Kindness in the Little People World

So this week I am teaching Ballet/Jazz Technique classes to both Grades 3-6 and Grades 7-10 in DC for ISI. I was already teaching the afternoon class with the older students, but Veronika called me last week to offer me the morning class as well because the teacher had to cancel last minute. I was hesitant at first for two reasons - one being the early morning commute to DC for a 9am class - the other being the fact that it was 6 hours of dance and I would have the little guys. Even though it was six hours and rush hour both ways, it was a matter of teaching the same class essentially and making twice as much money because I was already going to be down there. So I decided to take it on...

It was funny because when I was there the first week, I saw how hyper the little people were and I was glad at the time I wasn't teaching them. I know that these guys are not so little to other people. My sister actually considers them "big guys" on her scale. I just knew I had been working with high school students for the last 6 months so it was going to definitely be a readjustment.

My first surprise was that I had a boy in my class. It's not that boys shouldn't be in Ballet class, because clearly I support it, but a this age you don't expect it so much in a summer camp. So I had carefully planned out variations from the ballet SLEEPING BEAUTY to work on, thinking the kids could all be different fairies and create characters My ideas changed completely upon meeting little Howie** as I will call him. On the first day he ended up stepping on his own foot and ended up sitting out most of the ballet portion of the class. It wasn't until Tuesday that he started complaining about not liking ballet and it being too girly. It's funny because the boy claims to not like sports, and wants to be an actor in musical theatre when he grows up. He will need to change his tune real fast if that is what he wants to be.

So this was a primary case of why I generally avoid kids in grades 1-5. I find it is much harder to rationalize with kids that are that young. They generally just get whiney and difficult, which is why I tend to like dealing with the big kids. (But of course I know some people would tend to disagree and believe the opposite).

Nevertheless, once in awhile you get that one child (or a couple) that make teaching that age group worthwhile. In this case, the golden child was named Emily**. Emily was definitely the child you want in every class, granted she was one of the oldest and going into 6th grade. I told Kevin that someday when we do decide to procreate, I want a child to have her qualities.

She was always focused in every class and never wanted to take any breaks, being super eager to learn more. She always wanted to make sure she was doing things right and asked lots of intelligent questions. Emily was always optimistic and smiley, never complaining and getting along with all of the other children. (She was also just innately talented and apparently loves to dance and act.)

However, this wasn't even my favorite Emily moment for the week. There was another camp going on at the school run by other people. About 15 minutes before the end of our class a little boy who appeared to be a little confused came and stood at the doorway. Apparently, they let their children run around alone in the other camp because he was all by himself looking for the dance class that was coming in next. When he told me he was switching to dance, I said "You must be looking for the next dance class. They will be here soon."

We went on to play our freeze dance game at the end of class and during the first freeze Emily asked me if she could "unfreeze" for a moment. She came up to me and said, "That boy out there looks lonely. Can I ask him to come in and play with us?" I said "Of course!" and she proceeded to go out in the hallyway and ask him to come in and play, which he did. And that was the moment she became a little angel in my eyes, proving that little people really can still be kind towards others they don't even know.

**Names have been changed to protect the innocent - and just because I am a teacher

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

So we have been pretty busy over the holiday weekend, which is why I am just getting around to writing about our festive adventures. Our adventures started at 8:30am Friday morning when we were abruptly awoken by what sounded like 30 fire trucks outside our window.

We are in the center of historic Dundalk, which means we are also the center of town activities - such as the 4th of July Parade and the Heritage Fair. So as it happens the parade passes by our building and ends right down the block. After being awoken we gave up on sleep and went downstairs to enjoy the parade. Admittedly, it is pretty sweet when the parade comes to you and you just have to walk out your front door.

After the parade we headed down to College Park to spend the day with Kevin's friends Andrew, Mark and Brian. Kevin's friend Andrew works for a pharmaceutical company in Rockville and has to be "on call" every so often. Basically with being on call he has to be able to get to his job in 30 min in the case of an emergency; thus he was stuck at his house pretty much for the weekend (given that the traffic can really suck in DC).

