How I Created My Own Acting Summer Camp.
I am wrapping up my two year journey in Philadelphia . During these two years, I taught Ballroom Dance and functional movement; got certified as a personal trainer; remotely helped my wonderful film mentor Gregory R. R. Crosby to start a short film festival Cinemaniacs at CSULB; choreographed, acted in, and co-produced an action sci-fi The Omega with my film maniacs at Steven Michael Studios; wrote an acting booklet as my thank you note to Brian Medavoy; established beautiful friendships; visited all beautiful museums and heart breaking neighborhoods; lost my job and got three other jobs; healed my heart and strengthened my mind and body- I guess I am an actor after all.
My final chapter of this journey is my summer acting camp that I created for myself. I simply got two jobs. One is extremely physical with shifts ranging from 12 to 16 hours per day during which I do not have to say a word but focus all of my energy on lifting and carrying heavy stuff; cleaning dirty floors and dishes; and observing and listening to drunk people. Another job's shifts range from 4 to 5 hours per day during which all I need to do is to communicate with people face to face and help them make the right choices toward healthier lifestyle. As you can see, these are two drastically different environments. As an actor, it's crucial to be able to immerse yourself into different circumstances and surroundings but still maintain your own point of view to be able to bring your own energy into those environments. So far, I managed to teach a few coworkers some dance steps and shared my passion for movement and acting with others. The total amount of my job hours per week is about 60. My title at my first job is a bar-back at the biggest entertaining center in Philadelphia XFinity Live and the second title is a sales associate at GNC. The rest of my summer acting camp consists of reading a great book by Tony Barr "Acting For The Camera", going to the gym, or writing my short concept outlines for the film projects that I plan to make once I finally get my foot in the right door. Also, I finally finished my new acting reel with a new footage from my most recent projects. This acting training summer camp will be ending with a trip to my native land of Armenia to refresh my sense of identity; to get in touch with my childhood memories; and to reconnect with my father with whom I have very complex relationships. I haven't visited my country of origin for now almost 27 years. I had to create my acting summer camp to make enough money to do so. I am not going to lie but it feels amazing to be paid for working on your craft! After that, I go back to California where I plan to start using all of my skills and passions focusing on one simple task: to be helpful and useful in the creative community supported by the people that I believe have the right vision of the world. And one of them is Brian Medavoy. It is crucial I mention his name in this post because if not for his encouraging posts and words of practical wisdom, I probably would still be worrying about my next job to pay my rent rather than actively focusing on my purpose in life: to inspire dreamers to be doers.
Although, it does sound like a very positive summary of my two year stay in the City of Brotherly Love, I need to confess that these two years were also filled with a lot of humiliation, desperation, confusion, and loneliness. It would not be fair to hide these truths. Going from being a ballroom dance teacher to becoming a sales-rep (see my previous post) and then a bar-back in 6 month period; moving from place to place three times in 4 months; losing my car to a junk yard to pay my rent; and finally having no time or energy to have any private life is not really something I would wish to anyone. However, thanks to my mentor and friend Robert J. Crowder and his home filled with love and amazing food, I had a place to recharge my batteries, quiet my soul, and focus my mind so that I could go on believing in myself.
My grandfather survived Armenian genocide and Stalin's regime. My grandmother survived the World War II and the collapse of Soviet Union. My sister survived the death of her younger son and had to escape to Sweden as a political refugee during a political revolt. My mother had been selling potatoes in Russia for many years before she could start working as a dentist at age of 51 after Soviet Union collapsed. My father is still fighting to get his papers so he can join my mother and not be separated from his wife.
I guess I can survive and enjoy my journey to pursue my dream in America while going through my Acting Summer Camp.
After all, many dreams that are not being pursued tend to turn into one big nightmare. I see and hear it way too often while cleaning another dirty glass after a Bloody Mary.
Do you see that too?
