Schools and Rules are Tools for Fools-- Part II of IV

This is part of a four-part post about art and schoolwork. To see the introductory post, click here.

I mentioned that as a homeschooler, I am able to take classes this year that I almost certainly would not have the opportunity to participate in were I in public school. The first of these classes I would like to discuss is not really a class at all, but a discussion group for literature.

This discussion group is held at one of my friend's houses. Every Thursday, seven of us gather to have a really great, nearly entirely student led discussion about whatever work of literature we are currently reading together, drink tea, chat after the discussion, drink tea, talk about fandoms and writing, and drink tea. Did I mention the tea? We like tea.

I feel incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such a great group of like-minded peers like this. We all are very interested in writing and reading. Many of us are actors as well. Our shared excitement for a good story and fascinating characters that can be related to is definitely perceivable in our discussions. (In fact, a few of us went to the children's section in a book store the other day, and we found ourselves discussing the characterization of Lucille from the Junie B. Jones series). Although we are definitely interested in all elements of a good story-- plot, pacing, setting, description, etc. --I think it is safe to say that it is the characters in a book hold the most interest for many of us. And we're all fans of Doctor Who, to cap it off. Really, I just love this whole group to pieces, if you couldn't tell already.

We have a wonderful adult facilitator who picks out books, provides discussion topics if we need them, and gently steers the conversation back on track when we deviate to topics such as gay rights, Doctor Who, human nature, Doctor Who, feminism, or Doctor Who. Other than that, the discussion is completely student led.

I believe that the thing that makes all this possible is that this 'class' is mandatory for none of us; we all really want to be there. In a public school, the discussion of literature in this fashion would probably be mandatory, which, depending on the group of students, could take a lot of the joy and purpose out of it. If just one person doesn't want to be in a class like this, they sort of put a damper on the whole group. It's not that large-scale education facilities really have a lot of choice in this matter; their job is to educate and broaden the horizons of as many people as possible, and I appreciate that the difficulty of this task increases with each additional student who walks in through their doors. But my point is, because of the small size of my group and the honest desire of each of us to ascertain more knowledge about the fascinating psychology of the crazy, terrible, wonderful, mad species known as human beings though the study of literature,  we are able to have some really fascinating, scintillating discussions.

So far, we have studied The Dead (James Joyce) and The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald). We are currently reading A Passage to India (E.M. Forster), which is a fascinating social commentary on the colonized India of the twentieth century. I'll spare you all my rants about each of these fascinating books. I admit that I probably would not have made my way through most of these stories without the relative structure of the group to answer to, as A Passage to India in particular can be a bit of a slog at first (it's worth it once you get to the middle, by the way). That's another thing the group is useful for. It really motivates me to finish a work I might not even have picked up otherwise, because if one of us doesn't do the reading, the discussion pretty much becomes pointless.

I'll end with one of my favorite quotes. "When I learn something new--and it happens everyday-- I feel a little more at home in this universe, a little more comfortable in the nest." --Bill Moyers. I'll admit that I have no earthly idea who Bill Moyers is or was or why he said that, but I think he's on to something. Stories are, and always have been, a way for us to explore our own humanity through the eyes of another: an author or a fictional character. Sometimes the view of an outsider is needed in order to let us see what should be obvious about our own lives, and that's something that stories (and art in general) gives to us.
 

Schools and Rules are Tools for Fools: Part I of IV

This is part of a four-part series of posts about schoolwork and learning in general. No, don't worry. This is not going to be a soapbox where I whine about doing work. In fact, I would like to discuss three of my favorite aspects of school this year. However, I am going to start with an introduction that may come off as a bit soap-boxy. Please bear with me; I promise it's relevant. :)

"Rules and schools are tools for fools-- I don't give two mules for rules." This extremely creative, original, and oh-so cleverly contrived poem is a quote from one of my favorite, endearingly obstinate book characters: Constance from the Mysterious Benedict Society series (an excellent read, by the way. Why is it that children's books tend to be so much better than books aimed at teenagers?).

