Today I had the privilege of chaperoning my daughter's 5th grade class to American Players Theater for a performance of "As You Like It," by William Shakespeare. APT is an outdoor, stadium theater, seated in the half round, and the actors use the aisles and steps as part of the show. Our group was fortunate enough to be seated in the front row! We were a mere three to four feet away from the actors at certain points in the performance.
I was seated between my daughter and a male student. The boy next to me has a reputation for being a bit of a tough guy. He has a hard shell that protects him from getting to close to anybody. He uses humor, sometimes inappropriately, to "keep life interesting." He was seated next to me because I am known as a "fun" mom but also a "strict" educator. I have high standards, one that would probably make some of MY former teachers laugh uncontrollably (that boy reminds me a lot of myself at that age).
Anyway..... What I was able to witness in both my daughter and in this boy was nothing short of a beautiful miracle. Art became reality to them. Fiction and drama became interactive. Humor and theatricality became tools they understood and appreciated. For the past three weeks their class has been studying this play and the life and times in which it was written. They staged their own mini-production of it in the classroom and arrived at the theater today versed in the language and story line. What they were not expecting was the intimate setting, the palpable drama, and the raw emotion of actors that were right in front of them.
Honestly, I am not sure if some of their classmates would even be able to say they had the same intense experience as they did today. We had a large group, four classes of 20-22 students a piece plus teachers and chaperons, so some of the adults and students were several rows behind us and further away from the action. But as for the two students on either side of me, we had a up-close and personal connection with everything that was happening around us.
As a mother and an educator I was moved by the pure enjoyment of the classic that these students were experiencing. It was magical to see their faces when they remembered something from their personal experience with the material at school. It was inspiring to see them make connections with actors that were playing the parts they themselves had portrayed. It was fun to understand just a little more than they did and laugh at a few elements that went over their young heads. It was to cool to hear them laugh at things I was not expecting them to understand.
At the same time all of this was happening I was having an incredible rush of a childhood memory. When I had been in sixth or seventh grade I had attended a play at American Players Theater. I do not remember what exact play we saw but I do remember that it was also by Shakespeare. As I sat there today I could remember my own youthful excitement of being at my first professional performance. I remembered understanding some things and not really getting some of it. I remembered being spellbound by the location (the theater is at the top of a hill, in the middle of a wooded area, surrounded by sounds of nature and the blue sky above).
I remember coming home and being interested in drama and performing, for many years after that. And as I watched my daughter and the young boy next to me I could feel their excitement and engagement grow. I began to feel a special joy of having had a shared experience with my daughter. I began to realize that she is growing out of her young childhood stage and into her life as a young adult. I began to think about how my role, my position in life, has drastically changed since my day as a student watching my first Shakespeare play. I was filled with awe, and a little trepidation, as I realized my responsibility in helping my daughter on her journey from innocence to maturity.
On the ride home I started to process the day's events. I was happy that I had not tried to rush through a different blog post this morning as I was already thinking of what I wanted to share here. I guess this blog has become the most recent avenue for my creativity and dramatic side to show itself to the world. I am thankful that a teacher in my past had thought it important enough to introduce me to the performing arts and that a teacher today still values that same experience enough to bring it forth in my daughter's life.
So..... What do you value? What experiences do you deem worthy to share with others? What memories do you have that you wish you could relive? What realizations have you come to as you reflect back on your life? What old passions or interests are ready to return to the surface again?
My prayer for today is for the strength to be a courageous person, an inspiring educator, a supportive and playful mother, a dedicated spouse, a caring daughter, and a faithful and obedient servant of the Most High God. I pray these same things for you and for the loved ones in our lives.
Until We Meet Again,
Drea
No comments:
Post a Comment