Creative Writing takes a field trip to the Sacred Wood:
Up, up, and away for the Creative Writers yesterday. We began our trek at the aqueduct, where students did a ‘360” and journaled for about twenty minutes; then we started our journey up Mounte Luco, following the path which St. Francis walked to reach his favorite place of contemplation, The Sacred Wood. The incline is very steep, the path very malleable with large and small stones repositioning themselves with each contact with a sandal. An hour an a half after leaving the aqueduct, we arrived at the St. Francis site where we were nourished by the dark, dark trees and the cool, calming temperature of the wood. Students visited two of the prayer caves, walked quietly through the spiritual setting, and journaled at the open-air café, where the proprietess remembered us from last year and offered me free refreshment. When it was time to leave, the last bus back to Spoleto had already gone, so we had no choice but to return on foot. We started down the mountain path, only to find it more challenging (and dangerous) than the upward climb because of the loose stone and the tendency to lose our footing. When we reached an intersection of highway, we regrouped and decided, since darkness was falling, we might be safer on the solid turf of the road even though it was a much longer journey. Thus, we required an extra hour of hiking on solid ground, which caused us to miss most of our dinner. A Faculty Performance Class was scheduled fo 9:30, and I was scheduled to do a reading, so we eventually decided to go to the Performance Class and meet afterward for dinner at a local restaurant. Because I had made them late, I felt obliged to treat them , which I did at Langolo Anticha, only a few meters from the Convent. They said goodnight to me a t 11:50, just ten minutes before lights out. It was a long, adventurous, and rewarding time together, a mountain top experience, if you will. -Dr. Guffin
Theater students develop their skills:
As part of the creative performance class, singers and actors have been developing the capacity to focus their attention on real and sometimes imagined partners. As the students started to transfer that work to monologues, recitative, arias, and duets, they explored a technique known as “imaging”—the intentional visualization of the story being told, and the sharing of images with the partner. In the accompanying photo, students are doing an exercise in which they visual imagined stories that accompany three different pieces of music: classical, pop, and a contemporary ballad. -Jack Zerbe
Students get to see their faculty in action:
Last night, very much in the spirit of the student performance classes, some faculty members offered a taste of their expertise. We will post pictures and descriptions soon.
Tonight will be the second in our series of Performance Classes, with another round of students presenting their work thus far.
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