| Life in Los Angeles full of new experiences for local student |
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| Local Content - Letters to the Editor |
| Written by publisher |
| Tuesday, 10 November 2009 16:24 |
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A letter from Ashley Thompson, 2008 MCCHS grad, who is attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California Hello everyone, I am having a wonderful time in school. This experience is truly amazing. Living in LA is so different from our small town. I see so many different kinds of people in one day just walking to school. There is always something going on and something to do. I am never bored. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be in such a great school in such a great city! I am living in the CHS housing provided by the school and it is really nice because my apartment is right behind the school! There are two grocery stores a block away. I was so relieved to get here and see how convenient my living situation was. I live in West Hollywood and I can go onto the roof of my apartment building and see the Hollywood sign! I also live right next to the famous LA Ink! I see them filming when I get my groceries. I have six classes Monday to Friday and have the weekends off. The first-year students are split up into six sections and I am in section 5. There are mostly international students in my section so I get to study with people from Italy, Puerto Rico, and England. Section 5 is one of the smaller sections with a total of 12 people, which I am grateful for because we get more time and attention from the teacher. Regular classes have 16 to 17 students. I love acting class. Judith Bohannon who is director and acting instructor at the Academy teaches it to me. She joined the faculty in the 1980s and holds an MA from Northwestern University. Bohannon has studied with such luminaries as Uta Hagen, Jose Ferrer, John Lehne, A.J. Anton and Michael Shurtleff. I love Miss Bohannon, she is so good to work with and she tells you the truth. If she doesn’t like my performance she will tell me why and what I did wrong and what I need to work on. I am learning a lot from her. Then there is my vocal production class. I love this class and am sad to say that I don’t get to take this class next semester and it hurts me inside because I love singing! My voice teacher is Perry Hart and he has an assistant named Yazmine Fleming. Hart joined AADA in 1993 assisting John Peck, founder of the West Cost Vocal Dept. and joined the associate faculty in the fall of 1998. He attended UCLA as a Gladys Turk Classical Voice Scholarship recipient. Hart and Fleming are really fun to work with and I am learning a lot. I am learning so much in all of my classes and I love all of my teachers. They really care about the students and want to see each of us succeed! I am taking a class called Alexander Technique. This class teaches me about the use of my body and how my thought habits and body habits affect my stage performance. I am finding this class very interesting and think everyone should take lessons because it helps with a lot of health problems. Sharon Jakubecy is my Alexander teacher and has been an AmSAT certified Alexander Technique teacher since 2003. Movement class is a lot of fun. I just finished learning a 1920s dance called the Charleston and everyone in my section got an A because we all did such a good job and my teacher was very happy with all of us. Mark Knowles is my dance teacher and he is such a nice teacher. He has directed and choreographed over 300 productions nationally and internationally. Knowles has also written several books. I have a camera fundamentals class once a week. The first camera class I had I was very nervous about being on camera. But now it is not a big deal and half the time I forget that the camera is there. Scott Reiniger is my camera teacher. He has directed stage and television productions, working with thousands of actors including Ryan Phillippe, Bruce Davison, and Jean Smart. He is an actor and starred in the original “Dawn of the Dead.” Then there is voice and speech class. This is the hardest class for me. I have so much work to do on getting my voice out of the back of my throat. I learn IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) and how to talk in a standard American accent. Rob Hahn is my voice teacher. He began his classical training in St. Louis, Mo, where he acquired his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. If anyone would like to know more about the faculty or the classes, check out the AADA web page at www.aada.org. Halloween in Hollywood was a great experience. Some friends and I went to the Walk of Fame and saw thousands of people dressed up. I couldn’t get over how many people there were on the sidewalks. It was a human traffic jam! I am having a great time and want to thank you all again for your help! I am really very lucky to have this kind of support. I am working hard and can’t wait ’til I come home for Christmas. Ashley Thompson |
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