My Life As A Graduate Student

Week Three!!

2010-06-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

During the weekend Caroline and Meredith decided that we should rent a wheelchair and go to the park (we went to the Egyptian museum as well). I've been rather frustrated at this point with not being able to go anywhere or do anything so thank you so much ladies for making my life so much better!!

Caroline was nice enough to go out and get me my very own new journal. It is beautiful!!

Day Eight

Acting with Raymond

We used a newspaper as an object today in class. We passed the paper using the body of the other partner and then using the spaces the partner had in their poses. We worked with different rhythms and approaches to our partners. The silence is just as important as the movement. It requires varying durations and poses as well. NEVER lose the tension in the body, even when in neutral. We worked a lot with the fragility of the object.

Day Nine

Physical Preparation with Fabio

Ankle strengthening exercises – standing with both legs bent – one knee up – knees together – hands on waist – close eyes – now open your eyes and jump – after the jump re-close your eyes

Day Ten

Physical Preparation with Fabio

Running – skip with one foot then switch – kick gluts with one foot then switch – skip with one foot, kick gluts with other foot then switch – one arm on heart the other around then switch – arms up in front then out to sides then back and down – leg in front, leg in back, now skip skip – up with knees in circle

Walking – regular – on toes – on heels – on outsides – on insides

Day Eleven

Nothing new to note

Day Twelve

Acrobatics with Fabio

Capovolte – open middle – vertical – over one arm – sideways role from sitting – from one knee to the side, go down on elbow first, end on opposite knee – backwards, over one side, fish -- *decide where you head wants to be before you start the movement*

Hand down, one leg up and straight, jump to the side – now keep going without changing leg or hand (front – back – front – back) – bend knees in between – now add butterfly jump after front – back

Butterfly – up down fast – keep torso parallel to the ground

Put hands where the feet were, turn in air, then put feet back where the hands are now (mano mano piede piede) – body stays in one place – keep butt high – force yourself to stay in that position

X roll

Arms wheel forward, go down so the arms walk backwards, feet go down to stomach – don’t block the movement – legs up to land on feet – hands not in a line – legs step back

Macachi – sit one leg bent (foot on ground) other leg straight out – arm over bent leg is straight over that leg – straight arm and leg twist ¼ at the same time – push with foot and push up bacino – land on feet in ¼ turn

The first week after the ankle

2010-06-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

Notable pictures from the second week of circus school. Thank you to Louise Mellor for taking all the pics and letting me use her camera to take pictures!!

Here I am giving advice since I can't walk. This is right after I had the real cast put on that morning.
My favorite picture of Tay Tay.... we call him Perez!!

Katie walking across the tight rope.... our teacher Dario is in the background rooting her on!
Bob's hanging pose...
William, Brian and Louise on the tissue.

Let me just preface this by saying these are the weeks following the vicious ankle breaking. I am counting down the days I have left at this point with my cast on. A whole new start to circus school.

Day One

With Elena we learned some new climbs and falls on the tissue. First, use B climbing method (right leg passes in front of the tissue for one wrap around, then the other foot pinches the tissue on top of the foot underneath). Now you get both feet under the tissue and bend knees to the right while moving the tissue around the foot and pinch again. Next you put your hands through the middle moving your shoulders to the front. Grab right tissue with your left hand and left tissue with your right. Pull tissue into a cross on your back below your shoulder blades. Make sure the tissue is around your thighs. Then your head goes down towards the floor with legs out. Now from the ornament position you fall back and tissue holds feet.

Day Two

Preparazione Fisico got crazy today!! Always begins with different runs, normal, A in-out, skip, one step in front one step in back, walk on tiptoes. Stretch Achilles, now bend back knee, then stretch thigh. Lines are intense – knees up front forward, feet hit glutes, one short one long leg (deer jump), long long long long, jumps feet together arms circle back and up, quattro zampe forwards and backwards, hands on ground – legs in A position – jump forward hands then legs (legs stay straight), plank down roll over back plank up, plank walk forwards and backwards. Next we worked on more stretching and prep. Candle up to the middle then down into a stretch over straight legs, cobra plank, headstands.

Acrobatics with Matteo – Begins with capovolta from standing (STO DURO!!!!); Preparation for Flic Flac.

Aeree with Elena – Work on the trapeze:

First you airplane onto the bar then flip forward and legs wrap around ropes. Reach up and grab ropes, pull yourself up so that the bar is in front of your bacino. Reach high while pulling bacino forward hands go out. Keep closed, do NOT straighten legs, sit back and grab bar while you scende (stringi abdominals).

Acting with Raymonde

Point of contact –

Move around shirt, move around hand, move around finger – move like a predator around finger

Walk neutral – no sounds on the ground – finger emerges – suspicion moves you around with the whole body

Couple work – SILENCE!! Take – move – give – silence! MAXIMUM!! – PRECISION all body in minimum, no stereotypical gestures – DENTRO TUTTO IL CORPO!!

Day Three

Preparazione Fisico with Matteo

Pretty much the same. We added some lunges and sagitale lunges.

Stretching on the bars –

Legs together with hands behind bar, head to feet while partner holds hands. Now feel open, arms between legs head down. Last, hands up and open, you go upside down and slide down between arms.

Acrobatics with Matteo

Trampoline work – walk, lunge, block, 1 2 3 knees to chest, feet to glutes, jump scissor, toe touch arms between legs, capovolta – normal, small push (tuffino), push land on back and return to standing, backwards normal, now land on back and then over feet,.

Day Four

Preparazione fisico was about the same. Some different things added to bar work – with elbows bent hold bar elbows near chest stay teas and swing, hang off bar and pull knees to chest.

Aeree with Elena

The first real drop we learned starts with open legs, right leg in front of the tissue the left leg prende il tessuto per fare il diaper – next step turn over so you are hanging and put it around front – now wrap it around the leg and around the stomach. That is when you let go and roll down the tissue.

Acting with Raymonde

Strike a pose and push with all of the body. Hands straight – one hand for action and the other for feeling

I ran out of paper at this point but most of these exercises are repeated on Friday. I don’t have as many notes for acting because I am usually able to participate in either a chair or on the floor. I wasn’t able to participate in many of the other classes the first week but as I continue I am able to do more. I had to stay as still as possible so that the injury was not aggravated. It was quite frustrating. That weekend I laid low. I stayed with my foot up and went out only to do laundry with Caroline and Meredith (or as I call them – the most wonderful girls in the world for constantly being there to help me out).

The vicious ankle breaking...

2010-05-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

One group of the many musicians Caroline and I had the pleasure to listen to on Sunday morning before the horrible ankle incident.

At the hospital... that ice pack was on my foot for 3 hours while we waited... I think this is after a guy with a blood bag attached to him walked by and Meredith sang, "Making Memories!!"... classic...

The cast... the signatures make me happy... thanks everybody!!

So, I thought I would share why I am so behind on this blog. I totally broke my ankle! First broken bone ever and it had to happen the first weekend of circus school. I was running as we always do on the gymnastics floor in a circle to warm up for some practice on Sunday night before we continued with school on Monday. During this particular run my ankle just twisted, but because we were on a gymnastics floor which gives underneath your feet, it gave way and all my weight went onto my ankle. That is when I heard a snap... I froze and hobbled to sitting on the floor while repeating over and over again to Meredith and Caroline (who were also running with me), "I heard a snap... I heard a snap". It was my worst nightmare. Meredith came with me to the hospital and kept me company. She also wheeled me all over the hospital. The doctor said I was lucky because I had fractured the bone, but not quite enough to have to have surgery. I was off by a centimeter... yuck. Monday I had to be fitted for a proper plaster cast and now I cannot put any weight on it before June 16th (I cried non-stop for about 2 days... now I just cry every once in a while). For those keeping count, Circus School ends June 15th. Anyways, here I am in Torino figuring it out. Jesse came down to give me some support and helped me figure out the public transport to school. He's a great husband!! Now, the rest of this blog will now be labeled from Day One to Day Thirty-Five (the day I have my cast removed). This will be journaling my experience in circus school on one leg. Should be interesting.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day mom!!!!

