Joe Tremaine Interview with Dancer Tony Bellissimo

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Master Dance Teacher Joe Tremaine sat down with first year professional dancer Tony Bellissimo, who was recently a dancer for Rihanna on The Loud Tour 2011, to discuss his move to Los Angeles, his experience on So You Think You Can Dance, auditioning for the Academy Awards, Glee and his advice for dancers who are moving toward a professional career.

Tony began dancing with his Mom when he was two, hip hop classes began at six, and at age 13, a discussion with Joe Tremaine convinced him of the need for technical classes such as ballet, jazz and tap.  By his senior year of high school, he had cut out varsity sports to focus exclusively on dance.  Then, at the age of 18, he found himself in the top 20 on season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance.  Even though he was the first to go home, his time spent on the sound stages of Los Angeles proved to be the catalyst he needed.  That January he made the move from frigid Buffalo, New York, to the warmth of Los Angeles.

Days after arriving in L.A., Tony’s first audition, and first professional job, was for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, an audition process which he easily compares to his  SYTYCD experience.  Since that time, he has worked on other award shows including The Kids Choice Awards, the TV Land Awards and the Univision Awards.  He has also appeared on multiple episodes of Nick Jr’s The Fresh Beat Band and the Fox hit series Glee, including their “Thriller” themed episode which aired after the Super Bowl.  Other credits include Step Up 3D with director Jon M. Chu, a Radio Shack commercial and various music videos.

Based on his experience, Tony’s recommends pushing yourself outside your comfort zone so as not to limit yourself as a performer or your ability to compete with other dancers.  He discusses the need to be comfortable freestyling at auditions, saying, “Everyone in L.A. can dance.  It’s what you do after those two counts of eight that will set you apart.”  Tony’s other advice includes, the importance of communication with your agent, knowing and being confident in who you are as a dancer and the fact that you must eat, sleep and breathe dance if you want this as your career.

The Objective-An Actors NEED

The Objective: ACTING your character’s NEED, Part 2

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The Objective is one of the most important power tools for an actor because it provides a starting point in the analyzing stage of any scene.

So what is the actual definition of “the objective”?

Every character is attempting to “get” something in every script and play. It may be love, a job, recognition, money, respect, sex, attention; this list can go on and on. However, it is important for the actor to figure out and articulate what the character you will be portraying wants and/or needs, and what is worth fighting for.

The objective supports the dynamics in any and all scenes, be it drama or comedy. If no one wants anything or needs anything in a scene, if nothing is at stake, the acting becomes uninteresting to watch. All drama and comedy is based on conflict.

“We are captivated by a struggle. We are captivated when watching a game that has two strong opponents.” – Acting with Impact

Think of a boxing match. If neither fighter wants to win the match it would be a silly and uneventful spar. But if both of their objectives were to let the other guy win, that would be an objective. And if they really played with that intention, because it is unexpected in a normal boxing match, the audience might even find it funny because they are taking great risks to lose instead of win. However, if they enter the rink with no need to win or lose, nothing at stake in fighting, no sense of competition, eventually the onlookers will lose interest in the fight.

Life is about going after a goal—a want, a need, something worth fighting for… some people want a family, others a career, and some both. Some are fighting for better health, some for a better day job. We all want, and because of our want, we feel emotion. When we feel we are winning in life, we feel happier than when we feel we are losing in life our objective. Interestingly, the Objective gives us many life lessons on how we experience our journey.

If we don’t have an objective in life, we may feel lost and without direction. This is also true in acting. If you discover that you feel a bit lost or without direction in a scene or cold reading, discover the character’s objective you are playing and play their objective with all of your heart. This will give your acting a point of reference of the character you are playing and support your commitment to live into their world.

Here are some fun exercises that will serve your ability to utilize the objective:

Watch a film, play or TV show with attention on what the main characters want. Ask yourself “what do they want?” Try to articulate their objectives in terms that allow you to visualize what it might look like if they did receive and win their objectives. And take note of their emotional life and notice how they feel by whether or not they are getting closer to what they want.

Also, take a moment to look into your own life to decide what you want and what you are willing to fight for, what’s at stake for you in your life. Perhaps you are looking for a breakthrough in your acting skill, or a chance to audition for a certain casting director, or you may want to book a job with a specific director, or you may have a love interest. Take note of your desire, your actions, and the risks you take to get it. Now, knowing that every character cares as much about their objective as you do about your own, play the character’s scene objective with that much commitment. Be compassionate to the hunger that lives in any character to get what they desire.

Your acting will always be enriched when you effectively take the risks that surrender your own desire to be great, and instead play the character’s desire to win their goal. One can never watch themselves in the work when playing the character’s objective with true intention.

