Friday, March 25, 2011

Taking Action

Here is a site that I frequent and it has ways in which youcan help stop the violence and conflict production in the Congo. I wrote a commetn and signed you can take a look at the site.

 http://www2.americanprogress.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=113

Me and Eve Ensler





REMEMBER, RESTORE , RAISE HOPE for CONGO

MAN !
Family and friends there is SO much to tell and my sincerest apologies for not updating you  over the months. Well am back and have much to report to you all ! God surely has blessed me indeed and has brought so many opportunities my way. In trust and faith in Him , I have stepped into increase.

Things began brewing when I went out to get a job and actually got the job ! That was just a hint of the things God had lined up. Next , I was informed that my classmates had the opportunity to see Eve Ensler, the writer of the Vagina Monologues , speak in London. I was not going to go because to be honest I wasn't as interested as much as the other women. For some reason though I had this feeling that I should go. So I went. And bless the Lord for leading me to go because it changed my life. I haven't cried like that in some time. She was the most empowering , inspirational women that I have meet. She truly had a loving heart , her passion and drive to help women was so pure , it even went beyond helping them , it became about breaking the silence and opening the gateways for women to speak out. She brought to light the horror that is taking place in the Congo. I was hurt to the core. I never felt so much spiritual pain for the Congolese women , children , men and land. I vowed that I would do what I could with the talents God has given me to stop such terrors. So since then I have met with several girls on my program and have read up about the issue in the Congo. My head of course / Director knows Eve Ensler personally and told her that we wanted to go to the Congo and do what we could with our craft and construct a program at the City of Joy to aid the women in channeling their experiences and stories into theatre, dance and writing. Today Eve Ensler and Christine ( a Congolese Activist at the City of Joy) gave us the okay !!!! BUT , since then I thought I should branch out and audition. So I did. I was to have an audition this past Sunday for an up and coming theatre company called RavenRock. The day of I wasn't going to go because I didn't have the address and hadn't heard back yet. Then just when I was on the verge of giving up , I got an email. I had the address and left the tube station at 9 , when the audition was at 10 in London !! Which is not enough time, well shouldn't be since it takes about 40-45 minutes to get to the central and I was going further out than that. Well I was praying my entire journey that I would get there on time. By the grace of God I got there right on time with 2 minutes to spare. Of course though , the auditioned consisted of singing AGAIN ! haha AHH . I said okay Lord we  can do this again. So I sang and danced for the first round. Then when we all came back , I got called back. Then I had to sing AGAIN ! This time I chocked , but the guy who was playing the guitar comforted me and told me I just got nervous about the first note, but he knew that I could sing. So that was good. And they must have seen something because I got accepted into the company for both the London and the Edinburgh productions.

Now Edinburgh is the world's largest theatre festival and RavenRock is performing there for a month , the whole month of August , which does unfortunately conflicted completely with the Congo.

Then yesterday I received a Facebook message with an offer to be apart of another play that would head to Edinburgh ! I couldn't believe it ! Could I do to? And apparently I can , so I am doing both. However, I couldn't get the desire in my heart to go to the Congo. So I prayed about , asking for a sign , a feeling , ANYTHING ! So I've been on the computer at school looking around and reading about the Congo and I realized more than anything I want the injustices in the Congo to stop. What could I do ? So a thought popped into my my head. I could promote change ,bring awareness at Edinburgh ! I mean there would be soooooo many people there , hundreds of thousands of flows of people ! The perfect place to spread the word , get petitions signed and so forth. So I have decided to do the footwork over here . STILL , I am going to the Congo. Whether it is in September or next year I am going. I plan to work on the proposal and structure of the course we are taking to City of Joy so that I can still be apart of it.

ALSO , I  got asked to be apart of another project that deals with Women and the Media. So I am doing some pieces for that as well , and will be using my poem " Women in My Mirror" from Lovin'Chocolate in  an ensemble piece with two other Black/African women , which I am SO excited about !

So that is about all caught , I may be missing some minor details but though it may be alot I am truly grateful for this heavy load , as heavy loads come in all forms. Hope you are all well love you dearly !

