An Interview about González Caballero's Acting Method

Last May 14th the book on Antonio González Caballero’s acting method was presented during the week dedicated to commemorate his work. Due to engagements I had previously committed to, I could not attend in person, so I sent a video of about 10 minutes to do the presentation in a virtual manner.

For that same event, Diana Ham, a member of the Teatro de Árbol group (the organizers of the event), sent me a series of questions - an interview - for me to answer in another video that would be shown during the presentation. The lack of time (and possibly of interest, which I’ll explain later) made it impossible for me to record yet another video with these answers, but just days before the date of the presentation of the book I decided impulsively to answer them in writing so that at least they could be read in part that day, which is what happened.

For some years I’ve decided not to speak directly (in public) about the acting method unless I had something written in advance and that had been reviewed carefully by me. When one speaks while thinking, interesting things happen, but also unforeseen ones that lead to big misunderstandings that I do not want to repeat, at least consciously. So putting things in writing was ultimately the best way to fulfil this commitment.

Answering these questions has, in turn, helped me define my own position on the research, collection and analysis of the method of Antonio González Caballero, and I thought it important to publish them on this Blog (and on the sites that talk about the method) so they can, if such is the case, be discussed or analyzed.

I have left the questions exactly as Diana Ham sent them, while my words may differ somewhat from what I initially sent for the presentation.

Here is the interview:

1. How did you meet Antonio González Caballero?

The first time I had contact with Antonio González Caballero was when I was a teenager, in October 1982, at Arte Escénico (Instituto de Arte Escénico) where I studied acting; he was substituting for an acting teacher. While other teachers put us to work directly with scenes of plays, he directed us through an exercise of footsteps and elements that opened an unknown door towards my sensitivity and creativity. His personality, on the other hand, was very affable, comparing with the ego full of whims of the other theatre teachers I had known.

2. How was your experience like learning the method proposed by Antonio González Caballero?

As I spent more time at the school (Arte Escénico) I discovered that acting classes with González Caballero were giving me more than anything the other teachers were giving me in the same institute. After a controversial (due to its irreverence and absurdity) dropping out of school of most of my generation (we were against the policies of the directing body), we went to take the master's workshop at the home of Norma Román Calvo, who also offered to give us theatre history classes independently.

Dropping out is a decision I call absurd because I did not finish acting school, which eventually haunted me for years, though it was obviously a lucky decision for my creative life because it brought me to the method that is now a major part of that life.

From about six or eight students who started learning at the workshop, only two of us finished the whole process of assimilating the method, José Vera and me, which is why at the book presentation I thank José Vera for much of the impetus to write this method: he continually questioned the teachings of the master, I tried to explain them, convinced as I was of their usefulness, trying to translate them into a more general language to show they worked and why. That's what I've been doing for more than 25 years.

3. What difficulties did you face during the learning process?

Learning the acting supports ('apoyos actuacionales' in Spanish) posed no difficulty for me, every door they opened was to a world of creative and cultural opportunities, they gave me tools to solve technical problems in my profession, they made me read about the human being, learn about the history of theatre, observe life differently.

The difficulty in any case laid in finding that the directors I started working with did not know, let alone the method of González Caballero, but about acting, and that their directing methods were archaic or generally very basic.

But this "difficulty" also became fortunate: firstly, it forced me out of that small group of people who did know the work of González Caballero to seek out others who knew of acting and directing, and I have not stopped doing it since then, taking me this quest to the great living masters - and their heirs - of the theatre scene all over the world, literally; and secondly, it led me to become a director.

4. What elements or references from other proposals for acting training do you recognize in the methodology of  Antonio González Caballero?

For over 25 years I've dedicated myself to trying to find all the references and lines of similarity of the method of González Caballero with other techniques and methods around the world and through the history of performance, expanding now this search to the performing arts in general.

González Caballero was a great creator.  At the same time he was also was a huge collector and also a great interpreter of other methods.  Nevertheless it is clear that he developed his method based on the lack of methods at schools for actors in Mexico during the sixties and seventies, and also in response to what he considered a damaging interpretation of the method of Stanislavski, especially in regard to the use of the actor’s emotional memory. On the other hand, even though he didn’t follow the guidelines of performance exploration of Jerzy Grotowski, his voice method was mainly based on this research. His personal turmoils led him to the hermetic philosophy and to the westernized versions of Eastern teachings, especially the so called The Science of Mental Physics, which he used abundantly in the basis of the method itself: imagination and energy for transformation.

I think there is much more hidden there. Dozens of researchers and explorers are needed, as well as consuming time, to find all the references around the method of González Caballero.

5. Is the proposal of Antonio González Caballero a method or a technique? And why?

That’s a trick question because, from my point of view, it is a method as well as a technique:

- It is a method if what you want to discover in it is a creative methodology for the actor to create on stage, it is a way for creating (a total -or complete- character in this case).

- It is a technique because whoever has mastered this method has assimilated and obtained technical supports (the "apoyos") for a creative end (which one is not important).

The method, conceptually speaking, is a methodology for achieving a goal, the technique is the means used to achieve this objective: in our case, the technique would be the use of the acting supports, and the method would be the structure of these supports with the acting movements (corrientes actuacionales) -Realism, Naturalism, Super-Naturalism and Super-Realism- and the four authors -Chekhov, Ibsen, Strindberg and Pirandello- to achieve the creation of a full character for the scene in question.

Personally, now that the book of the acting method has been published, I'm more interested in the technical aspects of the method because it has given me the opportunity of using it in other fields of theatre, like in Butoh, for example, where it doesn’t matter if there is a character or not, but where I can freely use the method’s acting supports: I use the technique but do not follow the guidelines of the method. In that sense González Caballero becomes a theatrical scene theorist beyond the western modern theatre of Mexico and can be compared with leading researchers and creators worldwide.

6. From your perspective, what differenciates the method designed by Antonio González Caballero from other methods or pedagogical proposals for acting training?

