Tips to Learn Mentalist Mind Tricks

Posted on by

Mentalism is really pretty impressive when you look at some of the pros’ performances on TV. Some of what they do seems so unreal.

The difference between a lot of magicians and mentalists is that magicians let their subjects know that they are indeed performers. In other words, they don’t have any superpowers or a sixth sense so to speak. However, a lot of mentalists choose to make their subjects believe they do have some sort of special powers. Which we all know just isn’t possible. An example of this would be Uri Geller from years ago.

Many mentalists might claim they are psychic, telepathic, can hypnotize, levitate and can even read minds among other things… Like magically bend spoons, but it’s all just a performance actually.

So what are some of the important aspects of being able to learn mentalist mind tricks? What do the pros use to pull off their tricks? I’ll discuss a few things below that every mentalist should know.

Reading Body Language

Reading body language is a huge part of mentalism. This is especially true for tricks like reading minds, which is one of the most popular of all mentalist mind tricks. When learning mentalist mind tricks you must master reading body language. A practitioner must learn to pay attention to and decipher the minutest details in body language.

There are other professions that focus on reading body language. Psychologists are trained to read body language as well as many people who work in law enforcement like the police and the FBI.

Presentation

How you go about your presentation in mentalism is also very important. Without proper presentation, some of your attempts at pulling off a mentalist trick could be ruined and end with embarrassment. Mentalists who are great at presentation are David Blaine and Criss Angel among many others. These guys have literally mastered presentation and because of it can fool scores of people all at once. So needless to say, as you learn mentalist mind tricks, make sure you master presentation.

Controlling Focus

When learning to perform mentalist mind tricks, it’s very important that a mentalist control their subject’s focus. Because if a mentalist loses control of this one important aspect of mentalism, their trick may be discovered.

Practice Daily

Finally, in order to learn mentalist mind tricks so that you can pull them off naturally, you must practice daily. Learning to read body language can be fun and you can develop this skill simply by watching people anywhere you are. – While at the mall, a restaurant, the gym, just make sure you don’t come off as creepy.

Euripides’ Medea

Posted on by

This article is the first in a series of commentaries on the play Medea by the Athenian dramatist, Euripides (circa 480 – 404 BCE).

Background.

In Euripides’ day the modern-day nation state of Greece did not exist. The Greek world of the 5th century BCE consisted of hundreds of independent city states spread across the Mediterranean region, especially in what are now known as Greece and the Greek islands, Bulgaria, western Turkey, southern Italy, Sicily and southern France. What bound these cities together was a shared culture (religion, language, origins, stories) but with distinct dialects, political forms and other local differences. Some cities were democracies, some oligarchies and others military dictatorships. Some cities, mainly those outside modern-day Greece, were founded as colonies of other cities, and over time these colonies developed their own distinct cultures. Athens and Sparta were the most powerful cities in Euripides’ day. They had fought side by side against the Persians in the years immediately before Euripides’ birth, but during the 5th century they began to form alliances with other Greek cities and gradually dominate them. Rivalry and conflict followed. Medea was first produced in 431 BCE, only a few months before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, which was to last for the remainder of Euripides’ life.

Athenian Theatre.

The Athenians did not go to the theatre all year round and they did not go purely for entertainment. They had a comedy festival in January and a tragedy festival in March or April. Both were major state events with deep religious significance. The tragedy festival was known as the City Dionysia in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine, the grape vine and agriculture and celebrated the arrival of spring and the planting of crops. For the City Dionysia three dramatists were each invited to present three tragedies and a satyr play. The latter was a kind of bawdy comedy, light relief after the tragedies. The dramatists would present their plays on successive days, with the production costs met by a wealthy patron. A panel of judges voted on the plays and awarded a prize to the winner. In 431 BCE Euripides came last. In fact, although he wrote about 90 plays (and so must have entered the City Dionysia 30 times), he only won first prize four times, and the last time was a posthumous win.