We had a grand old time that day. Brian made some cheesy-garlic-y burgers on the grill and Andrew made a nice broccoli salad. Mark provided several options of beer and Smirnoff. Burgers, broccoli and booze go quite well together. Kevin and I were charged to bring entertainment, so we went to Wal-mart the night before and bought a croquet set, sparklers and fireworks. We played several rounds of croquet, while it was a French game we played in the American spirit with beers in hand. Because of the rain showers that kept descending upon us we also ended up playing a board game and watching a movie. I learned some poker, but we didn't play enough for me to really break out my new found "skillz..." (just waiting until next time).
After the movie we ended up going back out to celebrate our independence with fireworks home-school style, which was pretty enjoyable and lacked the whole having to drive and sit in traffic for hours, which was an added bonus. Overall a very splendid 4th of July Day!
Having gotten in to our apartment at the wee-hours of the morning, we decided to sleep through the hours we could have actually left our apartment to go couch shopping. You see Dundalk is quite proud of its heritage and clearly we are at the center of the heritage, where all of the classiest of Dundalk flock. Meaning that between the hours of 12p and 10p we couldn't leave our apartment without losing a parking place and having to re-park a mile away. Thus, all of our weekend outings were strategically planned for a return late, late at night.

On Saturday we decided we might as well celebrate our heritage since we were home bound and see what all the hub-bub was all about. My sister Erin and her boyfriend Kevin came out to join us at the mecca of Dundalk. I have to admit that for the $5 entry fee it was a little lackluster and we were a little under-impressed. So I have decided to include some of the highlights of the event:

1. The Fried Pepsi sign was pretty intriguing - not your usual festival food. I mean Fried Oreos were interesting enough...unfortunately, we didn't have the nerves or stomachs to buy any.
2. We watched some K-9 dog training (not actual police dogs but obedience training). It was pretty interesting actually until all of the dogs kept doing the same routine of run, jump and attack the hell out of the fake arm on the "decoy". Guess you can't teach different dogs new tricks.
3. One of my favorite events by far was the pig races. There is nothing cuter than little pink hamlets jumping hurdles. And the 6-8 week year old piglets in training definitely stole the show. (Though the "hot-dog dogs" were also a treat.)
4. The last highlight of the day was the kissing monkey. You gave him a quarter, he shook your hand and then kissed (really licked) you on the nose. Now, admittedly it was a little disconcerting that the man holding the monkey kept telling you what to do so the monkey wouldn't "play with you" or "get excited" which was probably loose terms for bite you and rip your hair out. However, Erin and I decided to trust the little dude.

Otherwise, we got some free books from a table (I found a book of plays and an introductory Italian language textbook) for our $5. The food was pretty good, but extra bang for your buck (or rather extra bucks spent). They had some decent music names, but we didn't see any. The carnival rides were a little shady, especially the haunted house with only a 6 foot wide trailer attached behind the entrance and exit. There were some arts and crafts, but nothing that really called our names to buy. So I have to say, it was good times for a day, but I think we will celebrate our heritage elsewhere next year.

Later in the evening we attended a "surprise" belated birthday for my good friend Erin in DC. (It was at 10:30p so we clearly got back in plenty of time to reclaim our valued parking space.) I was really excited to see my college friends that I hadn't seen since the wedding and was also happy to see other college friends and friends-of-friends I hadn't seen in longer. The girls in charge - Caroline, Amanda, Jessie and Jessie planned a very "Erin" tropical theme and Erin was DEFINITELY surprised (which was a large motivation as she continues to "claim" she can't be surprised). I mean who wouldn't be surprised to come home from performing all evening to find 12 people cleverly crouched in the dark in the corner of your room. And the planning of the mission was very well coordinated.

Through the evening we got to catch up. We were regaled with stories about everyone's busy theatre lives and we regaled friends with wedding and honeymoon tales. One of the definite highlights of the evening was Erin drinking rum and coke from a sand bucket (nice touch girls!) and dancing the robot in a puffy winter jacket from one of her ex-colleagues. (Wish I had a picture of that...)

The evening was great and it made me excited about hanging out and catching up with my DC buddies while I am working out there for the next 5 weeks!