The method of González Caballero is unique from the Mexican perspective, there is simply no other acting method as elaborate as this one in the history of Mexican theatre.  Even though there has been research and great acting teachers, both past and present, none of them has created a method from beginning to end like González Caballero did. In the world and in the history of theatre, that's even stranger than you can imagine: methods like these are few and far between.

These methods, which are rare to find in a finished state, acquire universality when one discovers them and explores their basic principles.

The method of González Caballero is unique because it is a creation of González Caballero himself, it is his own method.  Though he explored with different actors for over thirty years, it was him who gave names to the acting supports, he decided the path to follow, he decided the final objectives, he managed the exploration.  It is his own method, his personal creation towards which all who passed through his laboratory helped.

But I insist, the most important thing lies not in the differences with other methods but in its similarity to them and its twists, in that sense this creation is universal. Its universality is based on following certain principles that every creative being needs to create.

It is a Mexican method, which makes it different, and it is a universal method, which makes it a gem.

7. How important is the existence of an acting method created with the Mexican temperament in mind?

I do not think González Caballero had intended all those years to always address the Mexican temperament, I think it is much more simple: the method was explored by Mexicans because it was Mexicans who worked with him and it was a Mexican who created it. That would theoretically make it ideal for Mexicans to comprehend, but then I would get into a long discussion, because it is not always so.

I think it's a an acting method that has in mind the human temperament in general.

8. How is energy defined within the method/technique of Antonio González Caballero?

Energy in the technique is something concrete, it is physical, as in science. That’s all it is. If energy is not matter, if it is not a body, then it won’t exist on stage. It’s not about thinking it or desiring it, it’s learning to feel the transformation that it causes in the body. Practicing the acting supports ("los apoyos") makes us discover the physical powers of feeling energy, as simple as the basic footsteps exercise from the elements: it’s not about taking a step and acting that out, it is about stepping on the element and feeling it, its texture, its body, and being faithful to the impulse in order to start a transformation of the body. If changes in the body were measured while working the method’s supports we’d discover that there are specific physical changes (muscle tensing and relaxing, changes in the rate of blood flow, breathing, changes in the tension of sight, changes in body temperature), the energy the method talks about is physical.

9. How should one understand imagination with Antonio González Caballero?

Imagination is a powerful tool of humanity and its base is creativity, imagination is innate to creativity; the method directs creative imagination to achieve defined objectives; in the case of the complete method, the defined objective would be creating a full character as would be required from an actor in theatre, film and television today; in the case of each technical support (apoyo actuacional), creative imagination is the means to discovering emotions, depths, atmospheres, masks, etc.

10. How much of the method proposed by Antonio González Caballero depends on observation of everyday life and how much on imagination?

The use of your imagination will depend on the development of your observation capabilities, but if your imagination is let free, if it is channeled and it develops, even what little you may have observed in life will become great material to achieve something creative on stage. González Caballero knew that and although he asked us to observe the world he was not demanding in that area, he did not drive us to have experiences as other acting teachers do, who say that if you have not had diverse sexual experiences you can not be an actor, or that if you have not felt deep pain you will never feel that on stage. The most important thing for him was to use your imagination, with it we could create all necessary situations and achieve moments that were unimaginable for us but possible for a character.

11. How is the evolution of the ABC like during the technical process proposed by the methodology?

The ABC is one and it’s unique, it never changes: interior-body-voice will remain interior-body-voice to the end, it is a principle of work and is not something you can develop, it is something that is there.

What the actor should do is take conscience and let the ABC free and, with time and practice, that freedom develops to flow much better so we may achieve the creative goals that we may have set beforehand.

12. How did Antonio González Caballero arrive to the sequential order of the acting supports he explores?

After about 15 years, between 1971 and 1985, mainly through chance (as in all exploratory tasks). But more importantly, I think, was the exploration path he set with the four revolutionary authors of modern theatre (Chekhov, Ibsen, Strindberg and Pirandello) and the theatrical movements -or tendencies- (Naturalism, Realism, Super-Naturalism, Super-Realism) they caused; they were the precursors for the sequencing of the acting supports of the method, as he realized that each current was channelled in the exposition of a concrete part of the human being.

If the goal was to create complete characters with a strong sense of truth and the four authors exposed human nature from four major perspectives (Chekhov with Naturalism and character, Ibsen with Realism and personality, Strindberg with Supernaturalism and the unconscious, and Pirandello with the Surrealism and the superego), then the path to follow regarding the sequence of the acting supports was clear.

13. Why choose only four authors of modern theatre as a basis of a methodology for the creation of a total character?

They were not chosen by him.  They, and this is widely acknowledged, are the proponents (some people say "creators") of modern theatre as such, of the modern character, the one that is used today and which we should use as starting point to break or discover new horizons.

In any case González Caballero decided not to use beforehand what was usually done, based on the study of stage directors or of theatre theoreticians, as basis of a method, but not the technique.

Many researchers are contained in the acting supports.  The most famous that comes to my mind is Stanislavski and the acting support in the method called  'character's emotional memory', for example, where González Caballero transfers the application of Stanislavski’s emotional memory from the actor to the character: the actor does not use his own emotional memory to give it to the character but instead has the character create that emotional memory on stage , through improvisations that create that memory in the character. Even then Stanislavski's proposal is contained in Chekhov’s proposal.

14. Can we think of each of the acting supports as metaphors of human complexity?

The acting supports are technical tools, I would not call them metaphors, they are concrete tools.

You can philosophize much about them, of course, but they are practical tools, they turn creativity into something practical for the actor.

15. Do the supports allow becoming aware of human complexity, to then potentiate it on stage? Why?

When you view the method's acting supports from afar you discover a kind of deconstruction of our humanity, they are points of reference for our human encoding; if we look at them separately they are part of us, if we piece them together we see ourselves completely. Obviously their diversity and their combination create an unprecedented complexity, but through the method they become manageable, and they are technically very useful for any creative development on stage.

We could devote an entire creative career to just the acting support called Body Zones -zonas del cuerpo-, for example, or complete plays using only the acting support Masks; González Caballero didn’t ask for it, but it is a possible consequence of their exploration.