The City Dionysia took place when sailing around the Mediterranean Sea resumed after the winter storms. This meant that the Athenians could invite representatives from all the other Greek cities and show off their cultural (and military) superiority. Thus, when Medea was first performed, the theatre was packed with all the Athenian citizens (the free-born males) and their guests. The only women present were a few high priestesses. The Athenians’ wives and daughters would have been safely locked away at home in the women’s quarters.

The Play.

Medea is set in Corinth, and Athenian tragedies were generally set outside Athens so the dramatists could comment on local politics without appearing to criticise the city directly.

One interesting aspect about Athenian drama is that although the actors were male, many of the central characters are female. That is certainly the case with Medea as once the heroine appears she dominates the stage for the rest of the play. The other female characters are the elderly Nurse who has looked after Medea since childhood and knows how her mind works and what she is capable of, and a Chorus of women. The Chorus functions as Medea’s sympathisers, advisers, critics and, ultimately, judges.

The main male characters are Medea’s husband, Jason; Creon, the King of Corinth; and Aegeus, the King of Athens. We see Medea interacting with these three powerful men in turn as she attempts to shape her own destiny.

People have been arguing over the play’s meaning for two and a half thousand years, and more recently the arguments have tended to focus on what Euripides was trying to say about women, often expressed as, “Was Euripides a feminist or a misogynist?”

The answer to that question hinges on what you make of Medea’s words and actions, which we will consider in the next article.

Kiev Ballet

Posted on by

Kiev Ballet is renowned all over the world for the high quality of performance by the artists. Kiev Ballet is not just an ancient tradition; it is a way of living for many who love art and culture. What was not known to many westerners till Soviet rule is now a known fact after the liberation of Ukraine. Kiev is a ballet capital of the world just like Moscow.

Ballet in the city of Kiev is almost 150 years old. If you are a lover of this dance form, ballet in this capital city of Ukraine will charm your heart. Thousands of people, who are lovers of ballet, fly over to Kiev and book their accommodations much in advance to be able to catch a glimpse of the world renowned ballet. It is known for artistic accomplishment in the form of delicate movements and technical excellence. Ballet dancers from Kiev are considered to be some of the most brilliant dancers in the world.

The home to all the activities surrounding Kiev ballet is the National Opera Theater in Kiev. It was founded in 1867. All the credit for the recognition of ballet in Kiev goes to this national opera theater. One of the highlights in its illustrious career of nearly 200 years was the performance of Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Oprinchnik’, which was performed in the presence of the author himself and he insisted that his creations be performed at Kiev as he was too impressed by the performance of the artist there and rated them at par with the dancers of Moscow. You may be surprised, but there are 24 ballets in the repertory of Kiev ballet, which makes it the largest in the world.

The ballets performed by the dancers in Kiev have always been appreciated by millions around the world, and their artistic excellence has won them recognition from people and critics alike. Many known figures in the world of ballet have performed here in Kiev such as Alia Osipenko, Irene Kolpakova, Vladimir Malahov and bergvadze. All these come from the Kirov ballet school. Those from the Kiev ballet and known all over the world are Serge Lifar, Maya Pisetskaya, Nadeja Pavlova and Marina Tyimofeeva. Inspired from the works of such legends, scores of talented budding ballet dancers keep churning out from the factory of ballet dancers from Kiev. The rich cultural heritage of ballet dancing in Kiev is kept alive by such dancers and an equally enthusiastic audience who flock to see their performances in theaters.

There are performances that take place almost everyday in this grand theater, and as soon as the curtain goes up, the audiences are mesmerized by a magical world created by the brilliance of the ballet dancers of Kiev. The new generation of ballet dancers in Kiev is determined to preserve this rich cultural heritage and the likes of Konstantin Kostyukov, Irina Dvorovenko, Elena Filip’eva Vladislav Kalinin and vadim Solomaha are some of the emerging and talended stars of Kiev ballet are keeping the tradition alive.