I still don't really know what my job title is. Teaching artist, production manager, director, facilitator... whatever, I'm facilitating the Next Actors program, and it is amazing.
The first Wednesday is always the beginning of the burnout. My brain feels like scrambled eggs at the end of the day. (Right now. These sentences might get weird.) Our bodies start to realize what "be ready to work by 9:00AM every day" means. I haven't been driving them too hard physically - I didn't want to dive in with the jumping jacks right away, we'll get there eventually. But we've been working hard. Teenage brains stay awake much later than adults, and need a jump start in the morning. I brought fruit. You skipped breakfast? Yes, go grab a clementine. Silly kids.
Day One I had the class come up with their own rights and responsibilities, thus the rules to their community were created by the people in it.
Most of the ones they came up with I expected. The right to express yourself, the responsibility to support each other, etc...
I didn't think of this one: "I have the right to creative thought. I have the responsibility to take and use constructive criticism."
I'm so glad I didn't write these for them.
The first Wednesday is always the beginning of the burnout. My brain feels like scrambled eggs at the end of the day. (Right now. These sentences might get weird.) Our bodies start to realize what "be ready to work by 9:00AM every day" means. I haven't been driving them too hard physically - I didn't want to dive in with the jumping jacks right away, we'll get there eventually. But we've been working hard. Teenage brains stay awake much later than adults, and need a jump start in the morning. I brought fruit. You skipped breakfast? Yes, go grab a clementine. Silly kids.
Day One I had the class come up with their own rights and responsibilities, thus the rules to their community were created by the people in it.
Most of the ones they came up with I expected. The right to express yourself, the responsibility to support each other, etc...
I didn't think of this one: "I have the right to creative thought. I have the responsibility to take and use constructive criticism."
I'm so glad I didn't write these for them.
We've been working on theater skills - stage direction, team building, improv. I think the first and perhaps the most important job of any artist is observation. Painters might observe light and color, musicians observe sound and rhythm... theater makers observe people and behaviors. What makes people people? And what makes you you? It's funny to ask things like this. Today we played a game where characters received hidden intention. "Okay audience, what do you think her intention was?" "To intimidate." "How did you know?" "Because she was ... acting intimidating." "Which means... what?" .... closing distance, puffing out her chest, eye contact. These things and more. How did you know it was "intimidate" and not "scare"? Was she acting like she wanted the person to leave? Why would a person want someone they are intimidating to stay? .... could fill a library with the topics we bring up.
Such as...
The responsibility that comes with power
Choices made, judgments that follow, and does everyone have the potential for change?
Second chances, deserved and undeserved
Trust in authority
How we ascribe value - to money, to people, to jobs, to education
The correlation or causation between education and intelligence
What is it to have "maturity"?
Images conjured include parents and kids, teachers and students, soldiers, ghosts, and talking tables and chairs
I laugh every day
Today I was moved by the ultimate discovery: less is more. I was stunned. My students walked into a playing space and made the positive choice to remain still, and quiet, and focused. They were motivated, and in the moment. If you've never tried acting, let me tell you, every impulse is to be entertaining, to DO something, to make an audience laugh. And my students certainly are clever and smart. But today they showed me they can just be. Silence can be loud. Stillness can be huge. Motionlessness can speak volumes. It was a good reminder for me, an actor who constantly wants to remind the audience I AM ACTING, LOOK AT ME ACT. They can just show up as a character and sit in it. Be in that moment. Moment to moment. Comfortably. Holy cow. It was as compelling as watching Cillian Murphy listen.
Such as...
The responsibility that comes with power
Choices made, judgments that follow, and does everyone have the potential for change?
Second chances, deserved and undeserved
Trust in authority
How we ascribe value - to money, to people, to jobs, to education
The correlation or causation between education and intelligence
What is it to have "maturity"?
Images conjured include parents and kids, teachers and students, soldiers, ghosts, and talking tables and chairs
I laugh every day
Today I was moved by the ultimate discovery: less is more. I was stunned. My students walked into a playing space and made the positive choice to remain still, and quiet, and focused. They were motivated, and in the moment. If you've never tried acting, let me tell you, every impulse is to be entertaining, to DO something, to make an audience laugh. And my students certainly are clever and smart. But today they showed me they can just be. Silence can be loud. Stillness can be huge. Motionlessness can speak volumes. It was a good reminder for me, an actor who constantly wants to remind the audience I AM ACTING, LOOK AT ME ACT. They can just show up as a character and sit in it. Be in that moment. Moment to moment. Comfortably. Holy cow. It was as compelling as watching Cillian Murphy listen.
"The past is not my concern. The future is not my concern either." "What is your concern, Tommy?" "The one minute. The longest minute. In a battle that's all you get. One minute of everything at once. Where everything before is nothing. Everything after... nothing. Nothing in comparison to that one minute."
I am so excited for the huge potential of this group. I am so lucky to have them all in the room together. Their skills, their insight, their humor... we're making awesome things happen.