I'm Gonna Learn How to Fly, HIGH!!!

Considering the whole reason I'm here in the first place is to go to school. I should give you guys the low-down on the Birmingham School of Acting.

Birmingham School of Acting, an affiliate of Birmingham City University, Millennium Point Campus.

The first time I walked into Millennium Point, I had thought that I was at the wrong address.

Opened in 2002, the facility was originally designed to house the Think Tank, an interactive science center. Eventually, schools from around the area started buying up space, creating a multi-school facility the likes I have never seen before.

When you first walk inside, you think you've walked into a mall or an airport terminal. The Birmingham School of Acting is located on the Ground Floor. When you first go in, you only see the front desk and a small lounge area, but once you scan your key card and go through the doors, you enter another space entirely.

The School is made of ten studios for classroom instruction and a black box theater, with student productions performed at many of the professional theaters around Birmingham. The school accommodates the four 3-year undergrad programs, as well as three 1 year-Masters programs  It's hard for me to describe exactly what it feels like to be here. At times, it feels like...it feels like...

From the moment you walk in, you're surrounded by raw expression.

Hearing singers practicing as you walk through the halls.

Seeing dancing and movement training as you walk past the glass doors of the studios.

The ambient sound of line running permeating the Common Room.

The jump at the sudden outburst overheard in the neighboring room, followed by the calm at the realization that the outburst was in iambic pentameter and it was just part of a rehearsal.

The fact that I spend all day here, devoting myself entirely to the very thing I'm most passionate about is an almost surreal experience. Despite the sheer number of hours I put in here, it almost never feels like work, a sentiment I hope I'll retain after more than two weeks of study.

Some of my classes here at BSA include:

Stage Combat - Extensive training in both armed and unarmed fight choreography. Last two weeks have been spent working with rapiers, studying original Elizabethan fencing texts, and examining how those techniques are applied on stage today.

Song - Vocal training with songs specially selected by Dom the Voice Coach (who looks suspiciously like Neil Gaiman). Special focus not only placed on proper singing techniques, but also the emotion and context behind each piece. Just because your singing doesn't mean you're allowed to stop acting! I'm currently working on "Pretty Women" from Sweeney Todd.

Contextual Studies - Considering my degree is Acting in the British Tradition, it's helpful to known what the British Tradition is. A comprehensive course dealing with British theater history from the tradition of pre-Roman Celtic storytelling to the present day.

Organic Movement - Using Eastern techniques including T'ai Chi and Chi Qong to wake up individual muscle groups, movement diagnostics for corrective movement studies, spacial exercises and interpretive movement sessions among other things. My muscles have been awakened...and they're angry!

Social Movement - Put on those rehearsal skirts and character shoes because this class deals in movement techniques throughout the historical periods of British Theatre. What constitutes proper Elizabethan posture? How does one escort a lady of the Restoration across a room? What the hell is the Victorian Fan Language? All questions I've had answered over the course of the last couple of weeks.

Speech - As much as I appreciate the detailed accent, phonetics, and elocution lessons provided by Alex, former Julliard instructor, I can't help but think of stuff like this in class...

As well as stuff like this...without quite as much dancing...

Ensemble - Choir practice basically. Something I haven't done in years, but it's always nice to get back in those SATB lines and harmonize. Currently working on "Madrigal" by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Voice Tutorial - Basically take the things we learn in Speech class and apply them through recitation with Alex. For now, we're working on The Sonnets of the Eternal Bard, Billy Wigglestick.

Practical Voice - "If I didn't know better, I'd say this Belgian woman is trying to teach us how to speak English." In all seriousness, Francoise has been doing a wonderful job challenging us on diagnosing our own standard speaking voices and finding avenues for improvement.

And finally...

Acting Workshops with David, a man just as quick with the Shakespeare quotes as he is with the dirty jokes. A man who dreams of spending his retirement editing Medieval Drama texts...or portraying the 12th Doctor. Acting generally runs in 4-hour blocks, an amount of time David never fails to fill. He has definitely been keeping us busy over the last couple of weeks. Whether it's  studying a monologue individual word by individual word, casting and blocking a full production of The Second Shepherd's Play as if it were to be performed on a pageant wagon in the village square in the Middle Ages, exploring the concepts of the clown in Shakespeare, defining what it means to soliloquize, or finding the humor in Titus Andronicus, David has challenged us every step of the way these past two weeks, something I hope he will not cease to do throughout the year.

I've been so lucky to get the chance to study here. This level of immersion into the craft was something I both did not expect and greatly appreciate. Each class is another piece of the puzzle used to create a well-rounded and astute actor, something I will, with a bit of luck, be able to call myself when this year is out.

These first two weeks have been all that I expected and more. But, there's something coming up this weekend that I did not expect. Make sure to keep your eyes open for my next post, wherein I chronicle The British Tradition's journey to London on Sunday for a workshop on the stage of the legendary Globe Theatre.

Cheerio, n'at.