It is obvious that once one finishes the method and with the ability to create a complete human being on the stage we have greater awareness of human complexity, but also of its richness; by following your words, each acting support is potentially a way to address parts of our humanity.

González Caballero liked to say at some point that one of his goals was to make better human beings and that the best way to do that was through the method, that the method helped us to completely know ourselves or to be aware of all our human complexity.

16. Does the method / technique favour the construction of a fictional universe that takes the actor away from the idea of acting, to bring him to the experience of living a universe different from his?

The actor is not taken away from the idea of acting, but from idea that it is him who is the character: it is the character who is the character and who comes to life.  That creates a new experience: it's like living other lives without those being yours and without being affected yourself by them, except by increasing your experience and wisdom.

17. Is each acting support a door leading an actor to activate his infinite creative imagination? Why?

They are doors indeed, they are supports that support the actor in achieving certain goals, they are working tools; by being means to discover and explore a part of the human being and being something you can use on stage to create a character they become, depending on the artist's interests, endless possibilities or a specific training to address an issue in the scene: it needs emotions and complicated, deep, non-specific feelings, there are the Levels of Interrelationships and the Haiku, but if you want you can use the Levels of Interrelationships to create entire plays and the Haiku, needless to say, is an art in itself.

18. Is the method / technique functional for a director's work? (If the answer is yes, how?)

Directors who use the method of González Caballero can use, in a very interesting way, the actors educated with it, but I should warn that, according to González Caballero, it should not be an obstacle: the actor does his job and so does his director.

I am of the idea that a work with a unified common language between actor and director can help prevent problems, but that's my idea; González Caballero prepared us for going out and working well with directors who could either know the method well or ignore it completely.

19. What was a character for Antonio González Caballero?

A living being, just like any of us.  But even more so, since there are no limits to the imagination of the actor on stage, anything can be a character.

20. What is a character for you?

I believe in González Caballero’s open concept: any creation on the stage is a character. A character, according to modern theatre conceptology, is a complete human being, but the door is open, anything can be a character.

It is when we study and practice Strindberg proposals and the unconscious in acting when we discover that that Gonzalez Caballero wanted to see, how far the actor’s creation could go, where imagination and the magic came together, where we could devote hours to "forms", to "beings", to "projections" that open new paths for theatre. He used to say that Strindberg was the creator of the new theatre, and what he meant with this was that the subconscious was the door to the new theatre. My concept or what a character is would lean towards that perspective: it’s anything that can happen on stage.

21. What do you think is the importance of Antonio González Caballero’s pedagogical proposal for the actor of the 21st century?

That will depend on the amount of people who are willing to assimilate it, use it and explore it to find new paths; it will depend on there being groups wanting to work with it, schools that wish to use it and actors who want to do something with it; it will depend also on there being people who want to do something else, in open new frontiers with the principles of the method as starting point. If that is achieved, it will be very interesting, it will be fertile ground for many more things.

22. Do you consider that the proposal can evolve? Why? (and if the answer is yes, how?)

Obviously I am a fervently interested in the idea that González Caballero’s proposal itself may evolve. But the acting method, in the case of the book, is a moment in the history of that method, it’s like a stop that helps us discover the method in a way that would be very difficult to do if we were always in exploration and movement. It is not a formula, it is not a closed proposal, it is like a photograph, a stopping in time that captures texts, voices, ways of doing something; it is a document and therein lies its importance.

We know very well that González Caballero’s method would evolve if he were alive, surely some acting supports would change in his hands, others would surely be added, new doors of exploration would be opened; that was being done with the study of energies and with some supports.

González Caballero is no longer with us, but if we keep the premise that he had, of an ongoing exploration, the method will be open to keep evolving with us, his heirs.

23. What is your responsibility to the method / technique of Antonio González Caballero?

At first, 25 years ago, I thought that my responsibility was the commitment of finishing writing the book and publishing it.  Then I thought it was also passing it on.  Now I know my responsibility to the method of González Caballero has split into two: making it known and expanding it from the point of view of its technique.

The method is an ingredient of my professional life for creating a character, the supports are the technical basis of my stage creativity, my interest lies then in further exploring those supports while following at the same time my personal creative interest, no doubt.  I do that with each support, I write with them, I dance with them, I act with them, separately and fully, I follow my personal exploration and document it, trying to keep in mind the bases and principles from which I start, the exploratory work of González Caballero.

Answering this questionnaire-interview for you is also part of another responsibility, to keep expanding the knowledge of what was so functional for me as a student of acting and what was essential in the early years of my life as a theatre professional. I strongly believe it will be so for others who come to the theatre to find tools and can’t find them easily, for those who are not as attractive or great as to be blinded by instant fame.

As Stanislavski said: “Not all of us are talent geniuses, for those of us who are not there is the method, the observation of geniuses to repeat what made them great."

(Many thanks to Tadeo Berjón for his invaluable help in the translation of the original text from Spanish)

Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas. If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.

*

If you read in Spanish you might be interested in my book about Gonzalez Caballero's Acting Method, "El libro del método de actuación de Antonio González Caballero"

El libro del método de actuación de Antonio González Caballero (NO incluye el Método de Voz), en su versión en papel (en especie) está a la venta solamente a través de Internet, y en tres sitios: 

Amazon España:  
http://www.amazon.es/Método-Actuación-Antonio-González-Caballero/dp/1466261919

Amazon.com: 
http://www.amazon.com/Actuación-Antonio-González-Caballero-Spanish/dp/1466261919 

CreateSpace: 
https://www.createspace.com/3677417


También está a la venta en formato electrónico (libro electrónico o ebook), en la tienda Kindle de Amazon:


Kindle amazon:  
www.amazon.com/Actuación-Antonio-González-Caballero-ebook/dp/B009HUT5AA

*

Images of transformation in Tatsumi Hijikata's methodology, and the "Elements" in González Caballero's Acting Method.

