The piano was finally, finally moved today. I walked in to school only to discover the brand new elevator was broken (arghghgh). But Mrs. G. prevailed upon the piano movers to come to school anyway and they got the darned thing out of the theatre about 12:15. I was never so delighted to wave goodbye to a piano. I love that instrument...but it was like having an elephant onstage in the theatre.
Long, full day today. We started with a short rehearsal time from 10:45-11:15. I blocked the Kid's solo while other parties worked in their spots. Mr. Beck jumped in to the blocking rehearsal...It's a grand thing when you work with someone for so many years that they can pick up and collaborate with you right on the spot...no egos...no who's idea was who's...Mr. Beck started working with the two actors who play the Kid. He had great images to open up the ideas of the song. Both Solveig and Emma are wonderful dancers and we wanted to use that in the choreography. Do you or did you ever dance around the room when you were in grade school all alone in your room?...I'll happily admit it...I sure did...
Some people have to talk to themselves, some have to write it down, some draw ideas...the Kid loves to move and, in this play she is a voracious reader...she knows tons of stories from books. When she decides that the kingdom needs a hero, in her song, at first, she paints the hero in traditional, patriarchal ways...using "he" and more traditional male stereotypes of a hero--seperate from herself...Suddenly, after exploring the ideas in the song--the qualities one really needs to be a hero, she realizes that she doesn't need to be a boy or tall or even a grown-up..She realizes that she has integrity and she understands the pen is mightier than the sword...Hey, maybe the hero could possibly be...Her...Mr. Beck and I took turns volleying the idea of sharing these ideas with the audience. Ideally, the audience should be thinking..."It's YOU. The hero can be YOU Kid." The audience needs to be included in the discovery and the connections that the girl makes in her song.
Both Emma and Solveig got it...they realized that the song should be fun and exhausting and freeing to sing. Both easy and hard at the same time...It is crazy how that never changes about singing...It always feels so easy and so complicated to me as a singer...Working with the girls and Mr. Beck was great fun...Phoebe was there as one of our choreographers. She was observing Mr. Beck working to challenge the actors to free themselves of constraints so they could explore new ideas through movement. Thanks for being savvy and dedicated enough to stay for the extra few minutes of rehearsal Phoebe...it was kind of a magical rehearsal for all of us.
Have I mentioned that this project would be literally impossible to do without my colleague and Associate Teacher, Ms. Snyder? Her combination of professional experience and her depth of knowledge of theatre pedagogy is hard to beat. And she's fun to work with and never loses her cool...She is the person who keeps it from being work for me...when we are collaborating and putting this whole thing together, I feel as if it's all going to work out.
Then the middle school broke for lunch and recess and this afternoon we ran from where we left off yesterday. Starting at scene 3, we worked through the show scene by scene til we reached a song. Then we'd go through the song and subsequently change casts and go back from the beginning of that previous rehearsal section and do it again with the other cast. Am I making sense? In short, we did everything twice. I think it worked well for the kids cause the crew was able to do and see everything twice and all of the actors had the opportunity to work on stage today.
Sid and Abbey are just getting started with the lighting. We'll be coming in this weekend and they're staying late tonight to try and gel and focus every instrument before we start tech rehearsals on Monday.
Ms. Holland was in yesterday to coach two of our singers. The schedule has been so hectic, both Mrs. G and I were especially thrilled to have Ms. Holland in to work one-on-one with singers. I observed a transformation in the confidence of one of the actors who was up onstage shortly after the coaching session. It was quite moving to me to see how much one can accomplish with students when they have talent of expert artists at their fingertips. I love working on a project where we can provide such intense experiences for our kids. One-on-one coaching with a professional singer is a huge treat for a young artist, not to mention a great confidence booster. Huge thanks to our Baker parent and professional singer Ms. Holland for sharing her gifts with our kids. We think we'll see her again next week.
I'm thinking of the Ghandi quote that goes something like, "Become the change you want to see in the world." I feel as if our parents are really taking these ideas to heart with EGNC project. There is something special about our Baker community that draws a diversity of talent and a desire for connectedness between adults and children. We enjoy our kids...I see this in our teachers and in our volunteers who aren't only middle school parents, but parents from all different grades. These parents: Ms. Holland, Ms. Oberman, the Roses, Rebecca who made our beautiful purse for June, Mr. Hensley, Mrs. Smookler and Mrs. Hay, parents who built sets with their kids, and Mr. Haight who has little children but who has spent countless hours teaching our middle school kids how to create a documentary film.
How did we get so lucky to become part of this Baker community? I am overwhelmed with the skill, artistry and compassion of our parents. And I am so grateful for their generosity of time and talent.
A sad farewell to middle school Math Associate, Ms. Mallett who is going to the city to do her student teaching. Ms. Mallett has a background in directing and choreography and she has worked as an Assistant Director on EGNC since I drafted her the day I found out she had theatre experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you Ms. Mallett. We look forward to seeing you at a performance in two weeks. Best of luck with your (fortunate) new students.
Ms. Wilson.
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