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They know how to make their acronyms. Who doesn't want to attend a conference called MACE? Learn about combat and management at MACE - sounds like a badass weekend.
We are lucky here at CMU to have a wide variety of resources to call upon if a production challenge arises. However, you may be in situations that require you as the Stage Manager to have a general knowledge of sensitive material procedures and stage combat.
I don't know if this event should only be directed towards Stage Managers though, both actors and Production Managers may also find this useful.
Ariel's totally right here - CMU has a really incredible base of knowledge and experience when moments of sensitive content or combat occur, but outside of this world, a Stage Manager may not have the same ability to tap specialists (or would need to request a professional be hired), so a general knowledge without being an expert (and thereby liable) would be a great thing. I don't know how much this workshop in particular will be useful to actors or PMs though - the actors will likely find more utility out of the weapons workshop being taught at the same time, while production managers may find utility in having the vocab but likely won't be called upon in the moment to solve a combat-related safety issue. The thing that I find only a little lacking in this workshop particular to stage managers is that it's advertised as being insular to SMs - the attendees and instructors alike. With the rest of the MACE intensives happening at the same time, I'd love to see some crossover between the groups - have the SMs record some of the actors' blocking, teach the actors about chain of command and then practice it in the setup of an end-of-intensive demonstration, etc. The SMs will need specific knowledge for managing the moments, sure, but with such fight director/instructor resources at the conference as well, I'd love to see some crossover advertised.
I agree with both Brian and Ariel. Of course stage managers need to know the goings on when it comes to stage combat, how to record it as blocking, and how to handle it properly and what to do if (and when) something goes wrong. We're lucky to have faculty at CMU who are well-versed in stage combat and can assist SMs in whatever way is needed. This opportunity sounds way too cool to pass up. Road trip, anyone?
Hey Gang. This is Cody Westgaard, PTM 2011. I am the coordinator for the SMI and helped to create and shape this intensive.
Yes CMU has great resources for combat and sensitive content. However, if you do not work on a show containing these, you may miss out on that learning experience. (This is nothing against CMU. They can't make sure there is combat in every show.) This is an opportunity to meet some of the top in their field and learn from them in a focused environment.
This intensive is not for actors. There is a 3 day workshop for all levels to learn how to perform stage combat. I have taken most of the beginner classes. Also, during the SMI there are two other intensives for actors.
Production managers would be absolutely welcome to attend the SMI. There is definitely crossover of information for the PM & SM.
We do crossover briefly and watch the other intensives. Part of the problem is they are more advance, so they are moving faster than beginners can keep up with taking blocking. The advanced intensives are not necessarily working on scenes, but rather techniques, so there is no scene to block. It would also be difficult to have two instructors teaching at the same time. However, J. Allen and the intern will build a fight scene in class and then the students are asked to take down the blocking. So the opportunities are there.
Other parts of the intensive are specific training with guns and swords. How to handle and care for and handle them. You will also learn some basic unarmed and sword moves and get to try them on your class mates. Tom Kelly will talk about his experiences and discuss how all of this works with the unions and in the reality of a regional and Broadway houses.
I'll tell you all, the WWW and the SMI are a blast. Its three days of theater camp. You will meet amazing people and make friends, I guarantee it. Badass weekend is right. You get to pretend how to beat the crap out of people without actually hurting them.
Feel free to ask me any questions. I can be reached at smi@Macetraining.org.
4 comments:
They know how to make their acronyms. Who doesn't want to attend a conference called MACE? Learn about combat and management at MACE - sounds like a badass weekend.
We are lucky here at CMU to have a wide variety of resources to call upon if a production challenge arises. However, you may be in situations that require you as the Stage Manager to have a general knowledge of sensitive material procedures and stage combat.
I don't know if this event should only be directed towards Stage Managers though, both actors and Production Managers may also find this useful.
Ariel's totally right here - CMU has a really incredible base of knowledge and experience when moments of sensitive content or combat occur, but outside of this world, a Stage Manager may not have the same ability to tap specialists (or would need to request a professional be hired), so a general knowledge without being an expert (and thereby liable) would be a great thing. I don't know how much this workshop in particular will be useful to actors or PMs though - the actors will likely find more utility out of the weapons workshop being taught at the same time, while production managers may find utility in having the vocab but likely won't be called upon in the moment to solve a combat-related safety issue. The thing that I find only a little lacking in this workshop particular to stage managers is that it's advertised as being insular to SMs - the attendees and instructors alike. With the rest of the MACE intensives happening at the same time, I'd love to see some crossover between the groups - have the SMs record some of the actors' blocking, teach the actors about chain of command and then practice it in the setup of an end-of-intensive demonstration, etc. The SMs will need specific knowledge for managing the moments, sure, but with such fight director/instructor resources at the conference as well, I'd love to see some crossover advertised.
I agree with both Brian and Ariel. Of course stage managers need to know the goings on when it comes to stage combat, how to record it as blocking, and how to handle it properly and what to do if (and when) something goes wrong. We're lucky to have faculty at CMU who are well-versed in stage combat and can assist SMs in whatever way is needed. This opportunity sounds way too cool to pass up. Road trip, anyone?
Hey Gang. This is Cody Westgaard, PTM 2011. I am the coordinator for the SMI and helped to create and shape this intensive.
Yes CMU has great resources for combat and sensitive content. However, if you do not work on a show containing these, you may miss out on that learning experience. (This is nothing against CMU. They can't make sure there is combat in every show.) This is an opportunity to meet some of the top in their field and learn from them in a focused environment.
This intensive is not for actors. There is a 3 day workshop for all levels to learn how to perform stage combat. I have taken most of the beginner classes. Also, during the SMI there are two other intensives for actors.
Production managers would be absolutely welcome to attend the SMI. There is definitely crossover of information for the PM & SM.
We do crossover briefly and watch the other intensives. Part of the problem is they are more advance, so they are moving faster than beginners can keep up with taking blocking. The advanced intensives are not necessarily working on scenes, but rather techniques, so there is no scene to block. It would also be difficult to have two instructors teaching at the same time. However, J. Allen and the intern will build a fight scene in class and then the students are asked to take down the blocking. So the opportunities are there.
Other parts of the intensive are specific training with guns and swords. How to handle and care for and handle them. You will also learn some basic unarmed and sword moves and get to try them on your class mates. Tom Kelly will talk about his experiences and discuss how all of this works with the unions and in the reality of a regional and Broadway houses.
I'll tell you all, the WWW and the SMI are a blast. Its three days of theater camp. You will meet amazing people and make friends, I guarantee it. Badass weekend is right. You get to pretend how to beat the crap out of people without actually hurting them.
Feel free to ask me any questions. I can be reached at smi@Macetraining.org.
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