Even though I did a workshop a week ago at the Ice House, I had a fresh group of students and teachers to work with. This week was a group of pre-teens working on Cinderella and the group of younger kids doing Art Week. The counsellors from the week before were on hand for that group so I felt obligated to do some new things, while repeating things like Rosalie. It really didn’t matter since I had a whole group of theater kids to work with today.
I took time to reflect on what we were doing, especially for the older kids, a chance to take things out of ‘performance’ mode and respond to how I was doing what I do. The counsellors came up with some quite astute responses, and that helped things sink in with the campers. Great connection with these fine teachers.
Rosalie, Where are you Going was a great exercise in individual acting, with both the experienced teens and the younger kids getting into the spirit. I ended up with All Around the Kitchen, again, some great individual dance moves and community energy.
At the end, I took time for all of us to reflect on what just happened. Beyond the usual comments of ‘we danced’, ‘we sang’, there were some pretty pithy comments about experiencing the energy, the silly and yet awesome songs, stepping out side of our personal zones. My friend Doug Roysdon commented from the balcony that we had just enjoyed an American Experience, with Appalachian and Afro-American musics.
I reflected that I arrived to this gig wiped out from my exhausting day of gigs and travel the day before. I said that they had energized me beyond what I had expected, and I thanked them for it. I said that this is why we do our art.
As I packed up, several of the counsellors came up and said that they had grown up listening to my music. Perhaps that’s why they ‘got it.’ A nice moment, for sure.