Tuesday, December 05, 2006
At Long Last: Brrrrrrrr.....
It finally feels like Winter! Though sunny and bright, it is very cold , and the recent tropical days of the false springtime are banished quickly from memory....where did i put that pair of gloves anyway??? So much has been going on since Thanksgiving, I apologize to readers for not writing in a while. And hello to Brian T....thanks for the comment, reminding us how much we miss you too! Please write and fill us in on your life....seems impossible how quickly the years have flown since Barter! So good to hear from you.....and good to know you read this blog, still.
The semester winds down at NYU, and there is a sort of giddy feeling about the time of rest and renewal the Christmas break will bring. My classes have been working particularly hard, as I am sure they have been in all their other classes as well, so the students have earned a good rest in the arms of their family...the more I teach, the more admiration I have for both teachers and students. It is a long and sensitive and difficult road, the road to change and growth. Frankly, I wonder how we all get through it even half alive! And when you are dealing with the human voice, emotions and the communication between people as the center of your training, well...suffice it to say that there is never a dull moment, and if there is, you're doing it wrong!
That being said, we have been romping through such events as my Song Analysis students performing in their first All School Program Meeting (the very words bring fear to the hearts of all!), and came off well....learning much in the process....we have met as a teaching body and have begun to discuss and share methods and approaches...this is the heart and soul of Steinhardt, and i find it not only stimulating but an admirable pasttime: Bill W. insists that we talk to each other and makes it possible for us all to do so. Encourages us, in fact, to have open lines with each other at all times, and so the community of singing teachers (truly some of the best in the City, I believe) and the smaller community of acting teachers are beginning to de-mystify each others' worlds and it can only result in better and better teaching for the students. Quite thrilling.
I have done some radio work, been asked to audition more times than I have been able to accept, but will re-sign with the Abrams Agency on December 13th, at their request. Perhaps in 2007, I can book some on-camera spots, for a change. That would be fun. I simply have not had the time or mind to concentrate on that world at all. The teaching pretty much consumes me right now. And I include in that "teaching", the guiding I am doing with the group at 46-10 Village. Tonight we begin to read aloud MOON OVER BUFFALO! This group is getting pretty good together. We have read A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS and many little scenes from other plays, and tonight we add the Ken Ludwig piece to our repertoire! Should be fun. I will work with them a few more sessions this year, and then take off for the Holidays, re-convening at the first of the new year.
Sent off a package today for Rick and Amanda at the Barter: the first two seasons of SLINGS AND ARROWS! They will adore it! This Canadian production about a beleaguered Shakespearean Theater Company (called The New Burbage in the show), is too wonderful for words! Funny and specifically insightful about the world we all know so well: the theater company and its politics and art. Dearly fun. Peter and i felt that Rick and Amanda must see it, so it is our Holiday Gift to them. I wish i could watch it with them. Drink some good mountain 'shine and laugh and laugh with our old pals. I miss them so. But Barter feels like forever away.
We shall spend Christmas Eve at cousin Nancy's up in Westchester, and help Paul and Steve throw a large Christmas Day Open House at their place....Peter and i want to do a Jewel Tree for the Holiday: honoring all the mentors and guides we have benefitted from through the years, and we are in the process of figuring out what we want it to look like...the idea of a Jewel tree comes from the meditation we have done with Bob Thurman of the same name. It is very powerful and beautiful, and seems like the perfect way to honor those we love and close out 2006, while inviting a grateful and loving 2007. So we shall adorn some form of living green thing with photos of those we love and things that sparkle and we shall sit in front of it and be grateful together in the dark night for all the marvelous things life has given us. Especially each other. And everyone else we love. Presents don't seem nearly as important as the sheer conscious recognition of the many gifts we already have.
The semester winds down at NYU, and there is a sort of giddy feeling about the time of rest and renewal the Christmas break will bring. My classes have been working particularly hard, as I am sure they have been in all their other classes as well, so the students have earned a good rest in the arms of their family...the more I teach, the more admiration I have for both teachers and students. It is a long and sensitive and difficult road, the road to change and growth. Frankly, I wonder how we all get through it even half alive! And when you are dealing with the human voice, emotions and the communication between people as the center of your training, well...suffice it to say that there is never a dull moment, and if there is, you're doing it wrong!
That being said, we have been romping through such events as my Song Analysis students performing in their first All School Program Meeting (the very words bring fear to the hearts of all!), and came off well....learning much in the process....we have met as a teaching body and have begun to discuss and share methods and approaches...this is the heart and soul of Steinhardt, and i find it not only stimulating but an admirable pasttime: Bill W. insists that we talk to each other and makes it possible for us all to do so. Encourages us, in fact, to have open lines with each other at all times, and so the community of singing teachers (truly some of the best in the City, I believe) and the smaller community of acting teachers are beginning to de-mystify each others' worlds and it can only result in better and better teaching for the students. Quite thrilling.
I have done some radio work, been asked to audition more times than I have been able to accept, but will re-sign with the Abrams Agency on December 13th, at their request. Perhaps in 2007, I can book some on-camera spots, for a change. That would be fun. I simply have not had the time or mind to concentrate on that world at all. The teaching pretty much consumes me right now. And I include in that "teaching", the guiding I am doing with the group at 46-10 Village. Tonight we begin to read aloud MOON OVER BUFFALO! This group is getting pretty good together. We have read A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS and many little scenes from other plays, and tonight we add the Ken Ludwig piece to our repertoire! Should be fun. I will work with them a few more sessions this year, and then take off for the Holidays, re-convening at the first of the new year.
Sent off a package today for Rick and Amanda at the Barter: the first two seasons of SLINGS AND ARROWS! They will adore it! This Canadian production about a beleaguered Shakespearean Theater Company (called The New Burbage in the show), is too wonderful for words! Funny and specifically insightful about the world we all know so well: the theater company and its politics and art. Dearly fun. Peter and i felt that Rick and Amanda must see it, so it is our Holiday Gift to them. I wish i could watch it with them. Drink some good mountain 'shine and laugh and laugh with our old pals. I miss them so. But Barter feels like forever away.
We shall spend Christmas Eve at cousin Nancy's up in Westchester, and help Paul and Steve throw a large Christmas Day Open House at their place....Peter and i want to do a Jewel Tree for the Holiday: honoring all the mentors and guides we have benefitted from through the years, and we are in the process of figuring out what we want it to look like...the idea of a Jewel tree comes from the meditation we have done with Bob Thurman of the same name. It is very powerful and beautiful, and seems like the perfect way to honor those we love and close out 2006, while inviting a grateful and loving 2007. So we shall adorn some form of living green thing with photos of those we love and things that sparkle and we shall sit in front of it and be grateful together in the dark night for all the marvelous things life has given us. Especially each other. And everyone else we love. Presents don't seem nearly as important as the sheer conscious recognition of the many gifts we already have.
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