This week has been full of lessons on how to help establish voice and how to listen to what others have to say. Several moments in particular stood out for me.
We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview Dana Lupton, the Executive/Artistic Director of Moving in the Spirit here in Atlanta. While we were there to interview her, she made sure to learn about each of us individually. In the safe space she created we were able to not only learn about her but find out new things about each other. We did an exercise where we put in writing our name, three adjectives that described us, four relationships we were in, three things we love, two things we hate, three things we need, two things we'd fight to the death for, a secret super power we possess, and finished the sentence I am a resident of....blank. In sharing our answers with each other, we established connections or differences we had. An important moment for me was when I described myself as an introvert and my three MAP mates were surprised by that. I was glad I got to share that with them because that's an important dynamic to understand when you're living with people, who wants to be surrounded with people all the time or if they like to do some things alone. This exercise was a good lesson on voice because it added a written component to self-identification. We've introduced ourselves a million times since arriving but it was the first time we did it in writing. Furthermore, we got to hear each other's voices and learn about what they wanted to talk about/what was important to everybody.
Another moment this week was an exercise conducted by Rachel May during the summer program of Playmaking for Girls. The purpose of the exercise was to create stage presence. The girls entered the space with purpose, took in the room by making eye contact with everyone in it, stomped their feet one at a time, stated their name for everyone to hear, and exited the space with purpose. The girls reacted in many different ways, some were embarrassed, frustrated, annoyed, silly but the teachers talked them all through it, making some of them do it multiple times until they understood the seriousness of the exercise. When we got to see the show yesterday afternoon, each girl came up and stated her name and several important relationships in her life. They were all so confident and powerful that it was a "magic moment" as Heidi likes to say.
The final moment I'd like to talk about was more an overall experience than a certain moment. I felt that everyone's voices mattered in the collaboration between Julie Rothschild, Andrea Trombetta, Celeste and the four of us. Originally, I was under the impression that we were going to observe the three of them merge their solos into one performance so it was great to get to participate in the process and have the chance to give input. I appreciated it when Celeste tried out a new ending to her solo, based on a suggestion from Julie, but, when she ultimately decided that it did not fit the intended message/purpose of the piece, her decision was respected and we worked to incorporate ourselves into her ending to giver her message even more power. It was a great example of collaboration without an imbalance in power.
All in all it was a great week and I felt like I got to connect with a lot of people!
No comments:
Post a Comment