I had a delightful visit with Dr. Laura Edmondson’s Theatre History class in late February to demonstrate mask work and how the tools of commedia dell’arte can serve us as theatre makers today. I was joined in the masks by a couple of Laura’s fearless students, Holden and Ellie. Enjoy!
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In August I was honored to give a workshop to theatre KAPOW, a superb company of NH theatre artists who bring both classic and new plays to life, and also generate original material through communal devising. Each summer they have a retreat in which they bring in specialists to explore particular performance techniques, and this year I was asked to lead a workshop in mask. Company founders Matt and Carey Cahoon, along with company member and Board President Peter Josephson and others donned hats, scarves and half-masks of my own construction to improvise solo and duo turns in the beautiful…
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Phew, where did the end of 2013 go? Like many folks, I spent the holiday season rushing about between blizzards, visiting with family while dodging second and third helpings of dessert. Also, there’s the issue of a new, boisterous voice in the house: But, in addition to such chaotic fun, I do have a few exciting theatre accomplishments and upcoming events to report. My trip to the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts in Concord, MA reunited me with my former student Brian Boruta, who is now doing a marvelous job directing the Performing Arts department of this impressive organization.…
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Today I write with the smells of Axe Body Spray and assorted fruity/floral concoctions still lingering in my mind and in my luggage. Last week, I spent five days at Gould Academy, in Bethel, Maine, teaching as part of their Sophomore Four Point program. This is an intensive mid-term week during which the sophomores work with professional artists, learning about their crafts, watching presentations, and building their own original art pieces. (The other classes at Gould do equally cool things off-campus during the Four Point program: the freshman go to China; the juniors go winter camping–heavy duty that far north!;…
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Had a great weekend in Fayetteville, NC, where I went to visit my friend Dr. Michael Martin, the director of Choral Activities and Music Education at Methodist University. I had met him a few years back through my work as a presentation coach and choreographer for barbershop choirs (thanks to Dr. Bill Adams and the Austin Chord Rangers for bringing me into the barbershop world!). (If you want a nice mental picture, think of me in Austin, TX in the late 90s developing a dance routine for fifty men, aged 16-90, to spice up their rousing rendition of “Rubber Ducky.”)…