Another chance.

Often at our school it’s easy to get caught up in our jobs, the role we’ve defined for ourselves, or the one that’s been defined for us.  We find ourselves thinking that it’s the English department’s job to teach writing, the Theatre department’s job to teach acting, the dorm parent’s job to offer emotional support, the Admission department’s job to find great kids, and so on.  But really, that’s not the way it works.  A music history teacher that assigns a paper is instantly a writing teacher.  A Dance teacher dealing with a kid’s  insecurity about performing is teaching emotional coping skills and building (and I despise this term) self-esteem.  Admissions and marketing folks advise students, caring for them, bringing them Halloween candy.

We all have so many opportunities to participate in the teaching of these creatures that have found their way to our school.  One of the most fun requires the least effort: attending shows, concerts, plays, recitals, readings, and films.  Why is this instructive? A performer(and I include all of the disciplines as performers) needs an audience.  The mere presence of an audience changes the energy in a room.  Suddenly, a performer has a MIRROR!  Does the energy you’re giving come back?  Do they laugh in the right places?  If they don’t can I learn from that?  Is the audience moved by my work?  Entertained?  Bored?

Does having a great audience of my peers and teachers make me a better person?  Maybe or maybe not.  But consider this:  As a kid I was a miserable student in anything physical involving anything other than my hands.  I was inept at basketball, football, tennis.  I could go on but it’s depressing.  But it would have made all the difference to me if those gym teachers knew I could sort of play the piano.  I would have felt better about me.  I think they would have felt better about me.

Positive personal growth.  And YOU get to participate.

Our Country’s Good.  Friday and Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 2.  IAF Theatre.

Presented by the Idyllwild Arts Academy Theatre Department Company.