♫ ♫ ♫ [uplifting music]
I, well, I've always been a class clown but it
wasn't until I came back to New York
when I was 15, and I've seen a student-ran
show at theater row on 42nd Street, I
was in the audience just relaxing, and I'm like,
"Oh man, this is what I need to be doing."
So I was like, "Why not? Let me take a risk."
I auditioned for Juilliard. I come to
this place. New York's your background. I love New York.
And I felt healthy here. I felt the teachers
cared. They were serious about their goal
and inspiring the next generation of
actors. It felt like a good match, you
know? All things were pointed to Juilliard.
A typical day at Juilliard? Well, we go
from 9:00 to 10:00. It's a long day.
Moni's class is a big wake up call. That's
one of the most physically demanding
classes that I've ever been in. I mean,
if that alarm doesn't wake you up, he's
gonna wake you up, you know what I mean?
So his class emphasizes getting out of
your head and finding the energy around
you and being in that moment. Then that
parallels to being in a scene, being able
to stay with your partner and being so
open and wherever this goes, just trust
that I got your back. Going into that class,
I'm like, "Aw, man," but I then always feel like
a champion coming out. Masks class is a
gateway into different parts of your
personality.
Everybody puts on a mask, and everybody
gets up together. Whether you're utilizing a
neutral mask, or animal mask, or a
character mask, it allows you to bring out
parts of yourself you never knew were
there. Through the mask, you...you find
these things that ultimately help you to
believe in your character more and believe in yourself more.
Kate Wilson...so we'll form, like, a circle
and everybody's in their own different
play, but it's all a big collective. Whoever
wants to take center stage, you
go and take center stage and you speak
until somebody else comes in, takes it, and
moves their play along. And you get to
give-and-take, see what inspires you and
when you have the impulse to go and take the
baton, you go.
"And you are Irina, the youngest."
I mean, we're together from 9:00 to 10:00
every day, with the exception of, like, two
or three breaks, so on my off time, I like to
either go to the fourth or the fifth
floor, admire New York City, listen to
meditational music, send a few emails...so
yeah, it's a "me time." I like to quiet
my mind and to recharge myself for the
next group of classes.
Voice with Andrew Wade, the first 7 or 10 minutes we get to
warm up however you want and try to
channel that breath support down to the
diaphragm. And we get in a circle, we pass
lines across, playing with the structure
that Shakespeare has given you.
[Class reciting together]
So now you can let your own creativity come
through, so you learn the rules and then
you break them. In scene study with Becky
Guy, you get to see how people come into
the process and rehearse from a
week-to-week basis. So you get to learn
where people are coming from, the
different processes. She, she tracks what
you're doing and seeing what moments may
have not worked. You didn't...you didn't
get to that moment. You can't get to that
moment thinking about getting to that moment.
"The same moment, the moments are very similar."
Then I have singing class with
Deb Lapidus. Before Juilliard, you know,
I was a shower singer, you know what I mean?
But now I'm confident to go up and hold a
tune or hit a note. Singing class is just
like acting class, you know, this piece of
text...how do you interpret it? Put your
own spin on it, and you make it work.
The great thing
about being in Juilliard is you get to
develop these connections and be around so many
inspiring, talented artists. In our off
time, we just like to, you know, rehearse!
While doing normal day things...I feel
it's important, being able to allow the
environment wherever you are, whether I'm
eating in in the lounge. You know, you try
to find things or let things find you
and just be in the moment and rehearse.
Half of my class, we're doing 'Three Sisters.'
So rehearsal is a great time to
just in a way, let go.
You did like eight hours of classes, now you
can just let go and just bring what you got.
>>And on those little girls faces was a look of horror.
>>Fear, anxiety. I don't know what. It wrung my heart to see their faces.<<
>>Maybe it's not so much about the little girls, but as much as like what you're
>>able to see in yourself in them.<<
You want to get it right. You want to hit that
perfect schwa, you want to hit that "t" at
the end of the word, you know but...and I
have moments of like, "You are where you
are and that's okay. You will get there."
and, like "I'm in Juilliard." You come to
acting class thinking you're going to be
other people, but in truth you find out
who you are, which you can lend yourself
to other people in their circumstances,
you know what I mean?
Sometimes you can't see your growth. You
can see everybody else's around you, but
yourself, but I'm...I'm growing.
♫ ♫ ♫ [gentle music]