Acting with Energy: Murisa Harba on Embodiment, Craft & Techniques That Book Work

What if you could get out of your head and into your body on command?What if the emotional life of a character didn’t have to be something you hoped would arrive, but something you could actually access, embody, and repeat, take after take?And what if the experiences that once knocked you off course could become part of the very instrument you use to create?On this episode of Thriving Artists: The Daily Joyride, I sit down with actor, director, acting coach, author, and creative force Murisa Harba to explore what happens when energy becomes craft and life becomes material.Murisa is the founder of About The Work Actors Studio and creator of The Chakra Approach® and The Macro Method. Her book, Acting With Energy, asks a tantalizing question: What if actors could learn to play the body’s energy centers like notes, building emotional “chords” that remain spontaneous, specific, and gloriously repeatable?We travel from Boston University and Grotowski training through heartbreak, PTSD, teaching, and the discovery of a technique that could reach places emotional recall couldn’t, including the astonishing story of how Murisa stayed fully alive through 42 takes of the film’s crucial emotional turning point, without sacrificing its truth or spontaneity.But then the conversation cracks open.We talk about her family’s war-refugee roots, creativity and oneness, communication beyond words, fear, faith, Dirty Dancing, stepping beyond the comfort zone, and the question humming underneath it all:How do we turn what life gives us into something we can give back?And then there’s MattBeth, Murisa’s audacious reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which she directed, produced, acted in, and brought to life alongside dozens of her own acting students.This one’s about ENERGY. EMBODIMENT. COURAGE. CRAFT.And just how much life we’re willing to let move through us.CONNECT WITH MURISA Explore Murisa’s work, Acting With Energy, The Chakra Approach®, and follow her film, MattBethMurisa Harba on Instagram: @murisaharbaLearn more at Murisa’s studio: About The Work Actors StudioWANT TO PUT SOME OF THIS INTO PRACTICE? 🎭Come play with me.Mondays at 11 AM PT, we meet LIVE in the Zoom room at The Cohen Acting Studio, and you’re invited to audit a class as my guest.Come experience what happens when a roomful of artist-citizens gets curious about just how much life can move through us.DM me on Instagram at @RobynCohenActingStudio  and I’ll send you the Zoom link. Or email me at [email protected], and I’ll send you everything you need.Your first audit is free.  ✨And if this episode makes you think of someone who’s hungry to feel a little more ALIVE, send it their way.If you know an artist wondering what they might do with all that imagination, sensitivity, heartbreak, hilarity, courage, and creative voltage they’re carrying around, send them to me.There’s room in the playground and I’d love to welcome you there. 🎭Explore classes at The Cohen Acting Studio⁠cohenactingstudio.comFollow the creative joyride on IG:@RobynCohenActingStudio TIMESTAMPS00:00 Meet Cute Intro01:10 Join the Acting Classes02:22 Guest Bio Spotlight04:11 Pre-Show Dance Medicine05:33 Origins & Training08:32 LA Move & Heartbreak10:26 Discovering the Chakra “Notes”12:41 Rock Bottom to Teaching16:17 About The Work Is Born16:55 Acting With Energy19:15 Making Emotion Repeatable22:19 The 42-Take Test27:54 Stamina, Energy & Life Force31:14 Choosing Faith Early32:48 Artistry & Oneness35:19 War Refugee Roots37:21 Communication Beyond Words39:24 The Chakra Approach®40:51 Ballroom, Fear & Going for It43:14 The Body Remembers45:41 Dirty Dancing & Creative Influence49:05 Bold Choices Beyond the Comfort Zone51:25 MattBeth: Taking the Work to Film53:40 The Joyride Home