Why Do People Take Lessons?

Actors understand – or at least I hope they do! – that human beings have at least two faces. In Japan, it turns out that they have many faces.

There is the public face – in Japanese, known as “tatemae” (建前).

Then there is the private face – in Japanese, known as “honne” (本音).

In Japan, you often don’t know who a person is until they die. Because at the funeral, many people show up that the family doesn’t know. They belong to another face, another universe the deceased secretly inhabited all their lives.

I remember sending a brochure in Tokyo about the Alexander Technique in a plastic envelope – you could see what was inside. The result was a lot of angry people. I was so surprised. They told me it was outrageous that I had exposed their interest to other people in their home. I put them in an awkward condition.

Of course, after that, I always used brown envelopes! I apologised to everyone.

When you study the enneatypes – the nine personalities – you understand that having two or more faces is part of your dysfunctional life. You do it to protect your Self, to protect that tender inside that is frightened to be discovered. That holds your secrets that you don’t want anyone to know.

Don’t you have your secrets? I know I do. We all do, of course.

However, when you are an actor, a Pilates / Yoga instructor, or a teacher of Alexander’s Discoveries – you better understand that people are motivated by two faces. They come to you for a private (hidden) reason and a public (spoken) reason. When you reproduce a character as an actor, you must integrate that into your performance. 

As an Educator, your sessions will be more effective when you guess the secret reason your client is taking your sessions.

For example – a person may say they come for Pilates to get fit - they want to be healthy. It sounds good. However, the real reason is that they have a class reunion coming up, and they don’t want to look fat! But they won’t tell you that - you have to guess. 

Can you do that?

And the actor who plays the person going to a Pilates session needs to integrate both faces in their performance – that’s how your depth, authenticity and power as an actor shine out to an audience.

Can you do that?

One reason to explore the 9 personality Enneatypes is that these conflicting faces become clear to you. A simple example is the person who always tries to care for others. They fuss over you, give you massages, offer to help – but when you try to thank them, they say:

“No, no, no. It’s ok!”

But secretly, they are pleased to know you notice them. But if you don’t compliment them - and keep accepting their kindness - one day, they might suddenly explode in anger at you - and you wonder what you did!?

My “Alexander for Character Work” sessions in Tokyo will invite you into a new universe of personalities, motivations and insights. It starts on Sunday.

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