Our welcome to Torino from the bar on our corner.

I have had an eventful few days in Torino. Caroline, Meredith, and I had great fun doing laundry yesterday then Caroline and I went out exploring the city. Torino is wonderful because it is filled with artists and museums. There are outdoor markets down every other street and musicians on every corner. Not to mention the amount of museums, my weekends are going to be full for sure. Yesterday I had the great pleasure of seeing the Shroud of Turin - for those of you who do not know what this relic is, it is believed to be the cloth they wrapped Jesus in to bury him after the crucifixion. It was a pretty amazing piece of history to say the least! Then we discovered a giant park which was lovely and the Mole which is a crazy cool structure. The Mole holds the Museum of Cinema inside. Today we were going to go to the Egyptian museum but the line was much too long. We will have to get up way earlier in the day to make that happen. Tonight we will go to see the 1st year circus students do their final performance (Cart-One).

Since it is Mother's Day, I wanted to touch a little bit on mothers... more specifically my mother. She is the reason I am able to do all of these amazing things. Her support and love through out the years has kept me on my feet and running. She always wanted me to travel the world and do what there is to do in the world. And though I know she misses me so much, she wants me to live my life. She is the most unselfish person I have ever had the privilege to know. Because of her strength, I am strong. Because of her wisdom, I grow wiser everyday. Because of her love, I live. Thank you mom!! I miss you more than you could ever know and I hope you have a wonderful day!!!!

Circus School Week One

2010-05-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

While we were on Elba Island the girls and I decided to get back in shape and do some acrobatics on the beach before we started circus school. This is one of my many handstands from that day.

4-5-10

Today was much harder than yesterday and much more frustrating. We started with Physical Preparation taught by Matteo. He is a great teacher but the moves are obviously difficult because it is preparation for circus. We went straight into equilibrium class with Dario where we studied tight rope today. It was harder for me than what I expected considering my dance background. Next we met Elena who taught us tissue. Also very difficult, yet much less difficult once you put resin on your hands so you stop slipping. Then we learned all about how to be a circus actor from Raymond.

5-5-10

I hurt myself today… of course I was the first one to hurt themselves. I sailed (literally) through acrobatics, doing fantastic work (I was even surprising myself) then went on to dance where I came down on the side of my foot during a hitchkick turn. Luckily, it was just sprained, but I hit my butt against the floor pretty damn hard and that is definitely going to hurt for a week or so. I was fortunate that juggling was in the afternoon and I was able to participate.

6-5-10

Today in equilibrium we tried the tight rope again, then we touched on the basics of the giant ball (walking on top of a free rolling ball), the free standing ladder (walking on and up a free standing ladder), and the sphere which is just a circular can with a piece of wood on top. This one was my favorite and it was much easier for me to understand than the other pieces. I don’t like the ball because you are always on uneven ground and I panic a little bit, but the sphere is more like a skateboard, you can gain control of the mechanism much faster. We worked on tissue and I climbed all the way up, yay me!! Then we started with basic tricks on the trapeze, which was fun but painful. In the afternoon we did more work on the actor with Raymond. We love him!!

7-5-10

So I almost died during physical preparation today. It is Friday and Matteo decided to turn up the heat a little bit. Since he has trained Olympic medalists he probably could have pushed us even further, but I definitely was at my limit. He began teaching us acrobatic basics but I hurt my neck and back during a backwards roll. Nothing horrible, just need to get a massage to fix it. We went straight into juggling, which is my most frustrating class. I just get really bored with it and I never really wanted to juggle so it is hard to care. But I try as hard as I can to concentrate and Dario is a great teacher and very patient, so maybe I will actually be able to juggle. Whoopee! We went into dance with Erika who looks like she dances on water, is teaching us a beautiful piece that is extremely difficult. It is an acrodance (acrobatics and dance put together). I’m picking up most of it, but with my foot still hurting I have to be careful. I’ll rest over the weekend and hit it hard again next week.

Circus School

2010-05-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

Mer and I on the bus to Torino!

I’ve packed up my bags, left behind my husband, puppy, and beautiful new home all in the hopes of learning the art of circus. Excuse the randomness of this entry but it is quite late and my head is spinning from a day of travel. Bad news: I miss my husband and my dog more than I thought I ever would. Good news: I saw the 2^nd year students of this circus school (FLIC) do their final performance… amazing!! I’m very excited to start on this adventure and thanks to my wonderful roomies (Bob and Mer Mer) I am not too lonely yet.

Motorino Crash

2009-11-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

Me tonight after unwrapping my knee to let the raspberry breath a bit, I put ice on it to reduce the swelling... stupid!:

I had quite a rough day and I thought maybe blogging about it would help. I have been trying to learn how to drive the motorino (scooter in English - but faster really). Jesse and I spent some time on Sunday practicing together. The bad thing about me is that I am extremely accident prone. Just two Fridays ago I almost broke my toe while warming up in Music class.

Anyways, yesterday morning I was going to take the motorino to school by myself for the first time. I went down to the garage, pulled it out and then for one reason or another it was going to fast towards a brick wall, so I tried to slam on the breaks and the wheels slipped out from under me taking the motorino to the ground. Luckily, I was only jolted, not hurt, but I broke the bottom left corner of the windshield. I didn't want to wake Jesse up with the news and I knew if I didn't get back on the bike I wouldn't do it again... so I got back on and drove on the back roads very slowly to school. I made it there and back. I was pretty proud of myself and Jesse didn't care much about the windshield, he was just glad I was ok.

That brings us to this morning. I decided that it was probably the smooth concrete that messed me up, so I pulled the motorino out into the actual driveway with my feet before starting to ride it. I was doing just fine, then came a big turn and the motorino jumped a bit. I tried to slam on the breaks but I think I had the wheel turned too far so I went down on the pavement. Unfortunately, this time my leg was stuck underneath. The only thing that was hurt (thank goodness) was my knee, which is quite swollen, a little discolored, but got a bit of a raspberry. One of our neighbors came out to help me pick up the moto and dust myself off. He's a really nice guy. I went upstairs to Jesse in tears telling him the story. He drove me to school today where I wrapped and iced it before and during class.

Luckily we were doing more color exploration today in Marcello's class and then had Aesthetics with Mike this afternoon. However, I am not happy at how clumsy I am and it makes me feel vulnerable and helpless when I can't even drive myself places. Jesse says I just need more practice and our neighbor said that this is normal. He said it happens to everyone a few times when they are trying to get used to the moto. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get back on the horse, but we'll see.

Beginning of the End (of the Semester)

2009-11-10T12:30:00.001-08:00

I just realized I hadn't put my pictures up from the last time we played soccer. Here are some highlights:

Doug, John, Ilse, and William had a surprise visitor. Hi Eliza!!

William, Meredith, Jenna, and Ilse enjoy some water before game play:

This is the face of a man ready to play soccer. Oh Jesse you fierce soccer player you:

Typical Taylor Italianism -- Talking on the phone during the break:

Tristan, Jenna, and Bob get ready for the game:

We're hardcore!

Me, Caroline, and Meredith before the game:

Taylor made me play goalie, so I spent my time writing a note to my husband in the dust -- 'Hey Jesse, I love you so please quit trying to score against me!' -- he was on the other team at the time:

I know it has been a long time since my last post. We have been repeating and adding a lot of different things in class so I thought I would just give you the highlights.

We are currently working on our solo projects which we will perform at the Aurora in Arezzo city center on November 23rd. My project is based on ritual (we covered a lot of different aspects of southern Italian rituals and presented our own versions of rituals in Music class with Gianni Bruschi this semester). I did not present this particular ritual in class. As most of you know, November 27th it will be one year since my father's passing. This ritual is for him. In the Jewish and Pagan traditions you are supposed to grieve over the loss of a parent for 1 year and then conduct a closure ritual. Though I know that this will not be the end of my grieving process for my father, I do this in honor of him, his life, and our relationship. I will go into more detail about this piece as the days pass. I worked with Claudia today on one portion, my movement piece with a chair while singing. I will be exploring this more over the next few days before my meeting with Mike on Friday.

