This week I journeyed from my home in Madison, WI, to Greece to participate in the ITDP Summer 2024 Intensive. I have truly enjoyed my first week in Greece with ITDP (International Theatre & Dance Project). I have met a wonderful group and feel I have found my place in the world. I am learning so much about different cultures and seeing a different part of the world. I have already gone on several adventures, made wonderful friends, and started learning about Greece's theater and dance culture.
On the first full day in Greece, Tuesday the 23rd, we went to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, which was breathtaking. We took a tour with a professional tour guide who could teach us about its history. I am really into history, particularly Greek history, so this was a fantastic experience. Afterward, we got to know each other at dinner and went shopping.
Check out this video I took of Plaka, Athens, on the way to dinner!
We journeyed to Tolos on Friday and swam in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. On Friday night, we went to see a play on its opening night in the ancient theater of Epidaurus. The play we saw was Hecuba, Not Hecuba by Comédie-Française/Tiago Rodrigues. The show was about an actress playing Hecuba in a production of Euripides’ Hecuba, and the parallels of Hecuba’s trials to her personal trials, the main one being a court case of the abuse of her autistic son in a care facility. It was very beautiful and moving, and the lights were incredible. I feel so grateful that I could see a performance in a place where people have been watching performances for thousands of years and experience theater where people experienced it when it was first becoming a thing.
The view from my seat at the ancient theater of Epidaurus to watch Hecuba, Not HecubaVideo of us learning the dance for The Birds
Wednesday, July 24th, was the first day of classes. In the first half of class, we did some name recognition and ensemble games. We learned how to become a group, an ensemble, a chorus. For the second half, we started working on lines we were assigned from Aristophanes’ The Birds and a dance to accompany it. We also learned about the different kinds of traditional Greek styles of dancing.
Day 2 of classes was spent learning traditional Greek dances and working on Shakespeare in class. Here's a video of us doing just that!
On Thursday, we learned several traditional Greek dances. We spent half of the class learning the dances, which was exhausting yet fun. It was inspiring to be let in on this whole other culture. During the other half of class, we started working on our Shakespeare scenes (which we had been assigned before arriving at the program), which went really well. I was assigned the role of Helena in a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. Talking about the scene and characters with other people assigned to the same scene as me helped me understand the character even more. I was able to understand Helena’s motivations. I was able to separate lust from love and gained an insight into her psyche, as well as what Demetrious, the scene partner, might be feeling during the scene.
The ITDP group at the Theater of EpidaurusThe best part, though, has been meeting the wonderful people. Lenni and Devon Stone are the primary IDTP instructors, with various guest instructors for different classes. There are 16 other students aside from myself. There are incredible people here that I am excited to work with. They are people with whom I wish to work again. I look forward to working with Devon in spring 2025, as he will be directing the musical at Cornell. I also made a great connection with my roommate. We instantly clicked, and I had never become such great friends with somebody so quickly. It was meeting somebody who completely understood me. We help each other, have fun, and just talk for hours. I came to this program to grow my theater skills and experience. I hadn’t expected to find a place that feels like I belong, with people I feel I belong with.
I hope to be able to continue growing and exploring. I’m looking forward to the lessons of the upcoming week. I am excited to continue our work in Shakespeare and Aristophanes’ The Birds, and start working on our monologues.