Non Verbal Communication - Gotcha

Rudolph Laban - System of Efforts 
Seven States of Tension
One of Laban's ideas was the seven states of attention.
1. Dead - You hardly have enough energy to move
2. Californian - You are quite laid back, relaxed and cool.
3. Stage Manager - Neutral, no emotions, moves by changing direction using the whole body to turn.
4. Director - Interested, engaged, questing, searching, on the front foot, the look as if an idea has just occurred.
5. Suspension - On the front foot, excited, eager, searching as if you are looking for something.
6. Passion - You have lots of tension in your body, you are also full of fear and desperation.
7. High-Catatonic - You have complete tension in your body, you literally can't move.

We were introduced to the seven states of tension in one of our lessons and were shown how Laban relates them to performance in drama. We did an exercise where we would all spread out around the room and our teacher would then tell and describe to us what each state was, and we would then have to demonstrate it by walking around the room in that state of tension.

We had to perform a part of the script from 'Gotcha' three times in groups of three.

For the first performance, I was with Jamie Campion and Lucy Parke. We performed from where Ton says "Cigarette burning, up in smoke" to where the Kid says "Ah" to the part where Ton says "bloody fool". I played the Kid, Jamie played Ton, and Lucy played Lynn. I thought that my state of tension was at a level 7 because I didn't really move during this because I was being told off by Ton for most of it, so I was standing still just getting yelled at, so therefore my body would be very tense, nervous and full of fear. In terms of polarities, my timing was sustained because I am quite calm in this scene, so I would be quite sustained when I'm saying my lines; I think that my weight was heavy because I think that I moved quite slowly around the stage; I think that my space was quite indirect as I didn't really know where to go as the Head was just looking over me; I think my flow was quite bound because I didn't really move because I was in a fixed position for most of the performance.

In our second performance, I was with Chandler Goddard and Eilis Coughlan. We performed the part where the Kid and Ton are arguing with each other, and we went from the line where Kid says "You tricking bastards!" to where Ton says "Preaching morality at us...all day". I was Ton, Eilis was Lynn, and Chandler was Kid. I thought that my state of tension was at a level 6 because I think I showed a lot of fear when Kid pushed me onto the floor because he is meant to be really threatening towards me. I think I also had a lot of tension in my body to show my anger towards the Kid, especially when we stood up face to face with each other. In terms of polarities, my timing was quite quick because he was quite fast when he was yelling at the Kid, I thought this was present especially at the point where Kid says to Ton "bastard", and Ton is quick to react by saying back to the Kid "little shit" to show that he isn't going to let the Kid  just insult him and not saying anything back; I think that in terms of my weight, it was quite light as he is always quite quick to react to what the Kid is doing and also what he says; I think that my space was direct, as for most of the time I was always directing my speech towards the Kid; I think that my flow was quite free as Ton didn't seem to be held back by anything to prevent him from moving around freely.

In our third performance I was with Charley Bennett and Connor Thompson. We performed the part where the Head and Lynn are talking to the Kid about how they don't know his name and also how the Kid wants to see the Head hanging from the ceiling. I was the Kid, Connor was the Head, and finally Charley was Lynn. We started from where the Head says to Kid "You won't tell me", which is the point where the Head is trying to get the Kid's name out of him, and we performed till the Head says "ah,ah,ah" . The point in doing this performance was to look at what state of tension we were at in the performance. I thought that my state of tension of the Kid was at a level 5/6 because I thought that I was quite quick on my feet and very alert, but then I also thought that I was quite tense because I am trying to show my extreme anger for both the Head and Lynn. I think in terms of polarities, my timing was quite quick, as he is so mad at the Head and he says it quicker to make it more dramatic and to show his anger; I think that  my weight would be quite light as he is very; I think my space would be quite direct because the Kid is always moving towards the Head and therefore knows where he is going; I think my flow would be quite free as I seemed to move quite easily to where the Kid would be in the script.


The Four Polarities & Effort Qualities
Time: Quick/Sustained
Weight: Heavy/Light
Space: Direct/Indirect
Flow: Bound/Free

                    Time        Weight       Space          Flow
PRESS     Sustained    Heavy       Direct          Bound
PUNCH     Quick        Heavy       Direct          Bound
DAB           Quick        Light         Direct          Free       
FLICK      Quick        Light         Indirect        Free
SLASH      Quick        Heavy       Indirect        Free
WRING   Sustained    Heavy       Indirect        Bound
FLOAT    Sustained    Light         Indirect        Free
GLIDE    Sustained     Light         Direct          Free

On Thursday 3rd October, we were introduced to the eight effort qualities, press, punch, dab, flick, slash, wring, float, and glide. We did an exercise which was doing these eight different movements along to the song 'Physical' by Olivia Newton John. The song was just playing out loud and our teacher would just show us one movement after another and we would do it, and then once we had done all eight of the movements then we would put those into a sequence all together.

We then later got into small groups where we had to improvise a short scene of before Lynn and Ton were in the cupboard. I was in a group with Kitty Smith and Henry Marshall; I played Ton; Kitty played Lynn, and finally Henry was another P.E teacher called Bruce. Our scene was set in the staff room during the lunch break before the incident in the cupboard occurred. Our scene started with Ton and Bruce in the staff room complaining about a student called Gary who irritates them both; then Lynn enters the staff room and tries on several occasions to get a quiet word with Ton but is constantly interrupted by Bruce who continues to talk about the Gary, the irritating student; but Ton finally manages to stop Bruce from talking by asking to make a cup of coffee for them and Lynn as well, but Bruce continues to talk by cracking jokes about Ton, while Lynn and Ton are trying to talk and when they finally get to talk to each other, they discuss about the difficult situation they are in about them seeing each other and they arrange to meet in the science cupboard.

Since our first lesson, we have started more a less every lesson by doing a warm up game called 'Shut it' which is where we stand in a circle and there are three movements from which we can use to send it around the circle. One of the movements is where you do the movement of slapping someone around the face which is called 'Shut it' which just moves it on to the next person. The second movement is where you put both your hands up in the stance as if you are about to be shot, and this sends it the back round the other direction of the circle and this movement was called 'watch it'. The third and final movement we used was where if the 'shut it' movement came towards us we could send it to some across the circle by saying 'bonafide'. If the 'shut it' came to us we could also say 'play time' which then meant we had to dance into another circle formation while constantly singing the lyrics 'Hey Ho, lets go', which are lyrics from the song 'Blitzkrieg Bop' by The Ramones until we were in a new circle formation. Whenever the 'shut it' was sent to us, and we hesitated or said the wrong movement to send it around the circle, then  we would have to go down on one knee, but if we then did the next one right, then we would be redeemed by being able to stand on both feet again.

We linked the four polarities to performance by observing other group's performances and seeing what their time, weight, space, and flow was like. The four polarities are in a way linked to the exercise 'shut it' because it looks at the weight, time, space, and flow of the movements. For example the 'shut it' movement has a light weight, a free flow, the space is direct, and the time of it is quick.

Movement 
Laban said that movement can be described through six categories, body, effort, space, shape, relationship, and phrasing.