Aurora Academy Welcomes
Caleb Clark’s Acting Intensive
Aug 07, 2023-Sep 15, 2023
Two three-week actor’s intensives that will show you – through the use of technique, intentional practice, and ensemble work – how to hone your craft on your own and grow as an actor.
Session One:
August 7 – August 25, 2023
M/F: 8AM – 1:30PM & W: 10:30AM – 1:30PM
Price: $600 for 39hrs of total training.
Maximum ensemble of 12 actors.
Session Two:
August 28 – September 15, 2023
M/F: 8AM – 1:30PM & W: 10:30AM – 1:30PM
Price: $600 for 39hrs of total training.
Maximum ensemble of 12 actors.
One student can take both Intensives – they’re slightly different offerings. The Intensives will culminate in a Showcase open to the public.
Why The Actor’s Intensive?
A common misconception I have observed amongst actors: they do not believe they need to be in class past their undergrad training. The truth is: taking class for an actor should be a lifelong thing. It’s like going to the gym. You should always be building your muscles as an actor, always honing your craft. An actor should NEVER stop growing and evolving.
Another common misconception: performance on stage or on set achieves that growth and evolvement; but the reality is most actors rely on old habits and stay in their comfort zones during show contracts or on set. The REAL growth happens in class – working alongside our peers, witnessing their discoveries, their successes, their courage. Something magical happens when we check our egos at the door and fully embrace the fact that there is SO MUCH MORE to learn each and every day. This intensive will EXPAND your comfort zone. It will give you new, exciting tools for your actor toolbox, as well as sharpen and fine-tune your already-existing tools.
What will YOU get out of this Intensive?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What exactly is this Intensive?
This intensive is the first year of an MFA training program condensed into 6-weeks, focused on detail work, building into Action/Objective work, building finally into characterization. We’ll explore script analysis, cold reading, auditions, speech work, text, and building a character arc that supports the story through monologue/scene work and exercises.
The intensive can hold (at max) 12 actors. Any experience/ability/skill level will be welcome in this class. It’s perfect for those just beginning with no idea what they’re doing, students who are looking for more in-depth training, actors who are curious as to whether or not they want to attend grad school (this is a good taster), or for experienced thespians who’d like to go back to the basics and stretch the muscles that they know aren’t as strong as they could be.
What’s Suzuki & Ensemble Training?
It’s a class where we’ll physically train, work out, do Suzuki walks, stomps and exercises, as well as work on ensemble building, group exercises, and tempo training. It’s a close-proximity type of training – close quarters, possible rolling around, physical touch and gesture extension through group (though no danger or intimacy) – so please consider before joining.
Those taking the intensive will be required to attend. It’s also available to anyone at any time since there’s really no limit to the amount of people we can train with at once.
Suzuki/Ensemble Training
August 7 – September 15, 2023
M/F: 8AM – 10AM
Pricing: $20 per class + First 2 Sessions are FREE
(For Walk-In Students. This training is included/required for those enrolled in The Intensive.)
Maximum of 20 Walk-ins per Session.
Why Train?
This class builds your presence. It sharpens your awareness. It tunes your frequencies. It centers your spirit. It focuses on mental dexterity, focus, imaginary circumstances, endurance, and controlling calm amidst physical crisis.
We will work elements of Suzuki such as stomping, walks, marching, slow-tempo, and moving to a grid. We’ll practice movement exercises that make us sweat, ask us to master our inner-tempo, being open to your instincts, and building a story on the fly. This work will increase: your emotional availability, your lower body strength, your ability to play, your directing eye, your tempo control, power, and body awareness.
Why Train in an Ensemble?
The moment is never you and you are never the moment. The moment happens between multiple people on stage, or one person and the audience, either as a collective or an individual from it. And training, playing, and learning from other artists is the only way to cultivate the skill of being a good team-player inside of the play. So much of our work is ABOUT reaching outward beyond ourselves, and this work builds those habits.
What is Suzuki Training?
It is a rigid, form-based series of exercises that will challenge you physically while demanding the impossible of you mentally, and is focused on building your presence. It is an entire world in it’s own right, and I am far from capable of teaching a course on the subject. However, we will use some of the exercises (or influences) in my class, so an understanding of the usefulness of the work is important. Plus I can point people in the direction of actual Suzuki Training if they wish for it, and this will give them a taste.
Masterclasses
August 12 – September 16, 2023
Saturdays: 10:30AM – 1:30PM
Pricing: $75 per class + Buy Two Get One Free
(Students enrolled in the Acting Intensive package will receive a $55 discount per workshop. Making each workshop only $20.)
Maximum of 15 actors per Masterclass.
Week 1 (8/12) – Comedy
Week 2 (8/19) – Comedy: Physical
Week 3 (8/26) – Unarmed Combat Storytelling
Week 4 (9/2) – TBA
Week 5 (9/9) – Acting the Song (with Rhyn McLemore)
Week 6 (9/16) – Classical / Shakespeare
These workshop offerings are 3 hour masterclasses in whatever topic we’re studying. These are optional for those taking the intensive – but are discounted to $50 per workshop for those students.
- Comedy: What makes a joke work? How do you build a joke. What is a joke? Why do certain things work? How do you know task from embellishment? What does style have to do with it? What kind of funny is best? Is it about the laugh? If I’m getting the laugh, so what? You’ll walk away from these workshops with an understanding of how/why comedy works, how to understand the comedic story you’re being asked to tell, and how to go about telling that story in the most interesting way.
- Unarmed Combat Storytelling: Why doesn’t the violence on stage grip me? It seems real enough, but for whatever reason (especially these Shakespeare plays that build up to a big fight that slumps) the confrontation ain’t moving me. We’re going to look at making stage violence believable, affecting, and part of the larger scene/story. You want people walking away going “That was an amazing scene,” not “That was an amazing fight.” So let’s look at some work as actors & directors; we’ll use really simple choreography to hyper-focus on effectiveness.
- Acting the Song (with special guest Rhyn McLemore): A phrase I hear a lot (and it drives me nuts) is “Oh they’re a musical theater performer, not an actor.”
An actor is an actor is an actor. Period. And if an actor is singing, that doesn’t suddenly exempt them from making specific, nuanced, layered choices in their songs. Crafting a song is all about bringing YOUR authentic voice into the work. Let’s do that work, so welcome my wife (the queen of that work) as a Guest Instructor. - Classical/Shakespeare: Bring anything you want to play with (no weapons or intimacy). All experience levels are welcome. We’re gonna pick apart texts, and figure out how to get close to these ol’ or dead folk, and talk about rhythms and meter, and circumstances of the early times, and why that makes the Bard old-old school hip-hop. These workshops will help you see how close these texts/stories are to us now. Shakespeare is life.
