Can't write much because need to finish grading my students' journals (acting class) and exams (interpersonal communications) so can prep for interview next week in UK.
I experimented with bringing in my cutting it up techniques into the beginning acting class at Hunter and have just received, via a student's blog, the most wonderful affirmation of this work as not just specialist but useful for beginning actors. The earlier exercises she is referring to were more traditional ensemble-building exercises, Chaikin, Meisner, Linklater, etc...
Here are two of Liz's gems:
"Cutting things up, whether they are words or actions, is downright enjoyable. I feel like with some of the earlier exercises that I couldn’t lose myself enough in them to shift my mental state. Cutting things up, however, is just different and wacky enough that I was present throughout the exercises and completely lost track of all the inner bullshit going through my head."
...and this about the cutting up of cliche phrases, which touches on the political/philosophical bit:
"I think what this exercise taught me is that truly it is terrible to type by group and how important it is to think of people as dynamic creatures who exist beyond color and culture. Beyond the statements of stereotypes, it was fun to see the brains of students working and putting things together. There was a freedom there that was enjoyable, a critical process with some moments of brilliance."
If you want to read her blog about the class, it's at http://teaspoonest.wordpress.com/
Watching the evolution of students such as Liz was kind of astonishing. I have to keep reminding myself that when she started, she was shy. There were a few shy young women who walked into the class and walked out way less shy and knowing they can act. That is truly exciting.
Oh and another student actually brought me flowers to our final evaluation. That is a first. Sadly, in the "no good deeds will go unpunished" school of life, she had her wallet stolen in the process.
I have to keep this brief but eventually will write more about the students' response to this class, because it was quite exciting, especially their making the connection between the class, Chaikin's writing and their own everyday lives.
This is just a brief proud teacher moment...shared with you...
So gratifying...OK, now back to grading...
Welcome to my blog..
"We struggle with dream figures and our blows fall on living faces." Maurice Merleau-Ponty
I am now transitioning into being married again with a new surname (Barclay-Morton). John is transitioning from Canada to NYC and as of June 2014 has a green card. So transition continues, but now from sad to happy, from loss to love...from a sense of alienation to a sense of being at home in the world.
As of September 2013 I started teaching writing as an adjunct professor at Fordham University, which I have discovered I love with an almost irrational passion. While was blessed for the opportunity, after four years of being an adjunct, the lack of pay combined with heavy work load stopped working, so have transferred this teaching passion to private workshops in NYC and working with writers one on one, which I adore. I will die a happy person if I never have to grade an assignment ever again. As of 2018, I also started leading writing retreats to my beloved Orkney Islands. If you ever want two weeks that will restore your soul and give you time and space to write, get in touch. I am leading two retreats this year in July and September.
I worked full time on the book thanks to a successful crowd-funding campaign in May 2014 and completed it at two residencies at Vermont Studio Center and Wisdom House in summer 2015. I have done some revisions and am shopping it around to agents and publishers now, along with a new book recently completed.
I now work full-time as a freelance writer, writing workshop leader, coach, editor and writing retreat leader. Contact me if you are interested in any of these services.
Not sure when transition ends, if it ever does. As the saying goes, the only difference between a sad ending and a happy ending is where you stop rolling the film.
For professional information, publications, etc., go to my linked in profile and website for Barclay Morton Editorial & Design. My Twitter account is @wilhelminapitfa. You can find me on Facebook under my full name Julia Lee Barclay-Morton. More about my grandmothers' book: The Amazing True Imaginary Autobiography of Dick & Jani
In 2017, I launched a website Our Grandmothers, Our Selves, which has stories about many people's grandmothers. Please check it out. You can also contact me through that site.
In May, I directed my newest play, On the edge of/a cure, and have finally updated my publications list, which now includes an award-winning chapbook of my short-story White shoe lady, which you can find on the sidebar. I also have become a certified yoga instructor in the Kripalu lineage. What a year!
And FINALLY, I have created a website, which I hope you will visit, The Unadapted Ones. I will keep this blog site up, since it is a record of over 8 years of my life, but will eventually be blogging more at the website, so if you want to know what I am up to with my writing, teaching, retreats and so on, the site is the place to check (and to subscribe for updates). After eight years I realized, no, I'm never turning into One Thing. So The Unadapted Ones embraces the multiplicity that comprises whomever I am, which seems to always be shifting. That may in fact be reality for everyone, but will speak for myself here. So, do visit there and thanks for coming here, too. Glad to meet you on the journey...
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