UNIT 28: STORYTELLING AS PERFORMANCE The story...Research Presentation: King Midas and his touch ! 6/01/16

The story of King Midas is a myth about the tragedy of avarice and narrates what happens when true happiness is not recognized. Midas was a man who wished that everything he touched would turn into gold. However, he had not thought that this wish was not actually a blessing, but a curse. His greed invites us to think and realize the consequences that may lead us to become slaves of our own desires. The phrase the Midas touch comes from this myth and is used to say that somebody has a good fortune.

Want to discover more myths? View all Myths | Next myth: The myth of Europa Discover the myth of King Midas and his golden touch The wish Midas was a king of great fortune who ruled the country of Phrygia, in Asia Minor. He had everything a king could wish for. He lived in luxury in a great castle. He shared his life of abundance with his beautiful daughter. Even though he was very rich, Midas thought that his greatest happiness was provided by gold. His avarice was such that he used to spend his days counting his golden coins! Occasionally he used to cover his body with gold objects, as if he wanted to bath in them. Money was his obsession. One day, Dionyssus, the god of wine and revelry, passed through the kingdom of Midas. One of his companions, a satyr named Silenus, got delayed along the way. Silenus got tired and decided to take a nap in the famous rose gardens surrounding the palace of king Midas. There, he was found by the king, who recognized him instantly and invited him to spend a few days at his palace. After that, Midas took him to Dionyssus. The god of celebration, very grateful to Midas for his kindness, promised Midas to satisfy any wish of him. Midas though for a while and then he said: I hope that everything I touch becomes gold. Dionyssus warned the king to think well about his wish, but Midas was positive. Dionyssus could do nothing else and promised the king that from that following day everything he touched would turn into gold.

The curse

The next day, Midas, woke up eager to see if his wish would become true. He extended his arm touching a small table that immediately turned into gold. Midas jumped with happiness! He then touched a chair, the carpet, the door, his bathtub, a table and so he kept on running in his madness all over his palace until he got exhausted and happy at the same time! He sat at the table to have breakfast and took a rose between his hands to smell its fragrance. When he touched it, the rose became gold. I will have to absorb the fragrance without touching the roses, I suppose, he thought in disappointment. Without even thinking, he ate a grape but it also turned into gold! The same happened with a slice of bread and a glass of water. Suddenly, he started to sense fear. Tears filled his eyes and that moment, his beloved daughter entered the room. When Midas hugged her, she turned into a golden statue! Despaired and fearful, he raised his arms and prayed to Dionyssus to take this curse from him.

The atonement

The god heard Midas and felt sorry for him. He told Midas to go to river Pactolus and wash his hands. Midas did so: he ran to the river and was astonished to see gold flowing from his hands. The ancient Greeks said they had found gold on the banks of the river Pactolus. When he turned home, everything Midas had touched had become normal again. Midas hugged his daughter in full happiness and decided to share his great fortune with his people. From now on, Midas became a better person, generous and grateful for all goods of his life. His people led a prosperous life and when he died, they all mourned for their beloved king. 

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UNIT 28: STORYTELLING AS PERFORMANCE Task 2: (MIDAS)

Midas  (MYE-das)

