Why Suzuki and Viewpoint?

Yesterday I went for another session of Suzuki and Viewpoints with Nine Years Theatre (NYT).

Suzuki

It was one of those days where I was late and couldn't prepare myself for the Suzuki class. So I wasn't in the head space for the practice. I use that an an excuse for my poor practice.

But after the class I asked myself again, was it really because I wasn't there early and hence couldn't get in the same head space or is there something else? Because there have been times when I was early, did my warm ups and got myself prepared for class. I set my objective and work at it during class. Yet I wasn't "in" class. 

This has been my challenge since I started the jam with NYT. Whenever I feel I'm already "out" of the class before it begins, I try to get back in. Sometimes I let it happen and see what comes out of it. Yet most of the time I fail. I fail to get the form right, or the point of the exercises. I let it go and keep going nonetheless. At the end of the class I end where where I started: lost and frustrated. 

Nelson mentioned 'fiction' to represent the performance we're showing to the audience. "Performing" in front of others is common in Suzuki training apparently (it's not really a performance but the exercises are done with some others watching). I thought it's training our mind to remain focus despite the difficulties. Turns out it's also training is to be disciplined performers with tenacious mental and physical stamina. 

Still, these reasons are not enough for me to be convinced "why do I do/am I doing Suzuki? What's the point of this training?" And I think this is probably where the next level of work comes in. Looking forward... Oh boy.

Viewpoints

Viewpoints is another training method for actors but it came from dance. There are nine elements in Viewpoints: tempo, duration, repetition, spatial relationship, architecture, topography (floor pattern), gestures, shape and kinaesthetic response. The nature of an actors' work is similar to a dancer's - to perform. It differs in the medium the art is express. 

Having done Viewpoints for 4 years I sometimes forget its elements and purposes of training and performance; the reason why it was introduced and how it is used to train actors, and how it can help in composing a scene. Maybe that's why I find the jam sessions boring and irrelevant at times. 

I'm also facing another problem: I'm training as a dancer too. It's a problem because the skill sets aren't quite the same for actors and dancers, and the head space I've to prepare myself in have to be distinctive. More confusion arise because in Viewpoints I only want to move around like a dancer when I'm supposed to be training my acting skills. 

So then it comes to the same question I have for Suzuki: why Viewpoints? And I have a feeling this answer will not be as clear cut as Suzuki training method.