Jeremy Michael
Cohn
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On Spines, Shoulders, and Acting

5/21/2014

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For the last two years, I have been in on a training course studying to teach the Alexander Technique.  Though there are many reasons I am passionate about this work, my original "in" was as an actor.  As part of my B.F.A at Boston University, I studied the Technique for three years under Betsy Polatin, who's excellent recently released book "The Actor's Secret" is a best-seller and one of the most practical books on Acting I have ever read.  I had a profound experience studying under her.  Through a simple application of hands which encouraged key muscle groups to lengthen and stopped me from bringing habitual tensions to bear that interfered with the optimal function of my body, Betsy not only opened up my body and breathing, but new dimensions of my personality and my perception of the world.  I had always felt limited and anxious and assumed that the best I could do was try to function as well as I could within those limits.  The Technique changed that for me.  I discovered that I could not only function well within what I thought of as my "self", but consistently expand that container to find deeper, freer levels of being.  

Today in my training course(the ATTIC in Chicago directed by Daria Okugawa and assisted by Andrew Putnam McCann) I made a major discovery about how I use my  my body that has once again raised the bar on my personal journey of discovery. I would like to share it with you as a concrete example of why I am studying what I am studying and of the benefit I believe that this work can have for the community at large.  

As long as I have been acting seriously, I have been plagued by a pervasive tension in my shoulders and chest.  It is present in my body at all times to some degree, but intensified to an exponential degree when I would act, and especially when I would sing or perform a monologue.  This tension not only distorts the shape of my torso, but makes me prone to jerky gestures with my arms that seemed presentational and interferes with  my breathing.  I find that the tension tended to distract me from acting with my scene partners and being touch with my inner world.    Teacher after teacher has commented on it and attempted to "fix" it for me.  I have done Feldenkreis, isolations, stretches, meditation, T'ai Chi, massage, and many other relaxation techniques in order to try to release this tension.  Nothing has provided more than temporary results, and my attempts to reproduce those results has had inconsistent and ineffective results.  So I've taken this tension with me into my professional career and it has manifested to a greater or lesser degree in various characters I have played.  It has definitely limited my expressiveness and naturality on stage and sapped energy that could be spent working on other things. It has also presented difficulty in my personal life, as I often find that this area compresses when under stress or when dealing with emotional circumstances(which is almost always when you are trying to make a career as a professional actor).  People have often experienced me as intense or high strung even when I am at my most relaxed, and I have suffered from fatigue and sleep issues.  Sometimes, I have even felt muddled in my thinking and ability to articulate when I find this tension is especially bad.  

This term in class, we have been doing an acting unit, and this habit has once again reared its ugly head as a major hamstring to my acting.  Fellow trainees noted the habit reported earlier in my torso as well as a tendency to lock my legs when I act that hampers my work.  I have been quite frustrated with this process, as I have felt helpless despite extensive training to fight it.  None of the work I have applied DIRECTLY to my chest and shoulders has worked.

Today, we spent some time working on a sequence of rib isolations  sourced from a five-part physical warm up created by Paul Denhardt, movement teacher at Illinois State University and a trained Alexander teacher.  I was immediately frustrated, as I have very little utility in my torso in this area as a result of my tension habit.  We each took a turn demonstrating our work in front of the class.  At first, I succeeded in isolating my ribs in front, back and side movements but only to a very limited range of motion.  My shoulders and torso were rigid, and my legs and knees locked.  Daria  used her hands to inhibit my shoulder movement while a fellow trainee used his hands to stabilize my hips.  When I carried out the movements with these "helping hands", I realized something that for me was quite profound--my thoracic spine(the area of your spine which is attached to  your rib cage) was fixed in a place of extension(or arching) the entire time.  I had previously thought that it was relaxed and sensed that it was possibly even collapsed--I had no kinsaesthetic way to evaluate whether it was in its natural shape. I worked with Daria on letting go of this tension, and all of a sudden it was like somebody had turned a key and unlocked my whole body. My shoulders relaxed.  My breathing became slower and deeper.  My voice became more resonant.  My legs unlocked.  And the range of motion in my torso increased by a factor of five.  Like, I looked like a belly dancer.  Most notably, I felt a sense of calm come over me that I was unused to experiencing, and everyone in the room reported tension palpably draining out of me.  I immediate felt like I could have taken a nap at will--which if you know me, is HUGE--I can't remember the last time I could take a nap at will(though I will sometimes doze off AGAINST my will late at night).  

