THEATRE! TCA College meets at Trinity Christian Centre @ Paya Lebar, in Singapore. The drama courses for the Creative Arts Cert program (accredited by University of Wales) are recorded here.
Hey Kimberly! Wasn't quite sure if we had to blog this assignment or where...anyway just in case, here it is!
As I read the books or snippets as I flipped through sections, it was becoming increasingly evident that this is going to be more than just an assignment. I have to keep my eyes peeled and ears wide open to what our Father wanted to teach me…
Signpost #1 “Talent is an amalgam of high sensitivity; easy vulnerability; high sensory equipment (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting- intensely), a void imagination as well as a grip on reality; the drive to communicate one’s own experience and sensation, to make one’s self heard and seen.” Uta Hagen, Respect For Acting (London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1973), 13.
The voice of this book is down-to-earth and seems etched in the present though written in the 70s by a veteran in the field of acting. It drew me in. Uta Hagen talks about how she (and yes me, and most likely you too) have heard folks praising others with “You were born to act” (or “You’re born to sing, you’d be able to do it even with a sore throat” etc) that she soon lost her respect for acting!? And perhaps why most people may have subconsciously too- because it seems easy enough. She puts it across vividly. A beginning dancer wouldn’t attempt a Giselle, a amateur singer wouldn’t take on a opera but “a young actor will unthinkingly plunge into Hamlet if he has the chance.” In the theory of nature versus nurture, she places importance in nurture. That talent is as the above statement defines – God’s creation (senses, imagination) and wiring up (sensitivity, vulnerability) of us refined through hard work and training (intensely…to communicate). In the introduction itself, I find her wise words an encouragement to me an amateur to press on.
Signpost #2 “The word amateur has come to have a negative connotation in our day, but the original Latin means “to love.” Hence, amateurs don’t do what they do for pay or glory. They do it for the love of it.” Rory Noland, Thriving As An Artist In The Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2004), 114.
What a revelation this factual statement is! The gears began to turn in my mind: ‘God sent His Son Jesus because He loved us. Jesus taught, healed and prayed because He loved His Father and us. So our Father is an amateur? Or perhaps a lot of the pharisees and saducees hatred toward Jesus is because they were wondering how an amateur could preach with such an authority and even raise the dead. That would make Christians amateurs because our whole purpose is to love…love God, love others.’ Then I struck gold…I’m just an amateur now and no matter how much of a professional I may work hard to become, God wants our heart to be that of an amateur. We should always be an amateur worshipper. Like Rory Noland practically puts it in the chapter titled How To Develop A Genuine “Can-Do” Attitude, “We need to use our talents at church because we love Jesus Christ and we love doing what he’s gifted us to do.” arts. It has left me with many more tints of perception- of myself (I’ve never really seen myself as an artist till now and that realization has honestly brought some kind of joy and more purpose to whatever I’ve been doing), of the church and us in Christ.
Signpost #3 “My fellow artists, let’s make sure we don’t get so caught up in creating works of art that we neglect the work of art God is making of us.” Rory Noland, Thriving As An Artist In The Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2004), 114.
I just relished reading Rory Noland’s second book ‘Thriving As An Artist In The Church”. It’s a work of art in itself with uses of poetry, literary quotes, visual art pieces and even a script to present very very real situations, challenges and emotions that many people especially artists face in the church. Such an honest evaluation coupled with practical guidance on how to deal with it. And this guidance is very clearly inspired by scripture. I went through the whole book just breathing out ‘Yeah, that’s right!’, ‘So I’m not alone!’ and ‘…hmmm, never thought of it like that!’. This book is a true testament of the power of the arts. It has left me with many more tints of perception: 1) Of myself: I’ve never really seen myself as an artist till now and that realization has honestly brought some kind of joy and more purpose to whatever I’ve been doing. 2) Of the church: “In spite of all its shortcomings…the church is still God’s vehicle to redeem a lost world” thus “We need more talented musicians, actors, dancers, writers, poets, painters, performers, and film directors out in the world impacting our culture for Christ” because “We are the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13)” . 3) And us in Christ.
True enough, this has been more than just an assignment. Just three signposts have brought about the work of our Father so tremendously in my heart and brought me someplace ready and excited for so much more. Yet I don’t quite feel like the journey’s complete. May You please help me keep my eyes peeled and ears wide open to what You want to teach me…
i.Rory Noland, The Heart Of The Artist (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999). ii.Ibid. iii.Ibid.
