Festival offers acting class

This year’s Dunkirk Glass Days Festival doesn’t have any theatrical performances, but it might be able to add one in 2017.
That’s because there are six newly trained could-be actors and actresses available, courtesy of a new event and a celebrity guest at this year’s festival.
Actor Robert Vito, who played key roles in the movies “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” and “Urban Legends: Bloody Mary,” held an acting workshop Thursday night at West Jay Community Center. Vito also served as a judge in Wednesday’s Cinderella Queen of Glass Pageant.
Dave Flowers, a digital media professional from Slim Fisher Studio in Muncie, invited the 28-year-old actor to Dunkirk. They have become friends through their work with 321 Shine, a company that focuses on coaching young talent.
“I travel with him, and we are both going to be coaching for an agency based out of Nashville and Los Angeles in Indianapolis (this weekend), and I knew the festival was going on, so I talked to the festival and said, ‘Hey, you could fly this guy in as a celebrity judge,’” Flowers said.
Flowers, who also served on this year’s Glass Days committee, said inviting Vito is a way to bring more entertainment to the yearly festival.
While sparsely attended, Flowers indicated Thursday’s workshop served as a starting point for similar events in future years.
The smaller group allowed for a more intimate setting with Vito, who introduced attendees to the Meisner technique of acting.
The technique teaches actors to behave instinctively in their environment and to see acting as a series of moments built on top of each other.
“It makes acting effortless. When acting gets to the point that it is effortless, that’s when you are becoming a true actor. At the end of the day, acting is one of the most simple things on the plant,” Vito said at the beginning of his workshop.
He stressed that everyone acts as a part of everyday life. As the portrayal of real life, Vito said acting is simply “playing for real.”
For Vito, acting can be boiled down into three simple aspects that create an environment to work around. These include who the character is talking to, what they are talking about and where they are.
To grasp these concepts, Vito’s 90-minute workshop included exercises and games to allow participants to practice the techniques. There was a series of improvisational routines, requiring participants to think on their feet given their assigned character and location. For instance, the routines required the attendees to only speak in questions and to create their own 30-second infomercial.
The workshop also included a mock audition, in which participants got the chance to perform one line in front of each other.
Throughout the activities, Vito offered his feedback and emphasized techniques.
Vito, who has taught acting for 15 years to both veterans and beginners, said seeing the development of those new to the stage is one of the most rewarding aspects of the job.
“When it finally clicks, when they finally understand it, that’s one of the best feelings. That light bulb goes off,” he said.
That was clear Thursday, as Vito showed enthusiasm as his students refined their work according to the techniques he taught. As he finished his workshop, he noted he was “very proud” of the participants.