PEFORM

Hey Everyone !!
My it's been awhile ! I hope all is well with everyone and that you're enjoying the wonderful weather , which I am sure is much warmer than the weather that I am experiencing haha. Well since we have last spoken I have been working on a scene from " Miss Julie ", a Church , got a job , been to a jazz club , made new friends and was told about a wonderful theatre.
"Miss Julie " written by August Strindberg is a play in which I despised at first because Strindberg was a misogynistic womanizer who intended the character that I am playing Miss Julie to be a monster and to show that women need to stay in their places and stop trying to better themselves with revolutionary ideas of feminism. I had such a problem with her submissiveness and fall in the end of the play. I discovered that the judgement I felt towards Miss Julie inhibited me from exploring and becoming Miss Julie. Once I read more in depth and sought to understand where Miss Julie was coming from I realized that she was like most women I know today and stopped judging her. Now my scene partners and I are having more fun and success with our scene. We perform it next week.

The job that I recently got is exactly the kind of opportunity that is perfect for me and a wonderful means of income as well as networking. http://www.perform.org.uk/ . I will be teaching kids from 4 to 8 years old drama , singing and dancing. It was such an experience auditioning for this position. I wanted it so bad from the start however, the day of the audition I was thinking of not going for it . But I was like no Kelley you need this. So I gathered my laziness and went on with calling and emailing the people at Perform. Once I received the information about the place and time I was on my way. Now I got there like an hour ahead but as people started to spill in I began to freak out a bit . Everyone seems to look like professionals and have all this talent and I'm like uugghh dang it haha. So I began praying my butt off. " GOd give me strength to get through this , to not defeat myself before I meet defeat. So I walked into the audition room with the others with my head held high. Once the interviewers , including the creator of Perform herself , I realized that I was exactly what they were looking for , and that's when it was easy cause all I had to do was be nobody else but me. So I passed the first cut and then the next part of the audition was dancing and I was like YES I missed dancing , especially hip hop and to my blessing that's what we did.  So we learnt , performed and passed the next cut. NOW came the part of the audition that I began to worry. We spilt up into two groups and the creator of Perform was our interviewer and she tells us that in this section of the audition we have to sing 4 lines of an audition song acappela !!!! OMG my stomach dropped and i began to worry!! haha I couldn't think of any songs that would be comfortable in my range that would be nice enough to pass this cut. So I wait till the end and as people begin to sing , i freak out even more. I felt like I was amongst people who make it to the Hollywood round from American Idol. Also people start to mention where they have been to school , RADA , LAMDA , etc which are basically the Yale and NYU (TISCH) of London. Well I waited till the end to sing and asked if I could sing a Christmas song , so I sang " Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire". I don't know how I did it but it came out alright. I felt quiet good about the audition and the next day received an email that I had got the job !!! I was SO ecstatic !
Now for the church my friend from East 15 has been inviting me to his church since we meet at the beginning of the year. I have been wanting to go but it's far and just never took the time. Finally , I went and LOVED it ! It's an amazing place and the message is wonderful and has me thinking about it throughout the week. Well he , Raphael and his cousin Fem are really nice guys and they are determined to get me to see more of London. So since that I have been to jazz clubwhich reminded me of home and was soo nice to be around such an atmosphere.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Directors Module

Well the term has officially ended and we are on break. HOWEVER , I have decided to participate in a Directors Module . This Module consists of MA Theatre Directors that have 10 minute adaptations of various plays. I'm in three of them two in which I sing and the other with fairly intense movement. It's quiet an experience I will say to work with different directing approaches and methods. We only have three days to get everything done and when I say everything I mean everything from casting to the final product. So much has to be done , with long days and a cold , it's a bit more than I thought i could chew but I will do it 110% nonetheless.
We finished our final pieces of our Shakespeare Module which went really well. My scene partner , Bonny and I did Twelfth Night , which was a great deal of fun to not only perform but to work with her. We got good feedback from the audience and classmates. However, we are still waiting to hear from our skills teachers.
Lately, I have been talking to several people who are either in the Directing Program or are in the Foundations course who work with Directing.While conversing with them I have discovered the various tools and mindset that go behind the artwork of Directing. It certainly has changed my perspective as I watch films these days. I now view from an alternative vantage point examining not only the way in people act but also the way in which the Director, the camera , captures moments in time , emotions , environments , etc.
I also find myself missing my poetry , dance , critical thinking and papers. Much of what is shaping how I want to proceed with my my next year. Whether or not I stay to earn my MFA in Theatre , change acting schools to get a more rounded education , stay in London , go back to the States , study/ work in Africa , etc. yet I suppose time will tell and the work load and pace of the next term. Also , seeking God''s guidance and patience , Lord knows I need it haha. All of this , however, has made me think about my Thesis . Thhhhough I haven't really touched it and put it on it's feet . I think I'm afraid to put on it's feet. No sure the reason for the fear. Perhaps I'm not ready for it yet. Strangely enough though my soul is telling me that I need it. Speaking of soul talk , it's aching at me to take out my braids. haha Natalia would love this, but yes I feel they need to be taken out. I might do that tonight , though I don't have the products , okay sorry i'm getting off track. Well . This is a bit of a scattered brain post , but I'm a bit homesick and I feel closer to you all for some reason when I write on my blog. I feel like I'm closer to home. Hope all is well , love you all dearly !