Tatsumi Hijikata performing "The girl" (Still Photography extracted from a video in Youtube)

Reading the article "Tatsumi Hijikata. The Words of Butoh" by Nanako Kurihara (1), I found a description of an exercise by one of Hijikata's disciples, Ashikawa Yoko, who proposed the dancers (actors-dancers) to transform - through the guide's words and in a continuous guidance of that transformation- into insects formed in turn by thousands of small insects that entered them through their skin pores. (2)

At the beginning, reading this was nothing new to me because I am more than used to guided body transformation exercises, thanks to González Caballero's Acting Method, where 'the elements' ('los Elementos': concrete physical images) enter our bodies and transform us completely.  But it was Kurihara's conclusion that made me stop and think about the importance of that "coincidence" and which prompted me to write this short note.

Here’s the quote as it appears in the book (in its original English version):

"The most difficult part of this exercise was that one had to "be it", not merely "imagine it". This was emphasized in the class again and again. The condition of the body itself has to be changed. Through words, Hijikata's method makes dancers conscious of their physiological senses and teaches them to objectify their bodies. Dancers can then "reconstruct" their bodies as material things in the world and even as concepts. By practicing exercises repeatedly, dancers learn to manipulate their own bodies physiologically and psychologically. As a result, butoh dancers can transform themselves into everything from a wet rug to a sky and can even embody the universe, theoretically speaking (Kurihara 1966)."

Anyone who has worked with González Caballero's Acting Method will recognize and fully understand the text quoted above, especially the description of the transformation through images (in this case guided by a teacher).  The "apoyo Elementos" (Elements) are indeed the same as those 'images of transformation' in Hijikata's method.

The transformation I've experienced using González Caballero's Acting Method is the same I’ve had exploring the Butoh technique, and so I've found it somewhat "familiar", never feeling a conflict between my creative tools on the stage. Antonio González Caballero wanted the actor to transform, and so wanted it Hijkata with dancers, both virtually through the same method; I, working and exploring both methods, have never experienced any problem or misconception.

The ultimate goal of both methods is the transformation through "embodying" what is referred to (during the transformation) through the guide's voice (or sounds), while being imagined by the actor, and making the process of that transformation into a habit. The literature through which both tell the experience is different, of course.

Theatre Anthropology has found certain physical principles in all human activity on stage, it would be important to find the similarities and possibly principles of transformation between the different methods explored during the second half of the twentieth century. If we add to these methods the exploration of physical actions based on the actor-dancer’s inner monologue worked by Grotowski in the sixties and seventies then we could open an even bigger door to discovering these possibles principles of transformation, and thus extend the experience of the artist's creative spectrum.



Gustavo Thomas © 2013

 



(1) The article "Tatsumi Hijikata. The Words of Butoh" appeared in a TDR magazine edition dedicated to Hijikata (Vol. 44, No. 1, Spring, 2000)

(2) Being stuffed by insects is other version of this exercise. Here the quote of the description of this exercise in the article: “In Ashikawa's class, there were routine exercises. One of them was called mushikui (insect bites). A student is first told, "An insect is crawling from between your index finger and the middle finger onto the back of your hand and then on to your lower arm and up to your upper arm." The teacher rubs a drumstick back and forth across the drum, making a slithering sound. Then she touches those particular parts of the body to give some physical sense to the student. The number of insects increases one by one and finally, "You have no purpose. In the end, you are eaten by insects who enter through all the pores of your body, and your body becomes hollow like stuffed animal." Each insect has to be in its precise place. One should not confuse or generalize the insects even when their numbers increase.” It remembers me the word repeated by González Caballero when he wanted the actors to feel the element inside his body, “retacarse del elemento” (probably the most precise translation be “stuffed”)
In both methods the actor shouldn't react to the presence of the insects, bites or being stuffed by them as if they were acting or suffering the experience in a naturalistic way, instead of it they have to feel the transformation and let it be freely using the images.

Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked otherwise. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas. If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.

The book "Método de Actuación de Antonio González Caballero" (Spanish edition) is now in ebook version at the Kindle Store (2012)

Ebook of "Método de actuación de A. González Caballero" is already at the Kindle store

It has been another long wait but the Spanish edition of my book "Método de Actuación de Antonio González Caballero" is already on sale at the Kindle store in Amazon. This is exactly the same text already published in paperback: 381 pages (more or less, depending of the Kindle app version you use) with all the exercises and "apoyos" from González Caballero's acting method, with direct quotations from the master's voice.

As commonly occur there are minimal changes from the original text, mostly because of the change of format: for example, there are no links in the list of content, but you can easily find any word or sentences in the 'search" window.

The most important and valuable thing is the price, US $ 9.99 (instead of US $20.00 + shipping of the paperback version), and that you can easily download the book to your electronic device (mobile phone, tablet or computer) and start reading and working with it almost immediately.

Here's the link to the Kindle store:

Kindle amazon:  

www.amazon.com/Actuación-Antonio-González-Caballero-ebook/dp/B009HUT5AA

It's time to rest a little bit around this project (around González Caballero's Acting Method) and continue with my personal work.

Hope in no much time I can start the work of the English version of this very important book.

*

The book "Método de actuación de Antonio González Caballero" (Spanish edition), in paperback, is on sale in these sites:

Amazon España:  
http://www.amazon.es/Método-Actuación-Antonio-González-Caballero/dp/1466261919

Amazon.com: 
http://www.amazon.com/Actuación-Antonio-González-Caballero-Spanish/dp/1466261919 

CreateSpace: 
https://www.createspace.com/3677417


The ebook version:


Kindle amazon:  
www.amazon.com/Actuación-Antonio-González-Caballero-ebook/dp/B009HUT5AA

Exploring Internal Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo). Video 3. Neck and Seventh Zone.

Working with body zones: Neck and Seventh zone (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011)

This is the fourth of a series of posts where I expose videos (recorded by me) showing the acting exploration of different Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo) and combinations of them.

