Make way for Tofurkey!

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I know, I know, it's been years since I have posted anything new! Shame on me! I'll try to catch up ... So, first, it's holiday season. Our Thanksgiving break was just long enough to make us feel how exhausted we were, and I had the chance to eat a delicious traditional meal prepared by my favorite roommate. The only unconventional dish was Tofurkey for an assistance mainly composed of vegetarians ...

What a ride!

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OMG, guys, these past two weeks! 

First, the passage of Sandy. Here in Queens we barely felt it. Just a few gusts of wind soon forgotten, followed by a week of (very welcome) forced vacation.

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, Sandy's in the place, yo.

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So here I am waiting for the coming of our stormy visitor. Classes were canceled tomorrow for the first time in the history of Circle (barely an exaggeration). No subways from tonight 7pm. Which means ... more time to catch up on my blog !

These last two weeks have been full of new and varied emotions ... The first is that, nine hours a day locked up in an environment where we are asked to expose ourselves constantly can wreck havoc in my ability to relate to people without tension.

Week...? Who's counting anymore?

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Hello hello, my faithful readers!

Last weekend was very busy, so I found myself forced to postpone my article to today ... thus, I now have too much to say!

First thing I should say is, we are tired!

These last two weeks have been epic and eventful ... The week before last week was hard for me and I found myself going back to an "hyper protective" state, which is not really the most efficient for a theater program, eh ... So last weekend I kicked my own ass to get back to "vulnerable" ... come what may!

Time goes by so quickly when you're having fun...or not!

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Argh my dears, time here is not elastic! I was planning to write an article last week, but quite frankly I do not even see it go by ! It is very strange indeed, because on one hand time goes at breakneck speed, and on the other it feels like I have started months ago ....

The week began rather well with the Broadway Flea Market last Sunday where we went with Heather and Leehee (another crazy Broadway buff). We wandered between stands, saw lots of beautiful  theater people and stopped to say hi to our favorite diva, who was wearing a damn beautiful shawl that was not unfamiliar ... :)

Week one - Did you say overwhelmed?

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Hello lovely people!

So here I am ready to give you a condensed (if possible) report of the first week of classes ... yeeha, hang on and here we go!

First day, nine o'clock in the theater for the briefing with Colin, the director of the school. We, the geeky first years who had met the day before for a picnic in Central Park, kind of huddled in the same row, comparing our schedules. Mine is pretty well balanced : from 9am to 18pm every day except Wednesday when I start at 11am and on Thursday/Friday when I finish earlier. The second years make a hell of a racket, and are clearly too happy to see each other again.

Sunday afternnon ... All these beautiful people, only Ali (blonde) and Brittany (far right) are in my group. 

Colin gives us a rundown on the school where we understand that this is not going to be a walk in the park, and before we have time to breathe we find ourselves in Voice with Lucille Rubin. For now, it's not too hard, as she's introducing the program, but on Wednesday it starts getting serious ... :)
Right after we have Alexander Technique, where we go into big philosophical discussions about posture. We  eat lunch with a slingshot then re-topo with Paul libbin replacing the late Theodore Mann as artistic director of the school and the theater. A passionate and intelligent man, it is a pleasure to listen to him.

All the cool kids have regret - CrazyTown post.

Who hasn't heard the expression "no regrets"? But the truth is, we'd better buckle up for some if we want to actually have lived...

I don't know about you, but I tend to regret more the things I did than the things I didn't do. Because of this, I spent many years doing nothing, living in fear of having to one day regret my choices. Let's face it, the overwhelming message of any well-meaning friend or self-help book is "Live to the fullest, you don't want to have regrets". Ah, yes. But here's the catch: if you truly live to the fullest, you are going to have regrets. For sure. It's non-negotiable. From the moment you make a choice, you are giving up the alternative and taking the responsibility of whatever future feelings will come with that choice.

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And what do you do? - CrazyTown guest post

It is not always easy to find your place when you refuse to be put in a box. It is, however, highly entertaining to watch other people trying, and failing, to categorize you. 

Ever since I was a child, I always had an overwhelming urge to thoroughly and immediately explore anything that took my fancy. One thing ALWAYS led to another and I lived happily in a Matryoshka-like world, where every interest would eventually bring me to another, completely new.

As I grew older, needless to say, I didn’t change much. What did change were the expectations of the outside world. I discovered with dismay, as I boarded the coasts of adulthood, that you were not supposed to “do” too many things.  

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I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible - CT Post

I’m a sucker for the life of dead female authors. I don’t know where the fascination lies. It probably dates back to my ten year old self imagining my tragic destiny as a lonesome and misunderstood writer (yes, I was a depressing child) but the fact remains: give me anything Austen, Brontë, Woolf or less known,  and I float off into a world of romanticism and imagination. And then I come back with relief to my present happy self. If you’re so inclined, here are some gems you might enjoy.

• The Complete Poems of Emily Brontë (here’s my favorite)


• The Victorian Women Writers project : if you’ve got a little time, you’ll find some unknown treasures in there.

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Don't give up stories, they can save your life.

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On how fairy tales continue to guide me, even into adulthood.

Even today, in my venerable old age of 30, one of my favorite movies is "Spirited Away", from Myazaki. I could argue about the intrinsic quality of the work, but the real reason it is dear to me is has nothing to do with its obvious artistic qualities.

The first time I saw it (I was about 19), from the first frame, the atmosphere of this movie transported me right into my childhood dreams. And every time I watch it again, it never fails to reconnect me instantly to a primal part of myself, both serene and enthusiastic, generally stifled by "the realities of life".

When I was a kid, my favorite dreams might have been regarded by others as nightmares. But this notion was foreign to me (at the time, I had the ability to change dreams at will, and thus never found myself "trapped"), and I reveled in the strange and dangerous worlds and fabulous adventures that filled my nights.

Try a little tenderness - Crazy Town Post

What is this sorcery? Sometimes a good artist can also be a mean person.

When I was 19 years old, I learned the hard way that being a good artist did not automatically imply being a good person. As a first year music student, I became an assistant for one of my teachers, wonderful singer/performer and very dysfunctional human being. I escaped the very dysfunctional relationship that ensued after nine months, jolted awake by a family emergency.

Nearly ten years later, after very little contact, this person wrote me the meanest, low hitting things anyone has ever hurt me with, mean to the point where I refrained from reading that letter more than once, so afraid was I that I would never be able to forget it otherwise.

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The purpose of this blog

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*Edit* : While waiting for this blog to start in August, you can find me blogging at CrazyTown for the summer.

One year ago, I didn't imagine that, by August 2012, I would be living in New York, going to school on Broadway, fulfilling a 15 years old dream that I had never dared caress before. And all this at an age when, according to the common census, you're supposed to "settle down". No matter how big of a change this means, or how terrifying it can seem at times, I can honestly say that I have never been as excited about the future as I am now, nor as happy. Maybe I did it all backward, but I'd much rather have the hope I have now, rather than when I was 20 years old. I know it won't easily be crushed, because I come from a worst place. I take everything that happens from now on as an extra gift from life.

In August, I will start blogging here to document this change of venue, as well as life at Circle in the Square Theater School. When I was looking at schools on the internet, I had the worst time finding students thoughts on the different programs. Hopefully, my experience will help others making their own choice. So, if you're so enclined, check back in the summer for the beginning of this adventure!