In my last blog I raved about what an amazing show TRACES is and urged my readers to see this event during it's run at the Denver Center Performing Arts. Today I want to share a special experience I shared with one of it's cast members, Sen Lin.
A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted about helping out someone in the show with some piano lessons. The initial email did not give any details about this request, but I was definitely curious. A few days later, I found out that Sen had recently taken over for a performer who had been injured and needed to learn a piano piece for the show. He had never played the piano before, nor did he read any music. And I had 3 days in which to teach him this song!
Those of us who perform know that this is a tall bill, not only because of the difficulty in learning the actual music, but also that it takes tremendous confidence to play in front of an audience. His focus only seconds before playing this song would be on tossing his body through the air in acrobatic fashion. There would be no time to stop and think for even a moment about hand positions or anything else as he jumped up to the piano to play this song. He would have to know this song backwards and forwards and inside out in order to pull this off.
I met with Sen backstage in a small room with a piano where he began learning the basics of piano technique. First, he had to become comfortable with the hand position of the key of F#major. With 6 sharps, it looks much more daunting than it really is, as it is played mostly on the black keys, making it easier to play this traditional Chinese song. With only a diagram of the keys on a piano and no music which he could read, Sen began learning all of this by memory. By day #2, he was already getting the hang of it, and by day #3, he was playing with little direction from me.
Members of the TRACES company shared with me that he had been practicing non-stop. One said that there are few performers less intense and hard-working than a Chinese acrobat. I would like to second that!! His commitment and persistence with learning this song quickly paid off and he was playing it in the show less than a week following his first piano lesson.
I found Sen a joy to work with! His work ethic and discipline are exceptional, but what really impresses me is his passion for the work that he does. What could have become drudgery was just another part of his contributing to a great show. He just kept moving forward, persisting with learning this, and knowing that both his castmates and the audience would benefit from his hard work. This is the attitude of the consumate performer and surely what teachers everywhere hope to instill in their young, budding musicians, or students of any kind. Thank-you Sen for inspiring children to find their passion, set the bar high, and through lots of hard work, to amaze even themselves with their amazing accomplishments!
I encourage you to see the show TRACES in Denver at the Denver Center Performing Arts' Stage Theater. Here is the link: http://denvercenter.org/shows-and-events/Shows/traces/home.aspx
And to get info of other amazing shows produced by The Seven Fingers, go to: http://7doigts.com/en/shows
0 comments:
Post a Comment