The Michael Chekhov Technique opens us to a quality of consciousness that engages all parts of our being. Free from living in our heads, this work empowers body, soul and spirit to access and express our authentic inner selves setting our imaginations free. This will be a fun and physical introductory workshop designed to invigorate your creative individuality and open you up to a new set of tools that can empower every performer and performance.
The workshop will be held at 416 N. Cleveland St., Memphis, Tennessee 38104 inside of Midtown Krav Maga. Admission to the workshop is pay what you can, with a $20 suggested donation.
ACTING COACH
As a working and aspiring acting professional being able to exercise your mind, body, and voice is important. Sometimes we need an extra push to guide us through rough career patches or we just simply need an outside eye and nonjudgmental opinion to assist in the refinement of our acting instrument and process. This is where I come in as an acting coach. I work to bring out your authentic self through the excavation and exploration of an actor's emotional and physical life.
“After one session, I feel I have a whole new arsenal at my disposal. He gave me several ideas to use physicality as a means of accessing emotions. Most importantly, he was super cool, and I had a blast working with him. I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed working with John Smiley. ”
I’ve been a student of acting, a teacher, director, and a performer for over 25 years and I bring that experience and professionalism into our coaching sessions. I coach actors from a Stanislavski based acting technique that is heavily influenced by the exercises of Sanford Meisner and Michael Chekhov. My vocal technique is rooted in the ideas of Patsy Rodenburg and I approach an actors physical life through the teachings and philosophies of Michael Chekhov, F.M. Alexander, Jerzy Grotowski, and Tadashi Suzuki.
Studying Grotowski with Raina Von Waldenburg at Acrobatics of the Heart
“One of the things I love about John is how enthusiastic he is for my project and how encouraging he is. Not only did he set a great tone, he also taught me how to deliver my message with clarity, passion, and enjoyment. In one hour of high-value coaching John took my presentation to a new level of quality and persuasiveness.”
Beyond working on the emotional and physical life of an actor I believe in the cultivation of presence and strive to aide the artist in accepting the ownership and pride of self. You are an individual when you step into that audition room and casting directors and agents want to see you. Often an actor will put on a front when auditioning and attempt to give the viewer what they “think” they want instead of allowing themselves to be vulnerable and let their “true” personality and character shine. Using exercises to develop breath, body, and mind we identify blocks that may be inhibiting your ability to celebrate your uniqueness and build the confidence and self awareness that you need for success.
So if you are an actor looking to achieve a stronger sense of presence, develop new material, prepare for audition sides/scenes, or refine and resurrect old material I’d love the opportunity to collaborate with you in a coaching session.
Coaching sessions are 55 minutes in length. Package plans are available. Please contact me for rates. I work from my home in Memphis, TN. If this is not convenient ZOOM/Facetime sessions and off-location coachings are also available.
If you need more info or have questions don't hesitate to contact me at hello@johnsmileyactor.com. I hope to hear from you soon and I can't wait to begin our journey together.