Beginning Reading in 'Stage Combat...'

I honestly wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I opened the book for Stage Combat – it seems like something that would be rather hands-on. Almost every subject has a book, but something like stage combat isn’t the same as most other subjects that you find textbooks for. Granted, other hands-on things require books sometimes – there’s even a “Plumbing for Dummies” book out there somewhere, and that seems like something you’d need some hands-on experience with to really get the hang of. It made more sense when the book stated that all of the practices outlined require training with someone who actually knows the techniques, and the book is simply a base, and not enough to start practicing on.

I think the key points in the first two chapters are that even though this is ‘fake’ fighting, it is very active, deals a lot with your body, and deserves the respect that carries with it. You can seriously injure yourself if you aren’t approaching things in the right way, or aren’t being careful and knowing your limits. You also have to know the limits of your partner, and what their boundaries are, and be aware of their personal space as much as your own, etc. You have to be really aware of the space around you and who and what you’re working with.

Along other lines, I also really couldn’t even believe the story about the student in Texas. What was that director thinking? It’s never a good idea to have a real knife on stage – not just for the person being ‘fake stabbed’, but for everyone on and around the stage, actors and tech people, and even the audience! You never know when something could go very wrong. That just blows my mind.

Along these lines, the picture I have chosen is pretty self-explanatory, and I think a pretty good rule of stage combat. I look forward to learning more!

- Chesney O

[ Source: http://performingarts.latech.edu/theatre/scwweb/scw.html ]

(PS - I hope the format of this is okay, I'm still getting the hang of it!)

I'm sorry the Hyatt in Atlanta has crap internet.

Sitting in the Hyatt hotel in Atlanta for Dragon*Con, I'm still a bit perplexed, after having read the first two chapters of the stage combat text (and perhaps the third and fourth, because planes) how cosplayers don't quite understand the element of stage combat or weapon respect.  Large weapons are a huge prop for some characters, and the lack of respect from a few cosplayers for their weapons and neighbors was mildly worrisome.  At recent conventions, respect for weapons was something I took for granted, but now being aware of it, I see the disrespect at nearly ever corner, as well as heart stopping moments of weight not being under someone's control while striking a pose, or while joking around with other people and doing a "fall." I'm now, also, horrifically aware of the dangerous positions my high-school theatre teacher put us in, as actors and techies, regarding the "simple" falls explained in the book and practiced last week in class. And I'm now aware of how dangerous the filming behind a movie called Chocolate was.

(The crap reliability of Con internet makes reviewing this video damn near impossible, but here's to hoping this is the correct video! The Hyatt internet was promptly killed yesterday mid-day, and so this is coming from a portable 4G device. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chjDPvvHW0w)


Chocolate is a movie about an autistic girl who has the ability to imitate anything she sees, and due to this, becomes an incredible martial arts fighter.  During the end-credits, there was a side bar of outtake after outtake showing just what the actors went through in terms of injury, as the actors were all martial artists.  It was common for an actor to get punched in the face, you'd here the occasional pop of a shoulder or rib with the impact of a very dangerous blow.  At the time of watching it, I thought, "damn, what people go through to be actors!" Now my thought is, "damn, whoever was in charge of safety should be fired."

I want to learn stage combat purely because I want to understand it, and make things look cool. I'm not a theatre major, but I have done extra work out in LA, and saying I know some stage combat is helpful for that pretty acting resume. Additionally, the bit on spatial awareness and status was absolutely fascinating! A friend of mine a few years ago had a project for one of her sociology classes where she decided to challenge the social expectation that she move for other people while walking to classes. She would refuse to advert her course, and would run into people if the case allowed.  Giggling, she relayed the slew of names she had been called, and I'd tried a number of times to practise this myself, but I generally still will move for people.

The safety seems like common sense, but it's amazing how that does typically go out the window for authenticity.  My sister was in a show, and a doorslam made a glass fall off a shelf and shatter across the floor.  Because there was no break in the scene or action (as this show, Killers and Other Family, didn't have an intermission, and once the actors were onstage, they were onstage.  There was some "picking up" of pieces by my sisters character, but you know that's never enough) the actors had to adjust combat bits around the glass, and as there was quite a lot of violence, it was incredibly scary for me as an audience member knowing there was glass on the floor.

I love the writing style of the book, and I can't wait to learn safe combat technique!

The Fight is the Story Presentation

Basics of Stage Combat

              After reading the first two chapters in our text book I was surprised of the dangers of basic stage combat techniques. But after 13 years of martial arts training and doing countless performances, I can agree that there are many dangers of doing combat without proper training. Being aware of others you are preforming with is also vital to a successful performance.

              From my background as a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I can see the importance of knowing spatial awareness and distancing when doing any stage combat on or off the stage. While I have never seen any described injury happen in any of the performances I have been a part of, tho I do know that they do have a chance of happening if you are doing the technique wrong.

              After reading the first two chapters I can agree that being properly trained in stage combat is very important if you want to avoid injury and want to make the performance as believable as possible.

Bruce Lee my reason for becoming a martial artist.

Image Citation

http://alden-tan.com/learn-from-a-legend-what-bruce-lee-can-teach-you-about-life/

Essentials of Stage Combat

After reading the first two chapters in Stage Combat by Jenn Zuko, It brought me back to memories during a production of “Little Shop of Horrors” when I was cast as Audrey. For anyone that is familiar with this musical knows about the ever-popular sadist dentist and his abusive behavior to Audrey. During this production I performed in, there was no attention to the potential “unlucky thirteen”, spatial awareness, or distancing.

