From the Chair
by Corey Shelsta, NBS Section Chairperson
There is a strange feeling this morning in my house. My daughter is at marching band practice. My wife is at her office (2 days a week in the office and 3 at home). My son left yesterday to go back to school this fall – they don’t start until the end of the month but he has to spend 14 days in NY before classes. I’m here alone. I don’t recall the last time I was alone in the house. This is odd. But I am enjoying it.
The dog is here with me. When I go back to teaching classes next week I am not sure what he is going to do. He’s gotten used to people being around. I’m sure those of you with pets will are having similar thoughts. Well, dogs anyway. Cats don’t care if you are there or not. In my opinion, that is.
I have all of my syllabi ready to go and I’m looking forward to getting back to face to face classes. Hopefully we can make it through the semester. Our first production is going to be a devised theatre performance held outside in our botanical gardens here on campus. I’m pretty excited about that. We have a production later in the semester on stage, but it is a show that could be presented in any number of formats, so hopefully we have all our bases covered.
I am actually kind of excited for all of the streaming technology we are installing in our venues. I think, while they are essential now, in the future we will still make use of them. Your grandparents in Arizona want to see your senior recital? Stream it! A prospective student comes for a college visit but can’t come back next week to see a performance? Stream it! I think the things we are doing as we distance will have positive effects in the future.
Do you find yourselves overwhelmed by all the various Facebook, Instagram, etc. posts regarding virtual performance, online teaching, distance tech theatre, and so on? It was helpful at first but there is SO MUCH information flooding out. Yes, it’s helpful. I picked up a few ideas. But I sort of find myself in overload from all of it. I had to turn off a couple of my Facebook groups actually. Again, useful information but too much of it every day. It is great to have the resources available however.
I am somewhat excited to be done by Thanksgiving this fall. I am sure many of the educators and students in the group are thinking the same thing. That week or two after Thanksgiving before we took our break always seems sort of difficult to keep everyone focused.
Football will have to wait until the spring. Wow. I love going to our home games here on Saturdays during the fall. This also has an effect on my colleagues in music that spend so many hours with the marching band. There is something about listening to the band practice in the parking lot outside my office that just says FOOTBALL SEASON. It will be strange waiting until spring. And our with our usual spring weather… yikes!
We have an election coming up this fall. You’ve probably heard about that! I believe that this is not the place for me to push any sort of agenda or personal views. So I will just say – VOTE. Every vote counts. Be informed, be active, support ballot measures and candidates that support your beliefs and values.
I wish all you the best in the coming months as we move from summer to fall. Stay safe and healthy!
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