Residency Wrapup!

 This post is from Marissa Byers, pictured here as Deepish in Open Dream Ensemble's production of Big Shoes. 

We left Asheville today after completing our final residency at Claxton Elementary. It's hard to believe that a whole season of working in the classrooms is over. We're all pretty exhausted, but there's a truly bittersweet air hovering over us. I'm left with images of all those faces with smiles and admiration in their eyes, all the chaos and magic of creativity and the hilarious and offbeat comments... Oh the things kids will say. Mr. Wiley was an exceptional teaching partner, and I couldn't be happier about the work we did together. Despite the fact that we're both still very much kids at heart and in physicality, we managed to integrate the academic material from the lesson plans into the classroom. It was satisfying and just plain fun.

Now we have two weeks left of the season, and we're just traveling around performing Big Shoes. It's a different kind of connection with the students, but equally as fun and meaningful. There's nothing quite like the sound of roaring laughter coming from a room full of hundreds of kids... knowing that it's a response to us, a stellar ensemble made of talented hard workers who exemplify mad respect and impeccable teamwork.