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Sorry for the lapse in time that has gone by since I have last written to you all. The past weeks I have been in London working at the Globe. Our class was given the play Macbeth to perform on stage. The experience was exceptional , especially our movement teacher who was absolutely amazing. She was definitely a spiritual and religious woman who didn't take an BS. It was such a wonderful experience !!!
Time has been flying by , I can't believe that I have been here for like almost three months!! And Christmas break is in two weeks. Since we have come back to going to the campus we have jumped right back into things. Today was a particularly long day working form 9 in the morning to 9 at night , had to turn in a 14 page paper , read and research Olivia in Twelfth Night ( I am performing a scene from it ).  However, it was a good day as well because we received feed back from two of our professors individually about our performance at the Globe. I got constructive criticism that I can use to better, to perfect my performance and deliverance as an actress. These days are a bit busy , but if you have any queries about what's going on over here or just anything you want to know about feel free to ask and I can post them on my blog for you ! Hope you are well. Love you dearly :)

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Leaving London

Hey Beautiful Family and Friends ! It has been awhile ! I've been busy with classes , homework and at times had so much to tell you but once began to dab my fingers upon the keyboard I was at a lost for words. It was like I was detached from my train of thought , so much so I was unable to transcribe what I was feeling , what I yearned to say. So I waited till there was something to celebrate , to share something that didn't take so much effort to translate haha. OKAY soooo . . . there is a Directing Program in Bali and of course me and some other students in my class went crazy jealous. Then last week the Director of East 15 tells us that since we had showed so much interest in Bali and there were a couple of spaces available he opened the positions to us. However , since there were so many of us eager to join the program we had to write an essay explaining why we wanted to go to Bali. By the grace of God there were only four of us who after learning of the time frame were able to go but we were going for two spaces. So us four girls , a great group of girls whom we all share a great passion for Eastern Asia and Bali , vowed that all of us would be able to go. So this morning as we waited for our guest speaker to arrive one of the girls , Asma , told me and the other two girls that we all got accepted!!!! UH I scram ! haha oops. I don't think it has dawned upon me really that I am actually going to be in BALI !! I mean I have studied Hinduism throughly , love it , appreciate it , have studied and participated in Balinese dance and music and now now I get to really experience ALL of that and more. I will be given the opportunity to not only studt Balinese dance and music daily with professionals , but get to study in depth Hinduism and Balinese art !!! UUUUUUH man haha I'm going in TWO weeks and will be there for a month !! It's just man it's just a blessing form God and feeling so grateful because my dream of traveling the world is coming pass bit by bit. I will surely keep all of you updated as much as possible !

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Sometimes you have to travel through Dirt

The weeks fly by like thoughts in the night , yet the days are tryingly long. Each day serves a different obstacle. Whether it be internally, mentally , physically , emotionally or spiritually. Yet at the end of the day something always seems to turn around. A smile emerges , even if for a second , it's there. Sweet reminders of friends and family. Smells of home. Glimpses of a sunlight stretching over green hills. God reminding me He's there. I feel His presence in the sway of the willow trees. His sun rays  just when I need a bit of light in my day.

