Yo Soy De los Estados Unidos

I am of America. My socialization (morals and norms) that shapes who I am, and what I do is distinctly American. The society, family, friends, and educations, all that I know, has been in America. I grew up in a nice country community outside Atlanta. This little country society gave me my love when I was in the 5^th grade. I performed for the very first time a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and from that moment on I was hooked on theatre. As I grew older theater became an obsession, and led me to moving to America's largest city New York. I learned American acting technique. Went to American schools, and studied with mainly American professors. Yet, New York is a city for the world, and there I met people, ate food, and saw art from every corner of the globe. America and New York has given me one of one of humanities oldest art forms and one of my strongest loves the American Theatre. Now I have left the northern continent for Spain in search for more understanding. I want to learn more about another society’s theatrical practices & culture. So I can work on my craft with deeper understanding, and to learn about myself.

For the month of August I will travel to several cities and towns to experience festivals, art, theatre, and food. I hope to discover how people interact with art and culture in Spain. I will try to find historical backgrounds, and look for cultural links. For example a festival called La Tomatina in Bunol happens every year in August.  Participants throw tomatoes at each other for an hour or so. When did it begin? Which of Spain’s society created it?  Who is participating? Is it theatrical? Is it celebrating the harvest, is it pagan in origin or catholic, or do they just have too many tomatoes? Questions like these may give me understanding into to a culture that is one of the oldest in the world.

For September onward I will work at Teatro Tyl Tyl a children’s theatre outside of Madrid in Navalcarnero. The blog will then focus on the practices and creation of art here in Spain. It will also look at the culture of Madrid, and I will be doing some reviews of play and theatrical events.

To keep you up to date I Just returned late today from a week spent in the lovely Port City of Barcelona. Tomorrow I will post a blog about what I found.