I believe that by creating this poem, Constance is expressing doubt in a system that enforces mandatory learning of subjects and material that she feels will not be useful in the real world. She is not entirely correct in her particular case (I can't tell you why without spoiling a surprise in the plot), but she's not wrong, either. It's my opinion that the main problem with the education system in the United States is that it is way too uniformly molded: it is meant to work for every child, and thus leaves a great many children out. I have no problem whatsoever with inclusiveness as a concept, but there are significant problems in making this a reality. In enforcing a system so homogenous, individuality of learning strategies is lost, along with a lot of the whole point of education. Learning becomes something mandatory, enforced, and moderated by adults, rather than something to spark interest in life and a future career, which is what it should be.

I don't deny that it is important to be well-rounded. A really good computer programmer may find himself with no prospects if computer programming is the only thing he is able to do well and all his skills are unneeded for whatever reason during a particular time. However, at the same time, I don't really see why a youth with enormous talent in visual arts, graphic design, or music should have to take AP Calculus if they don't want to in order to have the required number of classes to get into college. It's not that AP Calculus isn't useful. It's just that a student who is definitely going to go into the arts probably won't use it a lot in the real world, and would make better use of their time in high school practicing more pertinent skills.

This is one of the reasons I enjoy homeschooling so much: my study schedule, though not as flexible as popular culture would have you believe, is nearly entirely self-directed. Yes, I still have to take classes I despise and don't personally see as relevant to my life. But I am held accountable for those things, and if they don't get done, I know I won't be able to study what I'm actually interested in later. Additionally, as a homeschooler, I am able to take classes I am truly interested at the times that I want to. For instance, AP U.S. History is a class normally only taken by 11th or 12th graders, and is not even an option for most freshmen in public school. However, in my freshman year, I was able to take it because I wanted to. (I ended up getting a 5 out of 5, by the way. Still happy about that :D).

Because of the flexibility of homeschooling, I was able to take three classes this year that I truly enjoy greatly and would almost certainly not been able to take were I in public school: AP art History, advanced music theory, and a literature discussion group. I'll devote a post in this series to each of them.

~Naddie Boyne

Adventures in Haberdashery

I have an important announcement to make: Despite popular belief, I am not dead.

Due to my long hiatus from Singing Dragons, I have no doubt that this became the popular belief nationwide. I'm sure that my myriads of adoring fans have been utterly bereft without me. Well folks, I'm back, and I didn't actually die. So you can come out of mourning now.

What have I been up to, you ask, during this unnecessarily long hiatus? Well, dear reader, among other things, I have been making hats. My obsession with steampunk has only continued to assume greater heights while I've been away from this blog, and I have created two hats.

The first (my second-ever attempt at hat making, after the creation of a so-so fez) is the fascinator below, made of cardboard, hot glue, faux-leather, and some embellishments that were lying around the house.

That one turned out pretty well, so I made a small top hat next. It took a lot of black fabric, ribbon, hot glue, and episodes of Doctor Who to get it finished, but I did it! I used flowers, lace, a tiny compass, and some gears as embellishments.

~Naddie Boyne

Random Photograph

I took this photo when I went to Ocean City with some friends last summer. It's just a random, cool shot that I wanted to post. It has no purpose, other than serving as a nice example of aesthetics. Now you have seen a random photo of a boat with no purpose. Congratulations!

~Naddie

Flower Arrangement

I like arranging flowers. I guess it's because I love to play with color combinations. I have been denying the fact that summer is over and it is now fall, and I will probably go right on denying it until May. But at least I can have some fun with the weather and the plants that it produces. Here's a little arrangement I did a week ago inspired by fall colors:

I used marigolds, nandina leaves and milkweed blooms. I tied on ribbons in coordinating colors and decorated the plate with some nice yellow bell peppers that happened to be lying around.

May the cold months leave as quickly as possible this year!

~Naddie

Philmont Photos

I went to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico this July, where I went on a 10-day backpacking trek in the backcountry. It was a very valuable experience, and I wanted to post some of the better photos that I took.

I love Philmont so much and I really, really can't wait to go back someday!

~Naddie

Modern Art (a parody)

I would like to enlighten your lives a little bit by sharing some top-notch modern art that I created. I feel within my soul that these are a vivid look into modern society and almost everything that plagues the minds of mortals today and throughout all of human history.