Happy Belated Birthday E-Dawg!

So overall a fantastic weekend of independence, heritage, and booze! And thus I leave you with a video excerpt from our backyard fireworks extravaganza. They call this the Freedom Fountain...

Happy 6th of July! Wait a minute...

The Empty Hole in Our Living Room

So this past Wednesday, I stayed at home eagerly awaiting our new couch we bought from the Roomstore two weeks ago. We have been using our old futon as a couch for the last four months and were extremely excited about getting a brand new comfy leather couch since our futon is extremely uncomfortable. To prepare for our new couch Kevin cleared the futon out of the living room and moved it into our office.

So the delivery men arrived around 10am on Wednesday to inform me they were here with our nice new couch. After about 15 minutes or so one of the men returned to inform me that the couch could not fit in the elevator or the stairway. I went down to see and I couldn't really argue with them seeing as we hadn't measured the height of the elevator, the stairs or our doorway. However, upon measuring it later Kevin and I both agreed we thought they actually could have made it fit up the stairs, but it probably wouldn't have fit through our narrow doorway. Alas, they took our beloved couch back and we were still charged with a restocking fee and delivery fee. (And resolving the couch drama took up our evening so I didn't go get to visit with friends and see 209 Live in Fells Point, which I had been looking forward to.)
While the stairs weren't technically our fault, the doorway would have been, so I guess we have learned our lesson. So now we are in search of a new couch to fill the big empty void in our living room where our new couch should have been. We don't want to go through the hassle of moving the futon in and out again so we are stuck watching TV in the green mushroom chair or on the floor with pillows. We actually fell asleep watching TV on the floor Thursday - upon waking up with a back ache - I can say we cannot WAIT to get a new couch...

Playing Catch-up

I haven't posted a lot this week so I am going to play catch up, first of all I am going to retract two of my previous statements. We went to see Wall - e on Tuesday night. I recommend that everyone see it. As was said by the critics, "Pixar has outdone itself again." It is amazing how they can give human emotion to inanimate/non-organic objects and really make you care about them.

Anyway, in Wall-e a rubix cube is quite a predominant prop, which could account for it becoming a more popular toy I guess. Also, while we were there I saw the Star Wars poster for the upcoming animated feature. So MAYBE that accounts for the expected popularity of the toys...I know I won't be seeing it though, and I am sure there are atleast 100 million other people who won't be seeing it either...

Christmas in July

On my pleasant drive down to DC today for my meeting for my upcoming show, I was listening to my favorite station Mix 107.3 (home of Jack Diamond). I don't get to listen to it much during the school year anymore since I have to be at work so freakin' early and I also live 10 minutes away from school which doesn't leave a lot of commute listening.

Anyway, Carson (the afternoon guy) put on Christmas music and talked about how they are already advertising the most popular toys of 2008. Really? Wait until you here what they are...


1) Rubix cube
What? I mean even if you make it electronic isn't it a little outdated. I think once you have solved it with your eyes closed using your tongue and feet and put it on You Tube it kind of loses some of the glamour.

2) Indiana Jones and Star Wars toys
Okay--Indiana Jones I get, but Star Wars??? Did a new movie come out that I am not aware of (maybe it really did and I am just that oblivious). I think George Lucas is just trying to ride on the coattails. The monkeys and prairie dogs were NOT a good idea George. Bad choice...

3) The Pen that Reads Books to Your Kids
I agree with Chili Amar on this one - let's give parents even less bonding time with their kids. I mean I think there are many merits to reading to your child, even it means reading "Go Dog Go" until your blue in the face. But technology has found yet another way to bond with your child and cut out the middle man.

4) Indiana Jones Whip
Ok this is my favorite. I know it looks plush and all, but all I see is an older brother pounding the sh*t out of his younger siblings with it for fun. I am not pro corporeal punishment, but I think the parents should buy it for themselves INSTEAD to use on their kids....::Sigh:: yet another Christmas weapon to go in the stocking for fun battles Christmas morning.

You know what - I got my Christmas in July today. Working at my high school minus announcements, bells, crazy kids and slews of distribution list emails was a nice gift to me. I LOVE the quiet and peace of the halls. I did see SOME kids today though, just enough dosage to satisfy my missing them.