Those who already know about González Caballero's acting method will understand what I meant with Zonas del Cuerpo, but those who don't know anything about this acting method maybe it is better first to go to this link and take a little look (it is in Spanish): http://agcmetodo.blogspot.com/2007/04/el-apoyo-zonas-del-cuerpo-el-cuerpo.html.

If you want to see the last post of this series, follow the links bellow:

- Sexual and Seventh zones: http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2011/11/exploring-internal-body-zones-zonas-del.html

- Chest and Seventh zones: http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2011/11/exploring-internal-body-zones-zonas-del_24.html

- Head and Seventh zones: http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2011/12/exploring-internal-body-zones-zonas-del.html

The process of this exploration is very simple: in front of the camera, and only my face, I must work in the inner concentration of one Body Zone (Zona del Cuerpo), with different levels and positions within the same zone, then I combine it with another zone (in this case the seventh zone, known as the crown, the only one with which all zones in this exploration will be combined).

As the only thing exposed on screen will be my face, no other part of the body will react to the impulse coming from the concentration on the body zone, only the face.

These videos are also part of my Butoh Vlog (http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/p/gustavo-thomas-butoh-vlog.html ) therefore it is important to clarify that I'm not listening to any piece of music during the explorations or recordings, nor any movement within the space will be the goal (as it is in Butoh). Even when that could mean for someone that it would not be Butoh, I still considered this exploration as part of my training in this discipline because I'm working with inner images and impulses with muscle movement as reaction of it, and that's one of its principles.

I believe the results (and the process itself) of these explorations will be very interesting for those who want to follow them, watching, studying or carrying out the exploration as well. For myself I'm opening another door in my own acting work, and I'm sure it will be the same for others who want to venture into this acting method and its infinite possibilities for exploration.

Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 26, 2011): Internal Body Zones Training Part 4. Neck and Seventh Zone. (NO SOUND) from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 26, 2011):

Internal Body Zones Training Part 4: Neck and Seventh Zone.

Working with Internal Body Zones (Zonas del cuerpo). This time working with Neck and Seventh zone, the crown (Zona de la cabeza y séptima zona).
Diferent positions concentrating attention inside the zone. From intensity in low level till climax and back to low level.

This is part of a daily training, I don't have any aesthetic goal in doing it (even when using a video effect or choosing a particular part of that training).
This is a document of my daily artistic life.

Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas. If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.

Exploring Internal Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo). Video 3. Head and Seventh Zone.

Working with Head zone and Seventh zone (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011)

This is the third of a series of posts where I expose videos (recorded by me) showing the acting exploration of different Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo) and combinations of them.

Those who already know about González Caballero's acting method will understand what I meant with Zonas del Cuerpo, but those who don't know anything about this acting method maybe it is better first to go to this link and take a little look (it is in Spanish): http://agcmetodo.blogspot.com/2007/04/el-apoyo-zonas-del-cuerpo-el-cuerpo.html.

If you want to see the last post of this series, follow the links bellow:

- Sexual and Seventh zones: http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2011/11/exploring-internal-body-zones-zonas-del.html

- Chest and Seventh zones: http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/2011/11/exploring-internal-body-zones-zonas-del_24.html

The process of this exploration is very simple: in front of the camera, and only my face, I must work in the inner concentration of one Body Zone (Zona del Cuerpo), with different levels and positions within the same zone, then I combine it with another zone (in this case the seventh zone, known as the crown, the only one with which all zones in this exploration will be combined).

As the only thing exposed on screen will be my face, no other part of the body will react to the impulse coming from the concentration on the body zone, only the face.

These videos are also part of my Butoh Vlog (http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/p/gustavo-thomas-butoh-vlog.html ) therefore it is important to clarify that I'm not listening to any piece of music during the explorations or recordings, nor any movement within the space will be the goal (as it is in Butoh). Even when that could mean for someone that it would not be Butoh, I still considered this exploration as part of my training in this discipline because I'm working with inner images and impulses with muscle movement as reaction of it, and that's one of its principles.

I believe the results (and the process itself) of these explorations will be very interesting for those who want to follow them, watching, studying or carrying out the exploration as well. For myself I'm opening another door in my own acting work, and I'm sure it will be the same for others who want to venture into this acting method and its infinite possibilities for exploration.

Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 25, 2011): Internal Body Zones Training Part 3. Head and Seventh Zone. (NO SOUND) from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 20, 2011):

Internal Body Zones Training Part 3: Head and Seventh Zone.

Working with Internal Body Zones (Zonas del cuerpo). This time working with Head and Seventh zone, the crown (Zona de la cabeza y séptima zona).
Diferent positions concentrating attention inside the zone. From intensity in low level till climax and back to low level.

This is part of a daily training, I don't have any aesthetic goal in doing it (even when using a video effect or choosing a particular part of that training).
This is a document of my daily artistic life.

Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas. If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.

Exploring Internal Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo). Video 2. Chest and Seventh Zone.

Working with Chest and Seventh Zone (By Gustavo Thomas. 2011)

This is the second of a series of posts where I expose videos (recorded by me) showing the acting exploration of different Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo) and combinations of them.

Those who already know about González Caballero's acting method will understand what I meant with Zonas del Cuerpo, but those who don't know anything about this acting method maybe it is better first to go to this link and take a little look (it is in Spanish): http://agcmetodo.blogspot.com/2007/04/el-apoyo-zonas-del-cuerpo-el-cuerpo.html.

The process of this exploration is very simple: in front of the camera, and only my face, I must work in the inner concentration of one Body Zone (Zona del Cuerpo), with different levels and positions within the same zone, then I combine it with another zone (in this case the seventh zone, known as the crown, the only one with which all zones in this exploration will be combined).

As the only thing exposed on screen will be my face, no other part of the body will react to the impulse coming from the concentration on the body zone, only the face.

These videos are also part of my Butoh Vlog (http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/p/gustavo-thomas-butoh-vlog.html ) therefore it is important to clarify that I'm not listening to any piece of music during the explorations or recordings, nor any movement within the space will be the goal (as it is in Butoh). Even when that could mean for someone that it would not be Butoh, I still considered this exploration as part of my training in this discipline because I'm working with inner images and impulses with muscle movement as reaction of it, and that's one of its principles.

