Shively presents on best practices at ATHE 2017 in Las Vegas

Actions speak louder than words. This statement finds no better test than for the actor as they study their craft and hone their technique.

So important is the issue of action for both the student and the teacher, that ATHE chose to focus on the best practices surrounding the teaching of action for the Acting Focus Group’s Pre-Conference this August in Las Vegas, Nevada. Practicioners from all over the country gathered to share ideas and learn from their peers, including Kim Shively, assistant professor of performing arts at Elon. 

Shively’s presentation on actions with embodied meanings explored the combining of the Laban efforts with point-of-view work as a means to understand the visceral nature of actions. Practicioners participated in an exercise developed by Shively and then were presented with the impacts and benefits of the exercise and how it can be used with students of various experiences and abilities.

Most useful to Shively were the peer responses and positive assessments of the presentation and her offering was chosen to be featured as an adjudicated acting exercise on The Players’ Journal. This was Shively’s first time attending the ATHE conference.