Living in the Present

"Great athletes win in it. Great performers work in this state. Great teachers teach in it. The charisma emanating from a famous actor is tangible." They all live in the present, according to Patsy Rodenburg. And she should know.

Patsy is recognized as one of the world's leading voice and acting coaches and has coached such luminaries as Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Holly Hunter, and Ralph Fiennes, among many others. She was voice coach at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London for nine years and Head of Voice at the Royal National Theatre for sixteen years. She also does much work with corporations,
all talking about "The Second Circle," ...How to Use Positive Energy for Success in Every Situation, a book which was just released in America in 2008.

So, when a friend of mine suggested I meet this incredible woman and sign up for a two-day workshop, I have to admit I was a bit intimidated. I needn't have been. For someone who has every right to have an ego, she appeared to have none. She was clearly there to help us achieve our greatest potential, not only in our profession, but our everyday life. At this particular seminar, there were 30 people, most of us actors. She spent the first day working on breath, voice, and body movements. The second day, Patsy generously critiqued each of us as we spouted off our memorized Shakespearean sonnets.

What impressed me so much about Patsy is how individualized her critique really was. A beautiful young girl stepped up, whom I thought had a really interesting voice, but Patsy was concerned for her. Apparently, the raspy quality that I found intriguing could be quite harmful for her long term. Because our class was so big, and because Patsy would not cut anyone short, we ran over an hour.

Many of the exercises we did in this class are found in The Second Circle, available at many of the online book outlets. Taking this workshop reminded me of that psych course my first year in college, where I came home and analyzed my family and friends ad nauseam. I could clearly see where the people currently in my life fall into either the first circle (those whose attention is turned inward and come across as shy and ineffective) or third circle, the people who turn you off by their overbearing speech, talking at you rather than with you.

Hopefully, my following up with the lessons learned here will help me connect with people in an ideal state, "The Second Circle." Check it out.