Published Articles

BACKSTAGE ARTICLE: Taking Care of Yourself Through 8 Shows a Week

Check out Belinda’s latest article as Backstage Expert

Check out Belinda’s latest article as Backstage Expert

Taking Care of Yourself Through 8 Shows a Week:
Everyone needs a chance to rebound from stress. The good news is that you can build in a regular practice such that the more you work, the more resilient you become. To take care of yourself during these crunch times, start by dropping more small breaks for rest and stress release into your day right now. This means taking advantage of small spaces of time so your regular life as an actor includes moments for recovery…

See the full article on Backstage

Backstage Article: How to Stay Grounded and Avoid Freezing at an Audition

 
 
Two blue converse sneakers on the floor from the point of view form a person looking down at their feet.

Belinda has been brought on as a Backstage Expert guest writer. Check out her first article on how to stay grounded and not freeze at an audition.

The article was written to help demystify stage fright and provide readers with tools and games to practice on overcoming nerves. 

Give it a read!

 

An Article Belinda Co-Authored: Theatre, Dance, and Performance Training: Volume 3, Issue 1, 2012

 

Cultivating a lively use of tension: the
synergy between acting and the
Alexander Technique

Teva Bjerken, Belinda Mello and Robin Mello

Theatre, Dance and Performance Training Volume 3Issue 1, 2012

 

 

Abstract

This paper explores how the Alexander Technique concept of ‘use’ provides a means for exploring tension within the pedagogy and practice of mentoring young actors/artists. It presents examples taken from classroom instruction, linking the Alexander Technique with acting performance as two related and synergistic processes. It also provides examples from basic curricular processes and examines a composite case study, which stands as an aggregate portrait for students working in a university-based conservatory training programme. The discussion concentrates on how learners develop a lively, flexible and psychophysically grounded craft and ends by reflecting on the function of the Alexander Technique and its ability to provide a framework for theatre artists.