Attitude August 2016 1

Attitude - August 2016
Attitude is one of the four main skills that make up the Theatretrain Way, the others are
storytelling, sound and movement. It is important to remember that these four skills are
taught in all three subjects.
What is Attitude?
Put simply Attitude is the emotional content of what happens on stage in all three
subjects. The feelings and atmospheres turn the events in a story into something more
interesting and creative for performers and audience.
What do they gain by making Attitude part of their work?

It engages a strong energy and commitment
It’s more creative
It gets pupils to extend the range of emotions in the work
It makes the work more precise and professional
It encourages teachers to be more flexible and creative in the work
It makes the expression of the work more varied and less predictable
It raises the quality of the work as it asks pupils to do more than thing than one at the
same time
It encourages a feeling of being in the moment
It works for all age groups and helps to focus them in the work
It makes a big difference between us and our competitors
Why is a sense of Attitude so important in the work?

Many pupils do not commit strongly to the work. Maybe the peer group pressure or how
schools work has something to do with this. It's not seen as cool to lose yourself in work but
of course this is exactly what we need to do in order to truly be alive onstage. Theatretrain
is uniquely equipped to provide a supportive environment because we work in teams and
that encourages joining in with the level around you. The trick for the teacher is to
constantly raise the level in the class so that the pupils become more and more supportive
and productive. As they become more and more successful at contacting and
communicating strong feelings they discover the fun of it and it encourages still further
passion in the work.
Obviously you, the teacher, play a crucial part in this because unless you set the tone and
exemplify a strong feeling yourself then you can hardly expect your pupils to do so. Over
time a group will understand how the world of feelings connects with everything else they
do on stage and of course their own feelings are the place from which their real learning
begins.
The forthcoming teacher training sessions will focus on Attitude and you will have the
opportunity to see a teacher at work with pupils and ask questions.
How can I use Attitude as part of my work?
Drama
Most scenes and situations involve conflict between one side and another. This could be
between two people or two large groups or one person against many. The tension between
these two sides can be expressed in any number of emotional atmospheres.
It doesn't have to be aggressive. In fact if you make a list of human emotions you could take
one at random and make that attitude work between two groups. Of course it's even more
fun when different sides have different attitudes. Try a scene with an enthusiastic teacher
and lazy pupil or an enthusiastic pupil and a lazy teacher. The one feeling points up the
other.
Make up some cards that cover say 50 or 100 emotions and use some of these feelings in
the work by giving some emotions to scenes - sometimes even shouting one out when they
are performing. Anything but just having two people talking to each other!
Encourage your pupils to express their feelings strongly in a scene. You may find some initial
reluctance but over time and in a supportive environment you will be amazed by how
imaginative they can be - it's also all the more fun for being unexpected.
Dance
Most dance teachers are not taught to locate an emotion in their work. Routines are often
taught with an emphasis on the movement rather than a connection with the feelings. We
understand that most dance teachers have probably worked in examinations with RAD or
ISTD or similar and have therefore find this aspect of the work unfamiliar. If this is so for you
then it is a case of being creative with the material and gradually overcoming the possible
prejudices and expectations that your pupils may have of dance as a subject. You may aso
have to overcome some of your own.
Choose material that tells a story and is engaging, go beyond teaching a routine of moves.
Find ways to incorporate gesture and facial expression and best of all give a simple routine
another level by giving a mood or atmosphere for the piece could be performed with. Part
of the fun of working this way is that the feeling or atmosphere could be changed to
something totally different the next time. However you work the pupils should be able to
feel the atmosphere around them and contribute ever more strongly into it. And you drive
it.
Singing
It helps if you choose material that lends itself to story and strong feelings. Build up a set of
emotion cards that you can randomly apply when singing a song. What gestures or
movements could release the feeling more strongly? If you work collectively in this way you
will be building the sense of the team and that will in turn feed into a stronger response.
When they have mastered the fact that they are not only communicating with their voice
and story but attaching a feeling to it then they will be ready to work at the next stage
which is to make the audience feel the atmosphere as well. In this you play an important
role as you can feedback how successful they were at communicating the feeling of the song
and give them tips on how to improve it.

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Attitude - August 2016

What do they gain by making Attitude part of their work?

Why is a sense of Attitude so important in the work?

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