Philosophy
In the coaching work at the Queens Studio, Ms.
McClintock employs a system she calls:
IMAGIN-ACTION: |
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The Imagination released into playing Action |
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Imagination comes from the Latin "imago" and
“magi” and the Greek “magos” (wise, learned in
the mysteries) which, in turn, was derived from
the old Semitic "mag". Hence words like
imagination, imagine, image, and magic all share
the same root. To use one’s imagination, to
conceive and comprehend through the intellect
something not perceived through the senses, to
make a conjured thing real or concrete to
oneself. Once that realization has occurred, the
actor then transforms that image into action,
fashioning a character. Curiously, at the same
time an actor is engaged in the use of the
imagination, his or her own better self is
actualized, authenticated, and the imago of the
actor is released into the world in an energized
way. “The psychological mechanism that transforms
energy is the symbol or image.” -Jung
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited to all we now know and
understand, while imagination embraces the
entire world, and all there ever will be to know
and understand.”- Albert Einstein
“Live out of your imagination, not your
history.” - Stephen R. Covey
IMAGO
The emergence and completion of the final stage
after a process of metamorphosis,
the formation of functional wings enabling
flight “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was
over, it became a butterfly.” -anonymous
Martha Beck discusses imago in O Magazine on
Growing Wings Jan. 2004
ACTION
is defined as the process or state of acting or
of being active, an act or deed done or
performed, an act that one consciously wills,
the efficiency with which energy produces a
reaction.
“When a person expends the least amount of
motion on one action, that is grace.” – Anton
Chekhov in a letter to Maxim Gorky
We are, after all, called Actors and our job is
to provide the actions to fulfill the characters
(words and given circumstances provided by the
playwright) in the most economical, graceful,
believable way possible.
“Action is sometimes understood as a verb used
to designate interaction…but Action in this
approach is the act of committing yourself, as
the Who am I?, to making another person, image,
or object feel something.” - Earle Gister/Joe
Alberti in Acting: The Gister Method
And if that action is released on the breath,
unencumbered by any tension, a circle of
transformation occurs in the moment of playing
and magically the appropriate emotions will
emerge in a completely unbidden, organic way.
Each actor is thus empowered in the work and
able to chart his or her own individual flight
path to soar as the fully actualized, authentic
self.
Ms. McClintock employs the concepts of imagin-action,
imagination, magic, imago, action, breath, and
empowerment in both her own work as an actress
and in her coaching sessions. She gratefully
acknowledges the influence of her great mentors
in the work most especially
the late Earle Gister, Robert W. Smith, and the late Tony Van
Bridge as well as Patsy Rodenburg and Leon Katz.
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Earle
Gister |
Robert W. Smith |
Tony
Van Bridge |
To read more about Earle Gister’s work, which
has had a profound impact on many actors
including Ms. McClintock, click this link to
purchase
Acting: The Gister Method by Joe Alberti in collaboration with Earle R. Gister
Watch Patsy Rodenburg’s
Why I Do Theatre for TED
And her talk about empowerment and second circle
on her own website:
www.patsyrodenburg.com
Leon Katz (playwright and authority on Gertrude
Stein) talks about his year with Alice B. Toklas
on
You Tube. |