11/30/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I definitively learned a lot in today's acting class. We did about 5 different acting activities that helped us loosen up a lot more and be more natural. These activities were much different than anything we have ever done before in our acting classes. I'm starting to doubt my major/minor choice a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I love design and it is definitively something I want to pursue and learn more about. However, if I had more than one day of acting per week, I think that I would learn a lot more and progress as an actor a lot faster than I will with one day of training per week. Hopefully next marking level I can focus more on acting. I have until junior year to decide what I really want to do, so hopefully I get an even taste of both.

11/30/11 Journal

Today was Wednesday, which will be my only acting day for the second marking period. We did many acting exercises. For example, we did the "cat and mouse" game. In this game, one person was the cat while the other was the mouse. The cat had to chase the mouse until the mouse linked onto someone elses arm, or until the cat caught the mouse. Then, the people switch places. Another activity we played was the "yes" game. We had to look at someone in the room and if they said the word "yes", we had to walk to the place they were standing.

11/29/11 Participation

Participation: 100

Today I auditioned for the SPA 2011 Mainstage Benefit Concert. I covered the song "Just A Kiss" by Lady Antebellum. I accompanied myself on guitar, which I have been playing for about a year and a half. I have been singing for as long as I can remember, but I started lessons about a year ago. I personally think that I performed to the best of my ability. I know that I have a lot of work to do on guitar, because after hearing a lot of other people play I can tell it isn't my strongest ability. I stopped taking lessons last December, but now that I am starting to take music more seriously I am thinking about starting lessons again. I know I defiantly have a lot more work to do with my voice, but I think I am doing all I can to get better at this point. Hopefully my audition was good enough to get in, and if I get the chance to be in the concert, I will work my hardest to perform to the best of my ability.

11/29/11 Journal

Today was Tuesday, which means it is our one day of theater history. A lot of people find it a little boring, but I actually think it's interesting. Even with normal history classes, people always say "Why do we need to learn this, it's the past." I guess I kind of used to think like this too, but since starting theater history this year I finally know why. We need to know the things that lead up to how we live today. In today's lesson, we learned about naturalism. Naturalism was influenced by Charles Darwin and his theory in his book, Origin of Species, that genetics play a big part in peoples actions. Naturalists were very against Melodrama and Romanticism.

11/28/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for participation today. Since my major is design, I went to dance today to help with their show coming up. This marking period will defiantly be different than the last. Not all of us will be together everyday, which is something that will take some getting used to. Also, I wont be focusing on my acting as much, which is new. Today, Christa and I cut out leaves that will be used in the dance show. It isn't what I expected to be doing, but I know that in the long run it will only benefit me by learning absolutely every aspect of  the performing arts program at the school, which isn't something that all of the freshman will get to do.

11/28/11 Journal

Today was technically the first day of the marking period. We started our majors today, which meant not all of us were together as usual. Since my major is design, I went with Miguel, Christa, and Zack, who are production majors, to dance. We will be helping out with the dance show coming up in December. As of now, we will be there on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  

11/23/11 Participation

Participation: 100

Ever since last week, I have been thinking a lot more about my senior showcase. Since the beginning, Brett and I have talked about collaborating. Today we came up with the idea of doing a concert performance showcasing musical theater songs. We are aware that musical theater isn't what we are working on in the program, but we are hoping to not only showcase our performing ability, but also focus on the directing and design portions. Since Brett will be minoring in dance, he would choreograph the numbers that need to be. I work work on design, since it is my major as of now, and also musical direct since I have vocal training. We would both direct and block the numbers.

11/23/11 Journal

Today was a half day because of Thanksgiving break. We had a shortened class, but we got to stay an extra period. We talked about a few different things, but mostly we talked about the basics about the class for the new students that entered the program. We also talked about differences between the first marking level, and what the second marking level will be like. We will be starting our majors and minors this marking period. As of now, my major will be design and my minor will be acting. I will be working with Ms. Mack, for her dance show in December. I think it will be a good experience working in a different part of the Performing Arts school, but still doing what I love to do. Since design isn't always just costumes, I will also learn more about set and light designs which also seem very interesting to me.

11/22/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade in participation for the day. Being at the bottom of the list for open scenes wasn't exactly a great experience, but I consider it a lesson for future scenes and performances. It wasn't much of a surprise to me, because I did have a difficult time with the scene from the beginning and even Zari said it wasn't exactly the easiest scene. When I got my feedback, none of it was anything new. I knew that I was a little tense during the performance. It was probably because I was a little nervous about being graded on it, which is something that I will defiantly work on. I will take all the criticism that I got from today and make sure that my next final marking period grade is better than this one.                          

