I want every day to be more like a YPI day.

It’s a huge request for a number of reasons. For one, I can’t ask the sun to stop turning towards the other half of the Earth. Two, how can we all be together when we have jobs, schools, projects, relationships, and families- things that need our attention and our state of mind- to take care of? For New Years this year, I make a Resolutions List for the first time since I was in high school- almost five years. Sure, lose ten pounds is kind of on there somewhere, but it mostly consists of personal projects geared towards becoming a more complete human being; summer or no summer, camp or no camp, We Jazz or no We Jazz…

Welcome to My Guide Book for Better Being in 2012.

…One…

Make Art and Share It. Loud and Proud.

I know it could be anything. I have always known that making art and sharing it leaves me with only possibilities: make songs! shoot films! create a darkroom! publish a book of poetry! learn to tap dance! etc… But now, after four years of going to art school and still not having a storage unit full of footage, reels, finished projects, and weird props, I know now that it cannot be anything…but that it MUST BE SOMETHING. I have to put in the work to really make one thing- A twenty-five second video study on trees, a horror film, a portrait of my grandmother- and after it’s made, I have to share it.

As scary as putting it all out there will be, especially outside the bubble of camp where we are all on an equal playing field, it can only lead to good. Even that horrible critique from the sleeping guy with the bad attitude in the back of the class is useful. “Hey Bro, at least I made this and showed up today. What have you done?” Me: One. Guy: Zero.

I had a dream about a year ago where a good friend and fellow artist Keith said, “What is the point of making art if you don’t share it?” At the time, this struck me more than anything else anyone had said to me- in real life or in dream life. With the internet the way it is, and computer programs the way they are, it is easier than it ever has been to upload, cut, share, re-edit, and post projects. I have the tools I need, I even have the time! If this is something that I care about, it MUST BE SOMETHING that I do.

 …Two…

Be Honest With Myself.

And in so doing, be honest with others. At times, I live in my head. I’m sure you, dear reader, can appreciate that mysterious place that so often recreates events, conversations, and mere glances into Hollywood-worthy situations… Is it because I have seen one too many episodes of bad reality television? Let’s be honest… maybe. Maybe I have spent a little too much time on Facebook instead of in person; or with the Kardashian family instead of with my own; in the realm of “Reality” instead of, quite simply, being real. The first step is probably deleting my Facebook. Oh wait, let’s be honest, I hardly know how to do that. Instead I resolve to spend a lot less time making up drama that does not exist and a lot more time getting my hands dirty with real life.

 …Three…

Respect My Body.

For one reason or another, this has always been a see-saw for me. I know that “My body is my temple,” and I know that the secrets of happiness and well-being include a healthy dose of exercise, and I know that I have always been more productive and thoughtful when my day includes however-many minutes of activity. Still, life gets in the way, or feelings get in the way and all of the sudden it has been three months since I have even seen a gym; and what’s worse, it looks scarier than ever.

Runway model or not, I really like myself. I appreciate what I have, and where I am going as a human on Earth. Why not safeguard that contentedness with a little regular exercise? It’s like Vitamin C to prevent a cold. Go to the gym to prevent confusion. And let’s be honest, that is one hour of my day that I will NOT be spending on Facebook or with the Kardashians.

 …Four…

Make Good on Commitments.

I told my grandmother that we would go out and get manicures. I told Jess that I would write this blog post. I told my friend Laura that we would get coffee. I told myself I would do Hip Hop Abs today because it is a workout video that is hilarious but demanding all the same. Small commitments -that let’s be honest are not so hard to make good on- make following through with big commitments easier.

 …Five…

Go Slow

In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while you could miss it.” I have a tendency to fast-forward to the good part. If I’m excited for a trip, but still have a week at home before catching the flight, fast-forward. Moving to a new place in six months, fast-forward. Can’t wait until the end of the work-day, fast-forward. All of this fast-forwarding has landed me exactly no where. I went on the trip and it was AWESOME, I moved to the new place and it didn’t work out… at all … The work-day ended and I went home and accidently watched the Kardashians for an hour. What I am trying to say is, there are always good parts and bad parts. It’s life, and the proverbial rollercoaster doesn’t discriminate. At the end of the day, week, or year there is good in the bad, and bad in the good.

In ten minutes of washing the dishes there is a beautiful sunset that sparks the idea to go on a walk. On the walk I realize I should probably do a twenty-five second video study on trees. Two weeks later I have art. I will miss all of this if I do not take the time to just look out the window.

In short, going slower brings my awareness up. Suddenly everything is clearer, and I don’t feel like I am going to have a heart attack.

…Six…

Smile.

“Smile to keep from throwing up”. Smile at the mailman. Smile on the job. Smile in my sleep. Smile from my liver. Just smile.

So there, I’ve poured my heart out via Blog, and now I want to hear YOUR resolutions. Tell us what you have resolved to take with you from YPI into your life in 2012.

Cheers!

Hey Everyone!

We hope you had a happy holiday season and are plunging head first into the New Year! We wanted to let you know about a new online directory forming of the best education nonprofits. Even though YPI is about sharing in a supportive, non-competitive environment, we’re feeling pretty competitive about this!

If you feel like posting a shout-out to the wider world about what YPI means to you, head over to this website and post your YPI review.

Make Yourself Heard

Please help us by sending in your thoughts right away. After all, we know you know how to express yourself.

For the past 10 years I’ve been at YPI, we have released the Songwriting songs on a physical CD. A few weeks after YPI, songwriters ran to greet their mailmen every afternoon, hoping for a little package with a CD and their genius works of art mixed and mastered, ready to be enjoyed.

