MERRY CHRITMAS - WORLD PEACE DAY

Post by Yoko Ono.

THE ART OF CONNECTING: MARISOL TIRELLI

SVA - THE ART OF CONNECTING - AFTER PARTY

This past Wednesday night, my course at the School of Visual Arts, THE ART CONNECTING commenced. 

Eleven strangers as well as a husband and wife met with me, for most of eight weeks, to practice improving mutual understanding between people.

These are some pictures of, about half, of the class that came out for some food and drinks on our last night.

THE ART OF CONNECTING . . . serious fun.

OCTOBER 1 - THE ART OF CONNECTING - CLASS SIZE IS LIMITED

In just about two weeks (Oct. 1), another 8 weeks of THE ART OF CONNECTING beings at the SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS (space is limited). Register now! 

http://www.sva.edu/continuing-education/ce-professional-development/the-art-of-connecting-14-cf-pdc-3477-a

This one-of-a- kind course teaches a private daily practice that focuses on improving the specific skills that are vital to clear communication, initiative and self-confidence. Skills that significantly enhance the quality of your human interactions in the arts, in business, for the educator or any professional, and in one's personal life.

GOOD NEWS

Greetings,

I have accepted the position of Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Columbia Graduate Film School of the Arts program. Soon, "The Casting Directory*Social" (http://the-casting-directory.ning.com/) will welcome the many directors from that program who will have a constant need for acting talent for their films and student rehearsal exercises (an excellent way to get to know and establish lasting relationships with directors). 

If you are not a member of TCD*S, and want to join, please email me at jose@artofconnecting.org and include a link to your reel. I am happy to invite you join us as I strive to coordinate opportunities to "connect" all interested parties for future projects. 

Let's see what happens. 

Sincerely,

José Angel Santana

https://www.artofconnecting.org

"DO YOU VALIDATE?"

The Ultimate Question 

You're interest in connecting with others will be validated. 

I guarantee it. Please let me know, what you think.

Sincerely,
José Angel Santana

FOR DAILY PRACTICE

“The next time you get into an argument with your wife, or your friend, or with a small group of friends, just stop the discussion for a moment and for an experiment, institute this rule. “Each person can speak up for himself only after he has first restated the ideas and feelings of the previous speaker accurately, and to that speaker’s satisfaction.” You see what this would mean. It would simply mean that before presenting your own point of view, it would be necessary for you to really achieve the other speaker’s frame of reference—to understand his thoughts and feelings so well that you could summarize them for him. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But if you try it you will discover it is one of the most difficult things you have ever tried to do. However, once you have been able to see the other’s point of view, your own comments will have to be drastically revised.”

- Excerpt from “On Becoming a Person” by Carl Rogers.

RYAN HOLIDAY ON HIS BOOK "THE OBSTACLE IS THE WAY"

Among the core principles of my Art of Connecting course is "The First Principle" from the Enchiridion by Epictetus. The essence of that passage is how to achieve happiness with a focus on those things that are in one's own power to control. 

The focus of my course are actions that lead to an excellent connection with oneself and others. 

"The Obstacle is The Way" is a book that I have come across, recently. It is one of the most practical and uplifting books about working Epictetus' "first principle" that I've ever read. 

Just like when I read Epictetus over 30 years ago,"The Obstacle is The Way" is having a transformative effect on my life, for the better. 

Its 27 year old author Ryan Holiday is featured in this video    

on THE ART OF CONNECTING WITH ONESELF

"Our actions may be impeded ... but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting." - Marcus Aurrelius 

"... use what really exists" (use everything) - Sanford Meisner

ON DAILY PRACTICE

On Daily Practice: 

The road to extraordinary results is not "business as usual." 

"A drum teacher once told his student, 'if you can't do it effortlessly in performance, you haven't practiced enough.'" 

Listening deeply and with empathy to another human being takes practice. If we cannot do it in life, how are we to do it in art?

