Friday, April 30, 2021

Nine Stories from the Avatar Series; Nine Voices from Asia

 By Lucius Seo

The Avatar series is an American animated TV show that takes place in an imaginary universe inspired by various Asian and Indigenous cultures. When I was first exposed to this show, I was surprised to find out how the content of the show included many events related to moments from modern Asian history. This list will introduce plays that provide starting points for great conversations (as well as historical contexts) when juxtaposed to such moments in the Avatar series. 

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            SPOILER ALERT**

            Please be noted that the content of this article holds spoilers for Avatar: the Last Airbender and Avatar: the Legend of Korra.

Please also be advised that the plays contain mature contents. Readers’ discretion is highly advised. Integration to classrooms with younger students must follow careful scaffolding.

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  1. PAH-LA by Abhishek Majumdar

 

“AANG: The Patola Mountain range! We're almost there!” 

                                                The Last Airbender Book 1 Ep 3, The Southern Air Temple

 

Themes: Peaceful Protests, Foreign Intervention, Oppression, Gender, Free Tibet

            Contents Warning: Sexual Implications, Violence

 

            Aang, the main protagonist of the first season of the Avatar series, is a reincarnation of an “Avatar.” He is gifted with the power to telekinetically control the natural elements; his responsibility is to restore balance of power in the world. As can be guessed by the clever pun on the “Potala Palace,” the motif for the character is a Tibetan Dalai Lama who also reincarnates. It is no surprise that Aang’s spiritual father (Gyatso) and Aang’s son (Tenzin) were named after the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet (Tenzin Gyatso).

            Pah-La is a play inspired by the 2008 uprising in Tibet; it was scheduled to perform at the Royal Court Theatre in 2019, until it was forced to be taken down. The play follows the story of Deshar, a Tibetan Buddhist nun, who engages in a revolutionary peaceful protest. The play provokes profound dialogues on human rights, peaceful protests, and the circumstances that women face in a system developed by violent, vengeful fathers. 




2.              THE GOLDEN COUNTRY by Endo Shusaku

 

“AANG: Gliding maybe, but not flying. You can tell by the way they move, they're not airbending. Those people have no spirit. 

TEO: Yeah, my dad is the mastermind behind this whole place. Everything's powered by hot air. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift while we're gliding.

AANG: This is supposed to be the history of my people.”

                                                The Last Airbender, Book 1 Ep 17, The Northern Air Temple

 

Themes: Encounter with technology in Asia. East and West 

Contents warning: Violence and Gore

 

            Aang has been trapped in an iceberg for over a hundred years. When he wakes up, much of the known world has changed. His homeland has been ravaged by the Fire Nation and the martial arts unique to his culture has been eradicated. In this scene, Aang shows contempt over Teo, who is a refugee that resides in what used to be the Northern Air Temple. While Teo is not an airbender, he showcases the ability to fly by using technology. Aang dismisses technological science to be inferior to the traditional air bending techniques.

            This is quite reminiscent of Asia’s early encounters with European imperialism. In Endo Shusaku’s masterpiece The Golden Country, we follow the story of a Portuguese missionary in the Edo Era Japan. Stuck among the globalizing world, the rapidly advancing technology, the challenges to the philosophies, and the growing international trades, the characters in this play are forced to face the inevitable changes that came as a result of the European imperialism. As early Japanese Christians are forced to apostatize under the tortures of the Buddhist inquisitors, the play reflects upon the duality of Edo Japan as both a “swamp” of isolationist policies and a “golden country” of infinite opportunity.



3.              COMFORT WOMEN: A NEW MUSICAL by Dimo Kim, Osker David Aguirre, Joann Mieses

 

“SONG: When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village [...] The Fire Nation has hurt you. [...] It's okay. They've hurt me, too.”

                                                The Last Airbender, Book 2 Ep 2, The Cave of Two Lovers

 

Themes: Women in War, Imperialism, Sexual Slavery, Comfort Women, War Crimes

Trigger Warning: Brutality, Sexual Coercion, Guns, Violence

 

            The first season of the Avatar series focuses mainly on the Hundred Year War, which began with the Fire Nation’s genocidal attempt to colonize the world. In this scene, Zuko, the prince of the Fire Nation in disguise, encounters Song. Song shows hospitality unaware that Zuko is from the Fire Nation. Song reveals that she has been scarred by the fire that scorched her leg and burned down her village. 

