Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Praise for Young Actors...
...and an outpouring of admiration and support for those particular young actors, singers, dancers who I have had the privilege to get to know throughout my years as a teacher.
And i use the phrase "get to know" because I have begun to realize that , for me , there is no true teaching unless there is a process of genuine "getting to know" going on between teacher and student. Therefore, the courage that it takes for anyone to allow themselves to be known, really known, is praiseworthy in itself....and to allow oneself, at a tender age, to put one's trust in another with the authority to guide and lead them is pretty awesome, when you get right down to it.
The older I get, there are two ways one could develop as a teacher: one is to take for granted that everything one does and says is the "right" way...and that the student who does not listen and do what the teac says is "wrong"...this way lies disaster, of course.
The other way to grow, is to open more and more what the Shambala writers call "the tender heart" and listen with it..to hear what even the quietest student has to say, must say, even if they don't possess the means with which to say it presently. Lately, I have learned so much this way.
A person once warned me to never write about my students in my blog...that it is an act of disrespect for some, even if i do not mean it to be...that young actors are hurt easily, and if i praise one, another might take offense...etc. But this was warned to me by someone who is afraid of their own life. And because I loved this person, I listened respectfully. But now I understand something else.
Young actors and actresses need to be praised. And they need to be encouraged in even their meagerest strivings. The smallest act of courage needs to be acknowledged and supported. Sometimes to simply get out of bed in the morning is the largest life gesture a young one can make, and that, in its way, is as large and brave as booking a Broadway show. And because WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, ALL OF US, and what we need to do is a public sharing committment, I must not be afraid of stating what I mean to say in support of the young actors who work with me. They need to know, as does the world, that what they are doing matters.That the smallest steps in the process , the quietest lessons they are learning, the boulders that move only an inch when they need to move miles, all these small awarenesses, all these little openings, need to be praised and recognized! Like the magical healing, overnight, of a cut ....one day it's a wound, the next a scab, then, as if by magic, you forgot where the hurt was....it has, of its own organic nature, healed. And all you did was wait it out! This is how some of the best performing artists I know have come to their destinies.
So, this is not a horse-race...it is ahuman one...and I will praise my people!
My Alex T. Who just booked HISTORY BOYS on Broadway...My Liz K. who strives to put her brilliant talent into audiiton rooms...my Jesse F. who graces the world with his voice every time he sings and dances and acts...my Leah D. whose passion is bubbling over to make a difference...and on and on...these young beauties teach me and my life something everytime I come near them...they bless me each time.
And i use the phrase "get to know" because I have begun to realize that , for me , there is no true teaching unless there is a process of genuine "getting to know" going on between teacher and student. Therefore, the courage that it takes for anyone to allow themselves to be known, really known, is praiseworthy in itself....and to allow oneself, at a tender age, to put one's trust in another with the authority to guide and lead them is pretty awesome, when you get right down to it.
The older I get, there are two ways one could develop as a teacher: one is to take for granted that everything one does and says is the "right" way...and that the student who does not listen and do what the teac says is "wrong"...this way lies disaster, of course.
The other way to grow, is to open more and more what the Shambala writers call "the tender heart" and listen with it..to hear what even the quietest student has to say, must say, even if they don't possess the means with which to say it presently. Lately, I have learned so much this way.
A person once warned me to never write about my students in my blog...that it is an act of disrespect for some, even if i do not mean it to be...that young actors are hurt easily, and if i praise one, another might take offense...etc. But this was warned to me by someone who is afraid of their own life. And because I loved this person, I listened respectfully. But now I understand something else.
Young actors and actresses need to be praised. And they need to be encouraged in even their meagerest strivings. The smallest act of courage needs to be acknowledged and supported. Sometimes to simply get out of bed in the morning is the largest life gesture a young one can make, and that, in its way, is as large and brave as booking a Broadway show. And because WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, ALL OF US, and what we need to do is a public sharing committment, I must not be afraid of stating what I mean to say in support of the young actors who work with me. They need to know, as does the world, that what they are doing matters.That the smallest steps in the process , the quietest lessons they are learning, the boulders that move only an inch when they need to move miles, all these small awarenesses, all these little openings, need to be praised and recognized! Like the magical healing, overnight, of a cut ....one day it's a wound, the next a scab, then, as if by magic, you forgot where the hurt was....it has, of its own organic nature, healed. And all you did was wait it out! This is how some of the best performing artists I know have come to their destinies.
So, this is not a horse-race...it is ahuman one...and I will praise my people!
My Alex T. Who just booked HISTORY BOYS on Broadway...My Liz K. who strives to put her brilliant talent into audiiton rooms...my Jesse F. who graces the world with his voice every time he sings and dances and acts...my Leah D. whose passion is bubbling over to make a difference...and on and on...these young beauties teach me and my life something everytime I come near them...they bless me each time.
Post a Comment