I believe the results (and the process itself) of these explorations will be very interesting for those who want to follow them, watching, studying or carrying out the exploration as well. For myself I'm opening another door in my own acting work, and I'm sure it will be the same for others who want to venture into this acting method and its infinite possibilities for exploration.

Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 22, 2011): Internal Body Zones Training Part 2. Chest and Seventh Zone. (NO SOUND)

 from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 20, 2011):

Internal Body Zones Training Part 2: Chest and Seventh Zone.

Working with Internal Body Zones (Zonas del cuerpo). This time working with Chest and Seventh zone, the crown (Zona del pecho y séptima zona).
Diferent positions concentrating attention inside the zone. From intensity in low level till climax and back to low level.

This is part of a daily training, I don't have any aesthetic goal in doing it (even when using a video effect or choosing a particular part of that training).
This is a document of my daily artistic life.

Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas. If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.

Exploring Internal Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo). Video 1. Sex and Seventh Zone.

I'm starting a series of posts where I expose videos (recorded by me) showing the acting exploration of different Body Zones (Zonas del Cuerpo) and combinations of them.

Those who already know about González Caballero's acting method will understand what I meant with Zonas del Cuerpo, but those who don`t know anything about this method maybe it is better first to go to this link and take a little look (it is in Spanish): http://agcmetodo.blogspot.com/2007/04/el-apoyo-zonas-del-cuerpo-el-cuerpo.html.

The process of this exploration is very simple: in front of the camera, and only my face, I work in the concentration of one Body Zone (Zona del Cuerpo), with different levels and positions within the same zone, then I combine it with another (in this case the seventh zone, the crown, the only one with which all zones in this exploration will be combined).
 

As the only thing exposed on screen will be my face, no other part of the body will react to the impulse coming from the concentration on the body zone, only the face.

These videos are also part of my Butoh Vlog (http://gustavothomastheatre.blogspot.com/p/gustavo-thomas-butoh-vlog.html ) therefore it is important to clarify that I'm not listening to any piece of music during the explorations or recordings, nor any movement within the space will be the goal (as it is in the Butoh). Even when that could mean for someone that it would not be Butoh, I still considered this exploration as part of my training in this discipline because I'm working with inner images and impulses with muscle movement as reaction of it, and that's one of its principles.

I believe the results (and the process itself) of these explorations will be very interesting for those who want to follow them, watching, studying or carrying out the exploration as well. For myself I'm opening another door in my own acting work, and I'm sure it will be the same for others who want to venture into this acting method and its infinite possibilities for exploration.

Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 20, 2011): Internal Body Zones Training Part 1 (NO SOUND) from Gustavo Thomas on Vimeo.
Gustavo Thomas Butoh Vlog (Oct 20, 2011):

Internal Body Zones Training Part 1

Working with Internal Body Zones (Zonas del cuerpo). This time working with Sex and Seventh zone, the crown (Zona sexual y séptima zona).
From intensity in low level till climax and back to low level.

This is part of a daily training, I don't have any aesthetic goal in doing it (even when using a video effect or choosing a particular part of that training).
This is a document of my daily artistic life.

Texts, photographs and videos in this Blog are all author's property, except when marked. All rights reserved by Gustavo Thomas. If you have any interest in using any text, photograph or video from this Blog, for commercial use or not, please contact Gustavo Thomas at gustavothomastheatre@gmail.com.

Antonio González Caballero Photographed in 1999

Antonio González Caballero, 1999

(By Alejandro Yustiaza)

Some days ago Alejandro Yustiaza, a former member of Esférica Ludens, sent to me a whole set of photographs of Antonio González Caballero at his home (and work place) in 1999.

There is something interesting in this set, aside of presenting more images of González Caballero the man, they show to us another González Caballero's home, the last one, in 20 de Noviembre Avenue, very close to the other one, both in México City Historic Downtown. We can see some of his paintings on the background of almost all the photographs of the set, and also we can get a glance of the last place he used to work at, giving lessons and transmitting his Acting Method. 

At that moment González Caballero's body was very weak after suffering several complicated surgeries, and we see him thin and tired; his hands, under the skin, are almost bones and veins, very impressive.

In this post I only share those photographs showing González Caballero alone, next week I will post more, he having a conversation with me and giving lessons.

You will notice that there are some images a little bit dirty or with some scratches, that's because of the time and problems with the digitalization. Be kind.

Slideshow of Photographs of González Caballero (1999)

Michael Jackson's Faces, An Example of the Creation of a Pirandellian Super-Mask.

We can talk a lot and give many imagined examples, but it is better to recognize the importance of Antonio González Caballero's Acting Method with examples taken from real life, from the stage and, of course, from our own bodies and mind. We confirm his observations, transformed into "Apoyos" (base of his method), through real documents, observing others and compiling them to better understand what we are doing during our acting with his acting method.

We know there is one important part (out of four) in his acting method called "Super-realism" (Superrealismo, in Spanish) based on Luigi Pirandello's acting propositions and, as a main part of it, the creation of a "super-mask" of the character or personage.

The "Pirandellian super-mask" (Máscara pirandelliana, in Spanish), as González Caballero called it, is the physical transformation of our intimate and unconscious desires, our super-ego, a transformation we want, and we pursue it through whatever means, possible and impossible, during our lives. Our "super-mask" is the ultimate physical result in our bodies and faces of a conscious transformation based on our fantasies, desires and impulses. You are what you desire to be, you are what you have let be.

In that sense many characters became their own ideals in their physical being or, what is more interesting, many characters became what they thought were their ideals and what they could do for their own transformation. Many are lost in their fantasies, many can't manage their time, their environment, their own way of life, and then the dramatic result follows, "the Pirandellian tragedy".

