I feel bad for not having posted for almost a week. We haven't done much in drama, but we've definitely learned more about a couple things. I can't really recall everything we've learned in the past couple days, but I'll try and reiterate as much as I can remember.

We learned about stage directions with the center, left, and rights and how the stage is divided up into nine sections, each with their own names. The directions are always in the viewpoint of the actors, so it is the opposite for anyone who is looking onto the stage from the audience's point of view. I pretty much knew what the stage directions were before because of a previous basic drama course I've taken, but one thing I didn't know was the reason behind why downstage is called downstage and upstage is called upstage. There are also stronger places on stage to stand while speaking on stage. Down stage center is the strongest while up stage left or right tend to be the weakest. There are other positions in between starting with positions downstage and working your way backwards.

With stage directions, we did an activity that also involved different things. Mine incorporated sitting in a chair on stage after walking in from stage right down to down center stage. While I didn't get to present mine to the class, it was fun practicing how to properly "sit" in a chair on stage.

We've also learned about positions of standing while on stage. There are a variety of positions and there are certain positions that are stronger than others. Full front is the strongest position and it is when the entire body faces the audience. Full back is when the entire back of the actor is facing the audience and this position tends to be avoided. There are positions in between as well, going in both directions: Quarter turns, Half turns, and Three-Quarter turns.

With the positions of standing on stage, we played Simon Says to practice our knowledge of the stage positions and it was really fun, but it was really hard too because there are set directions for where positions such as quarter left or three-quarter right turns were. I enjoyed playing that game.

And today was really fun too, yet slightly painful...yes. We practiced stage falling today. Now, when it comes to falling, I am an expert at falling...but for real and not faking a stage fall. So even though Ms. Weil sort of taught us how to fall or faint on stage, I think I still have a couple bruises on my knee and my hip. It's a lot harder than I thought...as in falling without hurting yourself. It's definitely something I need to work on. :)