Mythological possessor of the "Midas touch", the power to transmute whatever he touched into gold. Midas was a king of Phrygia, a region nowadays part of Turkey. One day some of his farmhands brought him a satyr they had caught napping in the vineyard. This creature, part man, part goat, still groggy and much the worse for wear, had been thoroughly trussed up to keep him from escaping. Midas immediately recognized Silenus, right-hand satyr to the god Dionysus, and ordered him set free. Silenus explained that he and his master had just returned from the East where they had been engaged in spreading the cultivation of the grape. Dionysus had brought back a tiger or two, an ever-expanding flock of followers and one very drunken satyr. Silenus had conked out in Midas's vineyard to sleep it off. Now he was grateful to the king for treating him with dignity, and so was Dionysus. The god was so pleased, in fact, that he offered to grant whatever Midas should wish for. Now, you didn't get to rule a kingdom in those days without a pretty active grasp of what makes for a successful economy. Midas didn't have to think twice. As the simplest plan for the constant replenishment of the royal treasury, he asked that everything he touch be turned to gold. Arching a godly eyebrow, Dionysus went so far as to ask if Midas were sure. To which the king instantly replied, "Sure I'm sure." So Dionysus waved his pinebranch sceptre and conferred the boon. And Midas rushed back home to try it out. Tentatively at first, he laid a trembling fingertip upon a bowl of fruit and then a stool and then a wooly lambkin. And when each of these had been transmuted in a trice into purest gold, the king began to caper about like the lambkin before its transformation. "Just look at this!" he crowed, turning his chariot into a glittering mass of priceless-though-worthless transportation. "Look what daddy can do!" he cried, taking his young daughter by the hand to lead her into the garden for a lesson in making dewy nature gleam with a monotonous but more valuable sheen. Encountering unexpected resistance, he swung about to see why his daughter was being such a slug. Whereupon his eyes encountered, where late his child had been, a life-size golden statue that might have been entitled "Innocence Surprised". "Uh oh," said Midas, and from that point on the uh-oh's multiplied. He couldn't touch any useful object without it losing in utility what it gained in monetary value, nor any food without it shedding all nutritional potency on its leaden way down his gullet. In short, Midas came to understand why Dionysus had looked askance when asked to grant the favor. Fortunately, the god was a good sport about it. He allowed Midas to wash away his magic touch in the river Pactolus, which ever after enjoyed renown for its shimmering deposits of gold.

UNIT 28: STORYTELLING AS PERFORMANCE Task 1: Preliminary Research (Myth/Legend) 5/01/16

What a makes something a Myth or a Legend?

About Myths and Legends…

What are myths, legends and folktales?

Human beings have been telling stories since they first learned to speak. And even before we could speak, we managed to tell stories by drawing and painting pictures on the walls of the caves we lived in. Once upon a time, long, long ago, before even your teachers were born, there lived some really great storytellers. Their stories have been passed down, retold, translated, adapted and, more recently, written down, because everyone loves a good story! Do some of your favourites include haunting and murder, treasure and battle, wicked deeds and heroic actions? These stories probably include legends, myths and folktales.

What are legends?

A legend is usually based on a true event in the past. 

However, the story may have changed over time to take on some special 'mythical' features.

Legends usually have a real hero at the centre of the story and they are often set in fantastic places. The story will have been passed on from person to person, sometimes over a very long period of time. The fact that so many people have taken the trouble to keep the story alive, usually tells you that it has some very important meaning for the culture or region in which the story was first told.

What are myths?

A myth is not quite the same as a legend. Sometimes a myth is loosely based on a real event but, more often than not, it is a story that has been created to teach people about something very important and meaningful.

Myths are often used to explain the world and major events, which, at the time, people were not able to understand - earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, the rising and setting of the sun, illness and death. Many of the myths relating to such events have survived for a very long time, sometimes for thousands of years, as it is only in recent times that we have begun to understand why some of these things happen.

What are folktales?

Folktales are usually stories that have been passed down from generation to generation in spoken form. Often we do not know who the original author was and it is possible that some stories might have been concocted around a campfire by a whole group of people. It is quite normal to discover that there are many versions of the tale, some very similar but others may have only one or two characters in common and take place in totally different settings.

Many of the stories we call 'fairy tales' are really folktales - Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, The Three Little Pigs. These stories were probably inspired by events which happened so long ago that we no longer have a record of what those events were.

What is the difference between legends, myths and folktales?

It is very hard to list the differences between myths, legends and folktales. In fact, it is often easier to say what they have in common than to say what makes them different from one another.

The main difference is probably to do with how much the story is based on a true event.

What we call legends are generally stories, which have an actual historical event or person as their starting point. Myths are sometimes based on legends but are altered in a way that makes them useful to teach people how to behave or to give an explanation of the world around.

Folktales may also have started their life by being based on an event, but they are changed almost every time they are told and, as time passes, the story loses its connection to reality and the message or moral of the story becomes much more important.

