It's a quiet Saturday morning. I'm back in my apartment, drinking a second cup of coffee and listening to Rascal Flatts sing about how they're going to drive the highway of life "all night long." So far today, the car has been taken in for an estimate on replacing the bumper (over $1000 and seven days), replacement parts have been purchased for the backdrop at my local hardware store, emails have been read, bathrooms have been cleaned, dishes have been washed and sheets have been changed. Life feels somewhat settled.
And I'm thinking about the show.
One thing I've observed in the two weeks I've been out is the seeming lack of creativity that so many of the kids I meet possess. Michael had warned me about this in rehearsal, but I don't think it really hit home until the other day. I know that what I am about to write is a gross generalization (and I do know many elementary school students who are creative risk-takers, and for them I am very thankful), but allow me the indulgence to consider this for a moment.
During both Musical Health Show and Lighten Up!, there are significant audience participation moments. For Musical Health Show, I have the kids come up onstage and, one by one, shout out the words "I Will Never Smoke," and then later others come up and demonstrate five elements of physical fitness. For Lighten Up!, we talk about the ways advertisers sell their products, and I have the kids demonstrate different tactics (celebrity endorsements, movie tie-ins etc.)
It all hit home the other day during Lighten Up!. After the two boys I picked to be my celebrity football players eagerly picked their favorite players (Eli and Peyton Manning), I asked them to show me their "best football stars." Now, this was something I knew they could do. One was wearing a Steelers jersey and the other had a wristband with the Jets logo on it. However, it took three tries before one of them told me, point-blank, "I don't want to do it wrong." I finally had to turn to the audience for suggestions (I got everyone to do their favorite football pose to spark some ideas). After two meager, somewhat-uncommitted poses, we moved on. And I figured that this would be an isolated incident, just two fourth graders who didn't want to look silly.
But when my other two volunteers (both younger) couldn't come up with the name of any movie superheroes or give me a butterfly pose, I started to get worried.
This has happened before (albeit to a lesser degree), and it makes me wonder what's going on. My good friends Joanna and Matt have suggested that it has something to do with kids not wanting to embarrass themselves or do it "wrong," and I think that that is certainly part of it. Kids are under so much pressure to get things "right," that I'm afraid it's started to stifle some of their creative impulses -- the ability to make a mistake, do something silly and have fun in the process. The default answer seems to be, "I don't know," with the expectation that the adult will give them the answer. (I've also seen this happen while working at the Zoo.) I remember the great reward I felt that first time I got up in front of my entire school, took a risk, did something silly and had everyone laugh and clap for me. It was inspiring, and is likely what set me on the career path I have chosen. And, of course, not everyone is destined to be an actor, but we've got to allow the room to explore, take a chance, be wrong, and learn that we can recover from mistakes. Otherwise, I'm afraid we're going to wind up with a society of nervous perfectionists. Which makes for a rather boring world.
I realize my show is, first and foremost, about health. But there's a small part of me that hopes my antics (and the mistakes I make, acknowledge, and recover from in nearly every show; I will admit that it's not a perfect show, but I think that that's part of the fun of it) will allow the kids I reach to see that it's OK to not be perfect, to act silly and to get things wrong. And, maybe, someday, one of those little kids I get onstage will decide he wants to don the bodysuit and encourage others across the country to eat well, live well and (most importantly) HAVE FUN!!
Call tomorrow: TBD. I am driving to Wilmington, DE in prep for an early show on Monday in Maryland.
Kid quote of the day: When I asked the audience what moves a bone, all 400 kids shouted, "We do." Which, I guess, is true. So I went with it.
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Oof. That's a heart-breaking incident - "I don't want to get it wrong" - but I applaud you for sticking with it and for enlisting the whole audience to help. that seems like a prefect response. I have found that there are some schools that really have a you-must-get-it-right attitude and it stunts their children. I don't think it's nation-wide, or culture-wide attitude but there are definitely big pocket around the country. I found it the most in upwardly mobile, upper middle class suburbs and, weirdly in really poor school districts.
ReplyDeleteIf this happens again, keep playing with the language of how you encourage them to participate. Some phrase or word choice might help them, I don't know... "Anything you want will be great", there's no right or wrong answer, do whatever you think is fun" - something. Keep trying different encouraging phrases and something might click.
I totally agree with you - your shows can do more than just teach about health. They can show someone being enthusiastic and silly whose also smart and talented, it can give a sense of what live theatre means, it can remind them that learning anything can be fun and creative.
It's you and me against the world, Ethan.
-m
amazing. I'm so proud of you for taking this to the kids...and for braving the Delaware bridge yet again, after we all swore we would never pass over it again ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad that these kids have no creative freedom, that's why we need arts in the schools. But if we can't have arts in the schools, I am so grateful for these travelling shows like this one and like the one we did before that bring it to them.
Love you, best of everything to you!
-Michelle