(no subject)
So it has been quite a year.
quite.
qu~ite.
Here at vcu, the bfa theatre performance program has undergone some changes. at the end of 'sophomore' year,(2nd year) you have to pass a julieart(sp?)-style assesment. It was monumental, we worked all semester, training and preparing scenes, and getting ready for whatever movement, voice, or emotive exercises would be thrown at us during the 'juries.' My partner, Angelica DeJesus (remember this name) was one of the top female actors in our class. We performed a scene from Jose Rivera's School of the America. The scene took place on the day of che guevara's execution. I played Felix Ramos, the soldier who captured guevara, and under whose protection he was executed. She played Julia Cortes, a school-marm and the daughter of la higuera's recently deceased mayor. She has come at the behest of the villagers, the children and her own political views to see che. Felix, first interprets her as a threat, and denies her access to the school, the two circle each other, and grapple often, as Julia makes fruitless attempts to run past Felix. Julia finally pleads her case, she can provide Felix with much-needed information if he lets her in. Now comes the part we added. At the end of the scene the notes said that Felix should search Julia, and enjoy it a bit too much. We were standing there, in the performance space, at the end of our 45 minute assesment, the very end of the scene. Felix tells Julia, "My men and I will be outside at all times, do not touch the prisoner, spread your arms and legs, please. I said spread your fucking arms and legs, please!" He whips her around facing him, her back to the audience. He searches her, pawing at her chest, lingering far too long, then a momentary fleeting tension between them, something in her eyes maybe? He grabs her between the legs, ruthlessly, and nearly lifts her off her feet in doing so. The room is totally silent after the gasps and cries and yelling. Julia asks "did you find what you were looking for in there?". Felix replies, "(go) inside. and don't you ever fucking mock me again, bitch," grabbing her by the hair and pulling her back after motioning inside. He throws her into the school room cell with che.
this is what i live for.
we both passed and are still in the bfa program. i found out last week.
alot of my friends were cut from the performance bfa program, 15-17 of 70 or so (i still haven't heard from), and moved to the ba program.
some of them i consider to be better actors then myself.
I had something of an epiphany, it's actually been more like a slow realization over the course of my training, thus far. And that is, we do, what we want to do. That's what it boils down to, everything. want. i used to believe, for instance, in the wildly warped view of love that is instilled on us by the media, and books, and fairytales. the love that magically finds you. the magical attraction that has you and your 17 year old fiance together. This is not love. think about your parents, or an older couple, they've been together forever whoever they are. why? because they wanted to. similiar goals, attraction; physical or otherwise, play only a small role. Ultimately there's just the drive. the want. the action.
one of my classmates said,
"We as actors, have the best jobs, we are experiencing the best education possible, we have every opportunity to explore the very limits of ourselves, and our humanity. We as actors, are celebrating in life every time we work. We are embodying, becoming events that speak to other humans, we are relating and communicating with all 5 senses in the theatre. We are the ultimate fans of life. So much so that we focus all of our training, on looking alive."
maybe not all of our training, but yeah. I want this. i want it. i love it.
this summer i'm participating in two movement workshops.
1. is being organized by a grad-student who is preparing their thesis, and will use our work to create a course for next semester. It's every tuesday and thursday at 730am, for about 2 hours. On satuday and sunday we meet at 10, and work for 2-3 hours.
2. The other is a class, a dance class. dancing. hmm. It's contact improv, a strange sort of body communication between two or more dancers, each one's weight is fully supported by the other, and all bodies are in contact at at least one point, the contact shifts as the dancers work. It is exhilirating, rolling around on the floor hot breath and a heartbeat thumping in your ears, moving through space, riding on your partner's momentum. It's every day but friday, from 6 to 9pm. I am stoked.
quite.
qu~ite.
Here at vcu, the bfa theatre performance program has undergone some changes. at the end of 'sophomore' year,(2nd year) you have to pass a julieart(sp?)-style assesment. It was monumental, we worked all semester, training and preparing scenes, and getting ready for whatever movement, voice, or emotive exercises would be thrown at us during the 'juries.' My partner, Angelica DeJesus (remember this name) was one of the top female actors in our class. We performed a scene from Jose Rivera's School of the America. The scene took place on the day of che guevara's execution. I played Felix Ramos, the soldier who captured guevara, and under whose protection he was executed. She played Julia Cortes, a school-marm and the daughter of la higuera's recently deceased mayor. She has come at the behest of the villagers, the children and her own political views to see che. Felix, first interprets her as a threat, and denies her access to the school, the two circle each other, and grapple often, as Julia makes fruitless attempts to run past Felix. Julia finally pleads her case, she can provide Felix with much-needed information if he lets her in. Now comes the part we added. At the end of the scene the notes said that Felix should search Julia, and enjoy it a bit too much. We were standing there, in the performance space, at the end of our 45 minute assesment, the very end of the scene. Felix tells Julia, "My men and I will be outside at all times, do not touch the prisoner, spread your arms and legs, please. I said spread your fucking arms and legs, please!" He whips her around facing him, her back to the audience. He searches her, pawing at her chest, lingering far too long, then a momentary fleeting tension between them, something in her eyes maybe? He grabs her between the legs, ruthlessly, and nearly lifts her off her feet in doing so. The room is totally silent after the gasps and cries and yelling. Julia asks "did you find what you were looking for in there?". Felix replies, "(go) inside. and don't you ever fucking mock me again, bitch," grabbing her by the hair and pulling her back after motioning inside. He throws her into the school room cell with che.
this is what i live for.
we both passed and are still in the bfa program. i found out last week.
alot of my friends were cut from the performance bfa program, 15-17 of 70 or so (i still haven't heard from), and moved to the ba program.
some of them i consider to be better actors then myself.
I had something of an epiphany, it's actually been more like a slow realization over the course of my training, thus far. And that is, we do, what we want to do. That's what it boils down to, everything. want. i used to believe, for instance, in the wildly warped view of love that is instilled on us by the media, and books, and fairytales. the love that magically finds you. the magical attraction that has you and your 17 year old fiance together. This is not love. think about your parents, or an older couple, they've been together forever whoever they are. why? because they wanted to. similiar goals, attraction; physical or otherwise, play only a small role. Ultimately there's just the drive. the want. the action.
one of my classmates said,
"We as actors, have the best jobs, we are experiencing the best education possible, we have every opportunity to explore the very limits of ourselves, and our humanity. We as actors, are celebrating in life every time we work. We are embodying, becoming events that speak to other humans, we are relating and communicating with all 5 senses in the theatre. We are the ultimate fans of life. So much so that we focus all of our training, on looking alive."
maybe not all of our training, but yeah. I want this. i want it. i love it.
this summer i'm participating in two movement workshops.
1. is being organized by a grad-student who is preparing their thesis, and will use our work to create a course for next semester. It's every tuesday and thursday at 730am, for about 2 hours. On satuday and sunday we meet at 10, and work for 2-3 hours.
2. The other is a class, a dance class. dancing. hmm. It's contact improv, a strange sort of body communication between two or more dancers, each one's weight is fully supported by the other, and all bodies are in contact at at least one point, the contact shifts as the dancers work. It is exhilirating, rolling around on the floor hot breath and a heartbeat thumping in your ears, moving through space, riding on your partner's momentum. It's every day but friday, from 6 to 9pm. I am stoked.