first week see-saw

i haven’t written for the week. sorry about that, folks. time gets away from me sometimes. it’s been a turbulent week, with a lot of stress, a lot of magnificent moments, and finishing with some terrible news.

my weekend started off as very busy and social and has become more of a reflective exercise, for which i think i am better. i found out yesterday that my nanny passed away. it was a surreal moment, crying in the grocery store while also feeling my body slowly gain composure (re: shut down into shock mode so i could still function in a very public space). i’m comforted in knowing that she went quickly, which is something she would have wanted, and that she lived as long as she did. i wish i could be home to offer support to my family, especially to mum, but i’ve been told to stay here.  mum’s excited about my program, so that’s what i’ll focus on in the coming days. theatre has always been my coping mechanism anyway.

i decided to skip a knitting convention, which may not sound like me, but the entry fee of £14, plus the knowledge that i’d spend way too much money once i was inside, kept me from attending. retail therapy is great and all, but you still have to stay within a budget. i also missed a film screening my friend put on at her place, but given that i was in bed yesterday around the time she had scheduled the film, that’s probably a good thing. i got a huge amount of groceries yesterday, including my baking supplies, so i think i’ll bake cupcakes this morning.

this afternoon i’m going to check out indaba yoga studio. i lucked out big time with it – one bus ride away, along the same route that i take to school, with over 70 classes each week, student discounts, plenty of classes that i can comfortably get to after school, and most importantly, acro yoga classes on sunday afternoons. there are a number of days where i’m looking at back-to-back classes. i can’t even explain the warmth and peace i feel looking at my yoga schedule. it eases my anxious brain.

right then, first week of classes. it was a crazy week, in both good and bad ways. i learned a lot about myself as an artist and collaborator within a very short amount of time. our main assignment this week was to come up with a one-minute introduction to ourselves as creative professionals, working within small groups of 5-6, and then all coordinating a performance of everyone’s pieces on thursday afternoon. i should mention that there were about 50 people performing, as we had our class as well as the master’s creative producing. to put it bluntly, it was a shit show. i learned that i definitely need to work with collaborators who i share more in common with than just a single project, and i need people who are more artsy and organic, even within the business side of things. also, i will never work with a group of more than about half a dozen, unless forced to or for a special project. it is far too stressful trying to organize large groups of people without a hierarchical structure in place, and given that i have no desire to work in a hierarchy, it’s better that i work in small, manageable groups.

our friday classes are a separate unit entirely, and i’m quite excited for them. basically, we’re learning the ins and outs of how to run a successful theatre company, from an alumnus of the program who spent a number of years making those basic mistakes that you always make while starting out. she wanted to help future ma-atp students avoid as many of those mistakes as possible. i like her a lot. she’s spunky and no-nonsense, and also ocd in a way that i totally understand and appreciate ha.

oh yeah, i’m officially in the performance practices cluster, which means that i’ll be doing movement classes from 9-1 monday through thursday. i’m stupidly excited to get started. i’m also leading yoga classes in the morning on those days, starting at 8, so i’ll be having some very long days. it’s fabulous though, because it gives me a chance to work on my teaching while starting off my day with yoga, which is always wonderful. and then i can head to indaba after class haha. i’ll be all set to get my training when i head back to halifax. delicious.

photos from a workshop we did with an alumnus of the master’s scenography course, working with body distortions.

oh, i also joined a queer knitting club. it’s once a month in a terribly cute pub, which serves locally-sourced burgers in bags and has this shtick of chips in a bag which you season and shake yourself.