A special first day in class

Today in my first class, I experienced something very special.
In our class 'Performance lab' we learn how to be the artists that people want to look. How we trust that there is no-one else like us in the whole world, and that WE have a special gift, something the audience hasn't seen before.

From the minute we walked into the class, the teacher met us with grace. The teacher is a human being like us, he said. This room was meant to let go of any mask or shield - the one all of us wears in our everyday lives. Not many people don't. We wear it to protect ourselves, seem cool or stronger than we really are. But the human being is a very vulnerable creature, he continued.

To be an artist, we have to accept every part of ourselves. No-one loves someone who doesn't love themselves - it's not interesting to watch onstage. But the confidence is not meant as a practised smile, but being able to share the true self to the world.
That's what's unique.

We each had to share a secret, something vulnerable to us, beginning the sentence with "If you really knew me, you'd know...".

I'd expected that people would have said "... I am scared of taking the bus alone" or "...I am afraid of heights" or "I cry when I see a rat".
For myself, I'd long before decided that I wanted to be one of the brave one's. I wanted to say how I really felt and what things had happened to me recently that made me more vulnerable.

But it didn't even take one person to speak, before vulnerable stories were shared on a really deep level.
Of course what was said in the room, must stay in the room, in order to be faithful to the exercise.
- But what people said was really deep and honest. They spoke about loosing their loved ones, parents or siblings passing away, being afraid of speaking up or being alone.
And within the first 5 minutes a third of everyone in the circle had tears in their eyes. And I said "If you knew me well, you'd know that I lost my best friend last week."

The teacher had made room for the vulnerable self, from the second we stepped into the classroom. And he made it clear that the purpose of the exercise, sitting in a circle and looking deeply into the other person's eyes, was to acknowledge everyone who was there, no matter what their background was.

And it wasn't hard. Seeing all kinds of different people burst into tears in no time, brought such a huge smile on my face. Not because I was happy about them crying, but because I was happy that they could.
There was no way no-one in the room wouldn't notice the sudden respect and sensitivity that created the mood.

From then on, the teacher decided for each of us, what we were going to sing in front of the class next week, based on our character and our story behind. He really hit the spot on every single one. For me, he wanted me to sing, "At the ballet" - from A Chorus line, after I honestly said how I felt my grandma with me every time I sang and danced.
And with some people, he guessed their story - the turbulents they'd been through and what they really felt underneath the masks - before they'd even had a chance to speak.

And every part of it was true. And the person burst into tears - maybe from the relief of being seen right through, or the fear of it.
Our teacher claimed he was psychic, but of course he was just taking the mickey out of us.
The reason he could see through people is not because he is psychic, but an actor.
Through acting he has learnt how to see the truth in people. He has 'studied' human beings his whole life. And revealing the true chore of a human being takes an amount of truth, vulnerability and respect. When you learn to master these three things, and be them in LIFE (not just pretended on a stage) - when you stop wearing your mask and honestly, but vulnerably dare to step into the circle and say 'this is me', you start showing the world what a great unique you are.

We are the ones who create this earth. As long as we breathe we participate. And not acting truthfully, pretending we're better or different in a way, we fail in our purpose on earth.

That's how he said it, and it sounds harsh. But I think there's a lot to think about in what he said.

Know that you have no purpose on earth if YOU (the real you) don't contribute.

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Yes, this was just one of the three amazing classes I had today. This was an experience I had to share immediately. I will write about my Meisner class soon.

Tomorrow I have ballet, who knows if something magical might happen then.

I want to finish my blog post with a quote. This was Susan's interpretation of my first day.

"What did you do on your first day of school?... oh, I let go of fear and opened my heart".