            Comfort Women is an adaptation of various interviews and accounts of women who were forced or deceived into sexual slavery during the Japanese colonization. Marked as properties of the imperial army by scorching the skin with burning brands, the women were sent away from their homes to military camps in foreign lands. Comfort Women is a good introduction to the topic for people who are not familiar with the issue; it brings to light an account of the war crime which, to this day, is still waiting for an apology.




4.              THE WORLD OF EXTREME HAPPINESS by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig

 

“JOO DEE: You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here.

DAI LI AGENT: There's no war in Ba Sing Se.”

                                                The Last Airbender, Book 2 Ep 14, City of Walls and Secrets

 

Themes: Censorship, The Cultural Revolution, Poverty, Wealth Disparity

Contents Warning: Sexual Implications, Violence, Misogyny, Vulgar Language

 

            With the advent of the CoVid-19 Pandemic Crisis, the phrase “There’s no war in Ba Sing Se” became a popular meme slogan to criticize the latent response in America. The meme is a satirical representation of government officials that deny the existence of an imminent peril for the sake of protecting political interest, disregarding the amount of damage it would cost to the civilian population. 

When dealing with this topic, please do keep in mind that it is also very important to discuss the rise of violence against the AAPI communities as people failed to distinguish the actions of a single administration in one of the 50 different nations in Asia from various Asian American immigrant groups that resided in the United States. 

            The World of Extreme Happiness is a play that tackles the wealth disparity and the discontent of the working poor that arises thereof. The story follows the journey of a young woman named ▓▓▓▓ from a rural town in ▓▓▓. As she labors under the extreme burdens of poverty, she struggles to bring about changes in a state where resistance is most unwelcome. Her effort to bring revolution faces challenges as the ▓▓▓▓ forces her to ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓. In this masterpiece by ▓▓▓▓, we are left to question how much media censorship dictates the way we see the world, as well as the ethics of a government’s ability to ▓▓▓▓▓.




5.              ANDHA YUG by Dharamvir Bharati

 

“AANG: Everyone expects me to take the Fire Lord's life, but I just don't know if I can do that.”

                                                The Last Airbender, Book 3 Ep 19, Sozin’s Comet Part 2

 

            Themes: War, Peace, India Partition, Vengeance, Weapon of Mass Destruction

            Contents Warning: Violence, Gore, Heightened Language, Suicide Ideation



            The climax of The Last Airbender is marked with Aang’s internal conflict on whether peace can be achieved without the use of violence. As the Air Nomads are forbidden to kill any living creature, Aang is put into a moral dilemma when faced with the responsibility to stop the violent, blood thirsty leader of the Fire Nation.

            Andha Yug, first produced as a radio play, provides an interesting standpoint on this matter. Based upon the stories from the Mahabharata, the play advocates for the survival of compassion and goodness in the deathly blight of war. This play is written in verse format with the assumption that the audience is familiar with the Mahabharata. When choosing to use this text, it might be helpful to read the summaries and explanations provided by the editors, as well as keeping a physical diagram of character relationship on who is fighting on which side of the war.





6.              THE PHOENIX TREES ARE IN BLOSSOM by Hsu Rey-Fang

 

“TARRLOK: Republic City stands as a beacon of freedom, but the Equalists are using that freedom to tear it down” 

                                                The Legend of Korra, Book 1 Ep 8, When Extremes Meet

 

            Themes: Imperialism, Rise of Communism, Taiwan

            Contents Warning: Multiple languages spoken in the production

 

            The Legend of Korra is a second season of the Avatar series that takes place many decades after the events in The Last Airbender. The setting of this part of the series is the Republic City, inspired by 20th century modern Asian cities with heavy influence from Hong Kong. Naturally, the series targets a slightly more mature audience with topics from much more current events. 

Korra, the reincarnation of the Avatar, encounters a group of people who are dissatisfied with the “benders” . The non-benders have experienced various forms of discriminations due to their inability to bend the elements, which resulted in an accumulation of resentment towards all benders. With the help of technological advances, a group of non-benders formed an extremist revolutionary group that used violence to “equalize” the disparity between the benders and the non-benders. This rising terrorist group is called the “Equalists.”

