More Studious and Committed

This week is the beginning of extreme stress and being busy for me. I start out every morning at 7 and won't be getting home until 11 p.m. or later! We started rehearsals for The Weir on Tuesday, and that's consuming huge amounts of my time and effort, which I gladly give though. But then on top of that I have my class schedule and work load that seems to be getting more and more demanding by the day. Lots of reading which I'm trying to keep up with and am being slightly successful in doing so. In addition to this, the Walt Disney College Program recruiting season is getting into full swing, so a lot of my spare time is being taken up by that going to meetings and doing miscellaneous businessy stuff. So needless to say I'm extremely busy trying to keep on top of everything. I am happy with this though, it's better than being bored or lazy. Being completely consumed keeps that feeling of unproductiveness at bay, and I'm happy for that. So I'll willingly devote myself, full steam, to these commitments through the month of October, after which The Weir will have closed and things will slow for the winter break. But there are sure to be some late nights and early mornings to come, as there have been already. Bring it on! I'm living the life now!

Like I said, The Weir is now id deep rehearsal. We started on Tuesday where we had a read through, John discussed his visions for the play, and the designers presented their inspirations and concepts. This made me really excited about the show, as it always does, and reignited my enthusiasm for doing a show in the cold of October at a glorious place with some amazingly talented people! AH! This is why I do what I do and why I give so much for it. It's so inspiring to be in a collaborative effort with people who know what they're doing and have strong, interesting ideas to fuel them. We've had one blocking rehearsal so far, yesterday, Wedndnesday. We just basically did some table work but then truly put the thing on its feet for the first couple of pages. It was interesting to see what came, but I think I could bring more to the process. It was the first night though, so maybe tonight will be a new feeling. Who knows? But that comes later, after my classes today, which I need to run off to. Hoorah for Math!

Le Weekend Passe

I've been so busy but so lazy recently. This past weekend my friend Ryan came up to visit from JMU. He came by bus on Friday and stayed until four yesterday, Sunday. It was a fun and eventful time. We walked around D.C. and visited some monuments and museums then I showed him campus and the Pentagon City mall. Good times. It was nice to see an old friend. I will have to get to Harrisonburg as soon as I am able. After October maybe? Who knows.

On Friday night Ryan and I attended a presentation at CSPAC by the Blair Thomas Theatre Company who is here on the Jim Henson Artist in Residence program. They did a rendition of a series of paintings called The Ox Herders Tale, which basically is an Asian fable on how one must be at piece with oneself for tranquility in life. But is was so AWFUL! I have never seen a worser staged and executed performance piece. They got the message across but failed in delivering a true experience and to transport the audience. First of all, there were numerous technical mistakes and unprofessional mess ups! People paid for this and yet the actors, stage hands, and technicians delivered a pathetic, poorly executed slop. It made me sad that people would be satisfied with such an ill-thought out and presented piece. I mean, basic rehearsals and techs would have allowed for this errors to be corrected. And when I say basic I mean BASIC! People bumped into one another while wildly twirling set pieces, drops got stuck on rafters (which, funnily enough, they knew would happen and had prepared for), backstage noises could be heard during a needily quiet scene, a wheel on a rolling platform was in bad need of oil and was very distracting, and actors got way out of control in their non structured and sloppy performances JUST TO NAME A FEW THINGS!!! If you're going to charge people, or even if you aren't, you should at least try to deliver a decent, professional performance. This mess was laughable and I regret the $7 I spent on it. The idea and story line and general idea behind the performance was ok. There was an extended, too long magician montage at the beginning that should have been way shortened if not cut. But overall I would not suggest that anyone go and see this show. It's a waste of money and time. The hour and fourty-five minutes would better be spent observing and reading about the original Ox Herder art pieces.

Today I have my CAPA auditions. I do hope that they go well. I'm extremely nervous about them, but come what may I will ferverently try. It is a rather improtant scholarship that I'm trying for and I'm not sure how they judge who will be given the award. It's always so terrifying walking into a new place for auditions. You don't know what they want or expect or look for. You go in naked and hope that you have what they need. I hope I have what they need because they have something that I need: the scholarship money! So I guess the best we can do is to be honest and truthful to ourselves and hope that they can see the fearlessness and effort we exert through that. Only time will tell what comes out of todays efforts, but hope for the best!

