We were put to sleep last night by the calming sound of rain on the roof of the RV. (Maybe you caught that on Amy's status update on facebook!) We seemed to have entered Denver, CO in the midst of some serious rainstorms. It was a nice way to end the night, but the sounds of rain this morning was a little less exciting. Fortunately it cleared up halfway through the day!
Today we took a trip into Boulder to meet with Lee Worley of Naropa University.
We were introduced to Lee and her book "Coming From Nothing, the sacred art of acting" through one of Amy's dear friends Meghan Fahey. Meghan and Amy were heavily and ecstatically involved in high school drama together and in recent years Meghan has been a student at Naropa University. Amy had read part of Lee's book in 2007 and her ideas were some of the initial inspirations that sparked the idea of for our company. So it was wonderful for us to finally be able to meet Lee in person.
Boulder is a wonderful city with some great vibes. It's relatively intimate and serene while maintaining the sort of energy and briskness of a typical Colorado ski town. I think we all fed a bit off that energy when we pulled up to Naropa's campus.
We arrived at Lee's office and, unable to all fit inside, we moved to a classroom around the corner that she had reserved for us. We talked a great deal about the history of Naropa, which started in the early 70's as an institution providing a really unique liberal arts education inspired by Buddhism. How interesting is that?
She also shared her journey from New York (where she was born) to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Apparently Lee also felt a disheartening incompleteness as an actress in the Big Apple. Even though she got much of what she wanted out of a career in the arts, she likened the experience of getting these things to "banging your head against the wall." We couldn't have agreed more. Inspired by the notion that art can be anywhere and by a desire to have a life that could be financially stable and include a family, she moved to Santa Fe and got involved in some local theatre.
She described to us the contemplative education programs she helped to create at Naropa and also gave us a history of the development of her approach to theatre and performance. We also talked about the students that find success at Naropa versus the ones that don't. Lee stressed that the ones who are looking to see only how the program can serve them, tend to lack harmony within the program.
This was, of course, very interesting to us. We often mention the challenges of mindset among actors. Our industry seems to promote a strive toward only fame and fortune as a measure of success. This conversation with Lee was very similar to the conversation with the faculty of Wichita State two days ago. The teachers there also mentioned that students in this generation tend to see their theatre education as a means to an end. In other words..."I am here to learn what I need to learn to become very successful in my career." We all understood to varying degrees this mentality and the challenges of where it leads you.
Check out a link to Lee's article, The Contemplating Teacher: Taking the Long View
Inspired by our wonderful conversation with Lee, we headed out to explore Boulder and we first ended up stopping at a "fast food" vegan restaurant down the street called VG Burgers. They had an array of vegan burgers, salads, wraps and the like and it was a delicious experience!
Then we walked the streets of Boulder, enjoying the eclectic and peaceful nature of it all. Brad and Amy grabbed a quick haircut (RV hair is a challenge) and we headed back just in time as the rain clouds followed us back to Denver.
Tomorrow we meet with Anthony Radich of Westaf! Looking forward to that one!
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