Be strong, believe and live authentically,

Kimberly Jentzen

For a more complete lesson on the objective, please check out my book, Acting with Impact: Power Tools to Ignite the Actor’s Performance.

The Chair: Taking Control of the Audition Space

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By: Holly Powell

I always say that part of the fear an actor experiences while waiting in the lobby of the audition room before the audition is, “the fear of the unknown”. They become anxious because they don’t know what lies beyond the audition door. What does the room look like? How many people are in the room? Is there a camera in the room? Are the powerful people behind that door in good moods or bad?

A chair is the one familiar object that carries over from your living room, where you were rehearsing the audition, to the actual audition room itself. The auditors usually have a chair in the audition space in case the actor would like to use it during their audition. While rehearsing the scene at home, the actor decides whether to use a chair or not. They’ve visualized the “place” in the scene and it either involves the need to sit in the scene or stand. Either way, the actor knows that most times they will walk into the audition room and there will be that chair…their choice to use or not. This is the “make-it-or-break-it-taking-control-of-the-audition-space-moment” for the actor. There will be two options.

TAKING YOUR POWER OPTION:
The actor walks confidently through the audition door, saying “hi” to the people in the room looking each of them directly in the eye…and then they spy the chair. That’s the grounding moment. Touching base with the chair, the one familiar object from your living room to the audition room, helps the actor claim their power and the audition space. It’s now “your room, not theirs”. If chit-chat happens and then it’s time to “start”, the actor turns to the chair and moves it exactly where they want it. They can move it away out of the audition space, because they are not going to use it. Or they can leave it in the exact location it is in. But, it’s the actor’s choice and decision. The auditors can see that the actor is prepared, having made a choice. On the auditor’s side of the table, we relax a little and look forward to seeing what the actor prepared. And this is all before the first line of the audition scene.

GIVING YOUR POWER AWAY OPTION:
The actor walks tentatively through the audition room door, looking down and occasionaly glancing up shyly at the people in the audition room, apologetically eyeing the audition space for invading the auditor’s territory. “Would you like for me to stand or sit?” they ask, making sure they don’t make a wrong choice or offend. In response, they get an answer back: “Ahhh, just sit.” Instant power give-away. As the actor sits in the chair they are thinking, “Why did I ask that? I had rehearsed it standing when I was in my living room!” The auditors jump to the conclusion that the actor has not prepared properly and needs to be told what to do or that they are green and trying to please too hard. Even before the first line of the scene, they are a bit anxious thinking the actor will give an audition that feels more like winging it than an audition with prepared choices.

Of course there will be times when the actor’s best laid plans and preparation will not always go the way they want. They may have made the decision to sit in the scene and when they walk into the audition room the Casting Director is putting them on tape for Producers and asks them to stand and not move much. Always try to find out ahead of the audition if you are being put on tape. This will often make a difference as to your standing or sitting and the Casting Director may have a strong opinion about how things should go. But, usually, if you are auditioning “live” for the Casting Director, Director or Producers, you have more freedom of choice as to sitting, standing and how much you can move during the audition.

Touching base with the chair in the audition room, whether visually or actually, is the building block that helps ground an actor in the audition room. The actor has now made it “their room”. It’s their 3 minutes. And, “You Can Do Anything For 3 Minutes”.

Tapping Into Your Creative Power

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by: Kimberly Jentzen

A large budget can enhance the quality of the filmmaker’s story, but the budget has nothing to do with the actor’s talent to deliver the performance. In acting, it’s not about the venue, it’s about the freedom within to access character and emotion.

You can put an actor on an empty stage with a single light and the actor’s gift will emerge — because an actor needs only access to their imagination.

In fact, the more limits or boundaries you put on an actor, the more creative the actor will become. This is how great direction works. The director will give you a new way to act the scene and it is your freedom that will allow you to deliver it in such a way that the direction becomes genius. A great actor understands this flexibility. Your freedom allows you to inspire greatness in others and which brings the project up as a whole. This is true for writers, artists, poets, musicians and any artistic expression born from the gift to create.

All that an actor has is the sense of their own internal freedom to express; this freedom delivers confidence, depth, and the euphoria of a process that happens because it comes from you, and is held by you from within.

So how do you tap into your own freedom to create?

When you release judgment of yourself and your process, you are free to tap into the creative process. The less judgment you put on yourself in the process, the more freedom you will gain. The less you judge the script, other actors, or the direction, the more inspired you will be to deliver a performance that makes an impact.

Over the next two weeks, observe your judgments and begin allowing yourself to be more neutral to your process. Forgive your judgments and put them aside. Focus on the enjoyment of the process itself, and take the risks necessary to experience that source that lives inside – let the internal light within you, your instincts, be your guide.