The Phoenix Trees Are in Blossom is a play about a Taiwanese family that survived both the Japanese imperialism and the rise of the Communist Party in China. As the family goes through the tumultuous transition, the audience is left to wonder if the interests of the common civilians mattered through all the political revolutions. The author fascinatingly juxtaposes the Taiwanese family with the career of the actor Li Xianglan as both the family and the superstar go through a phase of life-changing identity crisis.




7.              AMONG THE DEAD by Hansol Jung

 

“UNALAQ: If the Water Tribes were at war, the other nations would take sides. [...] and the world would be thrown into a battle between spirits and man. That would be catastrophic.”

                                                The Legend of Korra, Book 2 Ep 3, Civil Wars Part 1

 

            Themes: Comfort Women, Korean War, Democratic Uprising in Korea

            Trigger Warning: Sexual Slavery, Brutality, Gore



            In the Avatar series, the Water Tribes are divided into the Northern Water Tribe and the Southern Water Tribe. In The Last Airbender, the Northern Water Tribe manages to survive the threats of imperialism through the help of Avatar Aang. The Southern Water Tribe, however, is pillaged thoroughly by the Fire Nation’s invasions. In The Legend of Korra, the Southern Water Tribe has not only recovered much of its economic functions, but has accumulated enough wealth to live in prosperity--that is, until the threats of a civil war began to rise between the two Water Tribes.

            The 1970’s marked a strange decade for the two Koreas. The communist North Korean economy has been strong even after the decades of Japanese colonization whereas the democratic South Korean economy has been thoroughly butchered. Even after the Korean Civil War, the North was able to maintain a booming economic status through trading with China and the USSR while the South lived in poverty. This economic status flipped completely in the 1970’s due to many factors that economists and historians still debate to this day. 

            Among the Dead is a play about a biracial Korean American named Ana who visits Seoul in search of her roots. Through the help of a mystical character named “Jesus,” she learns about her mother who lived through the sexual slavery of the Japanese Colonization Era and the Civil War caused by foreign interventions. The play uses elements of fantasy and dark comedy to tell the complex narrative of modern Korean history from a perspective of a woman abandoned by her American husband, a daughter stranded in her motherland, and a country neglected by her allies amidst a war that she never needed.




8.              ENJOY by Toshiki Okada

 

“VARRICK: No, he wants control of our wealth. My wealth. And I like my wealth. If Unalaq doesn't pull his forces out, then we have no choice but to fight for our freedom!”

                                                The Legend of Korra, Book 2 Ep 3, Civil Wars Part 1

 

            Themes: Bubble Bursts, Wealth Disparity, Capitalism, Materialism

            Contents Warning: Hyperrealistic Dialogues



            In early episodes of The Legend of Korra, Varrick appears as a caricature of a wealthy robber baron fermented in Capitalism. Flaunting his extravagant lifestyle as a billionaire entrepreneur, Varrick does anything and everything to make money. Although his obsessive materialism is often portrayed as a comedic character flaw, Varrick makes morally problematic choices for the sake of his greed. 

            In Toshiki Okada’s play Enjoy, we see a starkly contrasting snippet of post-Bubble world in modern Japan. Deprived from the extravagant economic boom that their parents have experienced, the characters in Enjoy are stuck in a swamp of unemployment: too old to get an “entry level” job, too inexperienced to start an official career. While Japan was able to enjoy the fantasy of prosperity in the 80’s, the youths of the following generation were robbed of their livelihood. The careless policy making and irresponsible spendings were reciprocated as three decades of deflation, poverty, real estate crises, homelessness, and economic depression, all to be paid for by a generation that did not partake in the glory of the Bubble Economy.




9.              WILD BOAR by Candace Chong Mui Ngam

 

“HOU-TING: He and Fire Lord Zuko took advantage of my father's weakness and stole our lands to make their own little empire. The United Republic is Earth Kingdom territory!”

                                                The Legend of Korra, Book 3 Ep 3, The Earth Queen

 

            Themes: Censorship, Free Hongkong Movement, Democracy, Freedom of Press

Contents Warning: Sexual Implications, Mild Use of Expletives, Guns

 

 

            After the events of The Last Airbender, the century long war of imperialism has made decolonization a near-impossible task. People from the Fire Nation have already developed lasting settlements in the Earth Kingdom territory. As a compromise to this conflict, a special island is designated as an autonomous territory in the Earth Kingdom. This island is named the “Republic City,” which grew into prosperity due to its open door policy (no pun intended) that brought wealth from all four nations.  Each nation would send a delegate representative to serve in the United Republic Council to ensure that the spheres of influence (no pun intended, again) remain balanced within this territory.

