LAMDA

All about my experience in LAMDA (The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art):
As everyone may know by now, "Project London 2011" or "P. LDN '11" is something I'd been working in for at least three years. All my devotion, my energies, my savings, my learning process was focused at all times towards this project. What is the projetc about? Study, work and live in London as an actor. I am happy to say that the first part of this project is now completed! Finally, after all the hard work and studies, I finished my course in LAMDA, speciallized in Shakespeare's work.
I started the course in July and I've just finished it last week. I can say it's one of the best experiences EVER!



Stage Combat practice seconds before getting our diploma with my good friend Henriette

 Classes began at 10am and runed until 6pm, with an hour break at 1pm to have lunch. During that time I had Stage Combat (with swords and unamrmed combat), Alexander Technic (posture and body awareness), Pure Movement (danza contact, balance and working in pairs to gain confidence), Physical Theatre (physical expresion through the exploration of your own body's movement, keep open to influencies), Pure Voice (voice training with and without text), Historical Dance (many traditional English Reinasance dancings such as "Volta" and "Thread in the needle"), Vers and Texts (analysis, Shakespeare's penthameter, literacy, etc), Improvisation (be in the moment, listen to your partner's suggestions, say yes instead of "no", be realistic, etc), Singing (traditional lute songs from Elizabethan times), Mask and Comedia dell'Arte (Arlequino e Tattanio, neutral masks, be open and keep your neck free!!), Accents (from all over the world applyed to English, from South England to Russia, from Australia to Scotland, from Chelsea to California) and of course Acting under the supervision of an important drama director, mine was Jeny Lipman, with a huge career in the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

My group: From left to right Me, Nicola, Gabriel, on top Cameron, Catlin, Joceline and Rosie. Down from left to right Emily, Louise and Marta. Two more missing: Sophie (wasn't feeling good) and Grace (had some bad news from home)

During this course we've been asked to prepare a scene from any Shakespearean play, which under my director's supervition was to present at the end of the course showing as much as we could all that we've learned from our subjects. My scene was from "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Demetrius(me) and Helena (my partner Joceline). It was sooooo fun!! Our reviews were "(...) the most realistic scene." "It was so fun! I couldn't stop laughing!" "Simply the best one, by far!". So I am very happy indeed, not only because i did something others liked, but also because it was the end of my dream! At least the first part....TO BE CONTINUED. (the project...not the blog...lol)


With my director, Jeny Lipman

 Not only the classes were amazing at the school, but we also had a study trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare. We stayed in a 5* hotel, near downtown. Hotel's facilities included sauna, indoor swimming pool, gym, steam room, playground, among others. All my partners had to share the room, but I had a private room for reasons stil unknown! I must have an angel! We had breakfast and diner included, buffet!!! With everything you could imagine! I stil have dreams about those meals...seriously. We had tours payed to Anne Hathaway's cottage (Willy's wife), Willy's bithplace and a city tour around the lovely town centre. Included in the course price was two tickets to attend to RSC's performance of "The merchant of Venice" and "Cardenio". Two great plays which I really enjoyed.
The first pice was set in the 50's Las Vegas, within a Casino. Imposible to describe! And the cast included two mayor stars: Scott Handy as Antonio (who I met personally) and Patrick Stewart as Shylock. The play respected the text perfectly, as you might expect from the RSC, but with a musical shape, songs and an Elvis performing as Shylock's servant.
Cardenio was very interesting too, set in Andalucia, with gypsy music and candle lights. Fun and tragic at the same time. Very enjoyable.
After the trip to Stratford we made a short stop at Warwick Castle before comming back to London. A medivial castle in the countryside with nice activities such as archery and horse-riding. A little experience of Willy's time.
Once in London we also attended to performances at the Globe and the Old Vic. "Much addo about Nothing" and "As you Like it". At the Vic, "Richard III" with Kevin Spacey. I loved the Globe, but at the Old Vic, I got soooooo bored that I actually thought about going home during the interval! All the characters were screaming and Lady Anne was a disaster.
The Globe on the other hand is always the most pleasant experience.
All in all, LAMDA was one of the greatest experiences in my life so far. I'm so thankful I could do it! :D Thank you all for your support!