Official William Hall Mask Workshop Registration - Feb 9-10
Classes, training, and other opportunities for artistic and professional development.
Moderators: arclight, happywaffle, bradisntclever
one of the most amazing experiences of my life occured in 2000 in a college improv class. we were using impro as one of the texts and near the end of the semester we did a mask workshop. it was very ritualized and most of us went into it with more than our share of doubt. the prof had a wide range of masks laid out, and we each took a turn going into the room with the masks and taking as long as we wanted to sort of "let the mask choose" us. we then put on our masks with our eyes closed in front of the mirrors in one of the dressing rooms. a little breathing and relaxation coaching and then as a group, we opened our eyes. MIND EFFIN' BLOWING! some people seemed instantly transformed while others took a while for it to slowly sink in. we just sat and observed our mask and tried to let it speak to us. did this a couple of times. the last mask for me was the kicker. as soon as i opened my eyes and looked at my new self, i started to cry. i eventually found myself curled in a corner, weeping. i had to tear the mask off and run back to the classroom to be alone. it was as though i was seeing some of the dark and hidden aspects of my own personality, but they seemed so foreign to me because it was presented through the mask. while traumatizing at the moment, i can say that day was one of the biggest leaps in my growth as a performer.
