Artist Statement - A work in progress!

Taking a stab at writing a real artist statement:

Preparing for a professional career in musical theatre is similar to training for a triathlon. In a triathlon, an athlete has to run, ride a bicycle, and swim for a lengthy distance. A musical theatre performer is the triathlon athlete of the arts. We are required to sing, to act, and to dance.

I dance, sing, and act because these methods of communication allow me to effect the way my audience is feeling through my dedication and commitment to the piece I am performing. I love working hard on a piece for months on end and getting to perform it in front of a live crowd. It’s like I’m in a race which lasts as long as the rehearsal period and the actual run of the show and closing night is the bittersweet finish line. The feeling of accomplishment is overwhelming and it fills me with joy. But at the same time, the idea of the race being over is emotionally exhausting and lonely.

When I am lucky enough to get cast in a show, a huge chunk of my life begins to revolve around that show. I begin to relate the events in my real life to the events in my characters life on both subconscious and conscious levels. I also look for ways in which I can use my body’s natural abilities and stretch my personal limits. As a dancer, I don’t have an ideal body. I have poor rotation in my hips, short Achilles tendons, and my right ankle is much more flexible than my left. I am always looking for ways to use what I do have – space, movement, time, technique, and power – to make up for what I don’t. As I singer, I had to relearn my technique at the age of 16. I had nodules on my chords, but with the help of vocal therapy and hard work, I was able to get rid of them. I continue to work on my technique and enjoy singing from a healthy place.

I am currently applying to colleges for musical theater and have been working with monologues for those auditions. It is not in a formal acting class, but I am starting to discover the side of me that can act in shows other than old-fashioned, corny musicals. (Not that there’s anything wrong with those shows, I respect that type of work, but it’s only one way of working and I want to be versatile.) I am discovering the importance of subtext and research and knowing exactly what’s going on. It’s very different from what I’m used to doing. I’m letting the characters work through me instead of pushing myself to work through the characters.