            Hou-Ting, the successor to the Earth Kingdom’s throne, deeply resents her father’s attempt to create peace between the nations and holds a grudge for making the compromise. Hou-Ting reverses the progresses her father made by reinstating the brutal police force and the authoritarian rules. This leads to the rise of discontent from the impoverished citizens as they were becoming sacrifices to uphold a facade of a country.

            While both the play Wild Boar and The Legend of Korra were created before the Free Hong Kong movement, both provide a point of dialogue for the inevitable conflict that grew out of the Treaty of Nanking. Following the story of a publishing company in a fictional city, the journalists try to expose the government’s attempt to forcibly redesign the entire city despite the deadly impact it would possibly have. The play challenges the role of the media in processing the many versions of truths for the public, as well as the costly toil for nurturing a democratic society.

 

 

Photo Credits:

            *Sources without links are either from the public domain or do not require attribution.

 

1. Potala Palace

2. Gravestone of Cristóvão Ferreira, one of the major characters in the Golden Country.

3. Young girls from China and Malaysia stolen from Penang.

4. A production of The World of Extreme Happiness. 
https://tinyurl.com/546nmey7

5. Yudhisthira arrives at Hastinapur at the end of the war

6. Li Xianglan

7. May 18th Movement
By Mar del Este - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46797467

8. Plaza Accord 1985

9. The Signing of the Treaty of Nanking

 

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Destination? What’s a destination

Eli Schreiner

 

As my time at CCNY draws to a close, I reflect on where I am in my current journey. I have a BFA in lighting design, but when I graduated I was so disenchanted with theater that I joined the Peace Corps and moved to Paraguay. For the next little bit of my life, I dug latrines, cleaned wells, and taught about water sanitation. This might seem like an odd blip, but I think that being of service is truly important. Upon returning I felt directionless. 

My high school theater teacher worked with me to become a substitute teacher, and I spent the next year teaching visual art as a long-term sub which was great, but at the time made me pretty sure I did not want to be a teacher. I had my emergency technician certification from my Peace Corps work, so I took a turn in that direction and worked for the FDNY.  After about three years of EMS work, I was growing restless. I applied for both Paramedic school and an MFA design program, I figured whichever I got into first would be my path.  Luckily for me, I was accepted to an MFA program; I directed my energies back to theater, left the Fire Department, got a full-time theater job, and kept moving forward. 

Eventually, I was offered a teaching artist job at LaGuardia High School that I really enjoyed. This work was different than my previous teaching experience. I had fallen back in love with theater and loved sharing my craft with the next generation.  As some of my professional shows closed I worked toward becoming a full-time teacher.  I am now in my 4th year of teaching full-time, working once again at LaGuardia. My teaching, combined with my work professionally as a production manager has led me to arts administration.  This feels like a natural jump for me taking the skills of running a production and combining that with the theatrical education setting. One thing my life has taught me so far is that it is the journey that matters not the destination, sometimes we don’t really know what the destination is, and if we take a wrong turn, we should enjoy the scenery, take some pictures, add a few more tools to our toolbox and keep driving. Eventually, we will find our way onto another road, another journey, another adventure. 




Monday, April 19, 2021

5 Things I Learned In My First Year of Grad School: CCNY Educational Theatre Program

Cara Kramer

 

In June 2020, I found that I was being laid off from my job due to COVID-19. For the first time in a few years, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do; I had finally established myself at my job and in my community, made new friends, and fully (okay, mostly) decorated my first apartment. Everything had been stable, and then this pandemic that none of us saw coming threw a wrench in everything I had been working so hard for.


I panicked. If you know me, that is not the least bit surprising. I am always the woman with the plan, the one that others count on to remind them what time rehearsal is and the one who remembers everybody’s birthdays. Suddenly, I felt like I was right out of undergrad again, that I had to start over. So then I thought...why not actually start over?

