B. Characterization Learning to seek and use genuine personal life experience in theatrical expression, to bring truth to a performance. C. Text Analysis Exploring the cultural and societal demands that define the outer specifics of character and the inner dynamics of basic drives and personal obstacles. The actor s tools are the body and voice functioning together. The Governor s School strives to develop awareness of the body s own expressive language and how it is connected to the imagination, spirit and emotional world of the creative performer. Individual and group exercises emphasize technique and improvisation.
All students participate in physically vigorous routine warm-up exercises.
Improvisation Improvisation is the art of creating a story while acting it out. The Governor s School introduces improvisation as a tool to be used in creation, with or without text. It is not the same type of improvisation associated with comic entertainment. The principles of ensemble work are emphasized as crucial to a scene s success, and exercises focus on trust, the structure of improvisation, spontaneity, story telling and the creation of character. In the third week of the program, students present a series of original sight-specific performances.