Monday, March 30, 2015

Journal Entry 9: Alexander Techniques of the Soul


For this week, reflect on your own perception of your self worth, your abilities. How does your take on your abilities line up with reality? How do you know that? What do you find yourself saying to yourself that reinforces your self-image? How might you improve the messages you give to yourself?

 This prompt is something that I’ve personally been struggling and discovering the answer to for the last few years of my life. I honestly don’t have all of the answers to this question, but I’ll try to talk about everything I know so far.
I have discovered in the last few years (the past year in particular) that I am more of an intellectual than I first thought. My constant work in theatre in the last year has opened my eyes to the artist that I am, and also how much more there is to discover that is in me. I have trained as a singer for almost ten years now, and now that I’ve returned to school and gotten to immerse myself into courses and experiences that have made me a more complete performer, I feel so much more capable.
That being said, I still am struggling to get perspective on how I compare to others in my craft. Am I on the right track? Do I have a lot of catching up to do? I feel like I’m headed in the right direction, but sometimes I doubt myself. I suppose that that is a normal healthy thought process to have, and that there are always times when we doubt ourselves, but I do wish I had a way to get a good perspective. I am very excited about what the next year holds, because I have a lot of plans to help my journey into that perspective.  I will be heading to New York City during spring break and plan to get as much exposure to theatre as possible (if anyone has any suggestions, let me know), and this summer I plan on working out of state on my craft.
Now that I’m on the subject of my summer plans, I’ll talk about another aspect of my abilities. In the past 9 months, I’ve discovered that I have a passion for Sound Design. EJ Cho has been the major influence in my dive into this craft, and we all know that she is a fantastic teacher and mentor. She also pushes you to be your absolute best, and I think that I work best when someone is pushing me and I have someone to impress. In the next two days, I’ll have to decide if I want to head to the East Coast to pursue a Sound Design apprenticeship with a theatre company in Ithica, NY, or if I want to head to the West Coast to attend a Summer Acting Conservatory in Los Angeles. It’s wonderful to have these options, but it’s daunting trying to make a decision that will likely heavily influence the decisions I make concerning the work I do during my final semester of college and my post- graduation plans.
I want to find my voice as designer and I think that I am so excited about sound because it’s something that’s new to me and I think I have a skill for it. EJ has been very encouraging, and having that perspective has made me confident in the path that I’m taking in that discipline.
I think I am a talented actor who has gotten a lot of character roles, and have honed that part of my craft well. I am definitely interested in working on a role that offers a more (sorry Dr. Fletcher) “realistic” character. I really haven’t played many roles in that realm, and most of my work has been playing comedic roles or caricatures of people. I’d love to get some experience playing a character that has more (sorry again) “realistic” circumstances and views. That will challenge me as an actor and likely put me out of my comfort zone. Whatever I do, I want to continue working on all of my skills and be able to use them as a professional once I graduate.

I keep telling myself that I have to work as hard as I can while I have to opportunity to. I don’t know what the future holds, but while I’m here at LSU with the resources I have, I’m going to make the most of it. I think that this semester I have probably overcommitted and worked on too many projects, especially while taking 19 hours, but hopefully I’ll come out the other side in one piece.

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