This "super-mask", in González Caballero's words, "becomes the living body of our ideals, good or badly managed", and it has three different degrees of expression to be identified and to be reproduced in our creation on stage: simple, refined and in bruto. The degree depends on the transformation.

Today the death of Michael Jackson at 50 was announced; a famous singer and American pop icon, his life does not matter to me with the exception of a TV internet program that someone decided to prepare about his different faces throughout his life. Of course, the program will talk about his personality and scandals, but what they did was a preparatory video with a short edition of Michael Jackson's faces during his whole life, so we can witness Jackson's transformation in 30 seconds. That's what is important to me and why I'm writing this post!

The transformation of Jackson's face, as you will see in this video presented below, is so far the best visually documented example I've found of the creation of the "Pirandellian super-mask" in a living being: a transformation that goes from Jackson as a child (from a normal or natural child) until he had created his own "in bruto" Pirandellian character.

This is not the transformation that we see as a "normal" one (if there are any) that runs from childhood to maturity, no, what we see is the transformation that goes from reality to fantasy, a mental ideal turning physical. Michael Jackson used whatever means possible to achieve this transformation, and we can see that process. A jewel for any actor!

Transformed by the end of his life into a fantasy character, Mr. Jackson was still a living human being... and he was living his own tragedy, being famous, being weird, being seen as a monster and having intimacy and a family life. The person who uploaded the video in Youtube wrote "is it a human?", and I can answer yes, it is, and that human-personage died today.

Video: Michael Jackson and his facial transformation throughout life.


the same video in ipernity:

You can see following this link an interesting line of events about Jackson's face transformation: http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html

An Interview with Guadalupe Durón (Part 2): Element Air, an exercise.

Guadalupe Durón (México, 2008)

Second post on the interview I conducted with Guadalupe Durón in Mexico City’s Historic Center on December 28th, 2008 (See introduction to the interview at the post published on 02/02/2009).

I do not transcribe my questions to Durón (they were simply invitations to speak about the method and about his experience with the teachings of Antonio González Caballero), I preferred to present only the actor’s words. I consider these words as a testimony and a raw document; therefore, I did not edit the video nor looked for adding coherence to it. Beyond Duron’s colloquial speech and his unique way of using grammar, there is his personal experience as an actor, and in the swirl of phrases we can find some "keys" to understanding the González Caballero’s Acting Method.

Durón, with his peculiar style of narrating his experiences, brought back with memories of exercises with the "Elements" at González Caballero’s laboratory, this time narrating an exercise of the “Air Element” (Elemento Aire). The "Element" is one of the main (or basic) supports (apoyos) within the acting method.

Video: Guadalupe Durón, an experience during an exercise with Element Air (in Spanish).

Since Durón speaks in Spanish, Tadeo Berjón helped me to make a free translation of Duron's speech to English:

"I remember his exercises (referring to Gonzalez Caballero), one people criticised me a lot for because… I was fascinated by it, because it was about an element I liked a lot, Air ... Because it is very volatile, because even if it runs into a wall it goes up or down and spreads to the sides, and whatever.

"So, he guided us, … First, he used to say ...: -" Come on, concentrate "- blah, blah blah blah. And then he would start feeding us: -" OK, let's make this element "- Of course! at that time they were... we were, like, beginners, because those were pure elements (basic), and after then they were mixed, and blah blah blah.

"So, er, that time, I remember he gave us Air (the element). (He laughs) And then something very curious happened, I started feeling very agile; yes, and I don't know how, don't ask me. I was walking and moving all over the place because... it was an old house, where we did the exercises - we had had many working spaces, blah blah blah. And that time it was an old house, from the 20s or 30s maybe. - And then there was a big staircase, - well, when you compare it with what the make nowadays.

"Then, I remember I started to feel very very light, and the teacher says: -" OK, now the wind in the desert; OK, now the wind is in the mountains; OK, now the wind is in a field, in the plains,... No it's like this, now it's like that..." - then we would respond to these impulses (indications) that he would give, so I ended up crazy afterwards, and I and I don't know ... There was a little column at the base of the stairs, very small, about 30 centimetres tall, whatever. To follow the banister then ... don't ask me how but suddenly I was... as it no longer had ... these stairs, how do you call it?, (these) little columns used to have a lamp, a carved figure on top, and there were none. Well, I ended up on those thirty centimetres, standing, pretending to be a statue, and it felt wonderful.

"Afterwards ... (he laughs) ... er..., I had fun because they said: -" Ah, ah, ah, that's what you always do! You want to be very volatile, you this and you that ..."- But no, personal volatility is one, that is, yes, I can, you know, run or walk or feel or do, but me, me! When you are given an element on purpose to work with, then no. The body's position changes, the mind changes, you do things that ... Like that with the little column, I mean, me, when! I have always suffered from (bad) balance, I mean, I can not play like the children on the rails of the railways or on the borders of ... of partitions. I've always been very awkward at doing that, and I was wondering: (he smiles) - "How the hell did I get onto those thirty centimeters and I didn't fall, if I have a lousy balance?" - Now, they say that having a lousy balance on scene is fantastic, as you can do what you want to.

"But I was surprised to have ended up on that small space and not fall, why? because the quality of the element, whichever they may be, fire, earth, air, water... it encourages imagination and you are something else; you're not... er... what you normally are! you change!, through the power of imagination, I mean, because it's a stimulus that although we are made from all the elements, when one of them predominates then you become someone else. That's that, as simple as that. "

Guadalupe Durón's original speech in Spanish:

"Recuerdo sobre sus ejercicios (en referencia a González Caballero) uno que me fue muy criticado porque a mí me fascinaba mucho, porque era sobre un elemento que a mí me gusta mucho, el aire, ...porque es muy volátil, porque aunque encuentre un muro sube o baja y se dispersa a los lados, y quien sabe qué.

"Entonces el guiaba,... primero nos ponía: -”A ver, concéntrense”-, blah, blah blah blah. Y luego nos empezaba a alimentar: -”A ver, vamos a hacer este elemento”- ¡Claro!, en aquél tiempo eran..., como éramos principiantes, pues eran elementos puros (básicos), luego ya se mezclan, y blah blah blah.

