It is often said that an actor’s stage presence – or charisma – is innate and cannot be taught. Our new Head of Drama and Visual Arts, Ms Nicole Ellis-Windsor, however, believes otherwise. Last weekend she shared her expertise in this aspect of teaching with other drama educators on the other side of the country.
Presenting at the national gathering of drama educators in Perth, Ms Ellis-Windsor’s exceptional workshop for the Drama Australia conference, New Ground Rising, was titled “Ensemble Stage Presence: The X Factor of Performance”.
“I had so much material to share that the biggest challenge for me in preparing the workshop was creating a 90-minute presentation”, Ms Ellis-Windsor said.
“I had to find the most applicable strategies that could be used straight away.”
Sharing her strategies learned from a recent research-based Master’s degree in Applied Theatre Studies and honed over a long teaching career, Ms Ellis-Windsor had drama educators undertaking and learning exercises usually performed by adolescent students. Our Year 12 Drama students are also about to benefit from her practical workshop strategies to develop the elusive qualities of ensemble stage presence for the HSC Monologue and Group Performance.
For the conference Ms Ellis-Windsor was able to distil the lessons of her study and career into four elements: ensemble collaboration, shared training, developing self-concept and stage presence techniques. The techniques she teaches are awareness, energy, concentration, focus, and being present and committed to acting in real time. Applying the techniques, students start to see shifts in the way they view themselves as an ensemble and in how they present themselves to the audience.
“Utilising a theoretical and practical approach to develop ensemble stage presence in young actors helps them have the ‘X Factor’ when performing live”, she said.
As well as giving her presentation, Ms Ellis-Windsor attended other sessions at the conference bringing back new thinking. A new way of elevating the understanding of music’s role in musical theatre is something she will put into practice in this term’s rehearsals of Once on this Island by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the College musical for 2017. Ms Ellis-Windsor also visited the exhibition of exceptional Visual Arts ATAR artworks displayed by the West Australian Government and has brought back many ideas for our Year 11 and 12 Visual Arts students.
With a teaching background in South Australia, Queensland and NSW, Ms Ellis-Windsor is also a NIDA graduate in Directing, has a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management and is a Bachelor of Education in Visual Arts. She is no stranger to presenting at conferences, having conducted acclaimed workshops for the NIDA Open Program, Drama NSW and Teacher Training Australia.
Her next presentation outside the classrooms of Santa Sabina College will be at the Drama NSW conference in May – 4Cing the future – where she will conduct a workshop focused on teaching ensemble stage presence specifically to Year 12 HSC Drama students.
“I want to give and give a lot”, she says. “I also like to keep learning and shifting my approach. The experiences I have had in different school types and across three states have changed me for the better as an educator.”