An Eternity Passes While We Wait for the World to Fix Itself

Emptyness of a Human Soul

The Mental Prison Created by a Cold, Impersonal Consumer Society

The Torment of a Dying Planet

Life altering and soul wrenching, is it not?

~Naddie

White Queen portrait

I've been drawing again. The scanned picture really doesn't give you an accurate idea of the shading or of the details, but here it is:

(I'm sorry that the graphic had to be so big that it has begun to choke the right side of your screen). Yep, that's me dressed as the White Queen from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, which, along with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of my absolute favorite stories. I played the White Queen in HTT's Alice in Wonderland (which combined elements from both books, by the way). I based this self-portrait off of a photograph that someone took of me in the green room, before the performance. That's why I'm wearing only one glove and have got on horrible fake eyelashes. (Side note: I also had to wear falsies in the next play. A friend and I had a joke about me having small tarantulas on my eyes.)

I am beginning to resent my nose. It's a nice enough looking nose, I suppose, but it's an absolute nightmare to draw. I mean, there's this bit down the side where you think it should be raised, but it's straight! And in profile the knobbly bit on the end has got no outline. And don't get me started on the shading around my nostrils! In the spirit of Alice in Wonderland, I've resolved to give my nose a firm talking to. It shall go without its supper until it has promised me that it will make an effort to be easier to draw.

Fair farren,
~Naddie

So apparently I can draw...

 Remember how I made it very clear that I cannot draw anything other than the Death Star and musical symbols to save my life? Evidently that is not so. I have discovered that I do have some drawing ability. I was not aware of this fact until recently, when I started doodling absently because I had nothing better to do at that moment (don't you just love summer vacation?). And, well, while I'm not exactly Van Gogh, you can actually tell what my pictures are supposed to be.

As I said, not Van Gogh. But I think it's pretty obvious that they're supposed to be horses. While this may not seem all that exciting to you drawers out there who actually posses considerable skill, this is a big step forward for me and I'm really pleased with it.

I seriously enjoy drawing, and I'm excited with all the new artistic possibilities I can now consider.

~Naddie

Coolest. Furniture. Ever.

 

 

"Check out this awesome and stylish Vintage leather interior designed by LA Designs. I love how they have used many parts of the car to turn it into armchairs and even tables."

Found this on Tumblr. Who said furniture couldn't be art? This is the neatest combination of objects since the bunk bed ("I mean, it's a bed. With a LADDER! How cool is that?") 

~Naddie

P.S. By the way, I'm not really awake at 3:00 AM. I auto-scheduled this post. Right now, it's 7:16 PM on Friday. If I actually am awake eight hours from now, something has gone seriously wrong with my life.

And now I don my music theory teacher's hat...

Through a refreshingly random turn of events, I will be teaching a music theory class to six students between the ages of 11 and 15 for the first semester of this school year. I am both excited and a little apprehensive about this. Excited because music is my obsession and passion and I love sharing it with other people. Apprehensive because while I've taught classes on various subjects before, I've never taught music theory officially and I've never taught anything where I had to write my own syllabus.

Fortunately, I see music theory as pleasant rather than as a chore (most of the time), so writing the syllabus has actually been quite fun. Music theory is nearly impossible to teach in a group larger than ten, so having a class size of six is very comforting. The class only goes until early December, so if I find myself horribly and surprisingly unsuitable for this job I won't  make my students hate me for the whole school year. Just for half of it.

All in all, I'm rather looking forward to it, despite my mild anxieties. This should be an interesting learning experience, and of course I always am pleased to find more ways to share music with people.

And thus concludes the second post of today. I wrote and published two today because I feel guilty about not posting for so long.

~Naddie

Side note: Not that I'm going to actually wear one, but what do you think a music theory teacher's hat should look like? Boater? Fez? Fedora? Dunce cap?

