click on the photo to be taken to the Arts at Bryn Mawr schedule!

This weekend I was working for the Arts department at the Trisha Brown Dance Company, the first performance of the season!

It was a really wonderful show, and there were so many different elements to it.

including a dressing/undressing component called Floor of the Forest

My favorite part, though, might just be being back in the Arts office! I have been there since freshman year when my freshman year “roommate” Maya volunteered at the Arts office and told me to try to get one there too. Three years later, I am still there, working as House Manager, and Maya is now a Theatre major so……..

managing my little theatre house

For the Trisha Brown Dance Company, my friend Noor and I, because we are both the House Managers for this season, were working two different days. I was working on the Saturday, which included the Floor of the Forest segment (shown above, aforementioned dressing/undressing performance), a trip to the exhibit in Canaday library, as well as the performance at the McPherson Auditorium at Goodhart Hall, where we were expecting around 400 people.

I always forget to take photos so let’s pretend this is what Goodhart looked like on Saturday night – expect Goodhart totally has better seats.

I was there at 4:30, where my flats, which I would have only been wearing for the third time, felt tight, my socks had a run in them, and my shoes were falling apart. This day was already off to a great start!

yep, that’s scotch tape on my shoe.

But shows are usually always stressful, and there’s a lot that people don’t see, or don’t think takes time, which actually does.

Tickets, for example, which are a killer. Here is Angela Dowdy, the Arts Administrator, powering through the tickets while we were all on the verge of a breakdown.

But, I repeat, things like that work out. We, being me, the Arts department, the ushers, everyone, will be panicking until the last second, and then the box office opens, and lights are dimming and the doors are shut and all of a sudden you actually have a show that’s going off… maybe not completely without a hitch, but going on well enough that you can comfortably sit back and enjoy the show.

It also helps, of course, when you your boss orders pizza for you and the other ushers as more incentive to get through the 7 hour work shift and a way to keep warm after standing outside and guiding people to the exhibit at Canaday Library (which will still be there if you’d like to check it out!).

Thanks Zesto’s, thanks Angela, thanks Coke.

I was really lucky that a few of the ushers who were working during my shift had worked the night before, and new what the expect and what the show would be like. The House has been swept and the set was being broken (proper terminology? I think?) by 10 o’clock.

exclusive sneak pic

Following that, I got to help a little with a reception for the performers and special guests. In this context, help means eat dessert and occasionally help clean the tables, and finally kicking off my shoes.

Working at the Arts department is a lot of work, but it is always ridiculously fun, and you usually get to enjoy the show, unless you’re one of the few ushers who has to remain outside to help guide any stragglers! And even then, you’re still probably going to watch part of the show!

The show went well, the performers were great, the ushers did a fabulous job, and at the end of the day, while we were cleaning up the reception area, Lisa Kraus gave me one of the flower centerpieces to take home so I am really happy.

have a beautiful week everyone! <3

For a review of the show, please check Miranda Canilang’s blog HERE! She gives her thoughts on the show and is more diligent than I am about taking photos!

Last Friday, I was supposed to go on a Ropes Course sponsored by LILAC, the Leadership, Innovation and Liberal Arts Center, and, after that, was supposed to go to a Phillies Game, sponsored by Student Activities.

Neither of these things happened and so this is where this blog post ends, thanks for reading.

The Ropes Course developed into trust building and leadership exercises, and the Phillies game was to be postponed for Saturday which, unfortunately, I still could not attend. I am really disappointed  because I was looking forward to my first baseball game.

sorry baseball player I don’t know – I know you wanted me to be there.

We were meant to go to a Ropes Course at the Westtown School, a good 40 minutes away from Bryn Mawr. However, it had pretty much been raining nonstop on Friday, leaving us feeling a bit worried about whether we would still be able to participate in the Course.

there was a lot more rain than this picture would tell you!

However, we were informed that the trip would still be taking place, so we got on the bus, and readied ourselves for the long bus ride. I chose to take a healthy snack with me…

creds: NM’16

*ahem*, in the interest of health, I chose to take spinach from the dining hall and eat it with my fries. However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t need the motivation of fries to get me through eating spinach. Popeye the Sailor Man, I am not.

I just don’t have that kind of motivation in my life.

Anyway, weird eating habits aside, we got to the Westtown School, and were quickly ushered inside. Already, a bad sign. We were then told that due to the rain and due to some tree branches falling (!) we wouldn’t be doing the Ropes Course. Rather than be worried for our own safety, we were upset with the friend who asked us to sign up for the Ropes Course in the first place.

These are photos of what COULD HAVE BEEN. Taken from the Westtown School website.

But we actually ended up having a really fun time. We showed up to the school, ready to pout, or at least I was, but the counselors there (Matthew and Ken, I won’t be forgetting their names 😉 ) were so much fun and were so engaging, and had a great Plan B for us, that it was difficult not to immediately get pulled into their new game ideas.

thanks for telling us to sign up NM’16

We played a lot of trust exercises throughout the day. We played knee tag, which I was able to last in longer than I thought, mostly by using the trusty strategy of just staying really, really, far away from everyone else.

We then did a lot of trust exercises, falling into one person’s arms, falling into two people’s arms, falling into the group, and then being flipped 360 degrees, no big deal.

this is an image portraying how we felt when the activities were accomplished as well as the trust exercises themselves.

That was a lot of fun, and I can definitely say that I trust the people I was with, and that I am also very surprised by our combined strengths. I know that I must still suck at arm-wrestling, but this experience has given me false feelings of grandeur and power.

the most trust worthy bunch of people you’ve ever seen.