We have really moved forward in Movement class. We worked on human juggling and back rolls off another person (like a back flip around the partner's arm). We have also been working more with Feldenkrais and restrictions -- once the restriction has been taken away, how does this affect your movement? Very interesting results!!

In Voice class we have been working with the text we chose and our partner. My partner is Caroline (I call her Shakespeareamazing) and I am using the Porter's monologue from Macbeth. Our last assignment was to find 6 different statues in which 3 of them we were each ladies and 3 we were each warriors. Caroline and I had a wonderful time coming up with our statues and the transition between them by using play and improvisation. While we do this piece we speak our text, sometimes at the same time, but it is always interesting where the stops and starts of the movement versus the text happen.

In Acting with Marcello we have begun working with colors. This has been a frustrating exercise because we are supposed to present the color so that the audience can understand it, but colors are so subjective it is difficult to know what will be right or wrong. Today we also did the veils exercise (also difficult): you go to sleep in your bed at home, when you wake up you are surrounded by veils, you find your way through these veils to suddenly come upon the ocean at the end. How do you portray this for an audience without being too descriptive? It is difficult but interesting how each person goes about it. We added color to this (you are a color) and then we got in groups of 3 and 4 to make scenes out of colors. Bob, Meredith, Taylor, and I made a scene where a tree (Taylor as Brown) is struck by lightening (Meredith as White) at night (Me as Royal Blue) and catches on fire (Bob as Red).

Before Fall Break

2009-10-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Picture of the week: This is Bob, Brian, me, and Meredith having some fun before our last film lecture night (before fall break). We are silly!

Hey everybody! We're back from fall break. If you want to hear more about what we did during the break check out our couple's blog: http://sibleystories.blogspot.com/. Now I am catching you up on everything we have done since my last blog post up to the week of fall break. We had a wonderful visit from Peppy Biddy, Professor and Chair of the Music and Theatre Department at Mississippi University For Women (our graduate program is accredited through this school if you didn't already know that). Thanks for everything Peppy. We miss you already so come back soon!!

In movement we started in a circle doing some rolling on our back then coming up from this first into launch then lunge then leg in air and balance. Remember to fold into the ground letting it be soft but controlled. After our Yoga break, we run around then do poses lifts, counter balance spin drops with partners. We worked on sacrum scoop and rolling off the partner's back. Rolling on butt, back, partner push/pull, group push/pull, bench roll, standing bench roll, barrell roll, gun holster roll -- see-saw. We did some contact work starting out walking in pairs arm to arm and really explore that (stopping, walking backwards). Heightening the listening between you and your partner. While maintaining contact we support weight, support weight while the other slides off or rolls off, lead a peripheral body part to the ground and back up, lift standing, use movement to life and travel. We took all of these and created choregraphy in our pairs to perform in groups of threes. Then Claudia added music which was a very interesting change in our pieces. More intentional.

I was sick during Music but we did some breathing, vocalizations, worked on the song 'Troubles of the world' and some individual ritual presentation.

In voice with Kevin we worked with tension, making our bodies tense in each part (right arm, left arm, right arm, left leg, etc.) then letting it go. We repeat this with right side, left side, whole body. We worked with feeling our pubic bone and moving our sternum then sacrum moving through space. Next we imagined that an elastic band was attached to front teeth, molars, elbows/heels, crown/tail, collarbone/chin, sternum/sacrum -- the feeling of moving with that image in our head. We began working with our text while moving with or against the elastic band. On the day I was sick they did some partner work where one person would use their own weight to rub and open their partner. Working with the pant, stretching forward in a diagonal. Let out sound while lengthening and moving forward once you lose your balance. Then they would react to words from The Suppients.

We had Acting with the wonderful and talented Andy Crook. We worked mainly on group listening and building which is something we really need to focus on in these beginning years. On the day I was sick they played the name game, learned the Akash (Meyerhold -- Biomechanics), Physical awareness of self on the floor and awareness of ourselves in space (residual space), balancing stick on one hand -- allow this to fall, you aren't going to succeed all the time, celebrate your failures -- throwing the ball exercise, bamboo sticks, and rhythm with clapping. DO NOT APOLOGIZE!! We repeat these exercises throughout the week giving us a good reference point within the group. We started most exercises with equalization of the space. A whole walking exercisen (The Game) stopping, changing direction, tempo, weight or sense of weight -- paying special attention to different parts of the room -- exploring the wall, then the ceiling, then the floor. Walk around now and observes what it is like. We did these in halves then adding text we wrote (a journey). We used these key words from these stories to continue through this work. We worked in a similar way with music -- free movement, music moves you, you move the music, have nothing to do with the music, and then switching between all of these. Then we added the music rules to The Game.

Our final day with Andy we reviewed everything we had done that week and added the twisty foot (happy feet is what I call it) NOT EASY!! Then we sat in chairs changing focus from one thing to the next. We did a kicky kicky exercise and then added arms to it (very difficult but interesting). We oiled the body (rolling through our knees, hips, chest, shoulders) before choosing an occupation. This occupation had to be a repeatable action during which we became distracted at moments and changed our focus then return back to work. In two groups we discovered going from The Game into a construction (ours was The Duomo) and into a landscape (ours was a swamp). We used all of these elements (I mean everything we learned.... EVERYTHING) to make a small improvisational group piece that we performed for Kevin and Andy. I felt very successful at the end of this workshop being able to put all of this together with my group. It was very satisfying as an artist.

Sick days

2009-10-12T09:20:00.001-07:00

My picture of the week: Taylor quickly figures out a way to be supported in our movement class. Good picture. Thank you Katie for uploading all of these pictures from movement class so I could add them to my blog!!First of all, let me apologize for slacking on the blog. I am trying to get back on track. I had a headache from last Monday until last Friday. The doctor thought it was a compacted disc in my neck vertebrae but on Saturday I woke up with fever, the chills, sore throat, runny nose, and achy muscles. A virus has been going around and has hit most of the undergraduate theatre students... yuck. I'm still sick today but hoping to get back into the swing of things tomorrow. This blog will include everything the highlights since my last blog through last Wednesday the 7th.

After warm up in Movement we ran through the room leaping and hopping. Then Claudia said that when she clapped her hands we would either support someone or be supported. It started in two's then three's then half and half, then the entire group. We decided to call these lift portraits. Once we arrived in our portraits we would come out of them in slow motion and go back into them in slow motion. This really helped us find our balance and how to pose without momentum. We did this again on the next Wednesday. Here are some pictures of our second run through this:

Courtney, Bob, Ben, and I making a quick portrait:

Louise, Caroline, and me; this one was not so easy to reverse without momentum:

I accidentally clocked Bob in the chin with my knee during this pose... sorry Bob!:

All of us in our first poses:

Louise and Mer Mer:

Louise, me, and Taylor:

We started working on Downward Dog walking in pairs (one on the other) then rolling over in pairs. Next we went back to one of us being the bench the other now doing a handstand on their back only using the upper arms. We tried walking as a group blocking different areas of our bodies one at a time starting with sternum, pelvis, knees, feet, neck, shoulder blades, then teeth. It was very interesting to understand what blocking these parts will do to the way you walk and feel on the inside. We also explored intrograde and retrograde (doing a movement and reversing it). We did improv contact dance. Making our partners aware of their lines, joints, where they place their weight, and give the partner suggestions and then let them move on their own while you observe. We did some more partner lifts using the sacrum scoop and working towards rolling over the back.

The biggest highlight of voice class (something new that we weren't revisting) was the 4 emotions wheel. We had four different points in a circle and you had a different emotion you sand in at each point. The transition was most important. We worked in partners 'kneeding bread' on their backs into a full person lift using a person at each limb. We did some rolls across the floor (REMEMBER YOU HAVE TWO LEGS). We did some rhythm work 4/4 on top of 3/4 call and response. Then we did one of my favorite exercises: Gargoyles. This brings something out from the inside that is unexplainable and sometimes a little scary, but it is extremely interesting all the same.