Bohemian Rhapsody on Ukulele (Jake Shimabukuro)

...And you have not seen the last of ukulele videos on this blog. Seriously, though, this guy is amazing. He makes it sound like he's playing about three ukuleles. This is a clip of him playing Bohemian Rhapsody (of all songs) on (of all instruments) his uke. And he is not just playing chords here. He did the WHOLE SONG. With ALL OF IT'S PARTS. I love how the guitar solo during the 'rock song' part sounds on a ukulele. Nerdy ukulele enthusiasts rejoice!

~Naddie

Ukulele + '50s Music = Made of Win

I found this cover of Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love by Twenty One Pilots on Tumblr. I have a serious thing for ukuleles, and this is one of my favorite songs. Watch and be amazed.

~Naddie

Inspiration

Inspiration is a fickle thing. A lot of people write about it in rhapsodic and often schmaltzy terms, making it sound a lot more wonderful than it actually is. Personally, I get a lot of ideas, all day long, about all sorts of things. But not always how and when I want them. 

Being creative can drive me absolutely mad sometimes. Sometimes, when I’m in the middle of, say, math, I’ll get a wonderful idea about a novel I could write and I have to abandon 2√x±4y and scribble it down on whatever paper-like surface happens to be nearby so I don't forget it. This, needless to say, can be very annoying. And when I’ve got all my homework done for the day and have sat down in front of the piano to finish the walking base motif I’ve been thinking about all day, NOTHING HAPPENS. Inspiration, that flighty, easily offended creature, has abandoned me in my hour of need.

So how should you deal with inspiration coming at inopportune moments? I’ve found it’s helpful to carry around a notebook and small pen or pencil with me wherever I go. I keep sticky notes, a tape recorder and a pencil by my bed in case I have an idea late at night. As soon as I get an idea for anything, I record it. Even if I never use that particular idea, at least writing it down gets creative juices flowing, which may lead to other, even better ideas.

I know everyone says this, but inspiration can be found anywhere. I once got an idea for my NaNoWriMo novel by noticing that my piano teacher’s pen was running out of ink. Once I was in the laundry room, and very randomly I began humming. Now I’m in the process of turning the melody I was humming into a jazz piece for piano. As long as you keep your eyes open and let your mind wander, inspiration will eventually strike. Very unfortunately, at about age 12 it becomes uncool to be curious about everything and ask questions. Personally, I don’t really spend a lot of time being cool anyway, so that’s not an issue for me. If you stay curious, you stay creative.

As you read this, I will be in New Mexico in the wilderness. Maybe I’m hiking, riding a horse, shooting a rifle, or collapsing in a tired heap after hiking ten miles up and down a mountain in the heat all day while carrying a twenty-pound pack (don't you just love Scouting?). Whatever I’m doing, I hope that I’ll use that experience in my art someday. 

Good luck finding the inspiration for the things that you like to do!

~Naddie Boyne

I'm back. Did you miss me?

Well there. Erm. Hi, readers. How’s it going?  You all look lovely today. Really, you do. And I’m not just saying that because I’m trying to get on your good side. Really.

You may have noticed a profound lack of posts on this here blog as of late. I could give you an excellent and touching excuse, eloquently recounted in a tale that will make you laugh, cry, grip the edge of your seat in suspense and ultimately win you over to my side of this situation. Or, on the other hand, I could tell you the truth. I assure you that the former option will prove to be much more entertaining than the latter, and if that is what you want to hear, just say the word.

What’s that you say? You would rather hear the truth, no matter how boring it may be? Well, ok. If you’re sure. But first, I would like to confess an anxiety of mine.

I do not like crowds. I really don’t. I don’t even like friendly crowds with the intent to bestow lavish praises on me and fill my pockets with chocolates, roses and money. But Naddie, you say. Aren’t you an actor? Don’t you enjoy attention? Didn’t you once march into a convenience store late at night in very dark blue face paint and play your ukulele and sing loudly for all to hear? Well reader, yes to all three. But I find that performing in front of crowds on a stage (or, in the case of the Great Convenience Store Caper, in front of a small group near the cash register), is much easier than walking amongst a large crowd of people I don’t know who might try to talk to me. Anyway, my point is this: I don’t like crowds. I don’t even like reasonably friendly crowds. I especially do not like angry crowds wielding torches and pitchforks. At this point, we cease to refer to them as a crowd and designate them for all intents and purposes as a “very angry mob.” 