Practice in life. - José Angel Santana 

AN ACTOR'S DAILY PRACTICE

The focus of the actor's attention on achieving "mutual understanding" in daily life with others, is the same as how the world-class writer, painter, and musician each engage in private daily practice to achieve there excellent works. Each engage in conscious and focused daily practice of the skills required to achieve excellence in their craft. - José Angel Santana

The first prerequisite of stage presence is the ability to control our own attention, to use our will-power to focus our attention on the object we have selected." - I. Rapoport, in Acting: A Handbook of the Stanislavski Method

"What is the essence of the actor's work and the theatre itself, inasmuch as the actor constitutes the essential part of the latter? The basis of everything is action...However, the very fact that these truths enter our consciousness does not assure their proper assimilation...A purely intellectual mastery of these ideas does not add anything to the actor...he will not be able to understand it unless he makes this knowledge a part of his living organism, unless he comes to feel it in 'his hide'..." - I. SUDAKOV, in Acting: A Handbook of the Stanislavski Method

REFLECTIONS ON THE ART OF CONNECTING

ELENA JULIA GREENLEE ON THE ART OF CONNECTING WITH COLLABORATORS WHILE PRODUCING JOSEF WLADYKA'S AWARD-WINNING "MANOS SUCIAS"

My friend and former student Elena Julia Greenlee at the San Francisco Film Festival talks about the process of producing Josef Wladyka's award-winning film "Manos Sucias" and using the "check-in" process I taught them throughout the whole time of making their film. 

This is an eloquent expression of the great value of "checking-in" and reaching and honoring "agreements" with one's collaborators. 

At (1:30) "... I was really open and honest with them about what do I want out of this . . . What will make this investment worth it for me and encourage them to also always be open with me about that . . . That's actually something that we learned in our "acting classes" . . . working on how to direct actors, to always "check-in" and to always reach "agreements." So we did that throughout our whole process and it made it such a joy to work together and something that I would never in a million years never regret a moment of. I do want to keep producing."

"...THEY LISTEN TO EACH OTHER, THEY LISTEN TO EACH OTHER."

 (:30) "This is the most amazing cast in the world every night at the Barrymore because they sit on stage and they listen to each other, they listen to each other." - Kenny Leon, 2014 Tony Award recipient for Best Direction of a Play, and Best Revival of a Play.

FOR TEACHERS: THE ART OF CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS

 Five great tips to enhance teacher student engagement and learning.

DENZEL WASHINGTON ON DREAMS & GOALS

It's been a long time since working with Denzel in our first professional stage play at the Delacorte Theater, in Central Park performing in William Shakespeare's "Coriolanus," that starred Morgan Freemen, Gloria Foster, and Robert Christian.

Since then, I've seen Denzel progress from a tremendously handsome "OK" actor, into a superb craftsman, then into an international movie star, delivering some dazzlingly unforgettable moments on screen, to arrive at accomplishing the deserved status as one of the finest actors that has ever lived.

However, I've never been more proud to say, "I knew him when," then upon watching this video. NEVER.

If you care about yourself as a person and/or an artist, at any level, please watch and listen to: every.single.word.

You.will.know.what.I.mean.

José Angel Santana   

Visit: https://www.artofconnecting.org/

Playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis talks about his close friend Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2010

Besides speaking so eloquently about his friend Philip Seymour Hoffman's artistry, Stephen Adly Guirgis expresses about the kind of devotion required to make "the work."  

Visit: https://www.artofconnecting.org/

THE ART OF CONNECTING: "PROFESSOR" IRWIN CORY

These are the final moments of "Professor" Irwin Cory's live comedy "act" after a screening of Jordan Stone's beautiful documentary "Irwin & Fran" about "Professor" Cory, and the 70 year marriage of Irwin and Fran.

During his career, Irwin was billed as "The World's Foremost Authority." He is 100 years of age at this time. His remarks about friendship here provide profound insight and perhaps a standard for measuring "trust" in any relationship.

Irwin's son, the painter Richard Cory sits in the second row behind José Angel Santana who is shooting. The "godfather of avant-garde cinema" Jonas Mekas is in the second row on the far right capturing the event on his camcorder.

Visit: https://www.artofconnecting.org/

HOW TO MAKE A SKILL SECOND NATURE

OUR ACTIONS IN LIFE & ART

THE POWER OF EMPATHY & NATALIE PORTMAN

"...Our job as actors is empathy. Our job is to imagine what someone else's life is like. And if we can't do that in real life, if you can't do that as a human being, then good luck as an actor." - Natalie Portman, winner Best Actress, 2011 Academy Award, for "Black Swan".  

(Video Source:http://blazenfluff.com/2013/12/the-power-of-empathy-animated-short-explains-the-difference-between-empathy-and-sympathy/

INTRODUCING: A DAILY PRACTICE FOR ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE

DAILY PRACTICE IS THE SECRET OF SUCCESS

A drum teacher once told his student, "if you can't do it effortlessly in performance, you haven't practiced enough."