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Hey Kimberly! Wasn't quite sure if we had to blog this assignment or where...anyway just in case, here it is!
As I read the books or snippets as I flipped through sections, it was becoming increasingly evident that this is going to be more than just an assignment. I have to keep my eyes peeled and ears wide open to what our Father wanted to teach me…
Signpost #1
“Talent is an amalgam of high sensitivity; easy vulnerability; high sensory equipment (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting- intensely), a void imagination as well as a grip on reality; the drive to communicate one’s own experience and sensation, to make one’s self heard and seen.”
Uta Hagen, Respect For Acting (London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1973), 13.
The voice of this book is down-to-earth and seems etched in the present though written in the 70s by a veteran in the field of acting. It drew me in. Uta Hagen talks about how she (and yes me, and most likely you too) have heard folks praising others with “You were born to act” (or “You’re born to sing, you’d be able to do it even with a sore throat” etc) that she soon lost her respect for acting!? And perhaps why most people may have subconsciously too- because it seems easy enough. She puts it across vividly. A beginning dancer wouldn’t attempt a Giselle, a amateur singer wouldn’t take on a opera but “a young actor will unthinkingly plunge into Hamlet if he has the chance.” In the theory of nature versus nurture, she places importance in nurture. That talent is as the above statement defines – God’s creation (senses, imagination) and wiring up (sensitivity, vulnerability) of us refined through hard work and training (intensely…to communicate). In the introduction itself, I find her wise words an encouragement to me an amateur to press on.
Signpost #2
“The word amateur has come to have a negative connotation in our day, but the original Latin means “to love.” Hence, amateurs don’t do what they do for pay or glory. They do it for the love of it.”
Rory Noland, Thriving As An Artist In The Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2004), 114.
What a revelation this factual statement is! The gears began to turn in my mind: ‘God sent His Son Jesus because He loved us. Jesus taught, healed and prayed because He loved His Father and us. So our Father is an amateur? Or perhaps a lot of the pharisees and saducees hatred toward Jesus is because they were wondering how an amateur could preach with such an authority and even raise the dead. That would make Christians amateurs because our whole purpose is to love…love God, love others.’ Then I struck gold…I’m just an amateur now and no matter how much of a professional I may work hard to become, God wants our heart to be that of an amateur. We should always be an amateur worshipper. Like Rory Noland practically puts it in the chapter titled How To Develop A Genuine “Can-Do” Attitude, “We need to use our talents at church because we love Jesus Christ and we love doing what he’s gifted us to do.” arts. It has left me with many more tints of perception- of myself (I’ve never really seen myself as an artist till now and that realization has honestly brought some kind of joy and more purpose to whatever I’ve been doing), of the church and us in Christ.
Signpost #3
“My fellow artists, let’s make sure we don’t get so caught up in creating works of art that we neglect the work of art God is making of us.”
Rory Noland, Thriving As An Artist In The Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2004), 114.
I just relished reading Rory Noland’s second book ‘Thriving As An Artist In The Church”. It’s a work of art in itself with uses of poetry, literary quotes, visual art pieces and even a script to present very very real situations, challenges and emotions that many people especially artists face in the church. Such an honest evaluation coupled with practical guidance on how to deal with it. And this guidance is very clearly inspired by scripture. I went through the whole book just breathing out ‘Yeah, that’s right!’, ‘So I’m not alone!’ and ‘…hmmm, never thought of it like that!’. This book is a true testament of the power of the arts. It has left me with many more tints of perception: 1) Of myself: I’ve never really seen myself as an artist till now and that realization has honestly brought some kind of joy and more purpose to whatever I’ve been doing. 2) Of the church: “In spite of all its shortcomings…the church is still God’s vehicle to redeem a lost world” thus “We need more talented musicians, actors, dancers, writers, poets, painters, performers, and film directors out in the world impacting our culture for Christ” because “We are the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13)” . 3) And us in Christ.
True enough, this has been more than just an assignment. Just three signposts have brought about the work of our Father so tremendously in my heart and brought me someplace ready and excited for so much more. Yet I don’t quite feel like the journey’s complete. May You please help me keep my eyes peeled and ears wide open to what You want to teach me…
i.Rory Noland, The Heart Of The Artist (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999).
ii.Ibid.
iii.Ibid.
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