UPDATES: CAREER AND OTHERWISE

Well, obviously it has been a while since I approached this magnificent web site.  "Why?" you ask.  Well, it's like this.  I have been sort of disilusioned by the multitudinous array of "experts" who have climbed out of the woodwork to take advantage of the influx of movie making in the state of New Mexico to reap huge monetary rewards through "tutoring" aspiring actors from the Land of Enchantment.   Interestingly enough, damned few of those of us who have trusted our dollars to their industry "expertise" have moved ahead in the world of acting.  Perhaps a few have been assigned to minor acting roles - one or two lines - but not one that I know of has become successful in gaining meaningful employment in the field of acting. 

So, I have decided to let the chips fall as they may, and rely heavily upon my agent and my own ingenuity to get myself moving in this terrific business. 

Meanwhile, I have been spending a lot of my time traveling around these great United States, observing how my fellow Americans are living and enjoying their lives.  I have learned that New York City and Chicago in particular are two magnificent cities.  I love going to both places, and can hardly wait to return to either of them.  I have visited Branson, Missouri, and have found that town to be somewhat "tinseltown"-like.  It is an entertainment giant, with performers and wannabees at just about every restaurant in town.  Unfortunately for them, just like the lack of fortune for us here in New Mexico who aspire to excel in the entertainment industry, the performers in Branson perform mostly for tips.  But I guess even that is better than not performing at all. 

Anyway, I have just returned from Virginia where I visited an old and dear friend of mine whom I served with in the US Navy back in the sixties.   He and his wife have become family to me and my wife.  We so much enjoy being with them.  It is always a laugh a minute when we are around them. 

While we visited Roanoke, Virginia, I found an old friend or mine, actually she was a student of mine when I was student teaching at Andrew Lewis High School in Salem, Virginia, back in the early seventies.  It was a real thrill speaking with her on the phone and making contact again after so long a separation.  When she was a student at ALHS, she was a funny, funny young lady.  Turns out she still is.  She really makes me laugh.   

I also enjoy taking photos of just about everything I see, but particularly people, when I am traveling.  The problem with that is that I use a digital camera, and I always take far too many photos, and my collection is already almost unmanageable.  But I love doing it, and I shall continue. 

Recently I landed at La Guardia Airport in New York City, and was walking down one of the passageways thinking to myself what a wonderful place New York City is.  I saw a sign that read, "Welcome to La Guardia", so I stopped and took a picture.  A security guard was walking along the passageway toward me, and I just knew he was going to say something to me about taking the photo.  He was walking along with a delightful young lady and I knew he was going to impress her by exerting his authority.  So, after walking past me with the lady at his side, he turned around, approached me boldly and asked the following brilliant questioin, since I was pointing the camera, and the flash was firing, "Are you taking pictures?" 

"Yes." I responded. 

"What are you taking pictures of?" he demanded. 

"I was taking a picture of the 'Welcome to Laguardia" sign." I lied.

"Well, you had better not be taking photos of the Logos!" he demanded. 

Not fully understanding to what he was  referring, I assured him I wouldn't.  So, I now have a photo of this turd and his prey and he doesn't even know.  Or maybe he does.  Perhaps he was merely flexing his muscles to impress the young lady.  He did not impress me.

Later I met my son in downtown New York, and we had a couple of beers together.  He is quite a character, my son.  He is retired from the Albuquerque Police Department, and is now free to travel as he chooses.  This time he chose to travel with me. 

We were in New York because he had won two tickets to go see the live broadcasting of Saturday Night Live.  It was a real gem of an experience.  We spent Saturday walking around the Times Square area, generally having a great time.  We even went to the top of the Rock.  What a view from there.  Photos are included in the photo section of this site.  Later we went to the broadcast, and as we waited in line, we saw Kiki Barber walk past our group.  When we got inside the theater, we got fairly good seats and immensely enjoyed the broadcast hosted by Bon Jovi.  At the end of the broadcast, Jack Nicholson came to the stage.  What a thrill that was. 

The next day we returned to Albuquerque with lots of warm fuzzy memories of our trip to New York.  We also had a few souvenirs for those who did not get to participate in the experience. 

 The Studio of The Moving Dock Theatre Company   
The Chicago Studio Specializing in the
Michael Chekhov Acting Technique
Fall Workshops

“The beauty of his approach is that he offers a direct route to the actor’s
creativity by the simplest means.” Simon Callow in his forward to Chekhov’s
book, To The Actor.

Weekly Workshops – Six-Week Sessions
Wednesdays, September 12 - October 17    7-9:30 PM
Tuesdays, November 6 - December 11      7-9:30 PM

Weekly focus on your acting, working with essential elements of the actor’s
body, the qualities, action, and gestures. Actors new to the Chekhov Technique
learn how it works while actors continuing their study hone their skills and
deepen their awareness. Actors will work on characters they want to develop as
we explore the many tools Chekhov designed for characterization.

For many actors, Michael Chekhov’s approach to the actor’s art is a
revelation. It validates their natural instinct towards their own creativity, gives
them practical tools for the realization of their abilities, and presents an
approach that serves them well in workshop and rehearsal.

