Make Your own D*** Yap part Toi
HEY Y’ALL!
It’s been a minute, but such is life. In any case, I told you I’d give you the tea on making your own YAP and I’m here to finish the job. In this last part of a three-part series, I wanted to speak to you about scheduling. If you’re anything like most of the Young Artist that I know, you don’t have the luxury of working completely in the Arts. Based on societal perspective, it is considered a “side hustle”. Sadly, one of the perils of being a Young Artist is trying to validate your work and your art, all the while giving Becky and Johnny their morning coffee or Baby Sitting Celine’s kids. It. Sucks.
However, when there’s a will, there is a way. Today, I present to you the schedule prototype that has served me quite frankly since undergrad. Quick story-time. While at my UG, I struggled a great deal with scheduling my life. My first semester was filled with embracing the freedoms that I’d never had and trying to balance my extremely difficult workload. I learned the hard way that scheduling needed to be a part of my life, specifically when it came to performance weeks, mid-terms and finals. And so, with Google as my companion, I found a nifty schedule planner (that I still use) for free, that allows me to write out my day, hourly. It also gives me a clearer picture of how much time I have, realistically. You can find the website HERE.
What I will say, as the first tip for planning out your life, and essentially your day is scheduling the things that aren’t likely to shift on your calendar. That means, if you work a 9-5, you should put that down first before anything else. We all know the likelihood of your boss saying “This week, work 10-6 and then on Friday work from 11-7”. It just…doesn’t happen. When I color-code my work, I usually use something closer to an “alarming” color. Something like red, orange, or even yellow. It shows me that this is a hard-no for change and that there is little to no wiggle room in that specific area. Let’s call this group of important things, non-negotiable’s. After I finish with these items on the list, I usually try to schedule things that aren’t necessarily urgent, but those things that are important to me: me time, catching up on family time, events where I can and should (you really should) support your friends and more. This is important too, ya’ll. While there is no layout for how you should do this, it is important to make sure you do it. It’s simple; it’s important to you.
Photo by the incomparable Whitney George
Next, I sit down and write out a sticky of the top five Artistic endeavors that I need to accomplish for the coming week. Whether that’s moving in my living room for at least 30 minutes, or learning that new aria that you’ve put off for weeks at a time (eek!). For some people, they must map out what it is that they need to do. To those folks who are reading that fit into that specific niche already, bravo to you. But for those who need a little extra help, please know you are not alone. I know I am guilty of sometimes putting my muggle work (meaning my day job) before my art. Money before…well, everything. It can be difficult to schedule that audition while on a lunch break, some of us, even choosing a half-day (that may take away some funding) or simply foregoing the opportunity because it just doesn’t work. It is difficult! But I find more often than not when setting that boundary for myself of “Artistic non-negotiable’s”, I tend to have more overall happiness.
That way, when walking into an audition, or even a voice lesson, I feel more at ease because although I have sacrificed in more areas than one, I ultimately know that those small increments of time that are carved for just me, matter.
The last but most important part of the process of scheduling is checking in with yourself. Of course, your practice time and a good workout are wonderful ways to gauge where you are. But checking in with yourself sometimes means forgoing a practice session, because you’re physically tired for a diction check-in. Or even studying the history of the aria or opera you’re working on. Sometimes it looks like studying those great artists who sang those roles, to better understand the style. This is not to imitate what they’ve done. However, it is important to grasp a better understanding of the music by seeing prime examples of what the composer’s intention was. It truly does help to transform the mind. And honestly, a reset is one of the best things we can do for ourselves as artists. A well-known quote of Jessye Norman is as followed “I want to keep learning, keep exploring, keep doing more”. I don’t think this is just meant for active singing, but other parts of the artistic journey as well. Remember that while you’re figuring out how to manage your 24 hours in a day.
Peace and love,
Victoria
make your own d*** yap…part two
It all begins with an idea.
PART DEUX!
Welcome back yall! If you’re reading this, it is clear you love me. Seriously, thank you. These ramblings I like to call a blog are aimed at being a sort of reference for Young Artist. Something I myself used to research and look into from a “working” Opera Singer. Of course, ‘rona has come on in and sat everyone down, so this will have to do. In my first post, I talked a little about rejection and my conclusion to create my own d*** YAP. In Part two, I hope to show you some tools to use that have been proven to be helpful to me. With that being said, here we go!
Five days a week, I aim to use my down time in the most productive way possible. Of course, I know what you’re thinking: “Sis, how are you going to make this work? We are in a pandemic, money is tight, resources are few…” Yea, yea, yea, blah, blah, blah. I gotchu’!!
First, the voice teacher and coaching sessions were the easiest. They are who I call my “team”. They lead and guide, pick and prod, add and subtract in order to make sure I am BEING my best. That part is thankfully covered. I review my roles with them and can combine my endeavors accordingly.
As far as language study, the best tools I can recommend are FREE, that's right, I said free! Duolingo is my favorite phone app to use. It helps with pronunciation, sentence structure and even community building. The other website I am looking into is preply.com Its fairly easy to use, much like grub-hub for teachers. This website allows you to be paired with a teacher, who may be a native speaker or connoisseur of multiple languages. The teachers are fairly affordable, some as little as $10 for an hour and it's also interpersonal. From what I’ve seen, I think it's good for helping those on a budget. I plan to share my experience on this soon.
“A person has the right, and I think the responsibility, to develop all of their talents.”
