The Lucid Body: A Guide for the Physical Actor

by Fay Simpson, Michael Howard (Foreword by)

Overview

Actors! Engage your mind and your body in order to develop your characters fully. The Lucid Body technique breaks up stagnant movement patterns and expands your emotional and physical range. Through energy analysis, this program shows how to use physical training to create characters from all walks of life—however cruel, desolate, or neurotic those characters may be. Rooted in the exploration of the seven chakra energy centers, The Lucid Body reveals how each body holds the possibility of every human condition. Learn how to analyze the character, hear the inner body, dissect the self into layers of consciousness, and more.

Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781581156515
Publisher:	Allworth
Publication date:	10/28/2008
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Fay Simpson is the founder of the Lucid Body Institute and artistic director of Impact Theatre NYC. Informed by thirty years of performing and devising work (Veterans Project, D-train, The Marital Bliss of Francis and Maxine, and Scotty), Simpson developed the Lucid Body technique. She and her instructors conduct private workshops and a two-year teacher training program at her Manhattan studio, The Lucid Body House. She is an associate arts professor at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program. A private coach for actors on stage, screen and television, she teaches abroad extensively wherever her teachers are building communities—London, Berlin, Toulouse, Moscow, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and beyond. Simpson is a member of the Actor’s Center and recipient of the Fox Foundation Fellowship and Likhachev Fellowship. She lives in New York City.

Eleanor Rose Boynton is an illustrator and tattoo artist born and raised in New York City. Since graduating from Parsons School of Design, she’s found that the greatest inspiration for her work is exploring how natural things endure to survive in a fully urban environment, inspiring her to delve into ever-expanding forms of image making and new materials. Working closely with Fay Simpson to develop the visual stories for The Lucid Body, Boynton’s illustrations are a melding of new and old techniques, reaching back into traditional drafting and drawing styles, and collaging with digital imagery to bring each character to life.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

About the Second Edition ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction: The Lucid Body Defined xix

Section I Finding Center

Chapter 1 Nonjudgmental Mind 3

Chapter 2 The Audible Exhale 9

Chapter 3 Neutral Body 15

Chapter 4 Meditation 23

Section II Chakra Energy Centers

Chapter 5 What Is a Chakra? 31

Chapter 6 The Root 37

Chapter 7 The Sacral 49

Chapter 8 The Solar Plexus 61

Chapter 9 The Heart 73

Chapter 10 The Throat 87

Chapter 11 The Brow 101

Chapter 12 The Crown 115

Section III Energy Self-Analysis-Three Layers

Chapter 13 Taking Off the Armor 131

Chapter 14 Finding Your Persona 137

Chapter 15 Finding Your Shadow 147

Chapter 16 Finding the Child-Need 155

Section IV Physical Character Analysis

Chapter 17 Shape-Shifting: The Magic of Rearranging Energy 163

Chapter 18 Stage Intimacy 171

Chapter 19 Active Space 177

Chapter 20 Physical Listening 185

Chapter 21 Creating a Chakra Palette 189

Glossary 199

Bibliography 207

Index 211

Editorial Reviews

From Fay’s methodology, I learned to use my intuition and lived experiences in myriad new ways—to play boldly and focus my energy. Fay also demonstrated a deep sense of service—service to something greater than herself: the service of molding young dreamers into productive, proficient participants in an ever-evolving conversation of artistry and creativity.” —Winston Duke, actor,Black Panther, Avengers, Us, and Nine Days
 
“Her transformative work was key in bringing a level of physical expressivity into the actor’s toolbox that greatly enhanced the quality of acting in the program at Yale School of Drama.” —Ron Van Lieu, Lloyd Richards Professor of Acting (emeritus), Yale School of Drama, and Professor of Professional Practice, Acting Program, Columbia University School of the Arts

“Fay’s work is the homework I bring to every character, be it for theater, film, TV, or audition. It is clear and attainable while still feeling personal and flexible. Not only has the Lucid Body process deepened my acting work, but it has also been a tool for personal growth.” —Brenna Palughi, High Maintenance (HBO), The Family (ABC), and A Time to Kill (Broadway)

“The Lucid Body approach awakens in the actor the organic impulses that society has suppressed from an early age—and then challenges us to act upon those impulses. It’s the perfect antidote to ‘talking heads.’” —Joseph Siravo, founder, Shakespeare & Beyond, and actor, The People v. O.J. Simpson (FX), The Sopranos (HBO), Oslo (Broadway), and The Light in the Piazza (Broadway)

From the Publisher