overheard
in college i had this conversation with my friend matt:
matt: so what are you gonna major in?
me: theatre.
matt: really? you seem too sincere. you're too good of a person to be a theatre major.
me: aren't you a theatre major?
matt: yeah, but i'm a scumbag.
at the time i laughed but wondered if it were true. was i going to be surrounded by scumbags for four years? was my potentially thriving theatre career doomed to make me a terrible, insincere person? or would i stay the same and just be driven crazy by my coworkers until i couldn't take it anymore?
yeah - the third one.
i never wanted to be a star - i hate auditions, i can't dance, and quite frankly i'm not all that comfortable in front of an audience. what i've loved about theatre, since i was introduced at 9 years old, was that you got to explore the life and feelings of other people from all over the world just by being a character for a while. in my opinion, theatre could help kids to truly look past racial and class lines to the person inside, if they have been able to do it through theatre.
after 3 years of teaching drama in colorado i thought that it was the perfect job. now i teach through a performing arts organization, and the difference is clear. having a classroom, in a school environment, where drama is just one part of the curriculum, meant that i was surrounded by educators all day - not actors, dancers, singers and directors, as i am now. i should have listened more closely to that conversation in college and predicted the disenchantment i feel.
i am done with the drama of drama.
update: i started this post a month ago today. in that time i have gotten a blocked lymph node that swelled to the size of a walnut and pinched a nerve between my shoulder blades so that i can't breathe move my left arm very well - all due to stress. on the other hand, i also started applications to grad school for education and a teaching credential. right now two years of papers and tests sounds like a vacation...
matt: so what are you gonna major in?
me: theatre.
matt: really? you seem too sincere. you're too good of a person to be a theatre major.
me: aren't you a theatre major?
matt: yeah, but i'm a scumbag.
at the time i laughed but wondered if it were true. was i going to be surrounded by scumbags for four years? was my potentially thriving theatre career doomed to make me a terrible, insincere person? or would i stay the same and just be driven crazy by my coworkers until i couldn't take it anymore?
yeah - the third one.
i never wanted to be a star - i hate auditions, i can't dance, and quite frankly i'm not all that comfortable in front of an audience. what i've loved about theatre, since i was introduced at 9 years old, was that you got to explore the life and feelings of other people from all over the world just by being a character for a while. in my opinion, theatre could help kids to truly look past racial and class lines to the person inside, if they have been able to do it through theatre.
after 3 years of teaching drama in colorado i thought that it was the perfect job. now i teach through a performing arts organization, and the difference is clear. having a classroom, in a school environment, where drama is just one part of the curriculum, meant that i was surrounded by educators all day - not actors, dancers, singers and directors, as i am now. i should have listened more closely to that conversation in college and predicted the disenchantment i feel.
i am done with the drama of drama.
update: i started this post a month ago today. in that time i have gotten a blocked lymph node that swelled to the size of a walnut and pinched a nerve between my shoulder blades so that i can't breathe move my left arm very well - all due to stress. on the other hand, i also started applications to grad school for education and a teaching credential. right now two years of papers and tests sounds like a vacation...
posted by jordan at
10:28 PM
1 Comments:
My oldest niece is a senior in high school (scary, I know...) and she's flirted with the idea of majoring in theater. I told her to talk to you... and to look for schools that also have good education programs. :)
By
Rebecca, at October 20, 2006 5:24 PM
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