Exploring Focus, Communication And Trust In Music By Professor Kitsos-Kang

Today we first discussed what the definition of an ensemble is. Then Professor Kitsos-Kang addressed that in order for an ensemble to thrive, it must have focus, communication and trust. We discussed what each of these terms mean, identified three people we trust and do not trust, and whether it is easier to give or loose trust. Next we formed pairs and performed an exercise where we made eye contact with our partners and counted up to three, each stating the next number back and forth. We then repeated the exercise, but instead adding a movement when we stated the number one. We repeated it a third time where we replaced saying the number one with just the movement. Afterwards, we formed new pairs and performed an exercise where one person

We defined an ensemble as a group of people, or community, that works comfortable and compatibly with each other in order to achieve a common goal. Focus is blocking the extra stimuli or distractions and honing in on a specific task or thing. Communication is a means to give and receive information, both verbally and nonverbally. Trust is the ability to be vulnerable around others and believing that they will support you. We focused on defining trust for ourselves more than the other elements because trust is essential when creating a bond with an ensemble and establishing and atmosphere where everyone can feel comfortable and safe. The number game allowed us to utilize both focus and communication. We had to focus on saying the numbers correctly while there were rules to follow and distractions everywhere, and we practiced communication by maintaining eye contact with our partner. The leading and following game demonstrated how actors must take on the roles of both leaders and followers in scene work. Sometimes an actor’s character must take the spotlight and drive the plot, however they cannot be in charge of the scene all the time. An actor must be able to step back and follow others in the scene while being just as equally engaged in the scene. The purpose of the environment game was to emphasize how to establish a