Many actors are very uncomfortable with important texts, and end up either standing still and not moving at all, or move too much. However, whether the text is completely serious or hilariously comical, movement is an important part of acting.
While exploring and learning the text, take every possible opportunity to move. Even if your movement has nothing to do the text, any movement, from tossing a ball to dancing, is good. Movement helps you so that you don't get into a habit of saying the text the same way every time, and can explore more ideas later on, after the text is already memorized.
Later, you can decide how to physically express yourself when you preform. If you don't move, you'll be unintentionally censoring yourself. Movement helps the audience understand the ideas in a character's head, and so an actor needs to explore the thoughts, sounds, and rhythms of the character in order to figure out what ideas the character is trying to communicate in their dialogue. Don't hold back with your expressions, either. It's better to go for something and be told to not do it than to not do something wonderful that would make your performance wonderful.
Yesterday I was in a singing competition called NATS. I was in the musical theater category so, like any other theater, I was expected to act. I explored many movements, until I got to the finished product of my performance. I learned how to become the character for a few seconds, and moved in the same ways as she would. You can watch a video of one of the three songs I prepared below:
I felt wonderful about my performance afterwards, which is always what your goal should be, and my hard work paid off in the end. I ended up getting honorable mention in my category of the competition!
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