In Music we worked on ritual. We improved a ritual with objects in a sacred space. Then we made up our own rituals or create what ritual is to us to present in the next class. Taylor came up with a great one for us to do together. He's working out in the fields while I'm washing clothes by the watering hole. Then he comes in from the fields to get water and begins pickin' and singin' a Robert Johnson tune. I begin humming and making a rhythym with my laundry bin. It was fun!!

The long and winding road

2009-09-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

We went on a hike in the Pratomagno on Sunday with Scott and friends. Here are some notable pics (above is my favorite pic from this trip - Ben Sota on top of the Pratomagno):

William, Meredith, and I are about to start hiking:

Meredith and I take a water break.... seriously straight up:

YIKES!!!!

Even Persey is tired and she has four feet:

Ben and William make it to the top:

Lunch spot!

I'm tired:

My feet and legs take a rest during lunch:

Taylor and Jesse enjoying the view from the top:

Persey enjoys staring at her Daddy's sandwich:

Jesse being silly on top of the mountain:

Classic picture of Scott:

Jesse and I at lunch:

Meredith, Me, and Caroline on top of Pratomagno:

Jesse and I on top of Pratomagno:

A close-up on Ben on top of the cross:

The cross that Ben climbed (he's at the top):

Louise, Jesse Dunn, and Me:

Meredith and I coming down the serious hill:

We practiced the Greek Chorus on top of the Teatrino after the hike:Well, we have been busy again this week. If we have a week full of Acting, I won't be able to blog during those days and do homework, so I have to choose the homework because it is the priority, obviously and catch up on my blog when I can.

We started with Voice this week doing a warm-up that consisted of a self rub down, dry shower, and vertical shaking into jumps letting out sound. Then we worked on some tongue exercises. These are very good for me because I have a control issue with my tongue and it's connection to my jaw. I have a problem releasing both or using one and releasing the other. We went into some panting work with the nose, which is very good to build control in the lower stomach. Moving into stretching our lips then leaving them while humming. We worked with the difference between holding one nostril and humming then holding one and half closing the other while humming. We learned two new songs: Water Boy, a negro convict song, I knew this one cause Daddy used to sing it; Yo E Ma Mo, an african song, we used this as call and response.

In Acting this week we worked on the 4 ages on man: baby, 20, middle-aged, old. We added to the Boatman: fluid with repetition, Object in three different sizes - huge, small, toothpick - and improvising with a problem of some sort. For the Greek Chorus we added a second entry option, entering where the hero was before, telling a story, singing, and simultaneous movement. The simultaneous is harder, figuring out how to lead the group with your intention. You cannot waffle! 7 levels of tension - all released and no energy, sleepy walk, neutral, bubble inside, suspicious, angry tense guy, complete tension then release to the floor. We worked on the improvisations this time in threes... very interesting... now we are adding climate and characters. The newest thing we started was mannequins. Two and two for instance. You decide who these people are and what is there relationship. Then using as few movements as possible in the most efficiant way, you sculpt your partners. The point is to put two mannequins in a scene so there is some realistic qualities but there is always something just a little off. We decided to do this in Cabaret last night. Our mannequins were Meredith, Bob, and William who we made stand outside until we asked the audience for the scene. Courtney, Brian, Caroline, and I were the ones forming them. We asked our audience who Meredith is... they said Foxy Feline... Courtney took that to be a stripper named Foxy Feline. Then we asked, where are they... a shed... fantastic. Then we asked what is Bob and William's relationship to Foxy Feline... they are her cousins... wow. So we called our victims back in and made a pretty beautiful scene of Bob and William holding eachother scared - but William kind of wanted to look - while Meredith grabs her boob (poor Meredith - she was blushing hard) and looks are stripperesque. It turned out very nice I have to say.

In Movement today we started with three different speeds to music. First we gradually sped up as a warm-up, then we moved in slow motion exploring the a-semetric world, finally we had a free for all which was very nice and I found myself drawn to the wall for some reason. I really don't know why. We worked on rolling next. First as salmon rolls alternating front and back - difficult but interesting because you cannot use your hands or legs against the floor to move you - second sitting then a backwards roll - easier on my right rather than my left - third kneeling rolling backwards into another kneeling position then reversing the movement- fourth walking backwards then rolling backward and then continuing to walk back on the way up - we used a partner for this one as motivation and eye contact, the partner walks towards you as you walk backwards, it was very helpful in the dismount of the roll to keep walking backwards. We reviewed the bowling positions we used for handstand but modified it for cartwheels. Then we started doing cartwheels, first how we are used to doing it and then using the bowling position as our launch. I like cartwheels and have always been able to do them on my right side, but I have trouble on my left for sure. We presented our homework in pairs and started working on kinestetic response. Meredith and I will be working on ours together which will be really fun!

Last Week

2009-09-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

The birthday girls in front of the fireplace:

Sorry for such a late post. Last week was kind of crazy. In any of my free time I was studying so I'm just now getting around to blogging. Meredith and I also celebrated our birthdays last Thursday night. It was nice to have a big party. Thanks to the Farmhouse peeps for hosting us!! To see pics from the party go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125149&id=606945247&l=a3549771b1

This week started with voice. Warm-ups with some pelvis work, friction, dry shower, and rub down. We began feeling what it is like to push off the ground to walk. Then some group work walking in a circle forwards, backwards, and then changing direction. This sounds easy but it was much more difficult than it seems. At the piano we went through some Ro Ro Ro, Vee Vee Vee O and then did one of my favorite exercises called Cello, Viola, Violin. This helps you find different levels of sound on one note. This is a great help when once we begin working on voices in the mask.

We had voice again on Wednesday. We started with the looking glass image and blowing out hot air on it to clean it. Taking this concept and now letting out some sound, then sound and sustain that sound. We used the image of throwing a javolin and watching it land with the suspension. I find this a hard image to follow without moving my voice. Next we were walking through a crowded street constantly talking. Sometimes we would freeze and only two people would walk at a time. Then we did it one by one, stopping to look at the crowd and say, "My name is Dory (or whoever else's name it was)". Then Kevin stopped me and asked me to play the pro/con game. My subject was scorpions. Basically you just speak about the pros of scorpions until he says con then you go straight into the cons. The only way to play this game is to turn your brain off and not be scared of what crazy stuff may come out. I think I ended up having an army of scorpions spelling ART and then killing eachother so we could eat them. Great exercise. Kevin then gave us our vocography project which is telling three different stories in our life that involved sound.

We had acting most of the week with Marcello. We started with a quick review of all of our exercises adding components to them and moving into improv again. We moved the group through 10 different speeds. We did a lot of group building exercises with him which was really wonderful. Another exercise in this category is the chorus movement on a suspended board. The chorus decides when to follow the hero balancing the space and when they stop, another hero enters and the past hero joins the chorus. We worked on the 20 step glass grab (grab a glass, drink it, see another glass, grab it, throw the other one out, drink it). We moved this into 3 person improvs. It was difficult to keep the drink movement in mind while reacting to your peers and acknowedging there is an audience... as Caroline said, 'Welcome to theatre'. Then we presented one and two people improvs with a clear reason to enter the space and a clear reason to leave the space.

We watched a film on LaCoq and his work (this was one of Marcello's teachers so a lot of our exercises in acting are LaCoq based). Very interesting. The next day we worked on the 31 step boatman. We start this step exercises very sectioned and move them into a smooth transition between movements. 'The body remembers.'

In movement this week we started with a Feldenkrais exercise where we focus on our two thumbs together and they move us around the space. Then we played the peripheral game, having to keep two people always in your periphery. We warmed up swinging our arms back, around, & down then adding a jump in the middle. Next we stretched our legs getting ready for our next step into handstand. From crouching, one leg stretches back across the floor, when it is straight it comes up and you use that momentum to lift the other leg off the floor (image of painting a red line). We did hand stands across the floor starting with one leg up, then one leg comes up to say hello, scissors, reversing the movement, then using unbroken eye contact with a partner. Finally we worked on Negative and positive space playing the shape game with a partner. It was really interesting to see what kind of stories this game would tell based on the partner grouping. Was it beautiful and flowing, did it have a theme, or was it completely sectioned and weird.

