Two weeks done
We are in the midst of our "Calculus of Shakespeare's Language" class, now down to the Vowel Tree ("fuh-her" ) instructed by Christine Adaire who trained with Kristin Linklater, after noting every possible permuation of the iamb, verse/prose correlation, and the ever popular antithesis. But we also just started our Slapstick/Farce class -- assignment one: with three people and a given 3 minute soundtrack, make a silent movie in two days.
Nice thing about this program, as opposed to the only other two in the country in summers (Central Washing and Oregon), is that our instructors are working professionals from the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Festival, various Broadway shows, Jeff's Awards, with a couple from Boulder (Joel Fink and Sean Kelley).
Seeing lots of shows and filling notebooks and reading late. . .
posted by erdecker @ 11:47 PM
5 Comments:
so, will you be teaching at JM this fall, or continuing to take classes?
Well, I'll be @ JM. The health insurance is good.
Most of the schools here, though, are half the size with FIVE TIMES the theater class offerings with TEN TIMES the budget. . .hmmmm. So think about that difference: 800 student and TWO full time theater teachers. . . we offer one class for one semester with 1600 students. . .
Rochester Schools, for some reason, seems to advocate a PRIVATE fine arts theater education model (get ur classes @ the Masque or Civic or Stagecoach), as radically opposed to most of the rest of the country. I have never broached this on this blog, but it is blaringly political. Arts for those who can afford it or Arts for all? I'm sure you know my sentiment.
What it will take, beyond my pushing for more theater classes (which I am), is parents asking for more. Nothing will happen until then. As John Edwards is only very recently saying, "You get the leaders you deserve."
Isn't it amazing how we complain we want more, yet we refuse to act? Meanwhile... we spend millions of dollars on new classrooms, but refuse to fill them with anything beyond the basics that the original rooms could have contained.
I could rant, but I'll stop there.
blarg.
I agree with both of you, but we must remember that our president has set near impossible standards which our students are expected to fufill. I know for a fact that having a strong drama teaching is not one of those requirements. Be glad we have any theatre.
In response to the last post:
"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for."
-Maureen Dowd, in 'New York Times'
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