For this reason, before I tell you why I haven’t been posting, please agree to and sign the following:

I, (name here), hereby promise that when I hear Naddie Boyne’s reason for not posting on the blog known as Singing Dragons, I will not collect farm tools, space guns, cranky toddlers, or any other dangerous weapons. After I do not collect these items, I will not gather in a large group of my fellow Singing Dragons readers and track down Naddie Boyne. Once all of this is not accomplished, I will resist the urge to proceed to chase Naddie Boyne around town and shout threats and possibly tie her to the railroad tracks that will certainly not be nearby, due to the fact that I shall never, ever accomplish any of this in the first place. All this I hereby swear on the name of my closest living relative, the life of the queen of England, and all that is holy and/or delicious.

(Sign name here. Use black or blue ink only.) ________________________________________________

Thank you. I feel much better now.

Ready for the excuse? It’s not too late to turn back now. You don’t have to hear it if you don’t want to. What’s that? You are tired of my pointless, irritating and lengthy stalling tactics? Fine. If that’s how you feel, here it is:

I forgot. I got busy and I forgot. And then, when I got a few minutes every now and then I didn’t feel like it.

Please don’t be angry. Remember the form you signed. Now, I am about to go on a backpacking trek in New Mexico. In the wilderness. Completely without any wi-fi. But don’t worry! I won’t abandon you again. I will write several posts in advance and schedule them to post themselves during that time.

Welcome back to Singing Dragons! I hope you enjoy the posts coming up over the next three weeks.

~Naddie Boyne

Tech Week

Tech week.

Those two particular words, when placed in that particular order, become a particular phrase that wields great power. This phrase can strike fear in the heart of the most seasoned director. It has been known to create great excitement and anticipation in the minds of actors. Perhaps most importantly, this phrase has the power to make a whole cast freak out so much that they band together out of fear and become a single, driving force with one goal: put on a good show.

For all you non-thespians out there: tech week is the period of time when a cast gets serious and practices a play the way they are going to perform it at the shows. If you don't know your lines by now, I think the director gets to sell you as a test subject to scientific research. Tech week means hours of dress rehearsals, blocking, sitting still while people slather your face with foundation, re-blocking, hot costumes, standing still on stage doing nothing while the light crew figures out what lighting works best in your scenes, re-re-blocking, sitting still and being quiet so that people can actually work, practicing sound and light ques, and then going home for some sleep before you drive to the theater to do it all over again the next day. It pretty much becomes your life.

You've probably guessed by now that my theater group, HTT, is now in the middle of tech week. Actually, tech weeks. Yes, we habitually spend two weeks in this manner whenever we put on a show. Great for the show, not so good for the sanity of actors (whose sanity, I might add, was never quite confirmed in the first place).

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy tech week, most of the time (just not the energy crash I get when I go home at the end of the day). I love acting, and I've found it's always easier to get into character if I'm wearing a costume on stage. And I really like the way that everything comes together and the show becomes better and better.

But because everything is still being worked out, there are some funny and embarrassing moments. For instance, a completely silent fight scene (the guy at the sound board wasn't paying attention). Or yesterday, when the evil fairy entered in one scene, someone played the wrong sound effect so that instead of the sound of thunder there was gentle, cheerful music. But after all, I guess this is the whole reason that we rehearse: so that we don't make those same mistakes during the actual show.

If I had to choose something to dominate my life for two weeks, tech week wouldn't be a bad way to go. I get to see my friends every day, and, of course, I get to act. As a close friend of mine always used to say, "The play's the thing."

~Naddie

Camping Quotes

For those who don't know, I belong to the most epic Girl Scout troop ever. Seriously. My Girl Scout troop (aka the Evil Minions for various and random reasons) means quite a lot to me. They are fun, positive, kind, diligent, and are willing to share their extra socks during a small hurricane in a campground in Pennsylvania.

Recently, we went camping. We got to stay in a large white tipi. Shortly after we arrived at our site, I decided to write down funny quotes people said in my journal. Well, throughout the course of the trip we collected quite a few. Some of the best are below (the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Whether or not I deliberately changed them to names of various companions in Doctor Who is for you to decide. Coincidences do and frequently happen.)

