And now begins the portion of the blog where I express my inner self via gif. Let's begin, yes?
Completely and utterly uncomplicated, of course. Did you expect any differently?
Honestly, it's hard to wrap my mind around at this point in time. I don't really know what to say, but I know I should write about it...somehow. I mean, the idea of making this blog just purely gifs has been enticing me for a while now, but then I thought, "Wait Jenny, Buzzfeed already exists."
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| Sorry. I'll stop now*. (*Probably not) |
So with all of the above said and gif-ed, I thought I'd put forth a very few of the many, many things East 15 has taught me these past two years. Here you go:
A Few Lessons from East 15
1. Find what works for you.
I've been introduced to so many new concepts, theories, practices, etc during my time here. East 15 does an amazing job at handing you different and challenging tools without demanding you that you MUST use each one at ALL times. Yes, put your full effort into every exercise in every class - in other words, just try it - and then, go back and analyze. See what you can apply practically. Discover what helps you break through, clarify, and open up. Then take those things and run with them. And maybe more importantly, don't sweat the stuff that doesn't work for you.
2. Studying with people from all over the world might teach you just as much as whatever you're studying.
I don't say this to lessen everything learned from my tutors and directors here, but only to quantify the impact my peers have had on me. I had been lucky to travel a bit before coming here, but having always lived in Texas, you only get exposed to so much. Over the past two years, I've fallen into love and life with my cohort. We hailed from Korea, Egypt, France, Italy, Norway, Japan, Cyprus, Germany, Romania, Belgium, Canada, Venezuela, Finland, and of course America. At the end of the Central Line in the greater London area, we've talked about life, our upbringing, our dreams. We've made theatre, explored England, and changed as people- all together. On top of that, I got to go study in Russia and experience life in a way I never thought possible. My world view is forever altered in the most amazing way because of these people and I'm really thankful for that.
3. Sometimes those stereotypes you have of drama school are true.
On any given day, I could look out onto campus and see 1st year BAs running around dodging Russian guards as part of their Living History project, CTs making up full musical scores during lunch picnics, others running scenes in full Shakespearean garb, people half-dressed practicing the accordion on the lawn or wandering around the pond pretending to be a raccoon. Very little surprises me at this point (and I love it).
4. Take care of yourself.
Maybe it's also because I'm leaving just as I'm entering my late twenties, but I've become so acutely aware of how important your health is in this profession. Yes, of course physically, but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. London and East 15 have been challenging and rewarding in all aspects of wellness. The training and the lifestyle will uncover both hidden strengths and dangerous blind spots. Luckily, I also had the best support net a grad student could ask for in my classmates and professors.
5. Theatre is important.
I would like to say that I already knew this before moving to London and I'm sure I did- I just understand it better now. I did a fair amount of research on the beneficial effects of theatre for my thesis, some are already pretty widely known: watching theatre increases learning and knowledge retention in kids, supporting the arts monetarily ultimately puts money back into the entire neighborhood and city, etc. All great reasons to go see a play, yeah? But I found this quote that I absolutely fell in love with that explains the absolute core of why we can never think of the theatre as dispensable. Courtesy of Bill English, artistic director of the San Francisco Playhouse:
"Our theatre is an empathy gym where we come to practice our powers of compassion. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Ghandi; these are the Olympic athletes of empathy. But the rest of us need to go to the gym. It’s tough to be compassionate in everyday life. We get cut off in traffic, get our purse snatched, get knocked down, our house broken into, our country is threatened. It’s tough to be empathetic. But from the darkness and anonymity of our seats, we are safe to risk entering into the lives of the characters on the other side of the proscenium. We feel what they feel, fear what they fear, love what they love, and hope for what they hope for. And along the way, with our one hundred hearts beating together in the dark, we realize that under the skin we are the same. And as we leave, we take that miraculous spirit of unity out into the world to make it better."
That's a mission that I want to be a part of for the rest of my life.
There's a song I haven't been able to stop listening to recently. It encapsulates my current general mood really accurately. This is "Rivers and Roads" by The Head and the Heart.
Anyone else feel like they could write a series of young adult novels based on my feelings right now or is that just me?
To our last week,
