Yup this blog exists.

I really, really didn't mean to forget about my blog. I was sitting here, four weeks into vacation, wondering why something feels missing. I've been working on auditions and selftapes every single day, going for classes, annotating my musical theatre scores, getting my camera setup ready. But then I started thinking, oh yeah, how am I gonna pay for tuition if I get into drama school? And my brain went straight to - oh yeah! I can write and depend on my Adsense revenue!

Then it hit me. I haven't been writing about acting for eons. Oh boy.

Welp, time to make money. Time to keep my dear readers entertained because I don't like being broke and worrying about how to pay for next semester.

Okay, so everyone here deserves an update on what I have been doing since I went off the radar. Well, after the semester ended (it was a traumatic finals season but I had better things to worry about), I went straight into UCAS mode. This was my endgame and I'm so ready to commit to professional training, I went all out to make this video submission audition a success. An hour of vocal exercises a day, conditioning my muscles for the dance segment, refining my acting throughline as if it were an intricate painting, if there is anything I can do to make my audition better, trust me, I'm working on it. In the short span of 3 months, I have gone from a raw and untrained singer to, at the very least, an amateur singing actor who can imagine and execute the dynamics of a song. Every day, I work on a new area of my song, closing the gaps, doing the work, getting it right.

It took a long time for me to settle on my audition songs. I had a shortlist of songs that fit my voice (including my voice when I phone it in) but I was always anxious about whether it would be overdone or too risky. I eventually settled on a song that perfectly encapsulates just how much I wanted to live this dream, and how much I have already worked to get here. Method acting, yeah? But few would understand what reconciling those lived experiences with a fresh new character feels like, especially when you're handed a palette of emotions and vocal qualities, and given free rein to tell the story the way you see it. Living within those planes of existence that I never even knew existed before this feels like waking up for the first time and experiencing wonder again. That's what acting feels like, and it's why I'm happy to sell my soul for it.

I have also taken a keen interest in dance. I was pretty adamant about being just a singing actor, but my constant Googling of "basic jazz technique" and "how to get a turnout" resulted in ballet clips springing up all over my Instagram feed. It brought back all sorts of childhood memories, where I spent nearly 6 years training in ballet and for a short time after that, classical Chinese dance. Being in musical theatre class and working with choreography also helped me to feel free at last, and I developed a newfound appreciation for tendus and plies. So while I may never dance professionally or en pointe, I'm committed to being the best mover (with a few good dance moves) I can be, and I hope my audition tape reflects that. Well, the cover image of this blog post certainly does.

Now that it's December and semester break, I have plenty of time to work on my auditions and make sure that everything is done to the very best of my abilities. I want to give myself a fighting chance and to get to where I want to be, and I will work hard to get there. And of course, it's also time to relax and have fun... I'll try to post as much as I can. Maybe I'll start adding food reviews and day trip accounts too. Anyway, happy holidays.

Signing off,

Your actor-singer-notadancer-writer person

Pssst... there's always donations. Thank you so much, kind soul.