UC San Diego

The following are not only my goals for grad school but for the years to come: to breathe and speak on a full voice, to play “free time” with black mask off, and to let go when I go onstage.

Before grad school my voice was high-pitched and effortful. My laughs and cries, like my speaking voice, were habitually held back in the throat. Full voice with breath and ease has been my biggest pursuit and with Ursula’s help my voice has gone through the most thrilling and visible growth. In The Comedy of Errors, I worked on always sustaining a full voice, not going in and out or swallowing the end words, as well as flow, not punching but lifting. For physical uninhibition, in one rehearsal of Dance Nation my brain turned off and my body moved on its own. I began to bridge the gap between Stephen’s class and the rehearsal room, going into uncomfortable positions like nobody’s business and playing the maximum all the while having fun. As a diligent student, I like to take notes, receive notes, compile a worklist, and tackle the tasks one by one. The challenge is to be simultaneously “overly prepared” and free from attachment of all the work and ideas when I play. I still fall into the trap of trying to “feel” and agonize over not hitting it after a show. Pursue the action, not the emotion, will be one of my pillars for the years to come.