Last few days before my birthday!!

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

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

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

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!!

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!

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!

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!!