The well coordintated body and the well cooridanted mind go hand in hand. Physical flexibility and dexterity are linked directly to mental and emotional flexibility and dexterity. When the body learns new ways of moving and sounding, it also learns new ways of thinking and feeling.

--Michael Lugeing

The Expressive Actor

The Lugering Method

In this innovative and practical approach to training the “total actor,” the traditionally disparate disciplines of acting, movement and voice are synthesized in a unified method of training. The Lugering Method explores the integrated manner in which mental and emotional content are expressed through the body and voice. The goal is an expressive actor capable of a vivid, powerful and artful expression of thought and feeling that is spectacularly human and rarely demonstrated in daily living.

Principles of Expression

The Principles of Expression articulate the universal process in which all human beings organize thought and feeling into meaningful forms of expression. Expression is viewed as a highly specialized type of physical action in which energy, orientation, size, progression, flow, direction, speed, weight, control and focus are structured and shaped to reveal the content of our thoughts and feelings. Emphasis is placed on making an exploratory distinction between Expression in its 1st and 2nd Function--a distinction between the physical and intellectual, the emotional and the mental, movement and language, physical form and psychological content. The result is a synthesis of the mind and the body in the sensuous expression of thought and feeling. Whether the actor is working on expressing--love or loss—resonance or range—alignment or flexibility— the Principles of Expression have a similar and consistent application. These principles transcend any specific acting style, focusing on universal aspects of human expression present in all drama form Shakespeare to Simon, Wycherley to Wasserstein, Moliere to Mamet.

Content & Form	Static & Dynamic Forms
Verbal & Non-verbal Forms	Intellect & Intuition
Energy	Expressive Action
Integration	Expressive Cycle
Expressive Continuum	Living Form

Integrated Voice & Body Exercises

The Integrated Voice & Body Exercises of the Lugering Method are adaptations of many of the physical exercises of which comprise the Erick Hawkins' Dance Technique. Erick Hawkins was a master dancer, choreographer and teacher. His internationally recognized approach to movement has revolutionized traditional dance training. Erick Hawkins' "free-flowing" approach to movement, creates an ideal physical environment, where breath and sound can be integrated with momentous physical action without stress, strain or injury. In the course of a traditional class, the student moves sequentially from lying, to sitting, to standing and finally to locomotive movement. In the process, breath and sound are integrated with physical action through a series of sighing, hissing and sounding actions. The result is the increased physical and vocal freedom, flexibility, dexterity, coordination, range and power. The exercises seek to center, integrate and balance the actor's instrument through the reprogramming of fixed physical and vocal structures that are inefficient, habitual and idiosyncratic. More than merely a set of arbitrary physical and vocal drills, the integrated voice and body exercises reflect and mirror the universal pattern and structure that characterizes all acts of human expression regardless of content or context.

Body Structure	Universal Place of Departure
Free Flow	Momentum Path
Weight Shifts	Tasseling Arms & Legs
Flexibility of the Spine	Stabilization
Leg Alignment	Grounding
Flexible Breath Training	Breath Cycle
Breathing Center	Releasing the Breath
Carrying the Breath	Breathing Spaces
Acoustics	Tuning the Vowel
Flexible Resonating Spaces	Releasing the Sound
Carrying the Sound	Vocal Center
Upper & Lower Voice	Balancing Resonance
Articulation

Improvisational Studies

The Improvisational Studies are designed to cultivate a healthy respect for impulse, spontaneity, and creativity while simultaneously expanding and broadening the actor's imagination and increasing expressive power. The improvisational studies foster an intuitive and non-intellectual approach to skill building. The studies begin with the repetition of a physical action and progress sequentially adding breath, then sound and finally words and phrases. The outcome is the organized, sensuous and integrated expression of the body's most powerful thoughts and feelings. The improvisational studies have proved to be an essential link in bridging the wide gap that so often separates traditional methods of voice, movement and acting training. Through the improvisations, the actor learns new forms of expression never thought possible and many of which he or she has never experienced in his or her own life. In an advanced study, specific improvisational studies can be structured to address individual deficiencies and limitations. The goal is to develop an instrument that is flexible and dynamic and in direct contact with pure sensation.

1st & 2nd Function	Sound & Movement
In & of Itself & For Its Own Sake	Beginning, Middle & End
Phrasing	Expressive Action
Pure Sensation	1st & 2nd Order Facts
Dynamic Structures	Characterization

Aesthetic Theory

The Aesthetic Theory is rooted in the philosophical exploration of artistic form. It provides the actor with a context and perspective in which important distinctions can be made between everyday expression and artful expression, distinctions between real feelings and imaginary feelings, between the personal life of the actor and the fictitious world of the character. The theory fosters a healthy and playful approach to the creative process that is never psychologically abusive or consciously therapeutic.

Significant Form	Pure Form
False Forms	Real & Imaginary Feelings
Decoration	Radical, Empirical Immediacy
Suchness & Otherness