The Lucid Body

A Guide for the Physical Actor

Fay Simpson, Eleanor Rose Boynton

• Publisher: Allworth
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781621537250
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Dance

"From Fay's methodology, I learned to use my intuition and lived experiences in myriad new ways." —Winston Duke, actor, Black Panther, Avengers, Us, and Nine Days Engaging Mind and Body to Develop the Complete Physical Nature of Characters Actors are shape-shifters, requiring the tools to wade into unfamiliar waters and back out again. The Lucid Body offers a holistic, somatic approach to embodying character from the inside-out and, for the non-actor, offers a way to give hidden parts of the self their full expression. By identifying stagnant movement patterns, this process expands one's emotional and physical range and enables the creation of characters from all walks of life—however cruel, desolate, or jolly. Rooted in the exploration of the seven chakra energy centers, The Lucid Body reveals how each body holds the possibility of every human condition. Readers will learn how to:

• Practice a non-judgmental approach to the journey of self-awareness
• Break up stagnant and restrictive patterns of thought and movement
• Allow an audible exhale to be the key to unlocking the breath
• Develop a mindset to "hear" one's inner body
• Analyze the human condition through the psycho-physical lens of the chakras
• Experience the safety of coming back to a neutral body
• Acquire a sense of clarity and calm in one's everyday life

A step-by-step program guides the actor through the phases of self-awareness that expand emotional and physical range not only on stage, but also in daily life. This new edition includes a more diversified range of playwrights, non-binary language, and new chapters on stage intimacy protocol and physical listening. Exercises that have been honed for the past ten years have been made more concise. New somatic and neuro-scientific data has been added, with additional wisdom and insights from colleagues and Simpson's team of Lucid Body teachers.

INDEX

A

acting. see also physical character analysis

and archetypes, 90, 137, 141, 142–144, 152, 153, 168

brow chakra

Cassandra, 110

create your own reality, 109

Duke Orsino, 113

exploded, 140

imploded, 141

intuition, 104–105

Julius Caesar/Soothsayer, 109

Macbeth/Witches, 110

psychic images, 107, 108, 109

Torvald, 113–114

bubble, 63, 104

and chakras, 33, 36

character armor, 132–134, 201

child-need

Edmund example, 158–159

hiding, 158

psychological gesture, 157–158

crown chakra

and belief systems, 125

blissful moments of (author’s experience), 120

exploded, 141

Hamlet, 123

Iago, 127

imploded, 141

Isabella, 123

Richard III, 126

emotional release, 19–20

generous, 74, 89, 91

heart chakra

acting behaviors, 81

Cleopatra, 83

exploded, 140

falling in love, 79

heart-talk, 74, 203

imploded, 140

Mama Nadi, 84

Prince Florizel, 80

Romeo, 80

training and emotion, 74–75, 76

transparent acting, 83

Troy, 83

indicating, 71, 74, 203

listening to self, xxi, 6, 26

and pain release, 18

persona

archetype, 137, 141, 142–144, 199

chakra shorts, 139–141

cloud technique, 141–142, 201

commedia dell’arte, 111, 144–145

defined, 204

eighth chakra, 141, 142–143

list of archetypes, 144

primary chakra, 138–139, 141

Stanley Kowalski portrayal, 143

public solitude, 12–13, 205

relationship with life-force, 26–27

research of self, 10–11

root chakra

exploded, 139

imploded, 43, 139

s...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• About the Second Edition
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The Lucid Body Defined
• Section I: Finding Center
• Section II: Chakra Energy Centers
• Section III: Energy Self-Analysis—Three Layers
• Section IV: Physical Character Analysis
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index