There are a lot of non-study activities that can be done here in Tartu. For example, last April there were the student days that we, Ambassadors of the University of Tartu actively participated in. But sometimes the events or activities are organized randomly, just by students without any external support, and if you try to join one, you might get hooked.
Early in April I was just looking through the events on Facebook for some non-academic stuffs that I can join to relieve stress and to have new perspectives. The title “Tartu Acting Class” caught my attention, because I always have this fascination in theatre, so I said to myself, “why not?”
In the beginning, we started getting know each other and learned how to stand properly on stage, what happens in which part of the stage, practiced some warm ups that will help you act. For example, one of our warm ups was to pretend we were riding a roller coaster. To imagine this, just stand up and throw your upper half of the body to the front, and then to the back, and then to the left, and then to the right, and then to the front again. And this goes on and on. It was very stimulating, and we felt alive again after a hard day full of studies and work.
Pretending we were elephants
We also had games where the acting skills we learnt were put on the test. We had this “Bla-Bla” game where we were supposed to make our partner do something that is in our head by just saying “bla-bla” while moving. We also had this exercise called “Dating Game, and its format is like the dating shows you saw if you were born in the 90s. What happens here? There is a person who looks for his or her date (guesser)and three actors who are given famous characters from cartoon shows, real life, television, movies, or some animal or inanimate object.
Dating Game where the actors on the right pretended to be Napoleon, Michael Jackson and a Zombie, respectively
Our class decided to have a talent showcase May 20, where we presented different scenes from stage plays, musicals, or our own original scripts. For me, I got to do a Disney inspired musical act. I did this with two ladies, and I enjoyed acting with them.
With Anton and Chloe doing the “Traditional Asian Pose” after the show
Class Picture after the show
To have a different view about these acting classes, I asked them what they liked most,and that’s what they said:
“Joining the acting class was the best choice I made in this semester. I am so glad to meet funny friend in the class and share our views through acting. I will never forget the time I sang and I acted.” – Chloe Tsang from Hong Kong
“I really enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and how everybody was having so much fun acting, even though for most of us it was the first time” – Céline George from France
And none of this will happen without our great teacher from the United States, an exchange student at the university for this spring semester, Maggie Karges(Thank you so much, Maggie!). Maggie is a Theatre Arts and English Double Major Student from the Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.
For me, this class was a real fun! I enjoyed it a lot and met new friends. What I learned here is that in acting, if you want to have fun, you have to commit to the role that was given to you, embrace it and just let it all out. This is acting.
Acting Class
