HEAD HEART BODY

Head - Head

Heart - Chest

Body - hips

Head - Thought

Heart - Emotions

Body - Illusion of confidence.

We go further with this by finding the corresponding sections of the arms and legs.

Head - Hands/Feet

Heart - The elbow down/the Knee down

Body - Whole arm/ whole leg

Choose one of the centres to lead from.  Move around the room and note the impressions you are getting.  How does this make you feel? Exaggerate.  If you are leading from the head then stick it way out.  How does this affect your walk?  Sit down. Stand up.  When sitting make sure you use the corresponding centres in the arms and legs.  You will note that with the exaggerations that the characters are cartoon like and will seem weird to the students.  This is why it is important for them to note their feelings.  Now see how subtly you can lead and note how it feels.  What are your impressions of a person who leads from this section of their body?

Exercise #2

HANDSHAKES

Handshakes break down into HEAD, HEART, and BODY as well. How your character shakes hands can tell us a great deal. 

The "HEAD" handshake is done with just the fingers or hand with no grip or pressure. (This is common with some women in business and also with people who are not accustomed to, or do not like to shake hands.) Handshaking varies depending on culture. For example; In some cultures, women are not allowed to shake hands with men when they encounter each other in a business setting.

The "HEART". With this handshake you take their hand firmly and match your grip to theirs. One or two shakes is fine. Do not pump the person's arm. You are simply saying hello, not drawing water from a well.  Sometimes a person will shake hands and touch your forearm with their other hand. This is still from the "HEART" and usually represents more warmth. Always release their hand when you feel them withdrawing their hand.

The "BODY" handshake. This happens basically in three ways. One involves the person taking your hand and then grabbing you around the shoulders with the other arm. Another is someone who pumps your arm repeatedly without letting go as if they are at the gym pumping weights instead of greeting you. The other one is the person who does not pump your arm but squeezes your hand so tight as if to express their ability to crush your hand if they so desired. (These are common habits found with men in business. Some men have been taught that the handshake should be firm, strong, and vigorous, regardless of the nature of the person being greeted.)

Exercise #3

The Bus Station

  This is a good improvisation to use for this character study as well.

Text

Now take the text or monologues that the students have been working on in class and have them apply these principles.

End of Class #2

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