To Learn

In souther dialect there's a popular phrase "to learn you something." Your teacher will learn you music, your mother will learn you to cook, your pastor will learn you the way to heaven and so on. But today, after being inspired to think on the subject, I have come to the conclusion that this statement is not only grammatically incorrect, but incorrect in meaning as well. One can never learn another anything. One can teach something to another, but one can never learn it for them. To learn is an elusive and not fully understood act of human nature still widely argued by scholars today. How do we learn? How is it that we absorb the information that bombards us everyday, both in normal life and through instruction? The brain is so miraculous in transforming meaningless, hollow scratches on material into a system of understanding that can be shared by all. We do not, or should not, learn problems but rather concepts and applications of them.

Today it was suggested that when we are able to teach something, we have mastered it; we then own the concept at hand. When you read something you learn 15% of it, when you teach something you learn 95% of it. I agree completely. Case in point, my current math class: math 01x. Upon entering UMd, one is required to take a math placement exam to then be placed in the level of math best suited for them as well as to fulfill a state mandate regarding University level math. Not to my surprise, I did not do very well on the placement exam and opted for the review course to fulfill my mathe requirement. This course meets five days a week, spends the first half of the semester reviewing all previous math on th placement test, the retests the students who are then placed in a certain high math to be taken for the last half of the semester, five days a week, thus fulfilling the math requirement in half the time okus strong review. In high school, and middle school perhaps, my math teachers were horrible, seriously horrible. And I say this meaning nothing to their character as people, but rather against their abilities to express concepts in math and allow the students to own it. A normal math class at Abingdon HIgh School consisted of a poorly qualified teacher, an overhead projector, and a dry erase marker. Fomulas, equations, and numbers spewed from the teachers mouth and onto the paper of the note taking students BUT NEVER THE CONCEPTS BEHIND IT. I suppose that the teachers assumed these concepts would be learned through rigorous study at home, but not everyone works that way. And very seldom was the time the students were able to apply this math themselves or even attepmt at learning the concept. That was for home, not school!. A ridiculous and sad ideaology that still exists in the schools of Washington County, VA today and may never change. I doubt they have one singular well qualified teacher there that can truly attest to appling these concepts of teaching to learn rather than teaching to teach.

Before I continue, I must admit that I am not the best math student, math is my least favorite subject. I actually hate math, mainly because I (usually) don't do well in it and am afraid of failure. However, I accell in my math 01x class, beyond high standards even, and I've been outside of a math class for well over a year now. I don't want to sound pretentious or arrogant about my work in this class, but it just goes to show that I am not truly bad at math, but rather have been set up, due to predetermined variables, to fail in maths were they to continue to be taught in the manner at Abingdon High School. Upon enetering this college level math and being taught to comprehend the basic structure of mathematic principles and the reasoning behind it, I am able to fully comprehend all those things that were taught AT me rather than TO me; I focus on concepts rather than answers. Now I am able to own what I know and easily build upon it. A very simple thing to do, but so blindly ignored by so many practitioners of any subject, not just mathematics. I simply used this subject because it it my most recent and relevant case upon entering UMd to my thesis. Last, while at ETSU, I would have used my success in English to point this out in comparison to my final English classes with Melanie Arrington and Tim Necessary at Abingdon High.

So here are the basic rules, as thought by me, to a successful student understanding of concepts rather than answers:

1) You must be positive. Go into a class with a positive outlook and an understanding of predetermined success.

2) Be truthful. Your "self talk" should always be truthful about your abilities and desires. Sure you may be tired or you may not want to be there. But simply say, I am here and I can do this, I can do other things too.

3) Study in small groups. By allowing this to happen, you encourage the opportunity for students to teach one another, and once they teach something, they own it. Alone time on work is necessary, but group work is sometimes more important. This should definitely be stressed in class and integrated as a major component of how the class is taught.

4) Teach concepts, not answers. By showing students how structures are derived or why something exists give the concepts behind actions and results. This is the best way to get a point across and allow for right answers. By simply teaching answers, the student misses the objective. They should be able to recognize concepts out of context. You cannot apply answers, only concepts.

Sure, some of those things can only be applied to onesself, in fact all of them can and should be applied personally. However, they should be intiated, expressed and sustained by the teachers. That's why teachers exist and this methond can only make their job more effective and meaningful. But in any respect, I have now began to see a way in which I can effectively learn, and one that others can profit from as well. Not everyone learns the same way, but these basic principles and ideas can sure help and never hurt. Only you can "learn yourself" something after being properly taught.

Incidentally...

