Lessons From My Acting Teacher: a poem and argument for the arts
Theatre and performance art build empathy by putting us into someone else’s shoes, and allowing us to walk with them for part of their story.
Today I’m sharing a piece/poem I wrote while thinking about how the life lessons my college acting professor taught me in school have translated into who I am today (and the core values I hold nearest and dearest).
A picture of me in full Teaching Artist mode at a recent production of Wizard of Oz.
Lessons from my acting teacher.
My acting teacher told us
that we’d never be able to act
until our hearts had been broken.
My acting teacher told us
that we’d never be able to act
until we had learned how to empathize with anyone.
My acting teacher told us
that we’d never be able to act
until we became less self-aware and better at listening.
My acting teacher told us
that we’d never be able to act
until we learned how to fall in love with anyone, a little bit.
My acting teacher told us
that we’d never be able to act
unless we studied the world around us constantly and critically.
My acting teacher told us
that we’d never be able to act
unless we got good at asking the right questions.
My acting teacher told us
to love and support each other.
My acting teacher told us
that we are all family.
My acting teacher told us
to fly and be free.
So we were.
I think the fact that these lessons were instilled in my theatrical training is pretty amazing.
I have found that the key components of being a good actor also tend to be the key components of being a great all-around human being. Acting is the empathetic study of other human beings--a continual process of learning about how other people view the world and finding new ways of understanding their perspective. As you may be starting to know about me, I believe that artists have a key role to play in social change--and this is one of the primary reasons: Artists are trained to be empathetic listeners capable of understanding diverse perspectives and communicating a wide variety of ideas. Who better to help solve the urgencies of our world and help disparate groups communicate?
What are the best life lessons that art, and its practice, has taught you? Would love to have you share in the comments.
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Love the poem @lilyraabe. I think it applies to visual artists as well.
Hey there! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been out and about for the last few days. Really appreciate you stopping by to check this out. I totally agree--it definitely applies to visual artists as well. :)
I love your poem @lilyraabe. It sounds like you had a pretty amazing acting teacher. It is no wonder you are so passionate about performing arts.
Thank you @veckinon I really appreciate it. And ya, my passion for it definitely stems down to some incredible people who mentored me early on. :) Very lucky to have had them in my life!
I forgot to answer your question...
Practicing art has taught me that something does not need to be perfect for me to be happy with it.
I love this. Acceptance of imperfection, while still striving for growth is one of the most beautiful things to learn!
I completely understand this! Every week, I have to try and explain why it is useful to learn music/physics/maths. It might not the be that you end up pursuing a profession in those particular fields, but the skill that you learn are really applicable to life in general!
Hey there! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been out and about for the last few days. Really appreciate you stopping by to check this out. I completely agree with you that the arts are an amazing thing to learn alongside other core subjects--the skills really do transcend to any field!
Based on what I have just read you have an amazing teacher and I am sure you are learning and evolving as an actor and as a person in an incredible way 💚
Hey there! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been out and about for the last few days. Really appreciate you stopping by to check this out. I definitely do my best to keep on learning and growing all the time, I don’t think there’s ever gonna be a point where I decide “I’m good, I’ve learned enough” haha, all about that constant development. Appreciate you!
Lovely poem and very inspiring content. I do believe that artists can change a lot and their ideas could be leading to a global change; the only thing is how to be heard and find the audience. It's essential. And the art of interpretation could play a key role.
Hey there! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been out and about for the last few days. Really appreciate you stopping by to check this out. So happy to have someone like you, who sees the key role that creativity can play in shaping the world, as part of my steem community. <3
I do love each piece of this wrok. I remember once when I was in an acting class teacher told me: "acting is living a feeling without staying there, you can come in and out as long as you want. " And for me it was the best therapy to solve problem in real life. Living the feeling without being itself.
Hey there! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been out and about for the last few days. Really appreciate you stopping by to check this out. I love the lesson your acting teacher taught you. Living the feeling with being itself is an amazing concept--through theatre/the arts we are able to share the experience of another (or our own) and get to know the world a little bit better!
very good poetry.
teachers who teach their students with a noble heart, will give birth to a bright future for their students.
Thank you so much -- and 100% agree with your sentiment about teachers. :)
Ya. that is right.
Beautiful poem, filled with wisdom. Your teacher must have been quite an woman!
My love for foreign languages and poetry was fuelled by my French teacher who used to tell us that you are not fluent in French until you start dreaming in French.
The art teacher I had on my pain management class used to say that the moment you shut down your mind and start to feel the paint, you are a painter.
Hey there! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been out and about for the last few days. Really appreciate you stopping by to check this out. I love the lessons your teachers taught you about art--I always feel like my art teachers have been the ones that taught me the most about being human. :)
This is awesome. You must have been a big inspiration for the kids, like how your college acting professor inspired you.
Hey there! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been out and about for the last few days. Really appreciate you stopping by to check this out. I hope I can do for others what has been done for me, if I can pay it all back a little that would be great. :)