I will admit that, unfortunately, I did deliver a real slap to Seymour, (not only once, but twice!), and was also thrown across the stage by the Doctor. All safety rules were all thrown out the window and never acknowledged. At the time, I thought it was a fun, adventurous risk. Little did I know of the potential issues that could have come from all those risky director demands.

After reviewing these chapters I have learned the importance of learning stage combat as to not potentially severely injure a fellow performer, or even worst, permanently affecting their life with blindness or deafness. Senses play a strong part with the way we, “emotional acrobats” are able to deliver a throughout performance. From now on I will request alternatives to the real thing, utilizing the skills I’ll learn during this course. I am ecstatic to learn and see that there are people like Jenn out there willing to teach these methods! (Thank you!) 

 As we all know Jackie Chan does his own stunts. Being a professional martial artist he can handle a few major hits of his own, however being that we are not at his level

it can contribute to a permanent injury or losing a job in not having this simple awareness. 

It is simply not worth the risk! 

-Gina Bauza

 

 

Image Citation:

"Injured Jackie Chan" Photograph. http://www.screenslam.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Injured-Actors-banner.jpg. March. 15th, 2013. Web. Aug. 28th, 2013.

A Fresh Start to Stage Combat

         Stage combat was one of the more exciting aspects of theatre that I have had the great pleasure of studying occasionally here and there. However, when I had learned previous before being in the MSU Denver show of “Kiss me Kate,” I realized I had been learning some bad habits. After one session of stage combat during “Kiss me Kate”, with Jenn Zuko, I was embarrassed to admit, even to myself, that I had practiced dangerous stage combat. I knew that in my career of theatre, I would eventually need to correct the wrongs of what I had learned in the past from not so qualified drama teachers, with learning from a more qualified instructor.

            While reading the first two chapters in “Stage Combat,” written by Jenn Zuko Boughn, I was amazed to find out how many injuries can occur from doing “dangerous” stage combat. Something as simple as a loose nail tearing the eyelid and our own adrenaline can cause the victim in the scene to bite a lip or a tongue. As far-fetched as some of these injuries may seem, they are very much possible at any moment if you try to authenticate a fight scene. I find it very interesting that while learning in class for the first time that the victim of the scene is in complete control. From the audience, you wouldn’t think that because essentially we are setting up an illusion. However, if set up correctly, it looks real and it takes a lot to be in complete control, but if done correctly it would like the person being under attack is not in control.

            From a professional stand point, it is very important to understand all of the dangers associated with any given physical activity. Before you should engage in stage combat, you should know what could happen if you don’t practice it the right way. Starting the class text off with a chapter in “Violence and Actor Safety” seemed like a no brainer. I have already learned stage combat a wrong way once, I wasn’t about to learn it the wrong way again. So I feel it is very important for every individual to know about the “what ifs” on the subject matter.

            The next thing I read about was “Movement Awareness.” Let me just start off by saying “Nostalgia!” A lot of these activities took me back to my high school years in theatre class. My favorite exercises in high school theatre were the status walks. Interestingly enough, we do, unconsciously most of the time, practice status while we are out in public. I sometimes will practice status consciously while I’m walking around on campus. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost ran into somebody because we both felt we had high status that neither of us had to move out of the way for each other). You can really learn a lot about other people just from watching their status.

            There are many exercises for spatial awareness, I loved getting to read about a few ideas, not just because they were nostalgic, but because it is crazy how connected and applicable these exercises can be to any aspect of theatre and stage combat. Status can play a huge role in stage combat; it is status that can make a fight scene humorous or dramatic. In addition to that, it is important to be aware of the space around you especially during stage combat for safety reasons.

            I think that safety and spatial awareness are the most appropriate things to learn first in a stage combat class so the reading was very beneficial in that sense. I highly recommend that each of these areas be explored before engaging in stage combat.

            On a side note, the image that I have selected for this blog post is the “Willy Wonka” meme. I chose it because it basically says that just because you know stage combat, doesn’t mean you are a trained fighter. Your skills learned for on the stage don’t cross over to actual fighting. I also chose it because a lot of my friends from high school really thought they were the coolest because they could fake a fight outside during lunch time. That isn’t cool, I personally don’t think it is, and Willy Wonka isn’t amused either!

Image Citation:

"Condescending Wonka." Photograph. n.d. quickmeme. http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3prced/. Web. Aug. 24th, 2013.

I hope I have enlightened you today!

-Tatum Russo

The Stage Combat Club YouTube channel

Have fun checking out the vids the Stage Combat Club has created over the years. Embedded is our most recent one, which includes our very own Micayla! Enjoy the viewing here. ~Prof. Jenn

Welcome!

...to the brand spanking new Metro Stage Combat blog! This is a blog created as a receptacle for Stage Combat and Advanced Stage Combat classes at Metro State University of Denver to post their reading responses, and for the Stage Combat Club of Auraria to post stage combat news, etc.

I have to execute a staged fall in this musical I'm in right now. 
The number is called "Trash," and  the musical is called 
A...My Name Will Always be Alice, at the Theatre Company of Lafayette.