as a relation of witty bloggers, i am rather intimidated by the idea of starting my own blog.  however, i've decided to quell my apprehension, take the leap, and see what comes of it.

here's my BADA schedule:

monday:
9-11 shakespeare
11:15-12:45 voice
2-5 tutorials (these will only be a half hour each week for each of us...individual one-on-one     time)

8-11 performance?  (this is monday OR tuesday night...)

tuesday:
10:45-12:15 voice
12:30-3:15 stage fighting
3:45-5:45 high comedy
8-11 performance?  (this is monday OR tuesday night...)

wednesday:
10:00-11:00 movement
11:15-1:15 high comedy
1:45-3:45 shakespeare
4:00-5:45 modern physical

thursday:
9:00-11:00 dramatic criticism
12:30-1:30 movement
2:00-3:45 modern physical
4:15-6:15 theatre history I

friday:
9:00-11:00 shakespeare
11:15-1:15 high comedy
2:00-6:00: master classes probs every week except for 2

sunday:
2:00-6:00 master class at least 1 week

all of our classes are with the same group of 12 people: a nice, even, small number. :)  at the same time, it's frustrating that the 2 groups (there are only 24 new people all together) are totally separate for the most part.  we even have mostly different professors.  i know it's a small group when i already know everyone's names when we've only been here 2 days..  our only class altogether is dramatic criticism.  otherwise, we have no breaks together and we often start and end classes at different times of day, so we don't see each other walking to and from class either. 

shakespeare:  this class is 2 hours, 3 times a week (6 hours total/week).  ian, the head of bada, is our teacher.  so far, the class is awesome.  for the most part, ian approaches the class from a director's perspective.  this means that for the first couple of classes we have worked on memorization techniques (memorizing the first speech of the chorus in Romeo and Juliet outside of class then shouting it, whispering it, singing it opera style, singing it pop style...we did it as we walked around the room at our own paces and then we did it in groups of 4 as a chorus and once we did it altogether as a great large chorus. )  to ian, the most important elements of the work seem to be the rhythm of shakespeare and allowing oneself to take the work off of a pedestal, so it is accessible to us and to a modern audience.  according to ian, shakespeare is not commonly offered in british acting conservatories anymore, because it is considered out of date since the 1950s/60s.  in america, however, it's still a booming business.  perhaps europeans no longer find a world in which sex and money were issues with high social boundaries and meanings relevant to a world with birth control and high loans...or (and this is my opinion) this is only a phase and shakespeare will be back in fashion once we are past the lady gaga and rihanna craze. we are going to begin to work on scenes starting next week after we do some sonnet work.

high comedy: this class is 2 hours, 3 times a week (6 hours total/week).  our professor, eunice, is a woman in her 50s who seems like she would be a fantastic actor, but perhaps is not the most engaging teacher...  her rate of speech is perhaps a 20 on a metronome (out of 145) and she is intolerant of disinterest.  already, one of my classmates (a somewhat careless and nonchalant boy, Jon) has annoyed her with his apathy to the subjects of good posture, manners, and carefully plotted intrigue...  . of course, all of these topics are only tools to achieve sex and money!  however, at a very slow pace and right about lunch time, it is hard to remain focused.  we are reading and will be performing "love for love," a play from the 17th century whose characters (with names such as scandal--you can guess what he's all about) are trapped in financial and romantic straits.  the class is a bit tedious so far, but i'm hoping that the pace will pick up once we have read the play, discussed it in class, and have characters on whom to base actions.  i also appreciate the elegance of their postures and the language and believe it is probably healthy for me physically as well as intellectually!

movement: this class is 1 hour, 2 times a week (2 hours total/week).  so fun!  the first class was mostly discussion.  our professor, jackie, is a woman in her 40s (probably) who is plump, cheery, and has the british sense of...humor and discipline.  we are going to be doing some viewpoints and suzuki, but mostly eastern european techniques that i have not heard of very much.  it's really an improvisation and physical games class.  i love it!

modern physical: truly a comedy class.  perhaps even like a clown class.  our professor, mick, is an older man (in his 70s) who has the sense of humor and the comedic timing of a 20 year old.  we play lots of games that are super fun and also make you feel perfectly retarded all the time.  these are simple games that are like tongue twisters.  you can't help messing up no matter how hard you try.  it's interesting to realize what makes us laugh.  many times it is merely other people attempting to do something well and messing up.

theatre history and dramatic criticism: both are taught by christopher cook.  dramatic criticism reflects on whatever play we saw that week.  chris is great, a teacher who is a fount of wisdom and also doesn't make you afraid to speak up about what you think.  we saw "the flea in her ear" this week.  it was like a roller-coaster!   in theatre history, we read hedda gabler.  great play, awesome themes of greek drama...

we haven't had stage fighting or tutorials yet, so there will be more first impressions to come!

the british sense of discipline is different than what we american students are now accustomed to.  lateness is absolutely not tolerated and could merit discussion and expulsion (even if that just means that you're the last one in the classroom and still on time!), using the restroom in the middle of class (no matter how long it is) is severely frowned upon, and publicly expressing disinterest in front of a professor is a capital sin. 

the school seems to be very well established.  Many famous actors have taught there and even more famous people have led master classes.  Many of the teachers also are professors at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, which is the leading theatre conservatory in London, sort of like our Julliard, I think.  Of course, BADA does not have the same prestige and is only a mini training program, but i feel like I'm very lucky to be here all the same.

my roommates are cool.  we spend a lot of time together, since two of them are in my class and i hang out with them a lot outside of class too.

in the end, i'm having fun so far and it's only 4 months, so i know that no matter what, it's all going to work out somehow.  in any case, today i'm going to go for a run and exploring on my own to get some me time.  

i've been keeping in touch with friends through facebook chat and messages.  there's a london to new york thread that includes a bunch of columbia/barnard people studying abroad and on campus. 

there are some rough patches, but nothing like learning a new language, i guess...going through making friends again, having new roommates, figuring out a different currency, poor internet connection, no iphone handy-dandy features--like maps, and dealing with some different customs (white coffee is coffee with milk, everything closes at midnight or before, accents are hard to understand sometimes), the streets are winding and go in circles many times so getting lost is not only easy, it's inevitable...

there's a lot of good things i'm experiencing (and i think i will learn a lot), but i'm tired already!