| Division: | Arts and Communication |
| Education: | B.A., State University of New York at Purchase M.F.A., Rutgers, Mason School of the Arts |
| Office: | ET 123 |
| Extension: | 3524 |
| E-Mail: | personj@mccc.edu |
What brought you to the theatre/performing arts?
I started off wanting to be a dancer and after some serious knee injuries things had to change drastically. I knew I always wanted to teach, but I always thought I'd be teaching dance, but when I was in Taiwan I got to see a lot of Chinese Opera and the blend of music, dancing and acting was something I wanted to bring to the states. And I wanted to create well rounded actors and that's what drew me into teaching.
Why is Theatre so important for students?
It's a place of connection to other things.to the world. Anything and everything can happen on stage. All of life meets on stage. Art, Dance, Philosophy, Anthropology, Economics, it all meets on stage in this one place. It's the only subject like it. Theatre is about all of life. It teaches us.
What are your goals for your students?
I'm hoping that they go out there in the world and either perform or teach about acting, theatre or dance or anything. I hope they go out and make some sort of difference. Try to go out and be independent and creative. That they know how to create something from scratch without any resources. That they can go out and do it themselves. And that they teach us something about life from their point of view.
How do you gauge success in your classroom?
They are successful when they make mistakes and recover from those mistakes. They are successful when they don't make mistakes. They are successful when they find something brand new; when they find out something about themselves that they didn't know before.
