Our Spring 2017 crew is here and we could not be more thrilled! Having just started their first full week of classes, we asked our ADALife bloggers to reflect on their personal and academic goals for the semester, and why they chose the Accademia dell’Arte to achieve these goals. Read on to hear more from Michayla, Mekala, Carrie, and Elena!

Michayla Kelly: Dance, Goucher College MD

We have been at ADA for a full week! So far, it’s been a lot of fun, highlighted by gelato three days in a row, a jaw-dropping open mic, and Italian folk dance at a local bar. In the sala danza and on the roof of the teatrino we have spent hours dancing with foot-long sticks, and we have thoroughly enjoyed the pasta and Nutella access in the mensa. With a little input from my friends and some rosé in the limonaia, I compiled this list of goals for the coming semester.

GOALS:

• Be able to levitate like Nhandan (In yoga we did this thing where you sit cross legged and use your arms to lift your body off the ground – it’s amazing)
• Become best friends with Massimo
• Enjoy all of the pasta
• Enjoy all of the gelato
• Same with wine
• Try limoncello
• Be able to order food and drinks in Italian without being super awkward
• Go to a discoteca
• Get a picture that somehow captures the inexpressibly magnificent view from the villa
• Find peace/understanding with my stick in Giorgio’s class
• Discover a love for choreographing
• Have a picnic in the park
• Explore the area we live in
• Love those long uphill walks
• Become a master of hand-washing clothes
• Learn deep dark secrets of ADA students
• Travel up and down the Italian boot
• Buy boots
• Have fun, make new friends, and enjoy la vita Italiana

Mekala Sridhar: Physical Theatre, Sarah Lawrence College NY

One of the main reasons I decided to come to Accademia dell’Arte was so that I could continue developing my process as an artist through this specific training. And I’m excited to explore this through the ensemble-driven nature of this program. Coming into this program, I knew that that I wanted to devote the semester to working on generating material within an ensemble, especially in a way that emphasizes movement. I hope that by the end of the semester I have a better grasp of how to work with and facilitate an ensemble in such a way that everyone’s voice is brought into the room. I’m eager to continue growing as an artist through the tools I’ll gain from this semester, and hopefully bring them into future projects.

Carrie Dickson: Physical Theatre, Muhlenberg College PA

My biggest goal is to learn how to utilize training in order to develop a more precise idea of what I want to say as an artist – and how I would like to say it. I also would like to have Nhandan’s arms. Actually it’s a toss up between artistic fulfillment and Nhandan’s arms.

Elena Morris: Physical Theatre, Boston University MA

It’s hard to be able to picture the end of the program when it’s just beginning and when I’m still acclimating to Italy. But, so far I see myself gaining some muscle mass (aka pasta mass) and having a new appreciation for physical theatre through the lens of Commedia dell’Arte. I also hope to be a more focused artist, with a clearer idea of the kind of work I want to do. I see myself having affirmed a lot about myself as an individual and opened my brain and heart to a lot of new ideas that I’m exposed to here in Europe.