Process, Process, Process

As week three begins, Wendy (Hall) and the students are doing ballet technique to Bon Jovi, while I am in reverie about the process-rich format of our program here at Summer Studio. When we came together as a faculty last summer, we agreed it was very important to pass on some of the skills in performing arts that would make for happy, healthy performers in the future. To that end, we teach technique exercises in dance, acting, and voice that we hope to be in each student's personal "bag of warm-ups" in their personal practice. We have regular "check-ins" about the work of the students; just this morning, one student shared her method of memorizing lyrics with the others. As many of us know, the performing arts can feel very competitive for a young performer; when that competition is removed, as our theory went, the student is more willing to take risks and grow. So far, it's also amazing to see the swell of generosity and trust that each student shows the group.

Speaking of creating a competition-free zone: a word about our showcase! The idea behind this informal showing (July 30th at 7:30pm! Free of charge!) is to highlight the students' work in acting, singing, and dance. Each student will have a solo piece in the showcase, which we hand-picked to show off the student's personality and range. We don't do auditions, but pick material based on our observations when building the all-cast numbers. No stress, no muss, no fuss, no tears. We will do some audition technique workshops in the final week, but our philosophy so far is to treat auditions as something that happens outside of this experience. Our job is to build up students for the tests they will face outside Summer Studio. (And, I might add, they each sound fantastic!) On Tuesday, each student will receive personalized vocal coaching from Ben (Rauhala), and I will work with each to transfer our monologue skills to song. Based on our very early work on playwriting, students are writing introductions, transition scenes, and short monologues to educate the audience on the "page to stage" connections. They are a hard-working bunch, and I couldn't be more proud of their work!

OK, ok, enough philosophy -- let's talk about STAGE COMBAT! Our own Chris Webb led us in an afternoon of kicking and hair-pulling that highlighted technique and safety. It was fun to watch -- and occasionally practice with Chris -- some really convincing and stomach-turning moves. (Don't be surprised if there's, oh, say, a CAT fight in the show.... Meow!) Thanks, Chris!

-Liz Fenstermaker, on behalf of the Summer Studio Team