1. GENERAL HEADING: Warm-up Exercises

2. TITLE OF EXERCISE: "Contract & Release"

3. GOALS: Physcial warm-up and mental relaxation.

4. NUMBER OF STUDENTS: Group Exercise: unlimited maximum

5. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES: None.

6. CLASS TIME NEEDED: 5 -10 minutes

7. STEP-BY-STEP-DESCRIPTION: Tell your students to:

• Lie on your back on the floor. Make sure the back, neck, arms, and legs are fully extended but not locked. Close your eyes and breathe easily.
• Contract (tense) your whole body at once, hold for several seconds and then release fully.
• Contract just the upper half of the body (from the waist up), hold for several seconds, then release fully.
• Contract lower half of body, hold for several seconds, then release fully.
• Starting with the face, isolate one part of your body at a time. Work down the body: face (eyes, nose, mouth, chin), neck, shoulders, right arm, right hand, left arm, left hand, ribcage, abdominals, buttocks, right leg, right foot, left leg, left foot.

8. POINTS FOR OBSERVATION, DISCUSSION: The importance of physical control and relaxation.

9. SOURCE/REFERENCE: This is a "universal" exercise-this specific description comes from Stanley Kahan's Introduction to Acting, Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1992.

10. ADDITIONAL READING: N.A.

11. VARIATIONS: N.A.