Today was a day of fun and suprises. After luxuriously sleeping in until around 10 a.m. and then laying around and watching t.v. until around two, I got myself together and headed to downtown D.C. Today I mest my friend Alexandra DeArmon. We're both in the THET 112 performance class and had to write a paper on observing a performance in public, one that we weren't to attend but simply observe. So we decided to meet and scope out a performance downtown. I met her at the Friendship Arch in Chinatown, a section that I hadn't been to yet, and I LOVED IT! Such a great little section of D.C., one that I want to go back to in the future. She had just got out of a performance of An Enemy of the People at the Shakespeare Theatre. So we walked around and headed over to the Smithsonian mall. Such a glorious evening. It had rained earlier, but was very clear out by then. The air was just cool enough to be comfortable and there were just enough people walking around on the streets for it to feel festive. Joggers jogged around the mall and tourists were going from museum to museum. A very lovely fall day.

Alexandra and I then stumbled upon an anti-Bush protest which we decided to use as our public performance exhibit. So we strolled over and watched the demonstrators and how they performed for the audience and then how the audience reacted to the performance. A very interesting, but somewhat pointless and ridiculous, protest. Yet it was something to see and fulfilled my paper assignement, so I was happy. After this, we decided to go get dinner and stroll around in the gorgeous afternoon. AND THEN, lo and behold, I ran into Emily Brewer on the sidewalk in front of the Ronald Regean building!!!! Who would have guessed? I had never imagined running into anyone from my past here and then all of the sudden I bump into Emily in the most random place at the most random time! A New York moment in D.C. I guess. The things that happed in life...

So we talked for a few minutes, she was with a group of her friends and they were searching for a restaurant too. Emily's going to King College now and she was here with the annual King freshman class trip. Every year the new freshmen go to either NYC or D.C. on alternating years, this year it was D.C. and she just happened to be right in our path at the right time. It was interesting seeing her, made me retrospective for the rest of the evening. So anyway, after a few minutes of chatting we said goodbye and parted ways, Alexandra and I headed to dinner.

We then descended into the Old Post office which has an international food court on the bottom floor. I settled on a Gyro, which I love. You can never beat a gyro. Yay grecian food. But after dinner we headed back to the Chinatown metro stop and went to my apartment. We just kind of walked around the grounds for a while before heading over to Target and the mall next door. Fun times, and such a nice night to stroll around. I'm glad to final be making good friends here with good people.

So Alexandra headed back to her apartment a couple of hours ago and I've been kind of relaxing from the copious amounts of walking I did today. Fun times. Tomorrow UTAS (Undergrad Theatre Arts Society) is hosting Kicknic and a movie night which I'm considering going to. It would be a nice social event to attend and a good way to get to konw more fellow theatre students. Who knows though? I do have an awful lot of reading and homework to do, so it may be wiser to stay in and do that. But the movie isn't until eight...so who knows? Well I'm off, today has been long and the night is short!

A Post

It's raining outside. I have to go to my math class in a little less than an hour and I dread trudging through the wetness. I had my play analysis class this morning with the ever lovely Kris Messer. I wish I had half of the energy she does in the mornings. But that class ended about twenty minutes or so ago and I decided to get a danish from the Applause Cafe and post on my blog. Nothing very eventful has happened though, so the name and existence of this post is very generic. Forgive me for that, but maybe something worth reading will be posted within the weekend. I think I'll go downtown this weekend because I have to write a paper for my performance class which requires me to be an observer of some performance of sorts. So an art galler maybe? Or possibly simply the national mall? Who knows, I'm not even sure yet. I feel so lacadasical and uninspired right now. Last night I basically ignored reading that I could have done because I simply did not feel like doing it. However, I think it is necessary to sometimes put your work aside and just do nothing, but was I justified in doing this? Sure, the reading last night wasn't that important and not anything that I can't catch up on. I could probably get everything read in between classes today actually. I just need to stay focused and not get bored or fall into a routine. It is when this happens that I tend to slack off. So I simply need to mix things up, although I'm not sure how. I feel so limited, both financially and timewise, and unable to do random things here. Maybe that will change with time, I do hope so.

Today I still have two classes to attend, both with large gaps in between. Tonight I'll do some ironing and read a lot. I also should work on my part i nThe Weir as well this evening. That will be something motivating once rehearsals start. Until then I'll just become one with the flow.

