How Student Performers Examine the Arts’ Influence On Their Character
In a book of essays, student performers share their reflections about the arts during a time when the pandemic prevented them from performing.
When performing arts students lost the ability to perform in public during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, they gained an opportunity to reflect on what the arts mean to them, and how they’ve shaped their character. Those reflections became the backbone for a book of essays, Performing Character: From Stage to Page, edited by Ann Phelps, Director of Programming for the Program for Leadership and Character. The book shares the challenges, self-reflection, and evolution of student performers during their time in isolation. “The idea to explore who we are, as dancers, actors, musicians, and artists in isolation was really generated by students who perceived the need to create in new ways during the pandemic.” Phelps says, “The process really took on a life of its own, as we did creative writing circles on Zoom with memoirist April Stace, engaged in one-on-one creative editing sessions, and somehow built a new community in a season when isolation was rampant. The result was this inspiring book that contains more beauty and truth than I could have imagined at the outset.”
Several Wake Forest students read their essays and poetry during April’s Leadership and Character and the Arts Showcase, co-sponsored by Wake The Arts and the Interdisciplinary Arts Center. Here are four brief selections:
“Realizing Home” by Katherine Finch, ’22, dancer
“Having my identity wrapped up in one thing for so long was as punishing and limiting as it was fulfilling and meaningful.”
“A Love Letter to Theater” by Adarian Sneed, ’22, actor
“For me, there is something so magical about the brief relationship between the performer and audience member in live theater.”
“Breathborn(e)” by Brianna Coppolino, ’22, singer
“There was a sense of hope, and it lingers in the breath between us.”
“After Eden” by Mary Costanza, ’21, dancer
“Having my identity wrapped up in one thing for so long was as punishing and limiting as it was fulfilling and meaningful.”
If you would like to read Performing Character: From Stage to Page, you can read a digital edition here, download it free through Amazon, or pick up a physical copy at Starling Hall.