• A.3 CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
The following items are
for discussion with mom, dad, and other loving persons with reservations about
your interest in Theatre, and especially as a possible career choice.
A.3.a Liberation.
school
training (in the case of theatre, a performance conservatory). Liberal studies are designed to provide
personal growth and perspective, develop thinking and imagination skills,
envision a wider world in which to live; literally liberating, setting free,
allowing choice. Such study is a
precursor to, and foundational for, discovering your life task, your vocation or “calling.” It’s a time for exploring your desires,
discovering your gifts and testing your abilities. It’s not
taking time out, but rather the opposite,
It’s taking time to sharpen a vision for your life. And the time you get to spend at the task is
all too short.
It’s also about having something to say to the world once
you acquire the techniques and polished skills to say it. In the liberal tradition, the theatre curriculum seeks to
assist you in
1) developing a definitive and
applicable awareness of your personal
faith and values,
2) seeking opportunities to explore and develop your gifts and personal
skills,
3) enhancing your abilities for analysis and criticism,
and
4) exploring the distinctive ways of knowing embraced by the
arts, the manner in which a theatre artist “thinks” and “signifies.”
And in accomplishing these tasks,
the theatre curriculum also seeks to provide you with specialized training of
a pre-professional nature which will facilitate additional graduate study or
provide an entering wedge to a career in theatre.
So, your education in this environment is less about career
training than it is about testing your
mettle as an artist, your calling to theatre as “vocation.” Your career
will probably change several times during your lifetime. If
it’s a genuine gift, your calling as
artist will not.
Next
Section: A3b: Skills Enhancement
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