AUBURN - If you were relaxing in a room with a group of peers, and a man pointed at you and demanded that you start singing, you might look at him like he was nuts.
But when it happened to Nicole Lovier this week, she started singing.
“You might make up a song, and you just have to sort of go with it,” said Lovier, 18, of Liverpool.
Lovier is one of nine performers currently involved in the New York Musical Theater Project. The week-long workshop, run through the New York Institute of Dance and Education in Auburn, is an intensive exploration into the art of musical theater.
Participants of all ages take classes in acting, dancing and singing from professionals and educators. After five days of education and practice, they perform a show for the public. This year's show, “”College (Days),“ is an original musical about the ins and outs of producing a play.
Lovier, who has participated in the festival for three years, said she learned quickly that she had to check her self-consciousness at the door to get the most out of the experience.
If one of the faculty members asks her to do something that seems goofy, like making up a song on the spot, she gives it a shot, Lovier said. In this setting, such actions are not laughed at - they're embraced.
“You really shed your skin, and then you kind of build everything back up,” Lovier said. “But I learn more here in one week than I do in other musical theater (programs) in a month, or even a year.”
Institute President Sean McLeod said his workshops are unique because both the clients and the teachers are asked to step outside of their comfort zones. This creates an environment of trust, and people come from around the state and country to attend and instruct in this environment, he said.
For instance, faculty members Jerami Kipp and Dylan Ezzie are writing the musical that the group will perform. But part of the process has been to workshop the piece and receive feedback from the students and other educators.
Such a dynamic allows students to learn from the nationally-recognized instructors while teaching them a few things at the same time, McLeod said.
“By learning to be willing to show your fears and accept the possibility of failure, you can find that all things are not only possible, but they are possible while being happy,” McLeod said.
For some participants, that fear came this week in the form of acting out a scene from MacBeth in front of the rest of the group. For some, it was attempting a challenging dance step.
“For some of us, it is singing a solo in front of a bunch of beautiful young people,” said Roberta Ciopyp.
Roberta, 55, is participating in the festival with Alex, her 14-year-old son. Ciopyp helped out last year with the group's performance of “Footloose,” and she said the program has rubbed off on her life at work.
A professional group leader who works with people on stress management and other personal issues, Ciopyp said she is able to step out of her comfort zone in ways she formerly would not.
In the past, if she was leading a group session and someone's cell phone went off during an intense moment, she did not know what to do. Now, she will just start to dance, Ciopyp said.
“People will just burst into laughter, and then they get back into the moment,” she said. “I never would have done that before.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
If you go:
What: College (Days)
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: New York Institute of Dance and Education, 93 North St., Auburn
Cost: $20 general admission, $10 for seniors and children 12 and under
More information: Call 252-4420 or visit www.nyide.com.
“You might make up a song, and you just have to sort of go with it,” said Lovier, 18, of Liverpool.
Lovier is one of nine performers currently involved in the New York Musical Theater Project. The week-long workshop, run through the New York Institute of Dance and Education in Auburn, is an intensive exploration into the art of musical theater.
Participants of all ages take classes in acting, dancing and singing from professionals and educators. After five days of education and practice, they perform a show for the public. This year's show, “”College (Days),“ is an original musical about the ins and outs of producing a play.
Lovier, who has participated in the festival for three years, said she learned quickly that she had to check her self-consciousness at the door to get the most out of the experience.
If one of the faculty members asks her to do something that seems goofy, like making up a song on the spot, she gives it a shot, Lovier said. In this setting, such actions are not laughed at - they're embraced.
“You really shed your skin, and then you kind of build everything back up,” Lovier said. “But I learn more here in one week than I do in other musical theater (programs) in a month, or even a year.”
Institute President Sean McLeod said his workshops are unique because both the clients and the teachers are asked to step outside of their comfort zones. This creates an environment of trust, and people come from around the state and country to attend and instruct in this environment, he said.
For instance, faculty members Jerami Kipp and Dylan Ezzie are writing the musical that the group will perform. But part of the process has been to workshop the piece and receive feedback from the students and other educators.
Such a dynamic allows students to learn from the nationally-recognized instructors while teaching them a few things at the same time, McLeod said.
“By learning to be willing to show your fears and accept the possibility of failure, you can find that all things are not only possible, but they are possible while being happy,” McLeod said.
For some participants, that fear came this week in the form of acting out a scene from MacBeth in front of the rest of the group. For some, it was attempting a challenging dance step.
“For some of us, it is singing a solo in front of a bunch of beautiful young people,” said Roberta Ciopyp.
Roberta, 55, is participating in the festival with Alex, her 14-year-old son. Ciopyp helped out last year with the group's performance of “Footloose,” and she said the program has rubbed off on her life at work.
A professional group leader who works with people on stress management and other personal issues, Ciopyp said she is able to step out of her comfort zone in ways she formerly would not.
In the past, if she was leading a group session and someone's cell phone went off during an intense moment, she did not know what to do. Now, she will just start to dance, Ciopyp said.
“People will just burst into laughter, and then they get back into the moment,” she said. “I never would have done that before.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
If you go:
What: College (Days)
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: New York Institute of Dance and Education, 93 North St., Auburn
Cost: $20 general admission, $10 for seniors and children 12 and under
More information: Call 252-4420 or visit www.nyide.com.
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