Acting Tips - Uncovering the Tempo-Rhythm of Your Actions

The term "tempo-rhythm" was first used by the great acting teacher, Stanislavski. As an actor, all of your movements and words follow some sort of tempo and rhythm. If you think about your daily life, there is tempo and rhythm involved in everything you do. Brushing your teeth has a full range of tempo-rhythms. For example, you put toothpaste on your brush, bring the brush to your mouth, scrub your teeth, spit, rinse with water and put the toothbrush away.

These movements are done with such uniformity and rhythm that it is evident you are not thinking about the technical aspect of moving, but rather you are allowing your body to freely move and perform these actions. This is the goal of understanding your tempo-rhythm within a scene.

Tempo-Rhythm Definition

Stanislavski defined tempo-rhythm as a term to describe the combined rhythmic flow of physical actions and the execution of such actions, which includes speech.

In order for the audience to view your performance as natural, you must fully understand the tempo-rhythm of a scene.

Discovering Tempo-Rhythm

Let's use a particular scenario to explain how you can discover your tempo-rhythm. You are sitting in your room alone at night, flipping through the channels. Your tempo-rhythm is relaxed, and almost subconscious as this is a routine practice. Your phone rings, you rise to answer it. Your tempo-rhythm has changed slightly from the ultra-relaxed, almost sedated, state into a more alert, yet still relaxed, state. After talking for several minutes with a good friend, your power goes off. Immediately your tempo-rhythm is changed from relaxed and happy to nervous and slightly scared. Your body stiffens and your movements become more rigid and careful. You can feel every hair on your body.

Suddenly, you hear a thud against the window. Your entire being changes, and becomes alert. Within a single scene your tempo-rhythm can dramatically change based on the actions within the scene. It is important as an actor to understand and recognize when these tempo-rhythm changes change in order to deliver a performance that is realistic and sincere based on the emotions and actions within each scene.