We finished the week in Principia Comica with Scott and Mike then Music with Gianni. We told our aphorisms. Mine was: 'Reality is funny as long as it doesn't happen to you'. We made many observations and talked more about the expectations in class. We discussed the fact that most of our jokes were about sex. This segued into our discussion of the body and how it is percieved in different cultures and why. We will continue on this topice next week.

In Music we went over some of the dances we had learned the week before, and then learned the turns. We also learned a song to sing and Gianni gave us a beautiful poem to read. Great way to end the week.

Ironically I had been bitten by a spider this week on both arms and was having a pretty major reaction to them. I was about to go to the doctor when Thursday rolled around and I felt much better and the poison started to drain thank goodness. Well, I'm enjoying a much needed rest but I will be practicing most of the weekend as well. Tomorrow we are going on a hike in the Pratomagno with Scott so that should be fun.

My Birthday Weekend

2009-09-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

My Birthday Pictures:
Here's Persey ready for my Birthday adventure!
Jesse and me!

Civita di Bagnareggio, la citta che muore.

Us in front of the city.

Me and Persey walking down the foot bridge.

Old Oil Presses found in the caverns where people used to live.

Persey and me sitting in an alleyway.

Sushi Boat!!

Me and Jesse at our table posing.

Hot Saki anyone?!

End of the night with my champagne and my Persey.

Here are some photos from the Wine Tasting:
Me, Julie, and look at Courtney!!
Ben pretending to work behind the counter for Bob and Meredith.

Me and Jesse

Kevin, Louise, Katie, and Bob

Caroline, Courtney, Meredith, and me

Taylor and me!

I had a great birthday weekend. It started with a wine tasting at the Charleston Enoteca. On Saturday Bea and Cesare gave me a book Il Barone Rampante and made me a birthday tiramisu. On Sunday, my actual birthday, I woke up to bellinis, breakfast in bed, and a bouquet of flowers (my husband is awesome). Then we went to Civita di Bagnoreggio, La citta che muore (the dying city), it is a place I've wanted to go visit for a long time. On the way we stopped at the Outlet Mall in Valdichiana so I could buy my birthday present from my mom (I bought three new pairs of designer jeans). When we got home Jesse had some wonderful Franciacorto champagne waiting for me and my present, a Breil necklace called Bloom; it is amazing because you can change the sizes and the look of the whole necklace -- it can become a bracelet as well! To end the night Jesse took me to a new Sushi restaurant. For those of you that know me well, you know this is my favorite food so I was really excited and it was gooood!! I love my husband! Momma called me and we were able to talk for a while. I miss her so much, especially during any holiday, so it was nice to get a long talk in. Everyone on facebook wrote me to wish me a happy birthday and it made me feel really special. Thanks you guys!! I had a great birthday!!!!

Last few days before my birthday!!

2009-09-19T01:40:00.001-07:00

Thursday was a great day. We had Music class all day with Gianni Bruschi. We starting learning the basic steps of the Pizzicato which is the ritualistic dance in Tarantismo. After a person has been bitten by a spider, snake, or stung by a scorpion they would gather together musicians and the women of the town would dress the victim in all white. They would begin on the ground and start to dance for days and days. The family would cook for the musicians as payment. This is a very passionate tradition. Later that day we learned how to play the tamborello and some of the other percussion instruments used in the Tarantismo tradition. It was a really great day! Here's a picture of me and Brian posing with our instruments:

On Friday we started with voice class. We worked with a partner doing head and neck massages. Making sure the persons neck and head are free when they begin to hum. Then we worked with the freeness of the arms. At the end of this exercise we pulled our partner up to sitting and then let them down vertebrae by vertebrae. Next we worked with the baton doing some Pilates work, into hanging off the baton while standing, then sitting and exhaling as we go down vertebrae by vertebrae while the the baton pulls us forward. After this we worked in a circle as a group, first on consonants (breath then sound) then breathing. We each did a concert just using our breath which morphed into a group working with the E.E. Cummings text. This text has been very hard for me to memorize so I hope to make some more progress on that this weekend.

In movement yesterday we started by walking in the space. Next Claudia asked us to keep the space balanced, two people started and then we went in one at a time, then 3 ft. away from eachother to 6 ft. away to 9 ft. away then back in to barely touching moving into levels. After our Yoga we started working on elbow stands. I don't know how long it will take me to get this one. It does take a lot of strength. We did some downward dog relay races across the floor, forwards, backwards, and sideways. Then we started in downward dog and walked up the wall as far as we could go. I found this exercise very fun and helpful in finding the way my pelvis tilts when I go up in a handstand. We did this is groups using each other as a counterweight, going over and under each other. It was really fun and pretty funny. It was interesting to see who took what risks. I was a little too unstable to crawl on top of people while on the wall. I'll get there soon enough. Finally we worked on saggital and horizontal planes in Laban work. The saggital for me was much easier than the horizontal. I had more trouble figuring out what was and wasn't horizontal rather than what was or wasn't forwards, backwards, up, and down. This morphed into a group picture in both cases.

An Even Rainier Day

2009-09-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Me and Persephone Len having a nice conversation after class today:

It has been raining all week so far. This has been hard for me because I really depend on sunlight. I'm a pretty sleepy person when it rains all the time and sadness can really catch up to me.

Today was interesting but harder for my ADD self because it was a lot of sitting and talking. We started with Principia Comica I with Scott McGehee and Michael Grady. This is the study of comedy. What's funny? This class is aimed to help us form our thesis project through finding our own point of view or angle on life. We will be sharing things we find comic in life through Aphorisms, jokes, journaling, and our facebook page where we will share viral videos as well as other observations. We also broke up into groups and did some lazzi. Bob, Meredith, and I picked (without knowing what we were picking) a lazzi where someone had to use the other's limb in order to trick the third person. We made it a grave robbing scene... niccccce!

The film lecture series today was about the History of Comedia dell'Arte. Scott explains the historical implications and backdrop of the uprising of Commedia dell'Arte. Very interesting!!

We had our first music lesson with Gianni Bruschi today. We will study the southern Italian tradition of music, the Tarantella. Today we explained with words and pictures what music meant to us and how we found music. My story revolved around a picture of a foot print in the sand and then three other pictures that represented different points in my life. Here is my story:

'Mary walked into the living room and found her daughter sitting on the ground in front of the television. She was certainly amazed that her daughter was transfixed, mesmerized by the opera on PBS. I was 3 years old.

My father was the musician of the family. He had been raised in a poor family on a cotton farm in Opelika on the border of Alabama and Georgia. He told me stories of a time when there was no television, just their favorite radio programs. A time of deep seeded racism, hate, and poverty... But allso a time of music; Jimmy Rogers and the Blues. He played guitar with Paw Paw on the front "po'ch" as they say in Alabama. Songs that had been handed down between friends and families. Songs with stories, history, and worth.

I'm not sure when Daddy started writing music but it is the first music I had ever known. From the time I was just a baby sitting on his lap to the day in November when he passed away, music was his legacy, his gift to us.

Momma says she doesn't remember a time I wasn't singing. She insisted we join a church and Daddy agreed to the Presbyterian Church on Calvin St. because his friend was the minister and he was known to be incredibly liberal as well. I joined the Youth Choir and made my first best friend Jamie. Her parents were the Youth Choir directors and we did plays together. Their support and love really paved my way in music and theatre. We sang together from Elementary School to High School. My life from this point began to become sections that eventually informed my decisions in life and music. There was a time when I became a person that I never knew I would be: All-State Choir, Pom Pon Squad, Cheerleader, Theatre, pageants. But because of all of this, I was awarded a very prestigious scholarship to College if I majored in Music. That is when I started taking lessons with Janice Yoes who said to me, "You are a Coloratura Soprano". I had found my niche. Daddy said the last thing the world needed was another big woman standing on stage screamin'. However, he was very supportive and proud of all of my accomplishments in Opera.