Our tipi smells like Christmas candles!
No one killed my father. Thank God.
My feet can fly!
We were encouraged to steal soap.
Hitler was a good artist until he decided that he hated Jews more than he loved art.
I love that there are three ukuleles on this trip!
I'm thinkin' Elmo with a mullet.
"Why did we bring such a huge pot?" "Because my mom told me that the little one was stupid."
If your cooking pot isn't smoking by now, you've done something wrong.
Why do the peas smell like Oreos?
The beauty queen is going to stuff her face now.
I will eat potatoes angrily in your general direction.
I hate it. I want to smother it.
What the HECK is in my pants?!
I'm starting to think that the idea of wearing pajamas all the time is a good one.
My brain is like "no! sleep is for the weak!"
I didn't clench, I just lightly grazed my teeth across your face.
Just hug her. She'll move.
That does not constitute a tickling emergency.
"WHAT is that THING!?" "Um, that's Martha."
I'm gonna go to war in my pajamas.
Either you love bacon or you're wrong.
Did you just spit into the wilderness?
It is possible that monkeys will fall from the sky and demand s'mores.
I'm like "yay, clothes!"
My soul has a bounce to it.
It's like I'm playing a weird, aquatic tuba.
It's like a python in the world of ponytail holders.
Isn't Donna's hair the best meal you've ever had? It's like dessert!
I have my own disgusting pile of disgustingness to finish.
I was bitten by a radioactive mustache. Now I'm cat woman by night.
My face hurts because he's so gorgeous! (In reference to the campfire that we named Benjamin).
You're sharing your chocolate with me, so I burned these three marshmallows for you!
Stop waltzing with Mr. Bunnypants!
"Is this sticky?" "I don't know. Let's run it across my face and see."
I'm known for my bendy face.
Wait, Sarah Jane? Did you just turn into Amy? WOW!
I feel like a middle-aged marshmallow man!
But how could you have tripped her if you didn't touch her?
But I had Rose in my head!
You could just tie a string to her ankle so you could follow her wherever she goes.
Let's just not listen to one another.

This is the sort of delightful madness that ensues in my troop.

~Naddie

Playing Quidditch

My director is really, really cool. Not only is she a phenomenal director all around, but she does awesome things like let her cast members play Quidditch at rehearsal. I love Quidditch (along with Calvinball, it is the only sport I actually understand, if you don't count piano as a sport. Which most people don't seem to). I was very eager for the match, because while I knew all the rules of Quidditch I had never actually played before.

The match was last Tuesday. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. I was quite pleased to have been chosen as team captain for Gryffindor. I also felt very spiffy indeed, because a friend lent me his cape and a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages (an excellent read, by the way) that he had made notes in about which plays and techniques would work the best for people who didn't actually have brooms that flew. The players were picked, positions were assigned, the Snitch was released, and the game began.

Who won, you ask? Well, I am pleased to inform you, dear and gentle reader, that we beat the pants (er, capes) off of Ravenclaw and won by a large margin. However, I should add that this was not due to the team's Keeper. The Keeper was sadly not very good, and missed incoming balls on a regular and pathetically consistent basis. But because the other players were actually good at the positions they were assigned, we won. Why, my dear Naddie, you say, whoever was this terrible Keeper? Who could have caused your team such distress? My dear reader. I appreciate your concern. Thank you for your thoughtful question. The terrible Keeper who caused my team such distress was... erm... me. However, in my defense, I played Chaser later in the game and was quite good at that. Several people who were there will back me up with this story. I wish I had known that I made such a good Chaser and a pretty abysmal Keeper earlier in the game. Perhaps the most embarrassing part is that all the other players on Gryffindor were picked at random from a bucket containing their names on slips of paper. They could not control the positions to which they were assigned (at least in the first couple rounds). As team captain, I chose my own position. I thought I would make a fair Keeper. How terribly wrong I was.

