Betty Buckley’s emotional connection to an audience is renowned whether through song, film or television and that very connection is at the heart of what she imparts to those in her class. Her emphasis will be on sharing her unique method of telling a story, connection to the material and communicating with an audience via performance, lecture or in everyday relationships.
Betty Buckley’s emotional connection to an audience is renowned whether through song, film or television and that very connection is at the heart of what she imparts to those in her class. Her emphasis will be on sharing her unique method of telling a story, connection to the material and communicating with an audience via performance, lecture or in everyday relationships.
The first class begins with a lecture covering universal spiritual philosophy and meditation technique as an approach to storytelling and communication.
The second class, and each following class, begins with meditation and a dialogue and class discussion. This is followed by a communication exercise where students work in pairs. They start to incorporate the tools through simple communincation with their partner. The class then moves on to individual work.
The individual work is broken down into 3 sections. First is on the floor. While lying on their backs with a Pilates circle or squeezable ball between their knees, the student sings their song or monolgue. The exercise is structured to teach the student to work privately and internally, to encourage the student to give up any premature “performance” ideas they have about the song or monologue. The student is asked to sing or recite in the “core voice”. They discover the problem areas of the song or monologue for them. The exercise also assists the student to find the true essence of the piece. It allows the discovery of new meanings to the song or monologue that might otherwise be missed if a “performance” is pursued too quickly.
The second way of working is the Playing Exercise. While simulating different sports, dance, etc, the student sings their songs or recites their monologue. This also relieves them of any “performance” obligations, and takes the students out of the intellect while singing or reciting their monologue. Within the playing, they will find gestures that can be useful and physicality related to the song or monologue and character. It also allows the student to get comfortable within the body while singing the song or monologue.
The third aspect to the individual work is the Communication Exercise. Just as they did in the exercise with their partner, the student uses this technique with their audience. While employing the tools they have learned in class, the student is able to sing the song/monologue while communicating with their audience, individual by individual on a “heart to heart” basis.
Each subsequent class begins with meditation and moves on to individual work. An accompanist is provided for singers. Auditors are welcome for a lesser fee and participate in all aspects of the class without doing individual work.
Each seat type has its own price and its own limited number of seats — pick yours in the Enroll box.
