Brace Yourselves

Hello Everyone. The following is Not what you want to hear.

My dream is not to become an actress. Yes, you read that correctly. 

Now before you say, "Sal, but you love performing" and "But you're a natural",  I'd like to clarify some things. Firstly, I don't intend on giving up on this career. I have invested an inordinate amount of resources to this end, and I'm not willing to let it go. Secondly, we have to gauge what motivates us to work.

For many in this industry, it's because "I just couldn't live without it."

The truth:  I think I could live without it; actually, I know I could live without it…. but hear me out. Having studied a degree in psychology and applied it to my relationships (big and small), I know that we can accommodate many different situations, i.e. we can make something work from what we have. 

No, I don't have to perform, because I know that I am flexible enough to live without it (as are all humans with their hobbies/addictions, if they put their mind to it). Whether performance-less Sal would be happier or sadder is something we can only speculate.

What Instigated this thought process, Sal?

In short, Anita Reynolds. Anita is our bubbly, engaging improvisation teacher. I googled her and found this awesome photograph (from www.thebritishblacklist.com):

The Sparkle in her Eyes is Truly Remarkable

  

In class, we had a task in which we had to perform an improvised speech on a random topic. A snippet of my speech:

"I'd like to be … buried. To be at peace. Of course, this is not what you want to hear. You'd like to hear me say, 'Starring as Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie' or 'Working on the West End'…"

The topic of my speech:  Where you'd like to be in 5 years.

I have had a slight conflict working with Anita, because she insists that I allow myself to let go and dream. She thinks I'm selling myself short, by not having a dream. How can I explain how my life has developed? It has not been motivated by an ideal, but simply by taking steps that I think I am capable of doing. I think I am very capable of pursuing a musical theatre career. That doesn't make it my dream.

The Dawning Day

Obviously confronted by Anita's words, I went home and really considered what I wanted in my life. By a funny turn of events, I spoke with one of my Australian friends that night, who was having a difficult time, especially in relation to his/her partner. I was able to provide sound, achievable suggestions, not to mention, I felt right at home doing it.

Here we go. My dream is to become a relationship counsellor, in time. For now, I'm going to run with this performing thing while I have the ball rolling. I am going to strive to keep it rolling for as long as I can. If I feel myself faltering significantly, I'll take a step towards my "dream", which requires a 2-year MA degree. There you go, Anita. There's my dream. Don't tell Dad.

Week 3 at RWCMD

This week has been an incredible journey! We've started doing more complex improvisations - the latest being "insults" where we had to get in an argument with our partner. Here's me and my partner for the task:

Drunken Selfie

Luke is 6' 4", 240lbs. This photo does not give his breadth justice. Of course, being the tomboy that I am, our argument turned into a struggle in which I slapped him quite loudly and he ended pinning me to the floor. It was pretty exhilarating to be able to fight him so wholeheartedly. We've all been realising the sensation of freedom. There have been many improvisations that end in a kiss (me included, hehehe), and many tears in the process (I think I take the cake on this one - even made some of the others cry in my distress). Essentially, these are things I wouldn't have considered myself capable of doing when I started the route to theatre. Seven years of little steps, and you get some solid results.

Here are some photos of my RWCMD friends from Johanna's party last weekend.

Showtune Singing in da Club Line +Alice

Hogging the Muffins +Sharon, +Laura, +Adina

I Cannot Help but Love This Man. +Coran 

And that's all from me this week, folks. Unless you want a low down on what it's like to live in Apt 28?

Soundtrack from the Infamous Kinky Boots