Dear Families,
With a few weeks of Performing Arts classes under our belts, we want to pass along how thrilled we are with the students in our classes. In both Middle and High School, your lovelies handled Song Share with such bravery, commitment and willingness. The Dance auditions were also outstanding. It is quite a moving experience to be witness to a full throng of young adults crammed into the Assembly Room, with music blasting, moving so freely, expressively, and with such energized passion. Kudos to our choreographers, Mayana and Sinead, for creating movement that was doable for dancers of all experience, from veterans to newcomers.
Sometimes I wish you, as parents, could be ‘flies on the wall’ to watch not only singers sing or dancers dance, but just as importantly, how the ‘audience’ of student watchers clap and encourage one another. It just goes to show what we all know: we are better people when we allow our humanity, compassion, and empathy to be our guides and conduits to the outer world.
Now, we move on to the Vocal Auditions, followed by Scenes or monologues and, of course, casting. Our emphasis throughout the audition process as well as the rehearsal period will continue to be on supporting one another to take risks of involvement and engagement, and to allow for character exploration and discovery. Whether singing, speaking or moving, it is finding the joy of embodying a fictional persona different from us or even more exciting, similar in some ways.
While auditions are a necessary step in the casting process, the true rewards are far beyond which part is assigned to whom (although we all know for some, this is a difficult process of not always getting what we want or think we deserve. More on that later) Within the creative journey ahead of us will certainly come the expansion of theatrical abilities, but the trump card is and will always be the reaffirmation of the connectivity and supportive strength of our ‘classroom’ and larger communities.
We look forward to working together.
Sampad ~ On behalf of the PA Team: Brian, Mayana, and Sinead