 

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Performance and Technical Theatre and have always loved school. I love to learn and I love the structure that school provides me. I had been thinking about attending graduate school ever since I graduated from college in 2016, but my thoughts bounced all over the place - first I was stuck on acting, then considered stage management, then theatre studies, then thought that a general theatre masters degree might be the right choice. I had interned and worked in educational settings before, but never considered dedicating my work to it. It was at the very job that I was being laid off from, however, where I was working in a box office, that I realized that perhaps education was where I was headed all along. I often assisted the education department with their planning and was beginning to think about future positions I might apply for as time went on. I started looking into graduate programs in the tri-state area without much direction, but then somebody mentioned that the Educational Theatre Program at CCNY sounded like a great fit for me. I explored the information, decided that the time was right, and applied for non-matriculated status for Fall 2020.

 

Nearly a full academic year later, I can confidently say that joining this cohort is one of the best decisions I have made in my recent past. During a time of isolation and hardship, I have been able to meet new people, keep my artistry alive, and prepare for a future that will need arts education more than ever. So, if you have been looking for a reason to take the plunge, this might be your sign. And if you aren’t completely convinced, here’s a list of things I have learned in my first year that change the way I think as an artist and as an educator.


 

  1. Our careers are not linear.

Take a peek into any one of our classes and you will find people in completely different stages of their lives and careers. Some have moved on directly from undergrad, some have been in the workforce for a few years, some have children of their own who are taking online classes right beside them. Our jobs range from teachers to lawyers to actors to directors to media specialists. We all had different incidents of inspirations that led us to this program at this time, but not one of them has been formulaic in nature, and they will not be in the future. As artists, we chase jobs that make us feel something, both for ourselves and for others. As educators, we jump through hoops to find the best way to work with children, regardless of the decade and social circumstances. There is no “right way” to build your education and your career - your path is different from everybody else’s and there is no formula for success. Your jobs will change, your priorities in life will change, but your passion and what drives you is what is the true constant. It is difficult to push past the idea of where you are “supposed to be” (trust me, I’m a planner, remember?), but it is an important concept to keep in mind.

 

 

  1. Your artistry inspires and informs your teaching style.

One of the most fascinating parts of this program for me has been to see everybody         else’s artistry in action. As I mentioned, we all took different paths to get here, and it’s amazing to see where others have been and what drives them. In my cohort alone we have musical theatre actors, classical actors, Shakespearean actors, directors, dramaturgs, puppeteers, devisors, stage managers, technicians, video editors, poets… Every project gives us a unique opportunity to see education through each other’s eyes and not only learn about what makes our classmates tick, but let their passions and talents inform our own teaching practices. We share lesson plans and ideas, support each others’ projects, and learn as much from each other as we do from our professors. I come from a musical theatre background, so I tend to view assignments through that lens and I am able to come up with ideas for activities and workshops based on what I love and how I communicate; by sharing that with others, they now have another tool to add to their arsenal. For some reason, I think I had the idea that there were only a few ways to be a “good teacher” and there were rules that had to be specifically followed, but students relate to teachers who are passionate about their craft and can blend that in with their teaching practice.

 

  1. Artists and educators have the power and opportunity to act as advocates for their communities.

This may seem obvious because of the times we live in, but artists and educators truly have more power than most think. As artists, we engage with our community on a regular basis and not only know of issues in those communities, but in arts organizations as well. As educators, we engage with students on a regular basis and not only know of issues those students are facing, but how the issues the system is tackling as well. Because we are in “the room where it happens,” so to speak, (sorry!), we have first hand knowledge of changes that need to happen and justice that needs to be served. By using our voices and pooling our resources, we can make chances not only in our schools and other educational programs, but in the arts industry as a whole. It is our responsibility to keep growing the field and to stand up for what is best for our students.

 

 

 

  1. None of us know everything...and that’s okay.

You may think you understand disability, but you really have no idea until you take an Inclusive Practices in the Arts course. You may think you understand theatre history, but you really have no idea until you take a Theatre History class that focuses on Eastern theatre. You may think you understand lesson planning...okay, I absolutely did not understand lesson planning. My point is that nobody is perfect, and nobody enters any school or workplace knowing every single detail of every concept they are supposed to know and fully comprehend. One of things I most enjoy is class discussions where we are able to share our personal connections to a topic at hand. Because we all come from different backgrounds, every person in the program has a different reaction to or different understanding of any given topic. I have learned so much from my classmates that I never would have learned from a book, or even from a class lecture or powerpoint presentation. Knowing that there are other people there to support you, whether you know something or not, whether you make a mistake or not, is not only comforting but a wonderful gift. It is okay to admit that you don’t know something or that you were wrong about something because that shows maturity and growth, and I think that is a fantastic lesson to pass on to our students.