Okay. It probably wasn’t that dramatic. But still, the point is that the songs used to be released by CD. This year, we decided to join the rest of the 21st Century and release the music online. Not only is it faster and saves us from buying all the physical stuff that’s required to burn and mail a CD, but it also allows the students to share their work more easily — as they should, there’s a lot to be proud of in this year’s albums! We’re using my favorite online music hosting medium: BandCamp. You can visit our BandCamp site to view all the album details, or feel free to simply listen and/or download below.

You’ll notice that we also created album covers for the first time this year, with help from the Photography students and teachers. With the wide variety of genre and writing style in our students this year, we wanted to make sure to immortalize each class visually, as well (although Gina is, unfortunately, missing from the first week’s photo).

Please consider making a donation when downloading any of these songs or the full album. It’s not required, but any donations you make go straight to the Songwriting program.

Have suggestions about the Songwriting program? Please contact me! Each year ends up being a little different depending on enrollment, available master teachers, etc., but if there’s something you’d definitely like to see or definitely like to change, we’d honestly be happy to hear it. After all, YPI isn’t (just) for us; it’s for you!

I can’t wait to get back to YPI and start creating our 2012 community. Will I be seeing all of you there again (I hope)?

Last night was a great night.  I was as proud and humbled as I have ever been in almost 20 years at YPI.  We are all about work in progress here, and both hard work and progress were very much in evidence.  Though it is always hard to say goodbye, I feel good knowing that everyone who came to camp last week grew and changed because of it.  Now that our two weeks have come and gone, we’re going to change the format of the blog a bit.  Everything that’s up is going to migrate to the blog on the YPI website, which will be a central hub for all things YPI, a place to share memories as well as new thoughts and new art as we create it throughout the year.  Any future posts will appear there, and this blog will be set up to redirect there as well.  We anticipate an easy change from one format to another, but please bear with us as we figure things out.  Whatever it takes, we will make sure that there is a space online for us to stay connected.  Best of luck to everyone as you go back to your old lives, or forward to start new ones.  Don’t forget to take a little piece of YPI 2011 along with you.

It’s just before lunch on Friday, and We Jazz is almost here.  The endings of the stories have all been written and revised, and all across campus, the students are putting the final touches on their work.  Once We Jazz is complete, we’ll be posting as much student work as we possibly can on the blog, so please check back in the coming days.  Our goal is to create a little space on the internet where everyone who participated can recapture a little piece of YPI during the coming year.  As Jeff always says, this group will never be together again, but what we’ve experienced over these two weeks will always stay with us.  So enjoy the performances this afternoon, and come back to the blog whenever you want or need a little reminder.

Week one at YPI this summer was a great success!  Watch footage from some of our in-class exercises, and check out a pair of hilarious camp comedies (which got raving reviews after Week 1 screenings to the camp), posted under “YPI Filmmaking Week 1.”  See what you can write, shoot, and cut, all in one week!

Featuring:

-Paul: A Mockumentary

And

-The Cardboard Casket

]]> http://www.ypicamp.org/we-jazz-2011/ypi-filmmaking-thinks-outside-the-box/feed/ 0 http://www.ypicamp.org/we-jazz-2011/week-1-stories-complete/ http://www.ypicamp.org/we-jazz-2011/week-1-stories-complete/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 04:36:33 +0000 jess http://www.ypicamp.org/?p=426

After languishing in the editors’ inbox for too long, all the Week 1 stories are up for your reading pleasure.  You can find the table of contents on the “Week 1 Short Stories” page, with links to all the individual stories.  Whether you’re in the mood for epic fantasy or gritty crime drama, you’ll find it in the week 1 stories.  Happy reading!

Welcome to YPI 2011 week 2.  Now that it’s Tuesday night, things have gotten underway.  I’ve seen poets, photographers and songwriters roaming the campus chasing inspiration, trying to capture vanishing moments to share with the rest of the camp on Friday.  The actors and screenwriters share our building and always seem to be zooming around at a frantic pace, with Emily and Bat-Sheva sitting serenely in the eye of the storm.  The artists and music theatre students are quieter, save for the odd pair of disembodied legs in a tree, but I’m sure they’re hard at work as well.  And amid all the chaos, short story is trying its best to create as well.  This week, we have a new plan: each student is writing a serial story, to be released in four installments.  The first comes out tonight–you can find them under the page “Week 2 Short Stories.”  A new installment will come out each night, preparing you for the exciting conclusions which we will share at We Jazz on Friday.  So do yourself the favor of reading along; I doubt the stories will disappoint.

As the actresses prepare for their opening night of “Where the Wild Things Are” I had an opportunity to speak with each of them about their experience.

Acting, Week 1: Where The Wild Things Are

“This show gave me more experience with acting. I perform mostly musicals, so it was nice to have more of a focus on acting by itself.” – Stefanie Greer

“This was amazing because I learned to think outside the box. I learned how to be louder and be my character. I feel so much more confident about my acting.” – Rory Chagnon

“I learned that in life you might not get the chocolate chip muffins, but acting is worth it !” – Morgan Keyt

“I learned actors and actresses can make or break any script. We did a lot of two person scenes with the exact same script, but we ended up having two totally different scenes.” – Rachel Kaplan

After intense script work, memorizing, character building, dance class, drum workshops, costume fittings and rehearsal after rehearsal, these actresses are ready to rock the house tonight!

-Sara Lukasiewicz aka “Luka”

Songwriting in the Studio

We have so much exciting variety in our Week 1 Songwriting class this year.  Our songwriters’ unique sounds, from simply serene acoustic to slam-jam rock, echo the likes of Ben Folds and Ingrid Michaelson to Megadeath and Soundgarden.

We’re working on the writing process, the essence of performing, and lastly, the production and recording aspects of music.  In all, it’s been a panorama tour of all songwriting encompasses.  I can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been doing all week!

-Helena, Songwriting Master Teacher

Songwriting at Work