A Post

It's raining outside. I have to go to my math class in a little less than an hour and I dread trudging through the wetness. I had my play analysis class this morning with the ever lovely Kris Messer. I wish I had half of the energy she does in the mornings. But that class ended about twenty minutes or so ago and I decided to get a danish from the Applause Cafe and post on my blog. Nothing very eventful has happened though, so the name and existence of this post is very generic. Forgive me for that, but maybe something worth reading will be posted within the weekend. I think I'll go downtown this weekend because I have to write a paper for my performance class which requires me to be an observer of some performance of sorts. So an art galler maybe? Or possibly simply the national mall? Who knows, I'm not even sure yet. I feel so lacadasical and uninspired right now. Last night I basically ignored reading that I could have done because I simply did not feel like doing it. However, I think it is necessary to sometimes put your work aside and just do nothing, but was I justified in doing this? Sure, the reading last night wasn't that important and not anything that I can't catch up on. I could probably get everything read in between classes today actually. I just need to stay focused and not get bored or fall into a routine. It is when this happens that I tend to slack off. So I simply need to mix things up, although I'm not sure how. I feel so limited, both financially and timewise, and unable to do random things here. Maybe that will change with time, I do hope so.

Today I still have two classes to attend, both with large gaps in between. Tonight I'll do some ironing and read a lot. I also should work on my part i nThe Weir as well this evening. That will be something motivating once rehearsals start. Until then I'll just become one with the flow.

August?

This morning was an unusually (for me at least) chilly morning. Not that it's bad or anything, but fall seems to be creeping rather rapidly upon us. I'm excited about it though, fall is my favorite season. I like the cold weather more than the hot, sticky days of summer and the colored foliage just adds an amibience to the world that I find sometimes necessary. I always feel so nostalgic in the fall. It's nice.

The cast list went up yesterday for The Weir and my name was on it! I will be playing the role of Jimmy in this production which will be mounted sometime in October (if any of you want to come and see it). The show will be very fun, very challenging. I look forward to actually delve into this character and put forth a lot of effort into making him real. I need to pick up the script today and drop an application off at CSPAC, so I'll probably head over that way before I leave campus. My temp company just called and they want me to go to an assignment in Arlington Ridge tonight. I really don't want to go and I worry about being able to get back to my apartment because the metro here closes at midnight on weekdays. I told them yes, but I might have to renig. Or maybe I'll get a cab home, because that is sixty bucks and I do need some money... Ah well, who knows. I have to run to American Gov now. I'm sure it will be a blast...

Things In Between

So, it's been over a week since my last post and I felt that I should leave an update. Last week was just so hectic with school and other things that I feel as though I haven't had time to do much of anything! So much reading, etc. for classes, then the time I put in for commute. And on top of this I had a semi-important audition last week which I had callbacks for last night! So life's been pretty busy, busy and productive. And that is good. But then there are those times that I'm sure I could be doing something but I'm just simply not, i.e. when I get back to my apartment after a long school day I simply want to turn on the television, eat, and lay around for a few hours before beginning the homework for the next day. So sure I could do something in that time, and possible I'll start. It's just so hard to be motivated after coming in from a long, hot day lugging heavy books around. Not to mention, my commute and class schedule requires me to wake at seven a.m.! I hate mornings...

But on the flip side...the audition I had last week on Tuesday was for The Weir. It's what they call at UMd and Off-Center production. Off-Center's are completely student produced productions, but under the blessing of the faculty. They do two a semester, I think. One fully staged and one reading. The Weir is the fully staged production this semester and is being directed by John LaBombard, who is a "super senior," a senior who's here for an extra semester or year (something I'll probably have to do...), and he seems to have great ideas and strategy for the show. It would be very beneficial for me to work under him on a show like this, not to mention just to do a show here! Doing a show like an off-center production is a great way to gain experience while letting faculty, who direct the "mainstage" productions, see you and become farmiliar with you. So I have high hopes for the possibilities here, but it's a bit premature to get carried away with them yet. Like I said, we had callbacks last night and they went ok. I felt so-so about them, a bit more aprehensive today. But the serious competition was in the females auditioning for the one female role. They were all very good but each very different, and I could see any of them in the part myself, so kudos to that. It will be interesting to see who John picks to go in what direction. Exciting stuff. The final cast list goes up today. I'm about to die waiting for it.

This evening I have an audition for a mainstage production that goes up next semester: The Distance from Here. I like the piece, I just don't think there is a part in it for me at all. But I will audition all the same for the experience and to get my name and face out there with the faculty. I'll hope for the best, but won't expect a callback on this one. In any case, it will be fun to see the production next semester and a great experience all around. There's also a study abroad fair today, I might go check into that. Who knows? But as I write this post the "unproductive" feeling is creeping back upon me. I'm not sure why, but it's here lingering. Maybe I should go study something? I think I will...