 

  1. Community can be built anywhere, even through a computer screen.

I must admit, attending any type of theatre school online is weird. We are the type of people who thrive on gatherings, being close to each other, and creating in a physical space. It feels so strange to study such a community-driven art form on our own couches in our own houses, and from all over the country as we jump between COVID-safe residences. I’m not going to lie, it has been hard to get to know people - we have all mentioned multiple times how we would probably be closer by now if we were in-person because we would walk to class and the subway together, grab coffee or a meal together, or work on projects in person. Still, I’m happy that our cohort has been able to learn more about each other through the occasional off-topic class discussion, in breakout rooms after we have completed an assignment, through group projects, and from interactions online. I have also been so impressed by our creativity in presenting projects and creating new work online - it feels different, of course, but we have learned new skills that the program never even intended, and I think that has made us better educators. We really have made the best of a tough situation and have proved that you might be able to take the artist/educators out of the theater, but you can’t take the theatre out of the artist/educators.





 

Thursday, April 15, 2021

The Balancing Act

 By Wendy Powell


Hiding in plain sight while balancing on a tightrope and juggling the many emotions, and nooks and crannies of living day to day life as a dancer, actor, mother, student and all the other hats I wear has been a  constant negotiation with reality.  


Rising out of my lack of sleep to wake a comatose 12 year old to prepare for middle school; when she only has to pull her Hello Kitty comforter down off her face and sit up long enough for the teacher to take Zoom attendance requires the patience of a saint and the strength of Muhammad Ali.  I mean it's not like she even needs to brush her teeth. Who’s going to smell her breathe in Zoom?  However, after a huge debate with the 12 year old who thinks she’s debating for a job with the major law firm of Stroock Stroock and Lavan, I have to  either fix a smile on my face to teach dance or pull what’s left of my brain cells together to complete my own assignments.  


This all happens before 8AM within the confines  of our two-bedroom apartment. There are five people and oh yes a cat and guinea pig. So a family of seven.  As a  full time student in the graduate CCNY Theatre Ed program, a dancer in a disability dance company and an able bodied modern and Haitian dance company, a trainee in an artist teacher training program, Girl Scout leader, and an unpaid social worker for both my aunt and uncle, I find myself in the air without a safety net.  Living in a 2 bedroom apartment during the pandemic, performing in my living room with 4 other family members and a cat and guinea pig, gives new meaning to the word artistry. 



Writing and reading while others are in meetings, hearing their words echo in between the sentences of content I so need to critically analyze, means I stay up later than the rest of the family.  If I am choreographing or writing a paper, I am up till the wee hours of the morning when the sunrise starts to creep in and let me know it’s time to start my day again, or restart because quite honestly it feels like one big continuous day sometimes.  The pace is extremely difficult to maintain.  Friends and family often wonder how I manage to exist without sleep or why I have so much energy. The answer is found in my beginning statement. I'm “hiding in plain sight,” hoping  no one will really see me. I keep myself so busy to try and outrun myself.  Reading, writing, studying, creating, helping others  keeps the highs and lows from taking over my life. If you haven't guessed by now I’m bipolar. 


Entering grad school and being a performer and parent has tested the limits of what it means to be bipolar especially during the pandemic.  I am known for being able to do a lot of things at one time in my life.  Now it seems that I am in an  extended manic time warp. My performing, my work in grad school and my family, all together, are allowing me to utilize my juggling skills.  I have somewhere to place my energy and work through my episodes. My family is super supportive of my performing and pursuit of my education.  It hasn’t been easy. I’ve kept  my mental health a guarded secret that has kept me a prisoner . If I call myself a performer, a teacher, an educator and a  mother what message am I passing to others  by hiding who I am?  What am I telling my 12 year old daughter about being a woman and being  her authentic self ?  What am I saying to advocates about mental health? What am I saying about being a black woman that has mental health issues?  Does it make me inferior? Have I stayed hidden from my family, friends, colleagues and teachers because I have a fear of being thought of as not needed. Will they be afraid of me? Being in graduate school has given me the ability to slowly shed my layers of what I need or want others to see. I’m discovering  new things about being a parent and crafting a narrative for my young daughter that  will help her to  embrace and celebrate who she is.  As  a black woman, dancer, actor, director, mother, wife, educator of the future present and past, if I can’t look in a mirror and see  me, how will I expect anyone else to be able to really see me?





