{"id":116334,"date":"2024-11-12T14:03:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T19:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&p=116334"},"modified":"2024-11-12T14:04:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T19:04:41","slug":"yo-el-cassell-teaches-joy-in-movement","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/news\/articles\/2024\/yo-el-cassell-teaches-joy-in-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Yo-EL Cassell\u2019s Students Discover the J.O.Y. in Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYo-EL Cassell\u2019s Students Discover the J.O.Y. in Movement\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

His innovative technique helps young actors prepare for successful careers<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

Yo-EL Cassell, a College of Fine Arts assistant professor of movement, often throws himself into demonstrating the exercises he wants his students to follow.<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n

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November 12, 2024<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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This article was originally published in BU Today<\/a><\/em> on November 8, 2024. By Joel Brown. Photos by Jake Belcher<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crouched on a studio floor, about 50 first-year BU School of Theatre students don headphones or earbuds and cue up their favorite songs from childhood on their phones. Barefoot and dressed all in black, they rise to the music only they can hear and begin to skip and dance around the crowded room. Some sing along, eyes closed and heads tipped back. Others grin madly, faces red with exertion, hugging themselves or waving their hands in the air, a swirl of happy abandon.
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Their teacher, Yo-EL Cassell<\/a>, smiles at the chaos he has unleashed, but he also watches carefully, his eyes moving from face to face. He is hearing-impaired, so sight has an extra importance for him. \u201cI want to see who is surrendering and who is thinking about it,\u201d he quietly explains to a visitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cassell\u2019s beloved Fozzie Bear doll wearing a \u201cForm Follows Function\u201d button. Photo by Joel Brown<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s just another September day in\u00a0CFA TH 131: Movement 1: Expressive Human Instrument<\/a>, taught by Cassell, a College of Fine Arts assistant professor of movement and School of Theatre<\/a> head of movement. When the exercise is over, he waves around a stuffed Fozzie Bear, and students celebrate by shouting the orangish Muppet\u2019s mantra, \u201cWocka! Wocka!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassell urges his students to embody what he calls the J.O.Y. Technique. Not the traditional \u201cjoy,\u201d but J.O.Y. as an acronym for Journey of Youth. Over decades, Cassell has created a method to get students to embrace curiosity and play as a child does. The class, a requirement for CFA\u2019s performance core, uses movement as an expressive outlet for students\u2019 inner landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One exercise of many chosen at random from Cassell\u2019s Breakfast Warm-Up Series is PUPPET\/PUPPETEER: imagine you are a puppet being guided by a puppeteer\u2014moving (gently tugging) each part of the body and the entire body in response to an imaginary initiation. Imagine the floor is a wall with holes with strings gently pulling and retreating. Another image is to think of your body on top of sand\u2014leaving imprints of pattern as you explore.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To a casual observer, all the rolling around and waving limbs might look like touchy-feely silliness, but Cassell is a rigorous student of how the human body moves. His method takes into account anatomy, breath, heartbeat, fatigue, and accessibility issues. And the J.O.Y. Technique has begun to attract attention from movement educators around the country and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a toolbox,\u201d Cassell says. \u201cYou\u2019re likely to use one [exercise] from the first category and one from the next category and one from the fourth category. You\u2019re not using them all every time. It depends on what the needs are in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When you focus on being a child and experiencing the world for the first time\u2014instead of, \u2018Oh, how do I look doing this pose? Are other people judging me?\u2019\u2014the form follows that. And you don\u2019t have to think about it as much. And you breathe deeper.<\/div>