Ahhh, who could ask for anything more....I am satisfied until December....

One Month of Marriage

On a completely different tangent...I can now say that we have been married for one month. (Not a lot in the scheme of things I know, but thought I would acknowledge it...) My how time flies... Happy 1 Month of Marital Bliss my hubby! I love you - here's to hoping for many more months of you not being "miserable."

Heath Ledger and Method Acting

So I was working this morning on gathering song material for the show I am directing in July/August. Since our theme for this year's show is "identity" we have to do a little more research than last year when our theme was "love" (which practically every musical has a song with this topic). This primarily meant looking up the lyrics to songs from every musical known to man and them some...and there are some interesting ones out there. While looking I happened upon PARADE (a Jason Robert Brown piece that several area theatres have recently discovered), and then I discovered on the site that Christy Carlson Romano was the original Mary in the piece. Now I am sure most of you don't know who she is; I wouldn't expect you to as my knowledge of her only comes from my tendency to watch the Disney channel at 2am in college when I was supposed to be writing papers. Anyway, seeing as I am in the process of becoming a "Carlson" with a double name as well, I felt intrigued and decided to check out her IMDB, which had an interesting comment about her thoughts on method acting and Heath Ledger.

Just last week, Kevin and I had seen the previews for THE DARK KNIGHT again during GET SMART. We are both really looking forward to it (as I know many people are) and we made the same remarks as usual about how brilliant Heath Ledger looks as the Joker in the previews. And how it was a shame that he was at the peak of his career when he died accidentally. But this time we got into a conversation about acting methods. I do think it was an accident and I do attribute it partially to method acting, which is why Ms. Carlson Romano's blog interested me. I hadn't heard anyone else at this point really attribute it point blank to the acting. I had just been having the conversation with Kevin about the differences in acting techniques.

Method acting in some cases means that instead of studying the actions and behaviors of a drug addict, for example, an actor decides to take drugs to have the "real" experience. I had been saying to Kevin that I thought the acting methods Heath Ledger was using to get into character were probably ultimately to blame for his death. This is why we don't teach method acting to high school students (which is a whole other tirade I will spare you), because it can be dangerous. I am not against method acting as a whole - because heck, if someone wants to go wait tables to get inspiration to play a waitress, I'm not gonna stop them, that's good character work. However, it just shows that there are dangers to delving into certain places in yourself to play characters or to taking certain actions to play a character.

So here is her thoughts on the situation:
"Heath Ledger died today. That's real. That is not a movie. Though it may feel like a movie to many of us who never knew this person. I saw him in a bar once - sitting quietly next to Michelle Williams. When I heard that this talent fell victim to his own madness, I was deeply saddened. This world can be so cruel. Especially when everywhere you look there is the promotion of negativity and violence as a recreation.

I'll do you one more (for those who think celebrity blogging is pointless). Heath Ledger - a representative of the motion picture industry - recently did a movie where he played a man responsible for unloading terrorism on Chicago/Gotham/New York (The Black Knight). Now, I believe Ledger was a "method actor" - someone who put his entire self into his work for art's sake. In order to play this character, he was put in a place so dark, that he began the downward spiral to his demise. In short, I feel this current obsession with negativity is infectious and mid-evil. And it is claiming lives.

I feel that people need to be loved while they are on this earth and celebrate life! Not celebrate different ways to kill each other. I do not condone this trend of violence in movies. And I hope it stops soon."

Now, I do agree that Heath Ledger was probably a "method actor" which led him to a troubled time; however, I am not quite agreeing with her random attack on society's current obsession with violence and killing each other. There has always been entertainment, even back in Greek times, that was about violence and people killing. Really - I don't think making all fuzzy bunny movies is going to save lives. In fact, I think an actor could go equally mad trying to play a fuzzy, fluffy purple dinosaur or such.

Anyway, I know this blog was completely random, but thought I would share my opinions on acting...Heath Ledger your brilliance will be missed and you are ranking right up there with Johnny Depp in my books. Can't wait to see DARK KNIGHT!