An Enemy of the People

Today was a perfectly wonderful day and my first experience with D.C. theatre. I called the Shakespeare Theatre early this morning, after getting a much needed twelve hours of sleep, to inquire about the student rush tickets for performances this weekend. The box office person was really nice and allowed me to go ahead and make a phone reservation at the rush price of only twelve bucks! So I made the reservation for today at noon and proceeded to get ready and rush out the door.

I took the metro to the Gallery/Chinatown stop and walked a block the the theatre. Getting there early I had time to explore the neighborhood for a bit. After picking up my ticket from will call, I went into a bookshop and coffee shop next door. I found and bought a copy of Neil LaBuute's The Distance from Here, which I have an audition for in a couple of weeks, and had a scone and milkshake for lunch. I then headed back over to the theatre, which had opened the house by then, to see Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. It was fantastic! Much better than I'd presumed it would be. The caliber of acting, overall, was very high in the cast. Something I think is de facto with The Shakespeare Theatre. They have performers such as Kevin Spacey and Patrick Stewart in shows there every so often. But no one extremely famous in this cast, just very well trained and executed. There was one performer in particular, Caitlin O'Connell, who played Dr. Stockmann's wife, who I thought was exceptionally good. She had such realism and true existence in her character throughout. Never, with her, did I feel as if she was "projecting" a performance; orating. But she was so true. Her progression from the happy mother of a rising family to a worried woman, almost maniacal from the surrounding events was flawless. I believed her. This is not to say that the rest of the cast wasn't good, because they all were and deserve commendation, but Ms. O'Connelly just stood out to me. Her performance, I think, followed the method that Uta Hagen implements in her book Respect for Acting. She found the character in herself and went with it. BUT ANYWAY, in other aspects of the production... The set was very interesting and worked very well. There are four settings in this play: the Stockmann home, the printing office of The People's Herald, the meeting hall, and the Stockmann home in ruins. The proscenium was outlined in pipework, the misplaced pipes of the posionous baths. Onstage a center revolve acted as a way to transition locations. One one side was the Stockmann's home, very cold and lower middle class; slowly rising in prosperity. On the other side was the busy printing office of The People's Herald. It worked very well in flow, the transition. During intermission, a flat was lowered at the anteproscenium which mimicked, exactly, the decor and design of the auditorium. This was the setting for the meeting hall, and an ingeneous way to tie the audience in as the "people" of the town! I loved this and the way it worked. Usually audience participatory shows make me agitated and I dislike them, however with Enemy it wasn't as much audience participatory as audience inclusive. The director obviously wanted the people to feel what the audience in the meeting hall would feel. To have the same emotions resulting from the actions onstage. It was ingenous and really did elicit such tension and anticipation from the audience. Palpable. THEN the flat rose to reveal the Stockmann house once more, after the barrage of stones from the townspeople. And it worked perfectly. To go from such an emotionally high point to this crash result of a seemingly smoldering ruin. Very nice. So, in summation, the show was great, an emotional rollercoaster, that I suggest to everyone who has the chance to take a ride on.

Now I'm back home and have been for several hours. I think I'll read The Distance from Here tonight so I can get a feel for the audition and not seem like an unready twit during it. A toute a l'heure!

And The Rain Poureth

Wow. I thought only Florida had random weather, but apparently College Park is capable of it too. As soon as I stepped out of my apartment building this morning I regretted not bringing my coat or having purchased an ubrella previously. The winds blew fairly strong as I waited for the shuttle under the building, watching the rain splatter down. It wasn't a hard rain but enough to annoy and depress. Not having time to run back and get a jacket, I waited in the cold. My luck. Once I arrived on campus I trekked the way (in the drizzle) to CSPAC for my first class of the day: Fundamentals of Performance.

The class was enlightening enough today I suppose. We're starting out thinking on the most basic levels of human performance. Rather a study of performance behaviour. What is considered performance and what is considered behaviour? How do they differ? What purposes do they serve? When does behaviour become performance? When do we become aware that we are "performing" for an audience? Theatre and performers ere obviously a concerns for Plato, he outlawed them in his book The Republic because of the quandry of performance. When do you know when you're watching something real or watching a performance, he asked? That is for us to decide as we begin our journey into the art of theatre! Yay for deep questions and ambiguous answers!

Now it's raining harder outside and I have to leave for French class in a moment. I know I'll get wet, maybe very wet. I hope it doesn't get harder. Damn you Ernesto!