What is it like to take a Chekhov workshop? You are on your feet, exploring
your mind/body connections and tapping your imaginations. You are in process,
guided by the directions of the teacher. Only in this way can an actor
understand acting. You are not asked to perform, you are asked to act on the impulses
of the points of focus that are the elements of the technique, learning how to
be aware of the energies that make up human experience. Very soon, these
essential elements seem to become for you character choices and actions.

Fee: $225


Weekend Intensive Workshops
September 29&30
November 10&11
December 8&9

Saturday and Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm

The basic concepts of the Chekhov Technique are explored in these two-day
intensives. We start by working with Chekhov’s ideas on preparing the actor’s
body and awareness and then continue to develop the actor’s creative process –
the tools for characterization such as Qualities, Centers, Imaginary Body, and
the Psychological Gesture. Each actor works on a character of his/her  
choice. All the explorations are done in an ensemble environment, supporting the
individual actor’s explorations in a way that moves easily to interaction,
demonstrating Chekhov’s ideas on rehearsing. Actors new to the Chekhov Technique
are welcome as are those continuing their work on the art of the actor.

Fee: $200

Individual Coaching

Individualized attention on character development or audition monologues.
Fee: $35 per hour session



The Studio of The Moving Dock
Fine Arts    Building  410 S. Michigan Ave. | Suite 720 | Chicago IL 60605 |
312.427.5490 | www.movingdock.org | classes@movingdock.org


Instructor for the Workshop -   

Dawn Arnold is an actress, director, and teacher of theatre. She is the
founder and Artistic Director of The Moving Dock Theatre Company, which is
dedicated to the actor’s creative process, bringing the ideals and techniques of
Michael Chekhov into their ensemble-creating. With The Moving Dock she has
directed/devised Einstein’s Dreams, Celestial Mechanics - or the Questionable
Attraction of Entities, Savage/Love, Galway Bay, Ocean Sea and The Quiltmaker’s Gift.
Prior to devoting all her time to The Moving Dock, she was on the faculty of
Roosevelt University's Theatre Conservatory for eleven years. She is now a
Certified Master Teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique. She teaches workshops
in the Chekhov Technique in the Studio of The Moving Dock Theatre Company, with
the Michael Chekhov Association, and for colleges and theatre companies.

The Moving Dock Theatre Company’s Studio is in the historic landmark Fine
Arts Building on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago. Two blocks south of The Art
Institute and just across from the famous Buckingham Fountain, this area is
convenient, safe, and right in the middle of Chicago life.

There are many hotels in the area. Use The Art Institute as a reference point
for distance. There is also Hostelling International Chicago a few blocks
away and we have an agreement with Roosevelt University’s dormitory.

Day ta day Well, so far this has been a very interesting week.  It actually started off with a real bummer of a "Actor Training" sessioin this past weekend.  The "workshop" given by some total stranger who is home-based in Denver, charged the attendees $300 for a two day diatribe on how wonderful she is, how many directors are clamoring to get her into their photos, and also hundreds of folks are bombarding her with requests to tape "Inspirational Tapes" because she has such a "soothing" voice.  Basically, that was pretty much what the "workshop" was about.  I have now learned a very valuable lesson.  Don't sign up to learn from folks about whom you know very little or nothing. Funny thing is, though, since the movie business is expanding here in New Mexico, "Acting Teachers, Coaches, Mentors, Trainers, Guides, etcetera, have been oozing out of the wookwork.  One "Trainer" started off a program by annuncing that they had a degree in engineering from MIT.  As time passed, and she began getting more and more students, the degree became a degree in acting from Harvard or some such backwoods school. So, I suspect that those of us aspiring to "make-it" as actors here in New Mexico are going to have to be far more cautious with whom we place our dollar bills.  As for me, I have attended a training class in Los Angeles taught by Bob Fraser which I felt was a most valuable experience.  His course is entitled, You Must Act.  And you can contact him through You Must Act.com.  If that is not correct, contact me, and I'll get the correct address for you.  Another really good trainer here in Albuquerque is Steve Willmon.  He has a studio on Morningside NE, and his classes are very actor centered.  In lieu of sitting, listening to some alleged Instructor go on and on about the same stuff you can easily read in just about any book on acting, Steve brings his students together in front of a camera during each class.  Later we get a chance to observe the film and hear valuable advice from both him and students about the performances.  I find that style far more valuable to me than sitting listening to an instructor tell how great they are, or listening to an instructor giving pin-point instructions to another student.  So, from this point forward, by training will be from Steve Willmon.  Check him out if you are interested.  On Monday, I had an audition that I completely blew because of the stressful experience I had over the weekend.  So, I just hope that I can contnue to get more chances to audition, because, I AM NOT DONE YET! Aside from those minor problems, my life is going quite nicely.  My "Real" friends are keeping in touch and are very supportive, and that is very important to me.  I appreciate all of you.  Oh, did I mention that I have a new cat?  Yeah, my daughter and her family moved in with us for a while, and when she left, she conveniently forgot her cat "Angel" who is now my cat!  I'll try to remember to post a photo of her in a day or so.  She is a very arrogant self centered egoistic creature.  (Kinda like the instructor I had this past weekend! Well, as they say, bye, bye.  Email me.  Call me.  Love me.  But don't abandon me.  Gary