It's not really so important to spot the difference between the three types. Just enjoy the stories for themselves and see if you can tell what the purpose of the story was originally. Why might the story have been told in the first place? Are you able to tell how it has changed over time?


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Auditioning/Casting Call preparation:

Wicked

•  read and listen to the material
• story
• character (role you want)
• genre
• author (play write)
• composer
• the world of the play

Ordinary

• magic
• talking animals
• wizard
• flying monkeys
• city of emerald
• armed guards
• singing/dancing
• midgets
• talking tinman

Extra Ordinary

green people

flying houses

a) find a monologue that agrees to the song.

b) find a monologue that agrees to the tone, style and sound.

Aural Quality = how it sounds fitting in one universe.

Picking a character like Glinda, she described as...

Sparkly, Confident, Pink, Blonde, Juvenile, Perfect and Giggly.

Therefore I could compare this musical to 'LEGALLY BLONDE'

as the character Elle Woods has some similar aspects of Glinda's character too.

3. Remind the panel of the world of the play and your character, in all aspects starting with...

• Dress
• Demeanor
• Tone

When you do get a call back do not forget to wear the same outfit you wore before!

Key to a successful actor:

BE FRIENDLY, POLITE & PROFFESIONAL

Overview of my Vocal class...

The reason I started with the laying down exercise as it eases your mind and gets your whole body relaxed before going through with the warm up.
Low humming noise helps you as an actor to focus on your own self and the sound you are producing.

I done the neck rolls second as it massively helps to warm up your throat muscles which is the most important part to focus and warm up upon as the voice box allows us to speak. 

The tongue twisters warm up helps me while I am nervous before going on stage, as I tend to have difficulties with pronunciations of words and words starting with the same letters continuously.

The lion/mouse face exercise enables the face to be fully relaxed so your able to perform, and being comfortable with producing any facial expression and showing emotion when you need to without any tension within your face.

The PTKT and BDBD pronunciation is key as most East Londoners is something we struggle on, as we find it hard to pronounce each word rights as we tend to silent some letters in a word which I always get told of upon.

Warming up exercise for Actors: Voice Class Presentation

Warming up exercise for Actors

The Routine:

1. Lie down

on your back in a comfortable position. LOW HUMMING NOISE, roll your body to one side and get up to keep your breathing INTACT. (Repeat 5 Times)

2. Neck rolls,

rotating your head SLOWLY - clockwise and anticlockwise, add on with shoulder rolls. Helps to warm up your throat muscles.

3. Facial Massage,

massage your whole face, by drawing circles with the tip of your fingers to enable a relaxing of your face. (Repeat 6 Times)

4. Jump up and down, shake your hands and feet for the CIRCULATION and loosening up of the muscles.

5. I call it the LION/MOUSE FACE technique, stretch your mouth wide open, demonstrating a roar effect. Mouse scrunching of your face and mouth. Move your tongue around your gum! Pretending your eating a sweet and enjoying it.

Ruth: " It is essential  to warm up as an actor before a performance, as it allows the performer to be more relaxed and ready."

Understanding of voice Production

Understanding of voice Production

Power Source

Your breathe has several factors:

Lungs, Diaphragm expansion and Abdominal support.

The reason it is called power source is because that is where you collect all your sources which will help you to breathe correctly.

Vibratory Source

Vibration of your vocal folds causes vibration in the air, which your lungs have just generated and also what your abdominal muscles have pushed.

The EPITHELIUM is the outermost layer of the vocal folds. It is the thin and moist which resembles to the lining of the inside of the cheek.

The next layer is the SLP, the vibrations of the layer are what makes sound and loss of the SLP which results in the scarring and hoarseness.

The final layer is the vocal ligament, the tension in this structure helps determine the speed of the vibration and as well as the PITCH of the sound.

Resonators

The resonators gives all the richness and tone that makes the voice musical and it also gives individual qualities to the character.

The nasal passage, the throat and the mouth are air chambers which shapes the sound. This is why when you have a cold you loose resonance which leads to your notes being flat.