Monday, June 28, 2010

1st day of classes (Day 1)

Real short, just for reference. I'm really tired so it might not be coherent.

Movement: Wonderful teacher. So funny. Wants to bring back the word "bitchin'"
We did animal exercises exploring contra-vertical & vertical alignment, chopped down trees and were made to laugh by bears, ran in place for maybe 10 minutes while breathing 2 short breaths in & out... running in rhythm as a group & passing energy to those who need it. Got to know each other by sitting in a circle and talking. Did a few spinal exercises by following a dot making circles around your body. My thighs are feeling this class. I want to know this guy's life story.

Audition: Pretty cut & dry today, but I can tell it'll be demanding. Wrote our names with our butts to get to know each other, interviewed someone (by getting 5 interesting facts), came up with words that you think of about auditioning, found out how long 1.5 min is by standing in front of the class, discussed classifications of monologue (contrasting, etc), aaaand that's all I can think of.

Acting: I love this teacher, she is so relateable, laughable, and trusting. We played "duck duck goose" but with our names to get to know each other, did a kind-of Laura Middlestadt pat down (but not as detailed), sat in a circle of chairs and one chair was empty and one person was in the center of the cirlce... we worked from not using our hands, feet, bodies to block to just sitting in chairs. After a while we formed a technique and became UNSTOPPABLE this was really great in ensemble work. Love this class, only like 8 or 6 kids. We also did some trust excercises. We did the typical falling one and then stood in a circle holding hands while one person stood in the center with their eyes closed and spun until dizzy then ran (with eyes still closed). We were supposed to beep as the person got close to any obstacle that would interfere in their path and they'd know to turn away. Eventually, with out the center-spinner knowing, we spread out all around the room but still kept them safe. TRUST Y'ALL! I feel like we did other things but I honestly cannot remember

Friday, June 11, 2010

Reading List

So, I'm currently trying to find all my books for CMU. I thought this would be the easiest thing, but OH WAS I WRONG! These books are plays and text books that we'll be analyzing in Dramatic Literature, Styles, and Audition. Some of them, I can barely contain myself over... like A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. One of my favorite plays, if you haven't read it here's all the encouragement you need:
NEED I SAY MORE, LADIES?! GAH, it is the best play. I will probably cry everyday when we analyze it. Other than that, I'm really looking forward to reading Lysistrata (from what I can tell it's "Down with Love" done ancient Greek style, only instead of Women's rights... it's to end the Polynesian War!) We're also reading I Am My Own Wife (about transsexuals, should be hott) and Fefu & Her Friends (1930's women killers!) They should all be wonderful, I can't wait to tell you all what they're actually about, instead of my interpretations of the summaries.

Our other books are "Audition" which I couldn't be happier about. It's all on Shurtleff's theory, which is really high on my list. A teacher of mine from Interlochen worked with Shurtleff, and I loved her lessons on his 12 Guideposts. So I'm very excited to delve further into those. Then "Shakespeare's Words" for Styles. Styles will be very exciting. It's about approaching literature based upon the style of it's writer. SO EXCITED!

CONFLICT: These books don't exist. They are either out of stock or there are millions of versions, and I am worried I will get the wrong one. Oh well, I'm sure my current interpretations will be great. For sure.

Charlie is about to come home; that should be some fun times.
NOVEL COMPLETE.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Blog Christening

Hello Everybody! This is my blog. It's new and it's going to work. I've started blogs before, but then thought they were stupid, or I forget to keep track of them. However, this one here will be a keeper! I just know it! And I'm going to send it out into the world!

I am starting this blog primarily as a way to keep track of my times at Carnegie Mellon. Why? Because when I was at Interlochen, the thought crossed my mind that I should write down what I did every day so that by the time the school year rolled around I could say "oh, that exercise we did for such and such would be great for us warming up for such and such" or "I should use the such and such technique I learned when we discussed such and such". But I distinctly remember saying "no, I'll probably remember all the things we did, I don't have to write them"... guess what I don't remember though? Believe me, I took notes, but I wish I had more of an account over EVERYTHING that happened, inside class and out. SO THIS IS IT! I will try very hard to record my day-to-day CMU living on this blog.

So far this summer has been very fun and unproductive. The only productive thing I've done is corresponding with the new director. I swear, I will never call him by his real name, I will probably always call him "new director", just out of habit. He has been really great so far. He hates classic musicals, but majored in musical theatre. He coached football and played football in college, but teaches theatre. All in all though, I think he'll be alright... just needs to get to know us better.

Well, this is quite a post. I thought this would just be a "hey! This is my blog! KThanxBye" post. But I have gone ABOVE & BEYOND expectations. SYTYCD tonight. That's exciting.

KTHANKSBYE
 

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