Echo Theater Company

Creativity For Life
I started going to classes at the Echo Theater when I was three, (I'm 34 now). The Echo Theater became my second home the teachers became my older siblings, surrogate parents, and friends. For 17 years I performed, took class, taught class, toured, created work, saw shows, meet some of my best friends, and had the most supportive creative experiences ever. I grew up at the Echo Theater, they saw me graduate high school, sent me off to college, and welcomed me home, with open arms every holiday break.

Living across the country my time performing with the Echo Theater Company inspired me to study theater, then go on to get my masters in dance/movement therapy and keep my creativity alive. I now work with performers on sustaining creativity across the country, and truly believe that my beginnings at the Echo Theater helped shape the work I do and why I love to do it. I wouldn't be the person I am today without the amazing experiences I had with the Echo Theater Company. Somewhere there are pictures of my three year old self sanding a wall and helping remodel the entryway! I love how many memories I have that include the Echo Theater and how much I was given by being a part of this incredible community. Not only did I learn how to juggle, fly, and hone my physical theater skills, I learned how to be me, in all my creative glory, and that gift is priceless.
http://www.echotheaterpdx.org/

Life Mirrors Art

On dark winter mornings, I struggled to pry open my eyes and pull myself from a warm dream world. But, as I stared into the dark, I would remember my newest acrobatic piece. Middle school was rough and nothing I looked forward to but I got out of bed each morning because I wanted to try out my new performance ideas. While dressing and packing, I would begin to excitedly pace around the room planning which of my fellow performers would stand where, how we could climb up each other, and what kind of music would play. Soon I felt thrilled to be awake and moving and even more so to have a purpose in my life.

Echo Theater Company (http://www.echotheaterpdx.org/) gave me a place where, at a young age, I could contribute my energy and passion. Echo Theater’s youth company was the first place where people – children and adults – really listened to my ideas. Our directors, Wendy Cohen and Aaron Wheeler-Kay, led the group but we were expected to collaborate with each other to create our performances. The group consisted of other middle and high school aged youth and together we discovered how to give to a group effort – sometimes by proposing ideas and sometimes by agreeing to let them go for the good of the whole performance.

This learning process was sometimes challenging as we struggled to find a way to be heard and to listen. I remember the rehearsals for one piece in which we constantly argued over parts until Aaron suggested we use these squabbles to create a comical act. The piece became fun and delightful to perform because it was so honest to our actual experience of collaboration. “Art mirrors life,” Aaron chuckled. When I look back at the five years I spent in Echo Theater’s youth company, I can’t help but wonder if life also mirrors art. As I learned to communicate, to be brave with my contributions, humble with my desire for recognition, and to value, above all, the success of the collective group, I became a more confident and considerate person outside of the theater.

Now I am twenty-five. I am not a professional acrobat or a theater director but I care deeply about community. I have worked in Latin America and the US for social justice and children’s rights. I care about the needs of others and I am confident that my ideas and passion can make a difference. For these beliefs, I wholeheartedly thank Echo Theater Company for giving me a place where I could give, and by giving become part of my first community.