musing
The thing that people don't realise about what happens in drama school is that pretty much 90% of it is made up of... breathing. Revelatory, no? So many classes we lie on our backs attempting to lower our breath and "release the pelvic floor" (that's a direct quote). Unfortunately, I can't even really sneer at these hours upon hours of breath work, because I am in desperate need of them. My voice is unsupported and unpolished. My breathing is often shallow and not well grounded at all.
These classes are actually really cool, cos I'm actually getting full on work in things that teachers at Nepean alluded to or drew on with an exercise or two every now and then. For the next 6 weeks we're doing Feldenkrais classes, as well as classes on the Alexander technique. Today was our first Alexander class, and we focused on releasing the spine by thinking the word "pa-ching".... ? Look, maybe I misheard and it's an actual word, but I swear we were "pa-chinging", so to speak.
We were supposed to start Capoiera classes on monday too, but our teacher didn't turn up. Capoiera is a Brazilian style of movement- kind of a mixture between martial arts, and of course being Brazilian-made, acrobatic and dance-based. Anyone who's a Tekken fan would have played as the best character Eddy who does Capoeira fighting. So,I can't even spell it. I'm hoping that doesn't bode badly for the next 6 weeks.
We have a French-Canadian (not to be confused with French) teacher too called Marie (the r is rolled and said in the throat). She studied with Jaques Lecoq at his school in Paris, and so teaches with the Lecoq method. This week we started working with Neutral Masks. It's awesome to be doing stuff like this and to actually be back doing acting based stuff- even if it is just acting training. Impro with Richard is awesome- doing tableaux and some Viewpoints based stuff.
Melbourne really is a cool city. Even though I get incredibly frustrated sometimes traveling by public transport. I guess it's like that anywhere you go. But sometimes I just have to take the most circuitous routes to get to a suburb so near by. I still think that yellow taxis are so much cooler than the taxis we have in sydney. Trams can be incredibly frustrating, but Melbourne really wouldn't be Melbourne without them. I think they would have a big problem trying to get rid of them. It's what gives Melbourne the character it has. Streets have that particular charm about them because of the power lines and tram lines that swing overhead.
I keep on worrying that I'm not getting close enough to people at uni. But I just remembered that I am only in my 3rd week of uni. In terms of normal uni courses, I am doing just so fabulously. It's just that, because I'm with these people so much, I feel like I have known them all for ages and still quite unfamiliar with them. Having said that, I still feel so warmly towards everyone in my company. There are people who I tend to get frustrated with at times or get annoyed at because of the ridiculously pointless observations they decide to share with the class. But within each person I have been able to see just some wonderfully endearing qualities that just make me so glad to know them. And there are some people that I really have connected well with. Still haven't found a permanent place to live in with my friend Marina (who's from Melbourne, not from VCA) and as of a few days ago my friend Alice in my year might be moving in with us as well! Her lease runs out soon and we both agreed that we think we would get along really well if we lived together.
There's a girl in my year, Mel, who has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard. In our green room in our building there are few pianos, so on friday during a 2 hour period called "skills integration" (ie. free time to work on stuff we've done in class) a group of us got together. Mel played piano and we all sang along. But a few days before that just Mel and I were there singing together- we sang some Fiona Apple and Epicure's "Armies Against Me". It was so much fun. Seriously, that girl has such a stunning voice.
Looks like I'll be getting work as a waiter a few nights a week and probably doing deathly glassie work one or two nights on the weekend. I promised myself I wouldn't when I quit at awful Bungalow 8. But, look, it's cash in hand and my aunt and uncle own the bar. Hopefully that'll be a good thing and won't get unfortunately uncomplicated.
I return to Sydney this weeked for Mardi Gras. I'm flying up on Friday evening, and then I'll travel out to Schofields to visit my fam, stay there for the morning on Saturday and travel into Glebe Saturday arvo, party all night saturday at the Mardi Gras afterparty. Recover sunday and fly back to melbourne monday morning at 6am and go straight to uni. Fitting into the theme of the Mardi Gras I'll be coming out to my parents this weekend too. I'd always decided to tell them when I was seeing someone, but was never with anyone long enough to do that. It'll be good to just have it done. Even though I'm going to feel like vomitting before and perhaps during, and after.