There is always a point in time where you pull away from your parents. You need this to start making your own way in life, your own decisions. Then you come back and my bond with my parents became stronger than it had been since I was a small child. Daddy still didn't understand a lot of my taste in music. "Rap is not music. If you want to say it is a form of poetry I will slightly buy that, but I think it is a bunch of bullshit", he would say. I didn't pick up a guitar until it was much too late for Daddy to ever teach me anything because of the crippling arthritis that had taken over his joints. So, I listened to his records and stories about his life as a rockabilly star in the south. Opening for Johnny Cash was one of my favorite stories. "What did you talk to him about Daddy?" "Oh just about how hard it is to make it in the music business." Daddy used to get up in the middle of the night and tell momma the muse had come, then he would go and write music. I guess that is how it has always been for me, though my muse has always been my father. I can only hope to make as big of a footprint in the sand as he did in his lifetime. That is why music is in my soul.'

Happy Happy Fun Day

2009-09-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

My headstand:
On the side you can see my wonderful headstand partner, Meredith. Thanks to my girl Caroline for taking this pic!

I have to start off my blog today saying 'Thank you' to my wonderful husband. It has a been a fun but long week. So last night Jesse told me he had some surprises waiting for me at home. I had no idea what they might be. I was really excited to find out he had gone to IKEA and gotten some new things for the apartment. Jesse can be incredibly domestic which is a side of him I really love and appreciate. I could not have been happier putting together our new furniture and additions to the different rooms of our apartment. I love him very much!! He always knows when to do the right things for me.

Today in voice we started with partner work on the wall doing the rub up and sweep down that we did yesterday in a flat lying down position. Next we turned around with our backs against the wall, our partner put their hands diagonally on our clavical and roll out with their hands while you hummed then let out some sound. Then we did similar things to the sternum, ribs, and pelvis (pelvis rolls up). The pelvis was a interesting point for me. When I finally let my partner take over and I gave up control of that part of my body, I felt the space in my front hip joints as my knees released out and away. Quite amazing and freeing!

Working in a circle individually we started to explore traverser and contourner motions. Next we explored rib expansion and deflation, first by letting all the air out then expanding and deflating the ribs without taking a breath, then the same thing after taking air in and not letting it out. This gave me more awareness and focus in the lower ribs on my back as well as the surrounding rib space. We moved into work with the straws this time also loosening our heads from our necks. This is a great exercise for vocalists. We worked on A Ü I O U in a scale. I like the exercise for warming up the voice. We sang it as if we were one of the seven dwarves. I was Sleepy... the yawning is a really good position to begin singing from, plus I'm always kind of sleepy! Finally we worked more on our African lullabye this time in cannon.

In movement we started with the Laban technique. We were walking around the room as if we were in a bubble but you always wanted to move the bubble forward through space while exploring your world inside the bubble. This was a neat exercise for me... something I have never done before and I found myself really creating this bubble world without forgetting about the space around me. It is easy to get lost in your own world. Next we explored only the left side of our world starting with eyes closed then slowly opening them (no bubble anymore): how do you enter the space? are you timid or confident? what enters the space first? We took this and sped it up, watching half the group the doing it ourselves. We did this with the left, right, and back. My left was jerky, lead by my hip, then jerking my head into it with my arm. My right was timid beginning with just the big toe then my arm lifts my leg in. My back started with elbows and buttocks but then snaked up to the crown of my head. This was interesting just to see how your body reacts to this. Not only does open the space but it lets out a lot of different emotions out of either side.

After some Yoga we did the bench roll through headstand again and then this time reversed it. Not as hard as it sounds though I had to keep reminding myself not to bridge over my partner but use her body as the middle axle of my see saw. Next with our partners we took this idea further and kept consistent contact with each other's backs. We are just rolling over each other trading places as the bench without stopping. Very cool. Then we took this even further and kept constant contact with backs and bellies but not having to do the rolls, just improvising and seeing what we could find. My partner was Caroline and both of us found the struggle between who was leading and who was following to be quite interesting. This is a great exercise when a group is trying to learn each other's bodies and finding how to listen to each other without speaking.

Rainy Day

2009-09-14T10:04:00.001-07:00

Here I am at the end of my day watching Jesse call the 24 hour Veterinarian to come and pick up an old dog that has wandered onto the Villa grounds. We think it was hit by a car... sad sad day.

Today was a rainy colder day. We started on voice with Kevin. We began in partners, one laying on your front on the ground, the other rubbing up from the heels to the head three times, then sweeping down while the one on the ground lets out an 's' during the out breath. Next the one on the floor turns on their back and their partner takes their leg, moving it about unpredictably but softly, so they can be sure they have the whole weight of the leg. We continued this leg manipulation until we put both legs up, holding the ankle, and swinging the pelvis gently above the ground while the one on the floor finds a deep hum. Then the partner slowly pulls and lowers the legs, stopping everytime the person on the floor takes a breath, then the partner holding the heels right above the floor gives their partner a little side to side wiggle. To finish this series the partner puts the other person's feet on the ground and does some acupressure against the balls of their feet.

We worked on what we like to call the rolly spine stretch. This is very nice for a body awakening tool. We went straight into a pilates like move Bob calls the rising sun sternum. We begin by sitting with our feet planted on the floor leaning back on our hands on the floor behind us. The motion starts with the tipping of the pelvis, then the lower ribs, to the sternum, to the chin and reverse down. This is a great stretchy massage for your spine and promotes awareness of your torso.

Next we started on straw work. This is something I did quite frequently with my voice teacher and find very helpful when looking to float my sound on the air (which should be always). From this we moved back into Ro Ro Ro going lower we began singing Holiness then into I Am The King while strutting about the room into I am the Giant of this Land and picking someone up. To finish our class today we did some Vocal Stir Fry. This is a great little massage for your vocal chords.

In movement today we began working on the Feldenkrais starting on the floor and then moving into walking. The different discoveries I find in my body using this technique are very interesting for me and I look forward to working with it more. Remember, who's the driver?!

Next we did a short piece of Yoga before we started on partner side rolls. Then we kept our partner as a bench and bent over our partner while bringing one knee up then going back into a tripod headstand and then over. With both of these exercises you want to make sure to give your weight to your partner and use the opening of the legs to help control your balance. To finish our day we did our stretching routine.

I know I promised a headstand picture, but it just wasn't possible today. I will have one tomorrow for you.

Cabaret, Soccer and Friday!!

2009-09-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Our first Cabaret on Thursday night:

Bob, William, Meredith, and Caroline before Cabaret started.

Katie getting ready for her song.

Ben Sota as Professor Fluff "A" Nutter.

Juggling and balancing!!

Katie singing and playing 'I'm in Love With Your Ghost' by the Indigo Girls. One of my faves!!

Scott playing his pop song.

On Saturday we played Soccer:

Tristan, Brian, Ilse, and Kevin are getting ready for the big game.

Meredith and Caroline look ready to go!!Bob's war wound.

The Aftergame.

Taylor messing with me as per usual.

Jenna's war wound caused by Caroline's shoe.

Walking back from the PAM.

Brian walking his basket up the hill.

Kevin, Caroline, Meredith, Brian, and me taking a break after the hill.

We had a bit of an emergency with one of our MFA students on Thursday night, so Voice class was only one hour on Friday. We warmed up on our own doing stretches and movements Kevin has taught us. We were able to begin with vocal work in a group. Starting with the circular slide on a hum. Next we sang RO RO RO on a descending minor triad pointing from low to middle to high on the wall. Then Louise did some solo work and Kevin had her imagine running to catch the bus in Pescaiola. If she missed it she is screwed and has to walk the whole way to school. Fantastic!! Then we all did that together. Next we worked through Vee Vee Vee O going from the image of an opera singer to a muscle man. This works well between your legato and staccato.

In movement we did an interesting thing where we walked around the room, first remembering what we have been doing (going towards the prep into a handstand). Then we stopped, jumped together, stopped and started walking together. Each time we started walking again the tempo would speed up. At the end we were at a dead run. This is a great group exercise to work on listening to each other no matter how crazy the tempo can become. We went through some more Yoga exercises. I was very frustrated with the Yoga on Friday because I was feeling quite tired and couldn't really find my balance points. I'm sure these times will come and go frequently. Next we worked on rolling backwards then reversing it frontwards. This is not as easy as it sounds trust me.

