Curtains Up! is starting!!!!!

Hello everyone!!!

It's FINALLY here... Daytime Moon's spring program, Curtains Up! I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been waiting forever. Without a fall extracurricular program, it's been almost a year since we've seen some of our regular actors, so the whole programming staff and I have been anxiously waiting for the chance to see everyone again.

But today's the day! I'm thrilled to say that we have 9 actors in our group this spring--6 returners and 3 new folks! All of our volunteers are super excited, and Liz, Michelle, Ella, Mikey and I have been counting down the days. Curtains Up! is going to run on Saturdays starting today (!!!!!) and going through our final performance on May 18th. Michelle, our playwright, will be working with Mikey, our amazing new intern, to write a play based on the creative characters that our actors come up with. Ella will be assisting me with the teaching and direction of the play, and Liz is supervising our staff of 7 amazing volunteers. We're a big group this spring, but I can already tell that the room will be full of so much joy each week.

Rich, our new social media intern, will be with us in the classroom each week, taking photos and videos and sharing updates over Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. So be sure to follow us so you can see the amazing work our group is doing! And, of course, Jareth and Megan will be posting weekly updates with videos and photos from the classroom.

Every time we start a new program, I reminisce about how far we've come. In the Fall of 2010, after three years of dreaming, we launched our first program. "Superfriends: With Our Powers Combined" had a cast of 4 actors, 3 of whom are still performing with us and will join us again this spring! And today, we begin our EIGHTH full-length program and begin working on our eighth original play celebrating the unique and exceptional actors in our group. I couldn't be more proud of the amazing group of teachers, volunteers, and actors who've gotten us here.

So you can share with me in this lovely walk down memory lane, I've dug up a few classic videos from our history:

This first video is a profile by Sedera Ranaivoarinosy about Daytime Moon Creations' first program:

In this next video, two long-time Daytime Moon actors, Teddy and Nicky, perform "Free To Do Whatever We Want (The Fourth of July Song)" the song that they wrote in the Music Class during Daytime Moon's Summer 2012 Workshop Series:

And finally, come backstage of Daytime Moon's Spring 2012 performance of "Magic Island":

I hope you're as excited as I am about this spring!

See you in class,

Jenna

Finding the Joy

Hello everyone!

From all of us here at Daytime Moon in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, I hope you and your family are safe and sound. I hope the impact was minimal and your personal recovery moves quickly. In times of great loss, I never cease to be amazed at the resilience and compassion shown in this city. I see kindness towards strangers, sharing of resources, and a determination to bounce back better, stronger, and a little more aware of those around us. In these times, when we can so easily feel overwhelmed with sadness, what I find most beautiful are the moments where people come together to create and share in joy. The Daytime Moon community is no different; we feel the pain that has been caused by Sandy, but we comfort ourselves knowing that our work is full of joy. So, despite a heart heavy with the images of my fellow New Yorkers in pain, I am choosing to look at the moments of bravery, of compassion, and of joy.  I hope you will join me as I share updates from Daytime Moon's fall program.

As many of you know, this fall finds Daytime Moon Creations back for our third program with the Cooke Center Academy SKILLS Program and Alumni Association, where we are working with a group of young adults to develop an original play! The program started 3 weeks ago and it's been amazing so far.

As Daytime Moon grows and expands, I've personally felt very lucky to see the caliber of volunteers and artists who want to work with us. You all have, I'm sure, seen the incredible work of Michelle Kuchuk, who has worked with Daytime Moon for two years now: first as a one-on-one buddy and most recently as my assistant teacher. I am overjoyed now to introduce her now as a head teacher! Michelle is teaching this program at SKILLS, and I'm excited to welcome Ella Metuki, also a former one-on-one buddy, as her assistant teacher.

I had the great pleasure of observing their class last week and had a blast! They have a lot of familiar faces in their class, but also a lot of students experiencing Daytime Moon's programming for the first time. It was exciting to watch as the returning students took on leadership roles in the room and the new students were so willing to explore their imaginations.

Check out some of the videos from class!

This clip is from a game of "ImaginAIR," where the group was exploring space. Here, Jorge is pretending to be an astronaut and encounters Emily the space creature!

In this clip, taken during a game of "Group Photo," a group of students works with Michelle to create a snapshot. Can you guess where the photo was taken?

In the live action follow-up to "Group Photo", Charlie, Emily and Michelle share a short skit with the group. Can you guess where they are?

The final show is scheduled for December 13th at 5PM at the Peoples Improv Theater. I don't know about you, but I'm already counting down the days!

Wishing you continued strength, calm, and JOY during the ongoing recovery,
Jenna