Perspectives: JT
It's time to introduce another fellow student! Meet James Tiberius. JT for short. (Actually it's James Timothy, but we all think the Star Trek reference is really funny). We always know that we can count on JT to lift our spirits with his contagious enthusiasm. He's one of the friendliest people you'll ever meet.
Not only is he super talented on the stage, but he also has a knack for technical theatre as well. He's built several detailed props and set pieces for his theatre back home with impressive results. Even here, he always seems to be planning a new project to create out of foam or metal. It's been great getting to know him this year, and I hope you enjoy reading about the Conservatory from his perspective!
Hey y’all! JT Schaeffer here. I am here representing Texas… well I was born in New Jersey, lived in Pennsylvania for 8 years, and moved to Texas 12 years ago, but I consider myself a Texan, because why not? ;)
To give you a little background on myself and how I got here, I became involved in community theatre 11 years ago when my mom auditioned for Narnia the Musical and was cast as the White Witch. I was so interested in what she was doing onstage that I attended every rehearsal and auditioned for the next show. Since then, I have been in 25+ productions, many involving my parents and 3 siblings.
Outside of acting and singing, I am an Eagle Scout, blacksmith, prop builder, knife thrower, gymnast (sort of), adventure seeker, and more. I love picking up new hobbies.
Now, theatre didn’t start out as my passion. It was just a fun hobby. But as I grew in skill as an actor and never seemed to tire of it, my love for theatre developed into a passion. The only problem was, I didn’t see myself doing it professionally because I wasn't super keen on the idea of Broadway or New York City. So I set it aside as my treat for the weekend.
One of JT's builds for a show.
However, the Lord works in mysterious ways and that all changed. I was on a post college road trip with Caleb, a friend of mine, and we had made a stop in New York to see Les Miserables. It was an excellent show. Technically perfect, but not inspiring, to me at least. After that, we were on our way to see Amish country in Lancaster, PA when my mom called me and recommended we go see a show at Sight & Sound Theatres. We were skeptical at first. How is this going to be any good? It’s Christian theatre, and Christian theatre is cheesy, right?
Wrong! So very wrong! Joseph was incredible, and as I sat in the audience, I was absolutely blown away. I laughed. I cried. And by the end of the show I told myself I was going to find a way to be on that stage. This was what I was looking for; a place to perform that glorified God and did it in a way that directly related to my passion as an actor.
My searching led to the Conservatory, and by God’s grace, here I am. Eight months ago, theatre was something that I did for fun on the weekends. Now, I do it all week and my weekends are the boring part. I love it!
Nick, JT & Wes posing for a pic between classes. The day they all matched unintentionally. :)
So now that you know a little bit about me and how I got here, I want to give you a peek into two of my favorite classes this semester.
Disclaimer: I have only had three classes in each subject presented here as of writing this and I reserve the right to amend this decision at any time during the semester. ;)
HORSEMANSHIP
The inclusion of live animals is an important part of Sight & Sound shows. As students, we get the opportunity to learn how they're implemented and what their training processes look like. I have worked a little bit with horses in the past. I completed the horsemanship merit badge in scouts, I have ridden a few times, and I have even been on a horse bareback. However, this is a whole new level of horsemanship that I had no idea existed!
Here at Sight & Sound they use a system developed by Pat Parelli, called “natural horsemanship”, to train and work with their horses. It is a fascinating system that uses the horses' “natural” instincts and behaviors to teach them how to respond.
We started out with a video explaining in detail what exactly natural horsemanship is and how it works. On our second class we began learning the 7 Games. Each game has a purpose. For instance, the first game, the Friendly Game, is used to get the horse comfortable around you and your equipment. I can’t go into all of them right now because there is just too much to tell, but if you want, just look up Pat Parelli 7 Games and you can learn more about it.
I was assigned Simon the horse. He is a playful guy who likes to test you. I'm cool with that. I learn quicker, and I am all about that! But I think Simon is getting used to me. He doesn’t try to bite me near as often and he is responding to the games much faster.
A huge factor in this type of horsemanship is pressure. Horses learn through the release of pressure, not the pressure itself. So when you put pressure on the horse, you increase pressure until it yields and then immediately release the pressure so that the horse knows it did the right thing.
I have gained a tremendous amount of confidence in just three classes and I am loving it way more than I thought I would. Amazingly, it has even begun to increase my confidence around humans too.
One of the coolest things I’ve seen thus far in horsemanship was when Billy Shiplet, our instructor, simply looked at the horse and moved him. (Look ma! No hands!) It was absolutely mind blowing, and we are learning to do that too. So cool!!!
As of writing this, we have not ridden the horses, but we have learned to mount and dismount, place and remove the saddle, and some very minor movements on horseback. Next week, WE RIDE!!!
STAGE COMBAT
This was the class I was most looking forward to this year. You might even say it was the class that made me want to do the Conservatory the most. I love martial arts and have a black belt in Hapkido, a variation of Aikedo, as well as an orange belt in Tai Kwando. I think those have has helped me in picking this class up quickly.
These first few classes have been all about the basic stances, punches, and blocks. Scott Ticen, our instructor, continues to impress on us the importance of safety. I never realized this, but in a stage fight, it is the person on defense that is in control of the fight. The attacker must wait for the defender to move out of the way or show that they are prepared for the next “blow” before throwing a punch. That has been a little harder to get used to but I think we are all getting the hang of it.
This semester we'll have eight weeks of unarmed combat training, eight weeks of rapier training, and four weeks of quarter staff training. So 20 weeks of AWESOMENESS!!!
The first class felt a little slow, because it was the introduction. But last week, Ellie and I partnered up for punches and evasions, and I have to tell you, I was so sore the next day. I woke up wondering why my shoulders, legs, and back muscles hurt. It didn’t take long to remember the previous days exercises.
Ellie and JT working on unarmed combat.
We had our third class last week and Scott dove into techniques I wasn’t expecting to get into for another couple weeks. But hey, I’m not complaining. We worked on contact punches, where we actually hit each other! Not hard, but enough to make a noise (called a knap) that sells the punch. Knaps can be created by contacting the other person or clapping against your own hands, chest, or thighs. For instance, when "punching" someone’s face, the knap is generally created by the fist being thrown clapping against the attacker’s other hand. It is a lot trickier to time the knap with the strikes than I expected, but Ellie and I had a blast punching each other all morning. ;)
Scott even had us do a little bit of choreography where we made up our own mini fight in about 4 minutes. Not much time, but such a blast. Looking forward to learning a whole lot more! Can’t wait for swords!!!
I wish I could give you every detail, because there is so much more to tell. This is such a rich experience here at the Conservatory. Never a dull moment… okay sometimes there are, but nothing is perfect. Haha! Each class is packed with knowledge, each teacher is passionate about the subjects they teach, and not only passionate, but incredibly experienced.
I hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek into a few of our classes. I'm loving this experience and I'm so thankful to be spending this year at Sight & Sound!