Monday, April 12, 2021

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE: WHO AM I? AS ARTIST. AS EDUCATOR

 In honor of The City College of New York’s Centennial Celebration, and as an ensemble building activity, the students in Artistic Lab 1, those at the very beginning of their relationship with the Graduate Educational Theatre program, were invited to complete a Scavenger Hunt in which they had 100 seconds to find an object in their homes to represent each of the following: Past, Present, and Future. Those objects were then used as inspiration for devised theatre pieces of no longer than, you guessed it, 100 seconds! Then, each student was asked to write 100 word pieces in response to the prompt: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE: WHO AM I? AS ARTIST. AS EDUCATOR.

Here are some of their 100 word responses:

Aliea M Lindsay
Who am I?
I am a woman who has suffered many hardships.
With each challenge I’ve come across, I’ve embraced it with tears, sweat, laughter, and the encouragement of my family.
I am an aunt to two of the sweetest boys that will test your patience.
I am my parent’s wildest dreams, two immigrants from the sweet island of Trinidad and Tobago.
I am a role model, an educator, a sister, a niece, a daughter, a girlfriend, and a friend to some of the most loving people you’d ever meet.
Who am I? What can I say, I am me.

Simon MacLean
The first time it clicked was in Jodi's Improv. Was I thirteen? Doesn’t matter. I was no longer too impulsive. My racing mind focused, the world slowed down.  

I was twenty-two, they were twelve, they thought I was old. I was so proud of how they spoke the language. Little Mechanicals. And yet my heart longed to be in their shoes.

Does a boat founder or flounder? I suppose it’s immaterial. Sometimes I am the boat. Sometimes I am the sea. 

Will dry land make me suffer? 

Was Jodi worse off than thirteen year old me? 

I don’t think so.

Laixsa F Mercado
I am the product of my ancestors. Born into a society where I’m not Latina enough for my own people, but not white enough because of my physical body features. Identity crisis - happens at such a young age due to passed down trauma. Acting has always been my get-away-from-reality tool - until I was able to face all the past trauma. A new passion has developed which is learning how to teach children how to learn about their ancestors’ history through Theatre Arts and learning to love and accept themselves as the beautiful individuals that they are now. 



   Sarah Quane Smyth
 I found theater-- or it found me.
            It felt like the intersection of creativity, thrill and community-- like finding a missing piece I hadn’t known I needed. 
            I loved being part of something so intricate. All the moving parts assembled into a breathing story-- carefully constructed with a limited lifespan. 
            And here I am again, looking for that intersection of elements to make me feel whole-- finding it in the little faces still looking for something meaningful
            ​Feeling that same intersection of creativity, thrill, community-- the hot lights on a stage I never knew would feel so much like home




Jamie Thiessen-
I believe art is for everyone
I believe making a piece of art:
A song,
A poem,
A dance,
A joke,
A painting,
A cake,
Is to take a segment of your soul and give it life 
To take a tiny wisp of your humanity and give it 
Shape,
Form,
Flavor,
Movement,
Depth,
Bite,
And offer it up to other souls
So that we may look at it and say:
“This is who we are!”
“This is why we are!”
We come together and we learn
A little more about
Each other,
And ourselves,
And who we could be,
Together

And, since I believe no educator should ask a student to do anything they aren’t willing to do themself, here is mine:

Elizabeth Dunn-Ruiz was/is/will be
an educator
a word wielder
community builder
theatre lover
doodler.
I want us all to play games and read and talk and listen and collaborate and create and make meaning and become friends and change the world?
Too much pressure. Unrealistic goal?
Let’s aim to change
the mood of a room if it feels cold/ wounded/ mean spirited/ unsafe
the thought processes and behaviors that are self and society defeating.
Let’s aim to be
honest and reflective
aware and inclusive.
Let’s aim to support
access and opportunity creating
ensemble building
art making
truth telling
question asking.