The Life of a Theatre Major

"Be fire!! Be it more!" The words of my acting professor echo across the black box as she moves her body in frantic, asymmetrical movements across the floor. Indeed, it seems as if she is burning; I would be frightened to be in her way as limbs fly about like the fluid rise and fall of flames. Her eyes flash fiercely, and the longer she goes,the more intense and rapids her movements become.

"Or you can be earth." Movement stops. She sinks her feet into the floor and roots immediately extend from her soles and twist down, deep, into the earth. She is grounded like a tree and rests, confidently and anciently within herself. Every movement takes a long time, and nothing is said or done unless it is done carefully and with deep meaning. And very slowly. Earth is connected and grounded.

Fire, earth, water and air. These are our elements. We become them in class, and throughout the rest of the day, the acting students at Aquinas College secretly label all of their friends, roommates, co-workers and professors as a certain element character. One of my bosses is earth, and the other is fire. (They probably wouldn't get along) A girl who sits next to me in class is air...And I believe I am water.

This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the strangest sampling of our training. We also do animals and colors and music. Yesterday we had partners move our bodies around, and we had to create a different character for each manipulation. If my partner turned my hand slightly to the left, I had to come up with a different character. Beggar. Debutant. Young foolish boy. Space alien. 47 year old man drowning. 32 year old man with tattoos mugging a young lady. Elderly lady who just broke a hip. Old man holding a lantern, entering a dripping cave. Ballerina in the 19th century performing in masquerade for a large audience.

I had characters flitting in and out of my head for the rest of the day.