All in all, we had an absolute ball (no pun intended, I swear). Many of us really want to have another match in the future. However, if we do this, I propose that we play on vacuum cleaners rather than brooms, because we had quite a large quantity of straw from beat-up brooms to remove from the (carpeted) floor once we were through. And the thing about sweeping up broom straw from a carpet is that it pointless because among other things you're probably using the very broom that caused the problem in the first place, and it will only increase the amount of straw on the floor. Brooms are very resistant to changing their ways.

~Naddie

April Waltz

At long last, here it is!

I wrote April Waltz not, as the title suggests, in April, but in February. I called it April Waltz because the sound suggested April to me. (I have synesthesia, which for me means that among other things I hear music in color. This piece is mostly blue and yellow with green and red, in pale-ish shades that remind me of flowers. I dunno, that's just the way that my mind has always processed sound). I've been editing it since February, and have finally arrived at a final version. Today I was at my church and choir practice finished early, so I thought hey, why not record good old April Waltz on this awesome concert piano here at the church? It's about time I posted it on my blog. So here it is. Please ignore the faint sound of screaming children in the penultimate phrase. Unfortunately, the church was far from empty while I was working. Oh, and the sound quality is kinda lousy because I had to record it on my iPod, but I deemed it good enough to post. I thought it was far better than no waltz at all, considering how long I've been promising to post this :)

~Naddie

Beauty and the Beast

Here comes the obligatory HTT post for the spring! For those who are sadly ignorant, HTT stands for Homeschool Theatre Troupe. This is my acting group, and possibly the finest conglomeration of teenage actors in the country (at least, that's my slightly slanted opinion). Each spring and fall, HTT puts on a very professional, highly produced show. This spring it is... (drum roll) Beauty and the Beast. I have had such an awesome time being a part of this production. In many ways it's one of the most ambitious shows we've ever attempted: there are special effects, a complicated set, complicated costumes, various musical, dance and performance elements and more. Note: this is NOT the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. If you come to the show hoping to encounter big yellow ball gowns, singing teapots, dancing cutlery, and flirtatious candelabras you will be sorely disappointed. No, we're doing the original French fairy tale version. It's very different from the Disney version, and really interesting.

If you're wondering who I am, I play Beauty during the dream sequences. (In the original version, the prince appears to Beauty in human form in her dreams). The official name of my character is "Dream Beauty." So in a weird way, I'm playing Sleeping Beauty in Beauty and the Beast. Ha ha.

Below is the show's information. If you live nearby, I strongly urge you to come see us!

Toodles!

~Naddie

Homeschool Theatre Troupe announces:

Beauty and the Beast

Based on the original tale by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve

Beauty is the child of a forbidden marriage between a fairy and a king of a great realm. The fairy mother is imprisoned and the child spirited away by an ambitious and jealous enemy attempting to win the favors of the mortal king. When the king spurns the attentions of this malicious fairy, she makes an attempt on Beauty’s life, and then resorts to wooing a prince in another kingdom to gain power. The prince rebuffs her as well, and the angry fairy curses the prince to live his life as a ferocious beast, setting the condition that only the love of a young girl can cure him.

In order to save her father’s life, Beauty enters the beast’s palace willingly and discovers that the rooms are delightfully enchanted, aimed to please her every whim. At night she dreams of a handsome prince who tells her that he can be rescued if only she is able to look beyond appearances. Beauty is confused by these messages and she must fall in love with the beast before she comprehends the prince’s full meaning.

The enchanted rooms and dream sequences provide excellent opportunities for performance art including live vocals and music, dance, acrobatics and an exploration of the genres of commedia dell’arte and puppetry. Join Homeschool Theatre Troupe as they present this beloved traditional fairytale.

Come see the show!

Performance Dates
June 14 @ 7:00pm, June 15 @ 7:00pm, and June 16 @ 1:30pm

General Admission:

$8, available at the door before each show or at the Sharron Baucom Dale City Recreation Center. Members of the cast also have tickets. Ages 3 and under are free.

Group Tickets:

$6 each for 10 or more tickets. Groups can receive special benefits too, such as reserve seating. A 15-20 minute Q&A and tour of the set is also available. Contact julielittle@verizon.net for more information.

Location:

The Dr. A. J. Ferlazzo Auditorium, 15941 Donald Curtis Drive in Woodbridge, Virginia.