We then started working on the dreaded headstands. Dreaded is the word I use because I was always afraid that if I did a headstand my neck would break or crush under the pressure. This of course is an unfounded fear that I no longer have thanks to help from Claudia and my headstand partner Meredith. I did one today during our Sunday practice!! Yay me!!!! We were shown two different headstand methods: the tripod and the hand cupping method. The tripod I still have not mastered because I'm a little too unstable yet, but the hand cupping I finally figured out. Very nice! We did some Alexander Technique walking (that is what I call it) where your partner puts their two fingers on either side of upmost part of your neck (where it meets the base of the scull) and you walk around, your head floating freely above your neck. Finally we worked with a partner who was your bench and you roll over them from the side always keeping contact with each other's bodies. Next we did this when the partner is in child's pose.

Days three and four!

2009-09-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a MFA dinner at Scott's house. Here are some notable pictures:

Me and Jesse

William, Kimberlee, and Kevin

Action shot of Courtney, Katrin, Kevin, and Claudia

Caroline and Meredith

Ben, Brian, William, and Bob getting some wine and food.

Kevin, Scott, and Ben with Taylor and Jesse in the background.

Scott gives a toast!

Taylor cooking it up!

Me, Katie, Meredith, and Courtney

Katie and Claudia

Louise, Caroline, and Bob

The men hanging out: Taylor, Phil, and Jesse

Yesterday we got more in depth with acrobatics in Movement with Claudia. We learned how to roll on the ground and started learning how to roll over each other. We worked more on the handstand; with the image of rolling a bowling ball on the floor.

Our second day with Marcello was much more physical. Our warm-ups consisted of isolations, shoulder contrasts, swingy hand thing (that is what I call it) as counter isolations. We learned the robot man in 5 parts, the puppet breakdown and build up (in ten parts). Then we started the Balloon Guy. This is a very hard exercise. You start by standing with your arms outstretched. Next, as if you were filled with air and someone took a pin and poked you in the center of your body, you begin to deflate. You deflate to the floor... but there is one catch, all parts of your body must move at the same time and stop at the same time. It is not as easy as it sounds.

After this we did walking exercises. The catch being that the whole group has to start at the same time. Then once we have started we had to pick a partner without making it obvious. The next time we had to pick a partner and then a place to meet without making it obvious. No talking... just eye contact. This exercise is fantastic for group building. It starts us out listening to each other without words. Then into breath exercises. First, you sit on the ground cross-legged, take in a big breath while turning your head to the left, blow out the air while head twists back to the right. The point is to finish the movement and the air at the same time. The next step is to do the same thing but this time draw a water scene: first the waves, then the ship, then blow the ship away. Finally, we laid down and isolated the breath coming in and out of our chest and stomach. Then we started improvs... you'd have to be there.

Today we had voice work with Kevin. We started with breathing and releasing exercises on the ground. Same concept of isolation, but starting with the chest, to the ribs, to the stomach, to the pelvis. We did this solo, in pairs, and in trios. Next we worked with elbow rounds. Laying down putting our elbows across our chest, moving them in a circular motion, vertical, and horizontal. We let the air out on an 's' then moved into sound. Now, by ourselves, we performed the clavical and ribcage press with air.

We started what William calls 'Wiggle-O's' and started working with text and sound. Imagine it, all of these people standing in a circle, vibrating their body and trying to read an E.E. Cummings poem (this is what my facebook status comes from)... pretty hilarious. We continued working with this text by leading our partner around the room while they were trying to read the piece of paper, the telling it as a story to our partner, then experimenting with text and sound and dance.

In acting today we started with the same warm-ups and then worked with partners on walking away from the imaginary wall but not moving our hands and ducking under a table without moving our hands. Our partner would put their finger tips on either side of your cheek bones and you would move around it without moving your head... as if your head was stuck inbetween some bars. We worked on mirroring and leading the robot guy with sound and Puppet Guy with your partner counting. Next we worked in small groups on the sailor wheel and the 14 step pick-up sticks.

Using this last exercise we found different objects besides sticks. Keeping the same 14 step technique, just modifying it to your imagination. We did these improvs in front of the group. Mine was this: I was hot, so I saw a magazine and picked it up, while fanning myself I see an actual electric fan; I go to the fan and throw the magazine behind me as I plug in the oscilating fan and follow it back and forth; Then I take my fan when I see my refrigerator and throw it away as I open the freezer door; After I have stuck my head in the freezer, I see there is gelato (ice cream) so I grab the gelato and kick the fridge over; while eating gelato and singing I see a slip-n-slide, I go to the slip-n-slide and throw the gelato behind me; I set up the slip-n-slide and run into a belly slide across it (I actually did this, I think I really am insane). Finally we worked on more improvs. One element was added, only one person and move or talk at a time. Everyone else must keep their focus on that one person until the focus is returned to them. Very fun and interesting.

Day Two!

2009-09-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

We may be from different backgrounds, but we are all here for a reason:

It is the second day and man am I sore (thanks Claudia, haha)! Because of the soreness Kevin's class was a dream. We started with partner work. One person stands face first against the wall, hands flat parallel on the wall securing your position, knees bent. Their partner begins pounding up and down their back with their fists. The person against the wall starts with a hum and eventually lets out a sound. Next the partner puts their thumbs on either side of the sacrum and massaging in an outward motion, the image of pulling the sacrum apart. Then the partner applies pressure through the thumbs giving energy to the sacrum and finally pounds their fists on the sacrum. All the time the person against the walll is letting out a sound that feels connected to that area. Next the person against the wall walks to the center of the floor and bends over with their knees bent and hands supporting their torso placed on their thighs. The partner rubs ferociously along the back while the bent person pushes their hand against their thighs in order to lift themselves toward the rubbing hands. Next the partner cups their hands and slaps up and down. The point being that you free the torso by using the strength of your base. The bent person lets out a series of yawns and sounds while this is going on. Finally in threes, one person bent over, the other two on either side, cup slap up three times... on the third time the bent person rolls up. Next we sweep down their body ending at the feet where we pay special attention to pressing the feet into the ground, strengthening the base. Then from the front and back we clean the cobwebs. The bent person is using an outward breath 's' sound until the cleaning of the cobwebs during which they let out three strong breaths. The great thing about these exercises is that they are like having a massage in a way. Really helping you to strengthen your base and opening, freeing your torso, neck, and jaw.

We did some more pelvic clock work, this time on the ground using your feet to push against the wall, pushing the pelvis to tilt as you breathe out. First with an 's' then with sound. We worked with the jaw a bit today, feeling the difference between opening from above and from below. These are great exercises for me because I hold my jaw a lot and this teaches me how to let go by allowing space in my resonances and mouth. We moved from this to pressing on the wall, starting with a small sound and allowing the sound to grow as we press harder into the wall. Then we did this in partners using each other as counterweight and then as a group. After all of this we learned a new song, Chant African (an African Lullabye).

Today we also had Acting class with Marcello Bartoli. We started by introducing ourselves and Marcello introduced the course. Then in a group, someone would create an object (imaginary obviously) and then pass it to another person in the circle. They would take the object (only if they knew what it was, otherwise it was given back to the person and had to be re-created in a clearer way) and then create another object respecting the integrity of the previous object. Then we see a cross in front of us and in 12 seperate steps we place our hands on the horizontal plane and move it vertically. Alot harder than it sounds. We worked on this in four different sizes: regular, grande, piccolo, and toothpick size. Then we did a precision technique we like to call '14 Step Pick Up Stick'. This one is quite hard to explain however all of these exercises work on the precision and simplicity of movement.

Tonight we had our first film presentation night. This particular night Claudia chose to show us films of her circus shows and the work of her colleagues. It was all pretty amazing and gave us an idea of what kind of performances you find in European Festivals.

