how acting has choreographed my life

In one of my first high school productions, I was casted as the antagonist of the play. I was hesitant because I wasn’t comfortable enough to play someone so hideous both inside and out.  The protagonist of the play was my best friend which made it even harder. Week two of rehearsal had made me totally unconfident because the second week meant we had to be off book for Act 1. I wasn’t comfortable portraying the unpleasant character without finding a connection. After an embarrassing rehearsal, my director came up to me and told me that I needed to come across more evil. This meant I had to work with the tone of my voice, posture, and gestures. I was incredibly uncomfortable because not only was this my first villain character, but it was the first time I had been in a production with my best friend. We were both major roles, and I did not want to screw it up for her and myself. When my director made it clear that I had to step up, I knew that I had to connect someone or something to the role.

During my 4 years of high school, we had a certain teacher who everyone disliked. She was unpleasant and unnecessarily mean just like my character. I decided to use her as my personal puppet and mock the way she talked, walked, and her actions. She always hated when students would ask her questions, and I knew I had to work with that.  I would often stay after school and ask her dumb questions so that I can do personal character homework, and that helped a ton.

 Making that connection to school and my work came in handy. Because of that experience I find myself always observing everyone around me. I notice the way people communicate with each other, and that helps when I am doing a scene with another character. Relationships are the most important things in a scene or production. Being an actress has also helped better my speaking skills in front of others and just in general. I notice that now I am extremely inviting when I meet new people. Acting choreographs my life as I like to say as being my rain jacket in a thunderstorm. A rain jacket can be used for a cold day, but it most useful in the rain. A lot like my social skills; they are useful in everyday life, but most useful when I am tested on stage.