So...Right now I’m (finally) sitting on the train heading to my first day of year of École Philippe Gaulier. It’s been a while coming! Since I last posted I’ve recovered from Glandular Fever, had a great extra-long time at home with family and friends...
I spent 17 hours in Guanzhaou, China, (on stopover), of which the highlight was Yuexyiu Park. It was full of senior citizens playing checkers and cards, having tango dance lessons, and playing a Chinese version of hacky-sack which I ended up playing for about an hour!
I moved back to Paris where I got to see my class’ Clown show (a different experience watching my classmates perform without any experience of the process) and reconnect with friends...
I had a Kiwi-Kristmas with Amanda and Claudia and Rosie with Julia Croft and her sister and Christine de Paris.
After a big (slightly stressful) hunt Amanda and I found the perfect apartment in Belleville (11th Arrondissement). The landlords are lovely which is a mega-bonus, and the place has just been done up so everything is clean and new. Great location too. We scored big time.
Amanda and I have settled in Paris as much as we can for now (there’s still a few difficult admin-y things to do: Insurance, Phone/Internet, Mobile Phones, Bank accounts, Electricity (I had a crazy experience in which I tried to sign up over the phone and gave my bank details and everything, and managed to get myself through most of the process, but found myself saying “oui” and “d’accord” to things I had no idea what they meant!).
Amanda has had a few job interviews already and there are more to come, and I just had the first of many French lessons we’ve signed up for with Campus Langues. 2 hours per day - full immersion - 5 days per week - for 1 month (and probably much longer). Today’s class actually went surprisingly well (after 3 attempts at finding the right classroom). I understood most of the class, and picked up some new stuff. I’m pretty slow right now, and I feel slower than the rest of the class, but I’m sure over time it will come. I found it particularly cool to ask what a word means, and have it explained in French, and understanding it!
I also scored a ticket to James Thiérré’s Raoul for only €23 (thank you Maria). Ever since discovering this picture online (see below) I’ve wanted to see it.
And it’s coming to New Zealand for the international festival soon and I thought I was going to miss it being in Paris...but I didn’t! And I’m so glad I didn’t because it was fantastic. The magic, the play, the joy. He is an incredible performer. He’s a comedian, an actor, an acrobat, a musician, a puppeteer...There aren’t many people like him in the world. It was a bit of a mish-mash - it felt as if Thiérré had put a bunch of fun things he’d made all into one show - so it didn’t really make sense. But that didn’t matter. I was happy to go with him.
One moment I loved was right at the end when he ‘flew’. I’d love to do a similar thing for a production of Peter Pan.
And a lovely moment was just a bit after the end of the curtain call, Thierré’s son, a toddler, waddled out on to the stage curiously. The audience started clapping and then Théirré ran out and whisked up his kid, who stood balanced on Thiérré’s hand as they left the stage. The fourth generation of the Chaplin family already can do tricks!
And now back to school...day one of Vaudeville. I’m relieved to be back! I’ve missed it. Honestly. I feel stronger too. I feel less afraid. This extra time away has given me more perspective. Especially going to the Clown show, or Skyping friends through the process. From afar it seems ridiculous how strung up we get at the school. You’re bad right now? So what? Change. Keep changing. Keep listening. Keep searching. Don’t lose hope. I’m all for ‘crisis’ now. I get it. And I believe in it as a teaching tool too. Or just a mechanism for change in the world. But I hope that this year I can stay positive and playful whether I’m good or bad. I felt like I really started to understand “it’s good to be bad” towards the end of last year, and I became much less fearful as an actor, and because of that able to commit much more and be freer too. I’m going to try to keep moving in that direction. But who knows what this year has install for me? Time will tell.
Étampes! Voici!
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