Encounters: Lala

I'm walking to the entrance of the FDR Memorial. At this point I think I've walked in this park as much over the past week as I have over the past year...maybe more.

Anyway, I'm about to reach the entrance (after walking through the memorial from the exit...if you haven't been, you need to go to understand) and I see a familiar figure standing there talking to two people I assume must be related, if not parents.

It's Lala (a nickname, but I didn't give it), another student taking dance at AU. I think she might even be a Dance Minor. She's a beautiful mover, who's got very strong technique from her ballet training, but it doesn't get in the way of incorporating modern aesthetics, patterns, and style in movement...I say this because from my own personal observations, this is a rare thing with someone of her background. But it speaks to her being a particularly exceptional dancer.

So I got to meet her parents. And in general, it was just nice seeing her outside of AU. It reminds me of just how...now I don't want to say "small" as I feel it has a negative connotation..well, it makes me remember how "intimate" DC can be, for a city.

Encounters: Caleen J. & Kenyatta R.

As I'm leaving the theatre mentioned in my last entry, I run into two fellow artists in the area, who are also role models for me.

The first is Caleen Jennings, co-chair of the Department of Performing Arts at AU. The second is KenYatta Rogers, an assistant professor in the Theatre department at Montgomery College, and a wonderful actor/director/person as well. Last time I saw him on stage was actually at Woolly Mammoth, less than a year ago, in their production of Fever/Dream.

Anyway, it was nice seeing them out and about from the normal academic setting. I believe it's just as important, if not more so, when you're teaching in higher education, that you are still active in and aware of what's going on outside of your institution. It keeps you grounded, gives you perspective, and (I believe) ultimately makes you a well-rounded teacher and mentor.

Encounters: Becca G. and a student

As I'm sitting at L'enfant Cafe, from my previous entry, I run into two people.

The first is Becca G. whom I actually know from AU's Arts Management program we both started the same year, and are both...taking our time finishing. She's also involved with a really neat...well, from lack of a better description, cultural entity, the Pink Line Project.

It's a neat...presence in DC, headed by Philippa P.B. Hughes. You can check out more about her in this Washington Post article from the past couple of years, Remaking the Scene. I've had the pleasure of meeting her, and subsequently running into her. Always cordial, with a great energy, she's another person who is living proof that DC is much more than the rest of the country give it credit for.

Anyway, Becca's cool too!! Also one of the few other majors in the program with a dance background.

So she passed by on the sidewalk. And not too much after that I hear someone yelling from across the street. Well, actually the person was yelling from the middle of the street, from a taxi that was stopped, and she was in the back seat leaning forward and screaming in front of her mom.

It was one of my students from NCS. A phenomenal dancer, with great energy, she had just moved and was only a freshman. She's already became a pillar in the dance program, and I hope she stays just as involved if not more so in future years.

Anyway, that was it...this time

Encounters: Ben G. and Jennie L.

This semester, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I take 2 1/2 hours of dance classes between 10am & 2pm, at AU.

I exit the dance studio at the Katzen Arts Center and who do I run into? First I run into Jennie L. who I actually last saw in a production of Rent, by Kensington Arts Theatre, sometime last month. However the first time I met (and actually got to perform with her as well!!) was in a production of Footloose at Montgomery College, back in...2004?

Geez...how time flies...

Anyway, apparently she was coming to speak to a musical theatre class about auditioning.

I walked with her to the class room (which was in the Katzen's black box), and get ready to wish her farewell, when I see another stage professional/performing friend, Ben G., also brought into class for the same purpose. I got to share the stage with him when we were both part of the "studio audience" for Studio Theatre's production of Jerry Springer: the Opera, summer of '08.

That was intense, as you could probably imagine. Ben also shares a connection to AU as he is an alumnus of its Theatre/Musical Theatre program. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him in anything lately.

Just one of the frustrating things about working in the arts. You have very limited time and resources to support your fellow artists...