For movement, I prefer things that are accessible, free and that overall make me happy. Did I say FREE?? Ok, just making sure. Youtube is your best friend! They have everything from meditation to afro-fusion dance and more. Heck, if I ever decided to go back to dancing on pointe, Youtube would probably be my biggest help. Recently, a group of friends and myself decided to join the Chloe Ting challenge via YouTube. For those of you who don’t know who she is, look her up! She is one of YouTube's most influential workout “coaches”. She creates challenges for various goals, via daily uploaded videos. For me, working out is annoying. So having that group of friends who empower you to get going, and knowing you’re all struggling with the same thing is encouraging. Another idea to look into are local online classes. If there is a local Artist that you would like to support, consider donating to their online dance classes. They tend to only charge “pay what you can” fee’s and they are also trained by some of the most well-known and respected artists in the world. Help them out. After all, they, like many of us, have lost work.
History to me is one of the easiest things you can look into. Because I love to read, I specifically read books that are helpful to me. For example, the book I am looking at now is called “The last Prima Donna” by Lanfranco Rasponi. It’s a fascinating tale of some of the Divas we both know and love, and those who unfortunately are more unknown. Their work ethic, dedication to the art form and overall love of opera has given me pause many a night. In fact, shortly after I finish this blog, I plan on going to read another chapter. There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
Beverly Sills
Of course stage experience is another monster all on its own. One cannot simply go to a stage and perform. And one certainly cannot ask an Opera Company to hear them out and allow you to perform said role. That's…well, that just doesn’t make any sense. The best thing that I find would remedy this is simple: competitions. Of course, competitions require a lot of work before the actual “big moment”. They require an immense amount of dedication, aria prep, an outfit that makes you stand out (in a good way) and of course, those good ole’ recordings and an application fee to boot!
Said fee can range…from hefty. hefty, hefty to…cute. You must know if you’re willing to go after it and if you’re actually ready. The other thing I would recommend would be to sing in front of a mirror. I’ve often found myself to be the best audience member for myself. Opera is a working art, which means you are constantly trying to be better than your last performance. Watch yourself. Ask yourself if you portray the work according to how the composer envisioned it. Then, if you can, find some trusted friends and family and ask if they mind being your audience/panel of judges. The people closest to us are usually the most honest and blunt. Plus, it's a win-win! Free concert for them, free advice (that you should of course filter through) for you. Yay!
All that aside, this is just a portion of what it would take to create your own YAP. In my next blog post, I plan on going more in depth about the daily task I set for myself, while balancing a work life. Of course, leave a comment, tell me your thoughts and if you have any ideas to offer other Young Artist. Love you all!
Make your own d*** YAP!
It all begins with an idea.
Hey All!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and definitely Happy New Year!
2020 has been…a year for the books so to speak. We have gone through a pandemic, lost lives to said pandemic and just lives in general, suffered through financial loss and debt gain and much, much more. I for one can say that 2020 was the year of the apocalypse.
However, even with some of the bad, came some good. For me personally, I was able to sing with several opera companies, both known and unknown via various social media and internet outlets. I maintained my “muggle” job, saved like crazy, practiced my craft and made connections. Most of all, I’ve learned a heck of a lot more about me.
This morning, the last day of 2020, I had the audacity to wake up to news that not only disturbed me, but rather made me default to antagonizing my self-worth; my last denial in 2020 from a YAP. To say that I was hurt is an understatement. I was darn near distraught! The precious and coveted YAP-Tracker notification came through my email updates and, I froze. After settling down and looking at the short but well tempered email body, I let out an exasperated sigh, sat down on my couch and simply palmed my face between my hands.
“You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there.”
Yet another opportunity gone. Yet another YAP who’s favor I did not earn. Yet another moment where I question if this is what I am meant to do with my life.
Now, for those who read this blog who are in the arts, I know you can relate. This season in particular was more difficult than others. Financially we were all over the place, emotionally, we were taxed and physically, the notion of crawling up in a ball was simply obligatory. In short, Sis, ’twas a STRUGGLE!
So, after sitting and twiddling my thumbs together, I said, “F it!.” For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on being as productive as possible. Carving out time between my job and my passions, to work on being better as both an Artist and simply Victoria. From taking early morning walks for a fresh dose of Vitamin D to scheduling and planning out my meals for the day, I learned and designed a simplistic schedule for myself and my overall life.
So in my awesomeness, I decided to make my own YAP. Specifically, MY OWN D*** YAP. For the last several years, I like many others have been preparing for the “work force”, via YAP’s (for those of you who are unfamiliar with what a YAP is, it stands for Young Artist Program’s). These programs, were created to help young singers forge ahead in honing their skills. Usually, this would include, language study, role preparation, movement classes, operatic history and some sort of stage experience. Coaching’s and voice lessons would happen weekly, if not daily and of course, it is up to the Young Artist to use all of these “tools” to their advantage.
While I may not have the privilege of being apart of a Young Artist Program this year, I do have the privilege of having a wonderful team who backs me in all of my endeavors, including this one. Over the next week or so, I plan on sharing how and why I am choosing this route. And as this is the first blog on my website, I hope that you’ll enjoy the candor, conversation and quite frankly, the on-going rants of a 21st century Opera Singer. You may hear/see (we all know we talk in our heads) some “choice” words when describing my plight. You will also see the truths, my truths in written form as I go on this journey. Of course, feel free to comment and ask those questions - I love a good internet convo! In any case, ta-ta for now!