"We were fortunate not to have had the traditional training in the craft:
it is no easy task to throw useless conventions overboard."
ANNI ALBERS, Bauhaus Weaver (1959)
it is no easy task to throw useless conventions overboard."
ANNI ALBERS, Bauhaus Weaver (1959)
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I'll make this quick:
I'm not certain this is where it begins, but I went to school for theatre. Just putting that out there. While I was there, I was really lucky. I was performing in a long-running, immersive disco show by a Tony-Award winning director, waking up at the crack of dawn to perform in a touring children's show, and working year-round for a reputable arts education program. Along the way, I swept floors for a touring Shakespeare company, did summer stock in one of the country's original barn theatres, and probably ironed more kimonos than whoever's website you're gonna visit next. While all this was going on, I started to have a lot of opinions about the theatre industry, its exclusivity, the way labor and art intersect, and the ways the Anglo-American art model inhibits artistic progress. I wrote about some of these opinions and had some wonderful conversations with others about this stuff. Some things I did and said made people angry, but when you've ironed as many kimonos as I have, not much can get you down. I'll put this out there too: I've worked as a guest artist for NYU, New England Conservatory, MIT, and Massasoit Community College, and spoken at Emerson College and Clark University. 
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Ironically, just as the theatre industry was about to be confronted with dire need for change, I was finding ways I could make art outside of the confines of the regional theatre structure. I finished my first solo narrative project while I was furloughed from work. Shortly thereafter, a friend approached me about animating her screenplay, and, though I had never animated anything before, I said yes. From there, I made music videos for really cool indie artists like Astrachan and Zach Seals. I'm very invested in animation right now with some exciting projects on the horizon. This means I am learning all I can about film, where I've been lucky to work as an actor, an extra, and a production assistant for projects ranging from HBO original shows, to Netflix feature films, to MTV shorts. I read a lot and watch a lot of movies, but I also spend lots of time outside and am an avid hiker who can tackle some "moderate" trails. Projects that excite me are expansive. They do not take place in kitchens and the climax does not unfold on a couch. I think the survival of film and survival of theatre will depend upon those willing to break the most sacred rules of either and I believe the primary modes of storytelling of the very near future--- which must be immediate and spontaneous, able to be stumbled upon--- will be unimaginable by our current selves.
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