it!"
• Don't stop!  "Form the experience while you're falling!"
• Don't know too much!  Allow yourself not to have all the answers!
• A character will always be either smaller or bigger than you.  Let it be bigger!
• You'll expand as a person as you rise to the challenge of filling it.
• Resist certainty.
• The Steps to Creation are:
1. Show up.
2. Pay attention.
3. Tell the truth.
4. Don't hang on to what the results are.
6. Bring attention to where attention is needed!
• A director must be the most discriminating and attentive audience a performance will ever have.
• The act of watching something changes it.
• Observer-created reality... the Cinderella test
• The quality of one person's attention affects other peoples' perceptions.
• Catharsis (verb): to shine light in dark places
• We must select those dark places in the world around us and in life and shine light in order to encourage change.
• We must expand the definition of what it means to be human.
• Mother Theresa said to Morgan Janess (a director and Anne's friend):
• "In my country we have famine of the body.  In yours, you have famine of the soul.  You must continue doing theatre."
7. Cultivate attitude!
• The German word "halto" means attitude.
• We can choose to feed forward (as in jumping up to hit a volleyball) or to feedback (as in our response to something)
• Find the balance... Go out and get a sensation back!
• We have the ultimate responsibility for our posture/attitude/mood.
• We can either poison or make magical any situation.
• YOU alone choose your opinion & attitude... IT MATTERS!
• May we all have the will to go out and the grace to receive.
• Don't look at the world from the middle distance.
• Either look too close or too far away.
• Pick the right perspective!
• 3 things required to really make something:
1. Passion
2. Something to say
3. Technique

I left her keynote address feeling so impowered and motivated!  I love feeling like you've learned something that requires thought in order to digest it fully!  Even now, retyping it to share, I can't help but marvel at her insights!  This speech alone would have made the trip worth it!  SO glad I went!