KLASSI TAS-SURMAST – THE SUZUKI METHOD: A THEATRE STUDENT’S DIARY
Acting is an art form which creatively examines how human beings exist within the systems and groups that maintain social life, as the actor incarnates the written word through a physical and vocal exploration that follows a specific set of rules. The Suzuki Method, created by Mr Tadashi Suzuki, works on disrupting patterns of movement to achieve heightened body awareness, it enhances actors’ physical presence, voice control, stamina, and spatial awareness. It integrates body and voice, promotes emotional authenticity, and fosters ensemble collaboration through rigorous physical and vocal exercises. In this report I will be writing about my experience as a student attending a course entitled ‘The Suzuki Method for Actors’ taught by none other than one of Suzuki’s own students, Mr. Mattia Sebastian Giorgetti.
This course was delivered over five days, each day bringing a new exercise regarding the Suzuki Method, with each one increasing in intensity. These courses last seven hours per day, which included a (very well needed) hour’s break at the halfway point. The instructor, Mr. Mattia Sebastian Giorgetti, utilised a stick to guide us with the counts with each exercise. We were also given an extract from Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ to memorise in conjunction with these exercises with the aim to strengthen our stage voice projection.
On our first day of the workshop, the crucial base ‘Method’ was demonstrated. This involves the infamous ‘stomping’ – a technique which focuses on the invisible body. Breathing techniques, specifically that of the core itself were also covered on day one. Core breathing techniques and exercises are incredibly important for training actors. These two methods combined prevent an actor’s upper body from swaying and maintaining endurance.
On our second day, we were taught how to move through space at a unified speed and level, which generated a high degree of intensity. I found this exercise particularly difficult, given that our movements in our daily life are initiated by unconscious impulses or random stimuli that happen outside our bodies, and we rarely encounter a circumstance where we are required to move at the same speed for a set duration. In this exercise, we had to focus on a certain point and approach it at a consistent tempo and speed for a set amount of time, preventing our body from shifting and maintaining our centre of gravity at the same level. This helps an actor to move at an even level.
The next exercise, split into three distinct parts, helped us maintain a stable centre of gravity, in which the upper body was not influenced by the lower body’s movements.Part one and part two both required stomping, part one to the side, then feet together then we would squat and rise up again, and then we would repeat with the other side. Part two we stomped forwards with the counts of the instructor, shifting our centre of gravity forwards, rising on our tip toes and then down and repeating with the other side, in order to decrease our reaction time.
Part three required us squatting down, then, with the count of the stick we would pivot clockwise with the left foot and anti-clockwise with the right, alternating using the counts. After each pivot, we would produce a one-syllable vocal burst.
The next exercise was used to see the body in stillness as a sculpture. This was also split into parts, part one and two. Part one required rising as fast as possible to stand on tiptoe, then middle height, then low at the sound of the stick. Part two required sitting down and also reacting as fast as possible to the stick. At the sound we would create a pose with our arms and hover our feet up off the floor, which was way more difficult than it looked. This was used as an exercise to help practise speaking our extract from Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’.
Day four’s teachings brought about different types of walking, encouraging different expressions of movement. The types were: Ashibumi (stomping), Uchimata, (pigeon-toed), Waniashi (bow-legged), Sotomata (insole), Tsumasaki (tiptoe), Yokoashi (side slide), Kôsa (side cross), Hanten (side cross with half turn), Nageashi (side stomp), Suriashi (shuffling) and Shikkô (Shuffling with bent knees). We were also shown a recording of one of Mr Suzuki’s own productions.
On our fifth and final day, we refined all the skills we had been practising throughout the week. The bittersweet moment of a workshop comes at its eventual end, with us having to part with a brilliant group of people whom I’ve become great friends with. Overall, it was an amazing opportunity and one I will never forget. As an aspiring musical theatre actress, I feel incredibly privileged to have had such an amazing opportunity to refine my theatrical skills, alongside such an important group of people. Moving forward, I absolutely feel as though this experience has changed how I will approach the stage.