Stress and Putting on a Show. The Yin and Yang
Is there anyone who directs a show that doesn’t agree that some degree of stress is part of the recipe? If your answer is absolutely never, publish that article and I will help you distribute it to every teacher who does a show with elementary, middle school and high school kids.
Visiting China this past year enlightened me in new ways about arts, education, and the beauty in simplicity. What affected me most deeply was the consistent respect for Yin and Yang….the balance in life. A lot of people talk about their desire to be in balance. But what is balance? How do you know when you're "there”? Balancing requires a conscious awareness and energy. A subtle trait of balancing is that it is about the future -- believing that somehow things will be easier "when you are in balance". To be in balance requires insight and clarity about who you are and about what matters most to you. Sounds easy. Why have I had decades of rehearsing it and still can’t get it right sometimes?
I can’t help but think that fine -tuning “the balance”, would alleviate much of the stress I see with teachers that put on shows at every level. Most everyone who finds himself or herself in this process is there because they are passionate about what it does for kids personally and creatively. The toll it can take on the Director is usually secondary and ignored until he allows himself to get a whopping cold after closing. A few thoughts to help with the BALANCE ACT:
1. Write a list of creative achievements -- and add to it as new memories surface. This can be a valuable tool that can be used time after time when creativity is what you're focusing on.
2. Leave the “negative baggage" outside your space and rehearsals. If you believe you can't do something, you probably can't. Your mind listens to what you tell it and acts on that information without regard to whether or not it's good for you. So keep yourself aimed in a positive direction.
3. Be flexible…even with your own rules! Pay attention to whether your mind is locked into a pattern of behaving a certain way because you've been told that this is the way it's done. My mistakes have usually been my best wake up call to revision! As soon as that becomes clear, creativity has an opening.
4. Question the rules. See if a different approach, a different method, or a different attitude might yield a different - and better – outcome and subsequent show process.
5. De-stress. Creativity and stress just don't fit together. You can't expect your mind to work well when your body is stressed, because they're both part of the same system -- YOU. TRY to save time for pockets of relaxation (even 5 minutes of deep breathing) or even daydreaming-the BEST! This simple process can often be a direct route to creative insight.
6. Take chances -- to move outside of that comfort zone -- perhaps in small steps -- and be willing to fail or to make a mistake; or an unsatisfactory outcome. That's all part of the creative process.
7. See mistakes as lessons, not failures. They are opportunities for something more creative! It's a creative act in itself to break out of the notion that a mistake isn't a failure.
8. Ask questions of everyone. Sometimes the least likely candidate gives you a fresh outlook and you are including folks in the process.
9. Step away. Put the oxygen mask on YOU first as the flight attendants suggest. When you re-fuel yourself, you are more effective in helping others. Do something unrelated to your show even for a minimal amount of time. Cook a meal from the Food Channel that is not your usual, get a pedicure, read the travel section, learn a new dance, have coffee with the school custodian, go rollerblading. By experiencing something unrelated, you learn new ways of thinking, relating and associating. This gives you a broader platform for decision-making.
One of the things my iTheatrics colleagues and I enjoy doing the most, is facilitating the part of our Summer Teaching Intensives that helps you to re charge, re focus and take care of yourself. How do we do it? New techniques, new skills, new friends and FOOD. Yes, at the NYC workshops we cook and learn and play. We take care of ourselves and nurture our artistic development as well. So don’t leave the first aid kit for you tucked in the trunk. USE IT!
I hope some of you can come work with us for the iTheatrics Teacher Intensive this summer in NYC (7/25-27)) or Houston (6/18-20)…come and de-stress, it really is a family, just like you and your cast!
Can I really direct a musical and have a life?
YOU CAN!
Join us at our Broadway Junior Intensives!
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