In doing monologue work this afternoon and focusing on continuing my work in releasing my thoracic spine, I felt an ease in my work I have only felt at the apex of my very best performances.  It felt improvisational and unrestricted, and I was able to access a joy and creativity in my work that I know is always there but often feels blocked with frustration .  It never ceases to amaze me how seemingly small changes in posture and muscular use can be so meaningful to the way I work and live my life.

Hopefully, this has served to provide a small glimpse into some of the personal work I am doing right now and how learning about your physical habits can change your life the way it has changed mine. If you want to know more about the Technique, message me in the contact section or visit the American Society for the Alexander Technique's very comprehensive page at http://www.amsatonline.org/.    In fact, just for fun, here is a video made by the Society explaining some of the uses of the Technique.


Till next time.



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ANNOUNCMENT!  COMING JANUARY 2014:  MACBETH!!!

10/5/2013

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HEY GUYS!!! BIG NEWS!!!!

So, since starting my training as an Alexander Teacher, I have been performing with Suffigance Shakespeare, an experimental Shakespeare Company located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, where I am a company member.  We have an innovative process:  with minimal rehearsal, the actors come in fully memorized and improvise the staging differently every performance, allowing the play to evolve spontaneously in front of and with the participation of the audience.   I played Claudio in the company's inaugural production of "Much Ado About Nothing" and played Charles/Amiens and did original live music for the summer '13 production of "As You Like It".   

I am pleased to announce that I have been selected to play the title role in the January '14 production of Macbeth.  It is the realization of one of my dreams, and I am privileged to get to work with a group of truly outstanding artists on this project.  It is a fantastic challenge, and I am looking forward to digging into the role full tilt.  

Much more info to follow, but the dates are Friday/Saturday/Sunday evenings the last three weekends of January, excepting Super Bowl Sunday.  

Will be posting more info as soon as things are more developed!





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Alexander Technique/Corelone Wrap-up/Music News

7/17/2012

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Hey all!  

I have a lot of news!  First of all, Corleone, which I wrote about in my last post, had an extremely successful run.  It was an exceptional cast, and I received good notices for both my performance and my original music.  

In September, I will be starting a 3 year Alexander Technique training course under the tutelage of Daria Okugawa.  This is a significant time commitment, and may mean a slowdown in large theatre projects for a while, but I believe that it will be a revolution artistically for me and will result in a co-career which I am passionate about, which I believe will make a great contribution to the world around me, and which will continue to positively influence my artistic life and career for years to come.

Finally, I have begun work on a demo album, which I hope to be able to use as a way to more formally develop my music and begin collaboration with other musicians.  You can find a sample cover(un-mastered) under the audio page, with more to come.   The working title of the album is "Lateral Movements".  Feel free to download the MP3s and share(all material copywright Jeremy Cohn 2012)

Long Days, Happy Nigh and Pleasant Voyages


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Corleone:  The Shakespearean Godfather

5/23/2012

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Hey All!  For the last few weeks I have been working on a fantastic show called Corleone:  The Shakespearean Godfather.  It is a clever transposition of Mario Puzo's classic novel and the movies based on it  into blank verse and prose, sharpening the epic, operatic scale of the theme and characters and highlighting similarities between many of the classic scenes of both the movie and Shakespeare's plays.  I am playing Johnny Fontaine, the stand in for Frank Sinatra in the novels, as well as some other characters and providing tunes for the original songs in the show.  It will be playing at the Greenhouse Theater from June 1st-24th.  Further information can be found by following the link below.
http://www.theatreinchicago.com/playdetail.php?playID=5616 
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Returned From Israel

2/9/2012

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I have returned from my birthright trip to Israel with renewed determination and vigor for my work and career.  I have received call ins from Fury Theatre Co, Provision Theatre, Rocky Mountain Rep, and others.  "Its Greek to Me" has been performing almost continuously, with the lovely Yael Wartens replacing my long time touring partner Audrey next week.  And, perhaps most excitingly, I had new headshots and music promotional shots done by my good friend Tyler Core ( http://tylercoreshootspeople.com/) which should be featured on this website soon.  Oh yeah!  Also, I am adding some links to the website.  I am linking the contact section with my Facebook.  I am also adding a link to my soundcloud account to the audio section, which  should provide a wide and continuous display of non-proffessionally recorded sound, and I am linking my video section to a couple new u 
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First Day of the Website

12/16/2011

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First Day of the New Website!  Its been very fun to create.  Still working on the Video portions--I am having trouble getting the Short Film Koros Embedded, and getting some higher quality audio recordings.  But the site exists!  I will have some new headshots in about a month, and am busy preparing for a Christmas mass I am singing.  Otherwise, I am hitting the auditions hard and getting prepped for 
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First Post!

12/16/2011

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