Our days at school are full , weeks just the same. So you can have a clearer picture , I thought of writing it out for you:

Monday : 9-am -1:10pm    ACTING
                1:10 - 2:10 pm     Lunch
                2:10  - 4 pm    MOVEMENT
                4- 4:20 pm            Break
                4:20 - 6:10pm     MUSIC

Tuesday : 9am - 1:10pm   ARTICULATION
                 1:10 - 2:10 pm         Lunch
                 2:10 - 6:10pm         VOICE

Wednesday : 9am - 10:5 am   MOVEMENT
                     10:50 - 11:20 am      Break
                     11:20 - 1:10 pm     ACTING
                     1:10  - 2:10 pm        Lunch

Thursday:  9 am - 10:50 am   CONTEXT
                  10:50 - 11:20 am     Break
                  11:20 - 1:10pm      ACTING
                    1:10 - 2:10 pm       Lunch
                    2:10 - 6:10 pm     ACTING

Friday :   9am - 10:50am     LABAN
             10:50 - 11:20 am      Break
             11:20 - 1:10 pm     SINGING
               1:10 - 2:10 pm       Lunch
               2:10 - 6:10 pm     ACTING

So there you have it ! :D My weeks and days in a nutshell. It's very interesting and quite a different experience being in school for Theatre. The informational meetings / career meetings are so polar to what I am use to hearing in those sorts of meetings. Then our class discussions , readings and course topics are complete 180s from what I have been taught all my life. So naturally I'm rebelling. That is not to say that I refuse to do my work or take advice or do my best. More so, I mentally and perhaps even emotionally keep myself at a distance. At times I feel very different from my other classmates in their approaches to the material. They seem much more enthusiastic and eager to obtain the concepts and methods in class than I . Perhaps , because our goals are unique to our individual purposes. It's funny. I'm still trying to rap my head around the fact that I am in school for theatre and am surrounded by theatre people. I think I am just now coming to realize the leap of faith I just took; moving to London to get my Masters in Theatre. WOW ! :O It's um kind of a lot to swallow. However, I'm keeping that leap of faith. Trekking on,  learning and growing up each day. Though it may be inch by inch , there's movement. And that. . . that's empowering.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

?!?!?! Do You Question Sometimes ?

Sometimes I wonder if this is what I want. If I am even capable of acting. I fear perhaps I am not good enough or am too introverted, too in my head , too self conscious to achieve acting brilliance. I felt so much of that day. Apart of me wanted to quit. To go back to the states and get a masters in International Studies and world religions.
Today wasn't a particularly strenuous day . Really no more difficult than any welcoming task , getting to know yous , retreat type of exercises. But I realized that there are so many of my vulnerabilities exposed. It's so hard for me to not be critical of myself , to not compare myself. I suppose I feel misplaced . . . even still in an environment filled with artist and actors. I feel as if something is missing. I miss that sense of exploration , questioning of self and society and redefining what it means to be a woman of color , to simply be. It's like I had discovered something wonderful and powerful and now I've lost it. I'm estranged from the momentous force that drove me to create and imagine. I hate it . . . vulnerability . . . weakness. It may be strange but I never viewed myself as an actress. My heart does not settle with such a word. I am so much more.I want to do so much more than just be someones puppet.
It's hard sometimes.
I am still an intellectual and I miss that mental stimulation and work. Grant it we have a context class, which I will go to tomorrow but still I miss college classes, as weird/nerdy as that may be.
I have so many reservations that I find it hard to allow myself to try at times. I know this is good for me and it is what I need. But I really missed my sisters and friends. Having people you trust to confide in and express yourself. Now it is not the fault of the people around me, they don't know me and I them. For I am sure they are going through a similar experience of not having your true friends near you. For we all have , am or will face challenges along this journey. Still , the blanket of comfort is missed.
It's funny you know .
When you imagine your journey , the trials and tribulations along the way. You envision their intensity , their challenges , the effort you must muster to confront them, overcome them. And of course you STRIVE with EASE. Yet . . . when you arrive there . . . those images you captured and envisioned are no where near the ease you had imagined. You forget your insecurities , your fears , your hindrances, your mental inhibitions. All obstacles are not even taken into consideration when you think of trials. So when you come upon them . . . you freeze, freak out.This was my day .
I realized so many things , once again about me. Perhaps that is good . Easy? No. Scary ? Yes. Having to be honest with self is . . . raw. We build walls upon walls upon walls upon walls of barriers from not only others , but ourselves. We keep our realizations , our truths to ourselves. And we burry them. Run from them. I realized today. I can't. For if I do . I do not succeed. I will not be able to accomplish the very things I live for , I believe. So in a sense I must go forth and bite the bullet , the pain , the agony of change.