A few points from Lizzie:

- “I feel strongly that I should be TOTALLY at the disposal of CC drama majors, especially those who want to be professionals.”

- “First, let me tell you the story of my freshman year. I got the lead in a comedy directed by a visiting professional director. After a few rehearsals, he took me into his office and said, “What are you doing here? You should be getting trained at a conservatory.” I was aghast. We talked about it, and I had about the same reaction that you seem to be having: I will never be able to compete with kids who are in BFA programs now. I was wasting my time, I thought. I promptly DROPPED OUT — yes, I filled out the paperwork, and was no longer enrolled. Then I set about getting into UMKC’s BFA program. Soon after, Tom left me a message on my phone that said, “Um, I am your advisor, and I have been notified that you dropped out. Would you like to discuss this?” I went to his office, he looked me straight in the eye, and said, “Do you want to be educated or not?” In that moment I realized what a jackass I was being. And when I entered grad school and saw that a), I was one of the younger people there, and b) one of the students had never read “Hamlet” and it showed — I thanked God I had gotten a college education. Actors need to be well-rounded people who know a lot about the world. Please don’t worry about competing against kids who, compared to you, might be uneducated slobs.”

- “The corollary to that is, when I was at CC, I made a point of creating my own little “conservatory” experience. I took modern dance, African dance, and yoga. I took singing with Victoria…And I was in a LOT of shows. I also directed for Theater Workshop…if you can, at the very least, take ballet and do lots of yoga, and perform every time you have a chance. If Andrew is still offering his acting adjunct, you should be in it! You will be on the right track.”

- “Here are my tough-love questions about musical theater: do you have a great voice? And I mean GREAT? That’s something that you can’t teach, and it would, in my opinion, be a waste of money to pursue a career in which there is so much competition if you don’t possess an inborn talent for singing. I have a very lovely soprano legit voice, if I do say so myself, but I have zero belt and no “pop” sound. So I don’t even try to do musicals. I also can’t dance for shit. More and more, musical theater ladies need to sing like they do in “Wicked,” not like they do in “Phantom.” So examine your conscience about whether this is your path.”

-”I would try in earnest to get into an MFA program…One sure-fire way to know whether they are worth your money and time: ask to see the final-year students perform, in class or in a show. They should KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF. If they don’t, then consider whether their time and money has been wasted, and whether there is a risk that yours will be, too. You don’t want to be the most talented person in your school. It’s a recipe for failure.”

- “You have a great guide in Tom, and also in Andrew. Use both of them as a resource. That’s what they’re there for. Ask them outright for criticism and suggestions. You’ll be glad you did.”

~ Alumni Lizzie Larson

Obtained and Shared from Cynthia Whitman

The Village, sponsored by the Culture Bureau of Taipei City Government, provides the access for the visiting artists to be able to work, display and to interact with the locals, as well as, the artists and scholars from other courtiers around the world. The Drama and Dance Department has hosted three dance artists since 2003 to be in Colorado College and have sent one member there this year.

The upcoming visitor will be Jack Sun, a choreographer, performer and teacher of dance. Jack will choreograph a dance, performed in the faculty concert, and be active in the department teaching and enjoying the campus activities from 5th to 6th block. For more information please visit the Taipei Artist Village website at www.artistvillage.org (in English and Chinese).

Yunyu’s web page is located at http://faculty1.coloradocollege.edu/~ywang/yunyu1

Professor Yunyu Wang, from the Drama/Dance Department, is the principal investigator for a 3-year $1.5 million grant ($450,000 the first year) from the Economic Ministry of the Taiwan government. She will run a project using Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), leading a group of 20 computer programmers and 10 artists and administrators. Yunyu is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst. LMA will be the major tool in the project to decode human movement and systemize it into a computer software program. The computer program would be able to:

1. Eliminate the complicate process of creating animation by making the character’s action behave as real human beings
2. Improve the quality of the rehabilitation especially for elders
3. Enrich the performing arts by giving all possibilities for the choreographers.

Yunyu will present the project at a conference at Colorado College in 2007.