All in all it was a full day. We all started towards school between 7:30 and 8:00 am and now it is 11:00 pm so it is time for bed. Much love to you all!!

First day of class

2009-09-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

Me after my first day of class:

First day of class today... wow it is so great to be a student again. Of course, it is also strange because I am still a staff member as well. I work right now during the Italian class since I don't need to take Italian and then sometimes in the afternoons when we don't have class.

All of us who are not in Italian at 9 am started the day in Voice class with Kevin Crawford. After a bit of stretching and warm-up, we floated out sacrum from leg to leg like a hour glass letting the sand fill up one leg and then floating across letting the sand fill up the other leg. This is a difficult exercise but it does open up the bottom of your torso giving a lot of depth to your breath and resonance. Through this we start to find a sound which flows together through the rest of the exercises. We continue with vibrations from our heels like an earthquake under our feet and letting the sound come through that into a fluttering sound freeing the muscles of the face into a limp face shake then to motorboat. This all sounds very complicated but it warms up the voice and resonators quite nicely.

We then find the bottom of our sternum and lead out until until we almost lose the balance then back until we are almost off balance. This whole time one leg is forward and one is back. It is interesting to find the sound through this movement. The image we have is of a snail coming out of his shell, then his attenas feel something and sink back in. Next we moved to the tilting of the sacrum. This was harder for me. I kept leading backwards with my left shoulder instead of my sacrum and it seemed the breathing was hard to find in these positions. This is challenge I knew I would have because I haven't been singing or doing much theatre. I refuse to get frustrated because I know it will come back.

Next we did some group work walking around to people and fluttering our voices (this started with Bob solo). This was a really fun exercise and though it may have seemed frivolous in a way, it really brought an awareness to the rest of our bodies and to the group as a whole after our individual work. Soon we found our way to the floor under Kevin's direction and pressed points of our body into the floor letting out an 'S' sound then letting the air come back in and finding a sound during the next press. This was relaxing in a way and brought a true awareness to all of the points touching the floor and how those points resonate and how the breath comes in and out naturally. After this we moved into a circle and began singing 'Spirit of the Wind' in unison. This lead to a jam singing in rounds, making percussion instruments out of our bodies and anything else we could find, then dancing together all while singing. That was my favorite part of class because your allowing anything to come out... it is beautiful.

I had never been to class with Claudia before but she teaches the movement course. We started with 'Name Domino' (one of my colleagues came up with that title and we all loved it) where we stand in a circle, you say your name while doing a movement and then it passes around the circle until it comes back to you. This moved into starting with a small movement and watching it go around the circle getting bigger and bigger each time and visa versa. Then we all showed a way we would get on the ground and shared that around the circle.

Now we are walking around the space. Claudia asks us to put the weight into our hands on the ground then continue to walk. These exercises get harder and harder for me to understand. Next we slip our leg through and roll on our butts then get up... then on our backs... now without using our hands... now using our hands as a counterweight... now hugging ourselves... all the time walking in between. Hugging myself was the hardest for me. It made me feel stuck and I was a little frustrated with getting up.

After this we stopped and had a little Yoga segment. Claudia is a fantastic Yoga technician and it was a nice switch before going into partner work. With our partners we did several back to back exercises. First, finding eachother's backs. Second, move with your partner... no talking - I loved this one because it heightens your physical way of listening to eachother. Third, back friction! Fourth, using the counterweight to sit down and stand up back to back... no hands folks!! That was hard for Courtney and I. We really tried to get up, but it was difficult to find where the counterweight ebbs and flows. Next we did several chassè exercises down the room, first in pairs back to back and then solo. That was fun... I tried to jump as high as possible in the middle. Ben thinks the faces I make when I'm really concentrating are hilarious... that's fun. Finally we did what Ben called 'Kicky Kicky See Saw'. In this exercise you stand back to back with your partner and link arms. One person scoops their butt down and back lifting the other person on to their back. The other person lays back and kicks up their legs one at a time, but fast. Then you do it back and forth like a see saw. I thought this was amazing. It was much easier to do once you got in a rhythm. Meredith, Courtney, and I were a perfect team and really rocked it out.

So far so good. Not all my blog posts will be this long because a lot of exercises will repeat. However, this is my subjective journal for my classes so not only am I sharing all of this with you all in the blogosphere but I'm also using it as my daily assigment. I hope you all enjoy keeping up with the latest in the MFA program at the ADA. Much love to you all!!

P.S. The weather is gorgeous here now!! It is Fall!!!!

A Day In Arezzo

2009-09-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

Split Personality: Now I'm a student and a staff member... interesting!

I don't think I remember not knowing Arezzo. I do remember the feeling I got when I first arrived. It is very strange because Arezzo almost immediately felt like home. I grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas and moved out of Fayetteville for the first time when I was 24 years old to Florence, Italy. Talk about a jump! So Arezzo feels like home in a way that Fayetteville doesn't. It is really hard to explain, but Fayetteville is family and Arezzo is friends to me because my friends in Fayetteville are my family. Anyways, that is a whole other story.

The point being, it is always interesting for me to show people around a town I have called home for the last 3 1/2 years. Today was a busy day in Arezzo. It is the first weekend of the month so the antique fair is going on (la antiquaria), it is Saturday so the Saturday Outdoor Market is in full effect, and the Joust (La Giostra Saracino) is tomorrow so events are happening all over town. We were able to watch a lot of the practice marches through town today as Taylor and I showed everyone the Piadina place, Piazza San Francesco, Piazza Grande, San Agostino, Il Gelato, etc. (just to mention a few of our favorite places in town).

Then I introduced them to our favorite Porchetta stand in the outdoor market where you can get a whole roasted chicken (yummy) and buy fresh Porcini mushrooms from the hippy guy that looks like he just walked out of the Casentino Forest where he lives in a cave or house made of wood from his land. He's super cool and knows all there is to know about Porcini Mushrooms. Today they were also selling fresh zucchini and zucchini flowers. I explained to some of my colleagues that one of my favorite dishes is fried Zucchini flowers. Then the mountain/forest man gave us all a piece of the zucchini to eat raw and said he had picked them from the garden fresh this morning. Louise bought 13 flowers to fry up for dinner tonight. I hope they enjoy them!

Tonight Jesse and I will be having dinner in town with Count Brizzolari (we call him Sandro) and Taylor. It will be nice to catch up with Sandro since we haven't gotten together since we returned from the states in May.

Tomorrow is the Giostra Saracino. All of the Graduate and Undergraduate
students will be standing with the rest of the spectators in the Piazza Grande. Taylor and I will be with two other friends in Sandro's tower. We've gotten sick of getting pushed around in the standing room only! It should be a lot of fun. Monday classes begin and we are all really excited!!

Orientation

2009-09-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

I'm ready to begin my life as a graduate student!

Wow... It has been quite an exciting couple of days here at the Accademia dell'Arte! This is the inaugural year for the Master of Fine Arts in Physical Theatre program in which I am a candidate and Graduate Assistant. Yesterday we went over the basics: where things are in the Villa Godiola, rules, Italian culture, etc... of course I already knew a lot of this since I have worked here for the past 4 years.

Today we had met all of our teachers and they spoke about what we will do in class. This semester we will take acting with the great Marcello Bartoli. We will start with neutral mask moving into commedia dell'arte. Voice with the wonderful Kevin Crawford which is all based on the Roy Hart techniques (very interesting; read 'Dark Voices' if you want a better understanding of this Parisian company). Movement with the amazing Claudia Schnürer which encompasses Feldenkreis as well as many circus training techniques. The talented Gianni Bruschi will be teaching our music class focusing mainly on the Tarantella or the Meditteranean musical tradition (southern Italy). Then of course Aesthetics lead by our Founding Director, Scott McGehee, and co-taught by my colleague Michael Grady (check out his short plays; they are hilarious and are being performed in festivals all over the world).

Jesse and I had dinner with the rest of my fellow MFA candidates last night at their house in the Casa di Elide. It was fun and we brought out some really old liquor.

Needless to say I'm pretty excited for my new adventure!!!!