Thursday, December 4

I should be writing my paper on Something You Did for Analysis class, as it's due tomorrow. But I really need to get this out...



My class rocks.

We had our Acting Showing today, and it was sensational.

Our Acting Showing was sort of like an open class. My class sat in the front row, and there were several rows behind us filled with faculty, the entire 2nd-Year class, several 3rd-years (some of them had rehearsals for the Rep), donors, friends, and spouses (two of my classmates are married). In other words, a much larger crowd than we had at our Voice Showing or our Movement Showing (I suppose it makes sense that the Acting Showing would have the biggest draw for an Acting program). And instead of feeling nervous or judged, I felt like we had a room full of people loving us and supporting us. Even though the majority of the people in the room had never seen us act before, I felt safe; what a strange and wonderful experience.

We did our Scene Etudes in the order that the play presents them (even though we weren't working on them as a play... There is a LOT more in the play, and we're allowing every scene to be its own separate thing). My scenes were 2nd and 8th (of 8).

The etudes were wonderful. A couple of the etudes ran the best that I'd ever seen them. I cried three times just while watching my classmates (and do you know how many times I've seen these etudes? SO MANY. The fact that I cried today was HUGE).

Seriously, every single scene went well. And I think it really hit me today just how strong we are as a class. Every person in my class is undeniably talented and undoubtedly deserves to be here. Despite our rocky start, I think we're exactly where we need to be at this point in our training. And I can't tell you how thrilled I am that we have reached that goal.

I have hope that we can live up to the high standards that have been set by the incredible work of the 2nd and 3rd years. I believe that we will.

Both of the etudes I was in ran strongly today. My one with Thrill started from a more emotional place that we usually go from, but it worked. And my etude with D-Train somehow ended with me being the intimidating one (despite the fact that he was the one yielding a baseball bat at the onset... don't know how that happened exactly, but I'm confident that it was truthful).


I think there are three lessons that stand out to me from this semester of Acting class that brought us to this point:

1. I am.
Find the state of "I am" (meaning "I am [the character]", not just "I am playing [the character]")

2. Receive deeply.
Let in your partner deeply, and receive everything you can from them. Let them inform you of how you should be.

ETA: Let in your partner, the set, the architecture... EVERYTHING.

3. Full freedom.
Allow yourself full freedom to follow your impulses, and to let them inform your transformation.


I suppose those all seem either simplistic or vague if you're not actually in our class, but they're carved into my veins now. I've been writing "I am" and "Full freedom" on various parts of my body with pens for months now, trying to make sure that they're somehow ingrained in my soul. I need them to be a part of me, so that I can carry them with me into everything that I do on stage, long past being in this class. I want to apply them always and never let them become superficial statements. I feel in my heart that they are absolute truths.

Can I just say one more time how blessed I feel that my life has lead me to where I am now? Being in this program is the best thing that's ever happened to me as both an artist and a person.

And I feel honored to be a part of my class, because no matter how argumentative, defensive, or insane we all can sometimes become, we are equally as intelligent, driven, and talented. I appreciate every single one of them, and I'm glad that I get to work with them for the next 2.5 years.

Perhaps I should stop calling us a class and start calling us an ensemble. Because I think we might actually be one. At the very least, we're on the right track.


Go Team.


~A~


P.S. Yes, I realize that I just skipped over how my other classes today went entirely. But they seem comparatively inconsequential.