"Entonces, eh, esa vez, me acuerdo que nos dió el (elemento) Aire. (Ríe) Y entonces se dió algo muy curioso, yo me empecé a sentir muy ágil; sí, y no sé cómo, no me pregunten. Anduve desplazándome por todo el lugar, porque... Era una casa antigua donde hacíamos los ejercicios, -porque tuvimos varias sedes, blah, blah, blah. Y esa vez me tocó en una casa que era vieja, de los 20s o 30s quizá.- Y entonces había una escalera muy grande, -bueno, grande en base a las que se hacen ahora-.

"Entonces, recuerdo que empecé a sentirme ligero, ligero, ligero, y el maestro: -”A ver, el viento ahora está en el desierto; a ver, ahora el viento está en la montaña; a ver, ahora el viento está en un campo, en un llano,... Ahora está así y asá.”- Entonces iba uno repondiendo a esos impulsos (indicaciones) que él le daba a uno, de tal manera que yo terminé enloquecido después, y no sé,... Había una columnita en la base de la escalera, muy pequeña, como de unos 30 centímetros, y no se qué. Para seguir por el barandal entonces..., no me pregunten cómo pero de repente yo estaba... como ya no tenía..., Estas escaleras, ¿cómo se llama?, (estas) columnitas solían tener una lámpara, una figura esculpida ahí encima, y aquí no había. Pues yo terminé en esos treinta centímetros, parado, haciéndola de estatuita, y me sentía maravillosamente.

"Después... (Ríe) este..., me divertía mucho porque decían: -"Ah, ah, ah, ¡eso es lo que haces siempre! Tú quieres ser muy volatil, tú quien sabe que...”- Pero no, la volatilidad personal es una, o sea, sí, yo puedo, yo que sé, caminar o correr o sentirme o hacer, pero yo, ¡yo! Cuando le dan a propósito un elemento que debe trabajar, entonces no. La posición del cuerpo cambia, la mente cambia, hace uno cosas que... Como eso de la columnita, o sea, yo ¿cuándo? Yo siempre he padecido de (mal) equilibrio, o sea yo no puedo estar como juegan los niñitos, en los rieles de los ferrocarriles o en las orillitas de los... de los tabiques. Yo siempre he sido muy torpe para eso; y yo me preguntaba: (sonríe) -“¿cómo rayos llegué a estos treinta centímetros y no me caí, si tengo un pésimo equlibro?”- Ahora dicen que eso de tener un pésimo equilibro en escena es fantástico, como puedes hacer lo que se te de la gana.

"Pero yo sí me asombraba de haber terminado en ese espacio tan pequeño y no caerme, ¿por qué? Porque la cualidad del elemento, cualquiera que ellos sean, el fuego, la tierra, el aire, el agua,... estimula la imaginación y uno es otra cosa; no es... eh... ¡lo que uno es normalmente!, ¡cambia!, por el poder de la imaginación, o sea, porque es un estímulo que si bien estamos formados por todos los elementos, cuando predomina uno entonces uno se vuelve otro. Eso es, así de simple."

Video en Vimeo.com: Guadalupe Durón habland0 sobre un ejercicio del elemento Aire.

A Walk Through Basho's Garden... and his Haiku.

閑かさや岩にしみ入る蝉の声
shizukasa ya iwa ni shimiiru semi no koe

oh in the quietude
seeping into the rock
the voices of cicadas

The first time I heard of Haiku was by feeling it.

During an exercise guided by my acting teacher, Antonio González Caballero (1), he was constantly repeating a few sentences translated from Japanese poetry. The immediate response within me, perhaps an explosive one (if explosions were so slow as powerful), was the opening of a door leading to the unknown; the inner self of my sensibility had an entry (perhaps it has more) and I had discovered it that day.

The teacher's words were listened to and repeated after a while by me, with my voice, ever lower, as wanting them to enter me; then I heard them in silence, I heard them traveling through my body, inside my body, and I started to feel.

The feeling brought tears to my eyes, but they were not tears of pain or sadness tears, or at least they were of a kind of pain and sorrow so big that they seemed near infinite, therefore intangible, and therefore neither sad nor painful, and they were only in me, and tears flowed as in a river, only because.

My body became more relaxed, my eyes were clouded by tears while listening to the poem.

Already on the ground and in a period of time without memory, that afternoon, I was enjoying all this, looking at the sky and laughing while the tears still came. It was all, It was much, and it was of such extreme softness!

My teacher’s voice and mine had long faded, but I was still listening to the poem in me. It was the first time I could say I felt a soul, that thing so intangible that only becomes tangible through poetry.

Since that exercise each time I hear the word "Haiku", I feel it through my body (and soul) and identify it with my experience as an actor, and each time I hear the name of "Basho" I identify it with the creator of that experience.

I’ve crossed paths with Basho (Bashō) several times in my life, since that day at González Caballero’s workshop and till now, when he crossed my path during a trip to Tokyo in January 2008. I was looking for a Sumo stadium, I wanted to see huge men in a ritual fight, instead I found this Japanese poet, I found his house museum that held me for a few minutes.

The house was almost destroyed by time and bombardments, there was nothing left of it, a new building replaced the original house with a small museum, and over there a garden which even in Winter remained alive.

I strolled around the garden and recorded some images, they are more beautiful for what they mean that for what they are. Showing them is a joy and reading his poems while watching them is a pleasure.

Trips are pretexts that lead to wisdom.

A Walk Through Basho's Garden

Basho Museum. Tokyo, Japan. (January 2008)

Basho Museum. Tokyo, Japan. (January 2008)

Basho Museum. Tokyo, Japan. (January 2008)

(1) Under González Caballero’s Acting Method this exercise is part of "Naturalismo chejoviano" (Chekhovian Naturalism), and the exploration work was precisely "Apoyo Haikú". There is a Blog I'm writing (in Spanish) called: El Método de actuación de A. González Caballero.