11/22/11 Journal

Today was Tuesday, which is usually our theater history day. Instead, we had our final for the marking level. We had to perform our open scenes in front of the class, and we were graded from worst to best. Unfortunately, I was ranked the lowest. I know the mistakes I made, and I know what I have to work on next time. I got to see my other classmates perform, and it was good to see the differences in their scenes than in mine. It as also very interesting to see Dylan and Allison perform there monologues, because I got to see what I looked like back in February when I auditioned for the program.

11/21/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for participation today. It was really nice going back to acting today, even though teching for the Senior Showcase was a great experience for me. I learned a lot more about backstage things and how your maturity level has to change. I learned how to really make time for the important things when I got home. I didn't waste one second last week, which I was really proud of. I started to question why I was here and is this really what I wanted to do. I thought about it for a long time and I told myself that I couldn't imagine myself being anywhere else right now or doing anything else with my life. I'm willing to work as hard as I can so I can make it to my senior showcase.

11/21/11 Journal

Today was Monday, which meant it was our acting day. It was the first one we have had in a while, because we have been working on the Senior Showcase for the past few weeks. Everyone got an extra day to work on our open scenes, which I was very thankful for. Zari and I ended up changing our given circumstances, which turned out to make the scene ten times better. I feel like I am acting more truthfully and I have clear tactics and objectives, which were not very clear before. I am very confident with my scene and I hope to do very well tomorrow.

11/4/11 Participation

Participation: 100

For my participation grade, I desinged a costume for a play that Brett and I are writing. It is a modern day Beauty and the Beast. I designed the costume for Bella (Belle). I am still working on how to draw bodies less cartoon-ish and more realistic and detailed

11/3/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade in participation for the day. Robbie and I worked really hard in the costume loft picking things out for Zari's show. All we really had to do was improve what we did yesterday. Also, a costume that we just designed for fun yesterday is actually going to be in Zari's show because she liked it a lot. I am really exited to be assisting the professional costume designer that will be working with us during mainstage. I think it will be such a good experience to learn from a professional about what I hope to be doing in the future.

11/3/11 Journal

Today was Thursday, which is normally our acting day. Instead, we were teching again for the senior showcase. Robbie and I worked on costumes again. We got Zari's feedback, and she really liked the costumes. We just needed to change small details. We got to see how the costumes looked on the actors, which was helpful because we got to see what looked good and what didn't look good. After we designed, we noticed a lot of the costumes weren't bagged. We spent the rest of our time bagging costumes. For fun, we also put together a few costumes for shows that we liked.

11/2/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade for participation today. Instead of teching with the other freshman, Robbie and I put together costumes for Zari's senior showcase. I really enjoyed it because it was the first time we got to be a little more independant when it came to putting things togther. Zari said that they were genius and amazing, which I am really proud of. Robbie and I also organized the costume loft a little bit better. I honestly really love everything about costume designing, and I think that I am good at it and can go far with it. Robbie and I have been talking about asking to do costumes for mainstage this year. We know that it is a big responsibility, but we work well together and think that it will be a really good experience for the both of us.

11/2/11 Journal

Today was Wensday, which meant it was our production day. I'm pretty sure we will be doing production everyday up untill the senior showcase. Robbie and I spent the whole 2 periods putting together costumes for Zari's senior showcase. Our job was to create 2 outfits; One outfit for Scarlett's character that consisted of a white top with a long skirt. The other outfit was for Brett's character which was consisted of some type of jacket and a button down shirt. Robbie and I both created 2 outfits seperatly, but did help eachother a little bit. When we were done with the costumes, we decided to organize the costume loft, because parts of it were a little messy. After that we decided to collaborate and put together a costume that we thought would look good for Scarlett's character.

11/1/11 Participation

Participation: 100

I would give myself this grade in participation for the day. We teched for the senior showcase today, which was interesting and different than what we normally do. When jobs needed to be done I made sure I was one of the first people to voulinteer. I would say that I helped get a lot done. Robbie and I got picked to help Zari with her costumes for senior showcase, which I am really happy about. Robbie and I work really well together when it comes to costume design because for the most part we have the same opinions about what thing would and wouldn't look good together. I'm glad that i'm being trusted more with certain things and I am learning a lot more about the things that happen behind the scenes in theater, which is really importent.

11/1/11 Journal

Today was Tuesday, which meant it was supposed to be our theater history day. Instead, we spent the whole 2 periods teching for the senior showcase. I did small jobs like help move things for a little while, which accualy got a little difficult at times, since i'm not exactly the strongest person ever. I did like that I got to do something different today. Robbie and I are now in charge of Zari's costumes for her senior showcase which is really exiting. The both of us had a little bit of a difficult time looking for what Zari wanted, but hopefully we will have more time to look in the costume loft for more things tommorow.