Leading scientific research in the field of elite performance has determined that the key characteristic of world-class performance is,"10,000 hours of deliberate practice"  In their landmark paper, "The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance" K. Anders Ericsson and his co-authors state that "deliberate practice is a highly structured activity, the explicit goal of which is to improve performance."

Source: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/DeliberatePractice(PsychologicalReview).pdf​

 "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good." wrote Malcolm Gladwell in 'Outliers: The Story of Success" his bestselling book that popularized the "10,000-Hour Rule", based on Ericsson's research. 

Source: http://www.wisdomgroup.com/blog/10000-hours-of-practice/

"Deliberate practice consists of specific training activities, drills, and exercises designed to stretch the individuals skills and thereby provide growth. It is not business as usual." writes David Burkus in Fobes, about the "10,000-Hour Rule." 

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidburkus/2013/09/25/are-you-wasting-your-10000-hours/​

​​

​ THE ART OF CONNECTING  was created for the purpose of teaching a daily practice of specific training activities, drills, and exercise designed to establish and strengthen the specific skills needed to achieve excellence.   

Source: https://www.artofconnecting.org/

As some of you may already know, my life changed when I began working with adolescents with City@Peace in Santa Barbara, California years ago. This is a message I received today from Paul Griffin, founder of the National City At Peace Organization, which is known today as The Possibility Project. 

"Our foster care film KNOW HOW is competing for Project of the Year on IndieWire! Can you take a minute to vote for us? And can you share the link with your friends and get them to vote? We will need a lot of support to win. To vote, you click on the link below, vote for KNOW HOW, input your e-mail, and then confirm your vote when they send you an e-mail. If we win, it would be a HUGE help for our project!" 

If there is anything I believe in, and would support it is this project that is truly dedicated to helping adolescents who need the most help of all: Foster Care Children.

Please vote for this project: http://www.indiewire.com/vote-for-project-of-the-year

Please share this message!

Thank you.

Love
Jose

"LISTENING AND SOMETHING YOU REALLY FEEL IS HAPPENING BETWEEN PEOPLE" --- THE ART OF CONNECTING

Just before the 3:40 min. point in this video, which is extraordinary in its entirety, Peter Brook talks about how to avoid boredom in the drama: "In the theatre if there isn't life going on, in one subtle way or another… listening and something you really feel is happening between two people..." - Peter Brook

Annette Bening about The Craft of Acting...

José Angel Santana: when it seems we are not appreciated...

LOVE, PEACE, JOY!

Elephant Empathy: what if we humans paid this much attention to one another?

What if we humans paid this much attention to one another?

Carl Rogers on Empathy

Empathy: the heart of connecting

For educators on teaching empathy, the heart of connecting.

click on image to enlarge

(source: http://startempathy.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Empathy_Poster_Final.pdf)

José Angel Santana: when it seems we feel indifference...

From edutopia (http://www.edutopia.org) via Marisol Tirelli

José Angel Santana: when it seems we are alone...

José Angel Santana: when it seems people bother us...

José Angel Santana: when it seems a friend intends malice...

José Angel Santana: when it seems we hurt another...

José Angel Santana: when it seems another offers criticism...

José Angel Santana: Empathy and The Art of Connecting

"Acting should be terminal. That's what Stella told me; that's what Kazan also believed. If something big isn't at stake--if everything isn't at stake--why bother? Why show up? Why apply anything to it at all? Someone is out there dreaming and asking questions and wondering why he was born. Some guy is out there with a father who beats him and tells him he's a loser with a lousy dick and no chance in hell of amounting to anything. Well, what do I tell him? How do I reach out to him and tell him a story? There's a girl out there who doesn't have a mother to teach her how to take care of a house or a man or herself, and what do I tell her? What's the story for her? It's in the text somewhere; it's in my heart and my mind somewhere, and I spend all my time and energy and love trying to find it, trying to transmit it. That's what I think acting should be. You honor the playwright's words, and you find a character out of those words, and you marry the director in your heart and you follow him and pray he follows you." -- Marlon Brando/Interview with James Grissom/1990/ from James Grissom's Follies of God

José Angel Santana: when it seems we can't get what we want...

José Angel Santana: when it seems love has paid a visit...

HAPPY VALENTINES'S DAY!

José Angel Santana: when it seems we are misunderstood...

THE ART OF CONNECTING

José Angel Santana: when it seems we benefit...

COMING SOON

Coming soon . . . A way to learn a daily practice that will improve the quality of your life, your work, and your art.