The Beauty of Character

 

Life is a long series of inhales and exhales, tensions and releases, of preparation and accomplishment and the relief of the exhaled release and the satisfaction of accomplishment is directly proportional to the quality, depth and duration of the work of preparation. So today we arrived at this watershed moment in each Level III Orff class where they teach a Practicum Lesson to demonstrate their grasp of an inspired lesson that uplifts students and brings them into the fun and pleasure of making great music and dance. 

 

As I knew they would, they all without exception did a beautiful job. They demonstrated the power of beginning in the body and voice, of bringing in imaginative hooks, of scaffolding the sequence so each new learning grows from the steps before, of leaving room for improvisation and creative response, of preparing everything meticulously and then responding spontaneously to the energy in the room and the response of the students.

 

Most importantly, they were relaxed and at ease and taught from the depths of their authentic character— no “Now boys and girls…” fake teacher self, but presenting themselves wholly as they are. I said something about that that I hadn’t ever said before in quite this way. Something like:

 

“It was so wonderful to see you emerge into your full character. As a student, some of you are boisterous and some of you are quiet, but when you step up in front of the class and take charge, that’s when a big part of you shines forth. And without exception, it was beautiful. Anyone who shows their deep self and genuine character is beautiful in my eyes because they are real. Anyone who presents a pseudo-character that they crafted to hide their vulnerability, to belong to this group or that, to lash out to hurt others because they were hurt,  to be what others told them to be, to armor themselves because they fear others might not like them, is never beautiful. 

 

Without you knowing it, you’ve all just giving me the most meaningful evaluation as a teacher you could gift me with. The fact that you all were relaxed enough to present your confident true self means that you felt my permission to present that self without fear of judgement, of success or failure. Of course, I care greatly about how well you teach and want you to do well, but I also know that the best path to help you get there is to remove all unnecessary fear, stress, anxiety so you can get out of your brain stem into your higher feeling and thinking skills where your truer selves resides. A little bit of stress or anxiety is good fuel for the meticulous preparation needed, but once you step in front of the class, you have to let that fall away and boldly proclaim your whole self. And that’s exactly what you did. I couldn’t be more pleased.

 

Three short days left to grow yet closer to these marvelous people and I will savor every minute of it. Congratulations to Level III 2025!!!