How Pushing Myself Out of My Comfort Zone Made Me Realize I Was Never Comfortable In the First Place
In my sophomore year of college, I joined The New School’s Krymov Lab – a multidisciplinary theater program run by Dmitry (Dima) Krymov, a well-known Russian theater director and artist. Students from the drama school paired up with music and art students to make a co-created theater piece. Before this experience, I had only participated in theater through musicals and opera pit orchestras. I assumed this program was going to be similar: someone would give me music and I’d play it while the actors performed and the artists made the set, props and costumes. That wasn’t what happened at all. Here is how Dima’s process worked:
A photo of Dima Krymov
In order for him to teach us his way of thinking, he had us create etudes, or micro theater works. The class was split into groups, and we had 20 minutes to create something – anything – based on a word he shared with us at the start. Some of those words were: ant, man, blue, dream. Then, we would perform these etudes for each other and Dima.
I was shocked and stressed when I heard for the first time that we would only have 20 minutes to create something. In the classical music field, we were given our parts in advance with the expectation to arrive at rehearsals with the music learned, listened to, and studied. How were a group of musicians, actors, and artists going to create something in 20 minutes and perform it for everyone? The thought made me very uncomfortable, and I regretted joining the program immediately. After the first etude, my perception quickly changed, with an incredible rush of creativity and imagination and collaboration. The output from each group after just 20 minutes was inspiring. Throughout the program, I acted, danced, posed, played music, and even used my flute as a prop. Never had I done something so out of my comfort zone and which I loved so much.
It seemed strange to me to go back to my classical music classes after that. I couldn’t find that creative spark of collaborating with other artists across disciplines to tell a story. Where were the stories we were telling in my chamber music rehearsal? In my music theory class? In my private lessons?
It was after the Krymov Lab ended that I ached for that creative spark again; now that I had found it, I felt its missing gap. I enrolled in the Master’s in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship dual-degree program soon after to see if I could create this spark myself, through my own project. From there, Emmalie and I developed Art Beyond the Ink, which ignites the spark with every email I send, every workshop I teach, and every piece of music I write stories for. I feel so lucky to have found this source of creative energy and built it for myself. Sophomore-Rebecca would have been confused, uncomfortable, and maybe even scared of the idea of running a musical storytelling organization. But, that’s only because she didn’t realize that she hadn’t found her purpose just yet.
Quick Links:
Learn more about how we developed our curriculum based on one kid’s musical story.
Read about another artist involved in the Krymov Lab, Aine Nakamura.
What influenced Emmalie to build Art Beyond the Ink? Learn about her journey here.
