Author: Brittani Noel

Inspired by the fresh perspectives I gained on Capoeira and life in “the biz” from my travels to London last year (see article: Flexibility), I set out to continue my journey in soaking up knowledge from abroad this summer. Destination? The illusive island of Cuba… I had expected the bulk of my discoveries to come directly from exploring the Capoeira scene. After all, this is an island that has been isolated in so many ways. How would the practice of Capoeira play out in a place like this? According to the article Rediscovering lo cubanos Through Capoeira in Cuba, written…

FLASHBACK. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. After changing from her hum-drum school uniform into her favorite sequin dress, Brittani anxiously awaits her Mom to pick her up from school. Why? Because they’re going to a dance performance at the local theatre! Celine Dion’s Power of Love swells as the curtains part and the duet ballet performers take the stage. Brittani’s heart goes pitter patter as the beautiful ballerina spins around her handsome lover, dramatically leaping into his arms and effortlessly flying across the stage. Brittani immediately informs her Mom that she is going to be a ballerina. She makes her buy the ballet…

My name is Hiena (Portuguese for Hyena). I’m an Actress, Producer, Capoeirista. It was nearly a year ago, after the annual Batizado (Capoeira graduation), that I started off my first blog with almost that exact same introduction. But today, I’m substituting my real name for my Capoeira nickname: Hiena. Traditionally after a certain period of time, everyone is given a nickname that reflects them in some way. I got the name Hiena because- much like the animal- I default to laughter, out of frustration or discomfort, when being attacked. It was a hot, sweaty day at the Academy when I…

I think I’ve met my greatest obstacle: Hesitation. It’s that irritating speed bump on the road that makes you hit the brakes just as you begin to accelerate. I’ve continued keeping things in high gear with my Capoeira training at 1.5-2 hours a day, 5 days a week. I’ve drilled new sequences over and over. Yet, when it comes to applying them in the game, I will literally stop in the middle of successfully carrying out a move because I’ll question whether I’m successfully carrying out the move. How ridiculous is that! Hesitation pops up its nasty little head disrupting…

Do the work. This is one of those sayings that gets tossed around a lot. Do the work and results will follow. But what if you feel like you are doing the work and it’s just not paying off in the way that you expected? Yup, that’s how I feel! Which leads to really unpleasant questions like… am I even any good at this… do I have the skills to pull this off… did I make a huge mistake? Whew. Really doubt triggering, motivation crippling questions! So it shouldn’t be surprising that, just as with my career, I found myself…

It’s “that time of the month” again… blogging time. My greatest blogging fears are realized: I have nothing inspiring to say. I’m all dried up. Things have just been kind of shitty… An email from my commercial agent landed in my inbox! Subject line: Downgrade. That doesn’t sound good. I open it up and read that, as it turns out, my scene is not in the final version of the national commercial I was on such a high to have booked. Contract over. Good-bye residuals, au revoir financial rewards. Ugh. Oh look, it’s an email from my theatrical manager! Maybe…

As I pack my bags for my much anticipated summer adventure to Italy and Turkey, I find myself reflecting back on my last trip abroad to London. I’ve always felt passionately that travel is one of the most valuable (and thrilling) experiences in opening your mind to different ways of life and, in turn gaining a more well rounded perspective on your own. This concept is also strongly encouraged in Capoeira- to travel to other schools or events, locally or internationally, and expose oneself to varying ideas about the art. The more exposure you get to different styles and interpretations,…

Well, people, it’s happened again. The “universe” has dropped another golden acorn of wisdom of on my head. And this one left a mark. There I was, working on a new sequence in Capoeira class… well, it was hardly a new sequence. It was a slightly different variation on moves we already knew. But for whatever infuriating reason, I just wasn’t getting it. I watched carefully. I tried over and over and over again. And over again. However something about it was not connecting for me. It was hard. I looked over at Instructor Alongado in a bit of despair,…

How to take a kick? How to take a fall? This has been the emphasis in my Capoeira class this past month. Instructor Jujuba devoted nearly an entire class to conditioning ourselves to getting kicked. She explained that fear of a blow can really hinder a person in the game, and when that blow comes, the shock is much more intense if you’re not used to the impact. Your body freaks out in a life-or-death kind of way instead of processing it simply as a no-big-deal bump and moving on. And moving on is key. Unlike some other forms of…

I started taking class at Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop. Yesterday we did a cold read of scripts where the goal was to make no choices in advance and allow the listening to dictate how the scenes play out. To help steer us away from playing any preconceived ideas of the material, we slowed the process down just a bit. Before we could glance down to the page for any text, we had to listen and react. We were reminded to take this important step before jumping to the next line. Only once we had an authentic reaction to the other…

As I continue connecting the dots between my Capoeira experiences and my artistic journey, I came across a fantastic book called The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey. This is a compelling read that delves into the mental side of achieving peak performance through the lens of tennis, in a way that is applicable not only to sports, but to acting, career, and life in general. One of the biggest takeaways for me was the idea that it’s our own urge to get it “right” that makes our performances far more difficult than they have to be, and…

Over the holidays, my Capoeira group participated in a multi-cultural holiday event at the Skirball Center. A highlight of the day for spectators was seeing one of the instructors- Instructor Lacraia- “flying!” The man literally did one flip after another, effortlessly tumbling across the floor and spinning through the air, making jaws drop all around him. Shortly thereafter I was lucky enough to have Instructor Lacraia as a substitute for one of my classes. He taught us a really cool sequence of aerial kicks and movements. As he was explaining how to connect the moves, he reflected back on his…

Man, oh man. Sometimes life really forces you to move. Without going into too much detail, I just found out that my “survival job” will no longer be there for me in 2015 as the company is closing. Happy Holidays to me! I have no idea what my consistent income source will be in the new year. For someone like me who tends to worry (a lot) and obsess over decision-making, this news is setting my anxiety ablaze. I’m feeling overwhelmed and all I want to do is call for a time out and pause all my other commitments so…

Axé (ah-sheh): This is a powerful word in Capoeira that carries a kind of mystical aura. It can most closely be described as energy or life force. Sometimes when two Capoeiristas play in a roda (circle of people), they connect with each other in a way that creates a chemistry that radiates to all their surrounding players. This electricity in the air not only heightens everyone’s game, it invigorates their spirits. When these moments occur, people will say there was really great axé. In this example, axé is easy to recognize- you can actually feel when you are witnessing a…