DTC getting it in, no matter where we rehearse!

I'm thinking pretty heavily about Margarita as I write this. From what I was able to gather, some reporter made her mad this morning, she began to have chest pains, and was taken to the hospital to get checked out. I've been told she's going to be fine, but they wanted to keep her over night just to run some tests and make sure. Londa mentioned it's something called "Broken Heart Syndrome." It was her mother that contacted us to let me know we would have to rehearse in "Las Mariposas' Studio," as the Teen Center was going to be used for a band rehearsal. I made sure to mention to the group to keep her in our thoughts.

The space was pretty tight, but I was glad Londa allowed us to use it. Also, I was grateful to have had her there, watching some of the work we've been doing. I keep forgetting she has theatre experience and she was super helpful in putting some eyes and ears where I couldn't. She further offered to give a hand if we needed any help with costumes or make-up, something I told her I would mention to the group and take her up on in a couple of weeks time, if she was serious.

Isabel brought her brother to the group today and that made lucky number 13. His name is Jose and he has a great height and presence about him. I hope we get to see more of him.

Given the new space and the large number of the group, getting everyone focused and on task was somewhat difficult at the start. We managed to get through a couple of games (Peruvian Ball Game, Charades, and Jumps) and next thing I knew, we had already passed an hour. In hindsight, I should have split the group up into two smaller groups with some of the exercises. I also need to have the members facilitate the different games so I don't have to continue fighting for everyone's attention; I can focus on making sure everyone's undivided attention is where it should be and help monitor how well everyone is receiving the instruction or answer any questions if it is needed. Perhaps it will also give me the opportunity to play along with them as another students in scenarios where we are one person short, like today.

Eventually, we split up into our three groups and continued working on our individual Halloween Performances. After checking and making sure everyone was on task, it was amazing to see everyone actively engaged on their individual pieces and working to make something out of nothing. Jose went with his sister and didn't too bad for his first time at make-believe with a group of strangers. All of the groups were supposed to present their works in progress to one another but in the end, we only had time for one performance. I believe what was presented left a lot of us in shock and I think we all had a great time, both performers and audience alike, witnessing the piece's potential. I look forward to our next rehearsal and am so thankful we have at least three weeks left before having to perform in front of an audience.

We have been invited to a "Theatre of the Oppressed" Facilitation Workshop this Saturday at the USF campus and it seems at least six DTC members will be able to attend. Now to work out the logistics ...