North Shore ArtThrob  June 10, 2010

“Ophelia Rising”: Why young girls need art

Acting coach Sara Maurno has founded “WalkTheWalk,” in residence on Artists’ Row. She will offer private instruction and three workshops this summer, including “Ophelia Rising,” a performance workshop for girls 13 to 15.

What do you offer Salem that’s not already here?

My experience.

I’ve taught theatre as an adjunct at Brandeis University, worked in film, worked at the Nora and Lyric theatres in Boston, then off Broadway in New York. I see my students regularly on Law & Order and CSI, and read their reviews in New York Magazine.

There are already some great acting coaches out there, but also some who rely on broad strokes. They’ll put you in a showcase with your raw assets, be it a pretty face or a good voice; but no one gets anywhere in performing arts with raw assets. There’s nothing raw about Meryl Streep, or Beyoncé, or even the young people in the “Twilight” movies.

Tell us about “Ophelia Rising.”

It’s a workshop for girls, ages 13 to 15, and the idea is to give them confidence, keep them true to themselves.

I remember - every woman can remember - what it’s like to be an adolescent girl. It’s frightening to feel you have to squelch you own voice or change yourself to fit in. My hope in this class is to teach a generation of girls that of course they’ll change, but they don’t have to shrink themselves to be loved.

Will they be performing?

Only for one another; this is a skills class, not a showcase. There’s no pressure to perform - not yet - they’ll leave the class ready to perform. In my first year in the masters program at Brandeis, we were not allowed to perform. The first year training was solely about the process and developing the real tools of the craft.

The girls will act if they want, but they can choose another kind of performance instead, be it poetry, music, acting, dance. It’s about trying new things, stretching their talents beyond the raw ones, and building those talents like muscles. And they’ll choose role models for their pieces, the most unique women they can think of.  The culmination of the workshop will be as much a “work-in-progress” as adolescence and will be about growing into the woman they want to become.

But women today seem so unique already.

For most women marching to her own drum is a hard won process.  I grew up with real individuals to admire, ranging from Jackie Kennedy to Patti Smith not to mention Gloria Steinem; they were unique women involved in different walks, and active in the world, famous for what they accomplished in the world and how they empowered those without a voice.

But I look at images of women now, and I can’t help but feel frightened for this generation. Their role models have all got the same hair color, been dressed by the same stylists, have the accessory puppy under the arm, wear a slip of a dress and are famous for simply being famous and playing Russian Roulette with their lives. They claim to be different, but is there much difference between Pink and Lady Gaga? Girls don’t have the choices they used to have.

Really?! They seem so empowered nowadays. They claim to be.

It’s not correct to say they or we are empowered.

I just had to get my own medical records released from one doctor to another, and after three failed phone calls I handed the phone to my husband and he got it done in one minute.

And women have become more disempowered in relationships. Look at MTV; you see women in bondage, and men who look to women solely as sex partners or booty calls, whatever you call it; but not as real helpmates in the world.  Not to mention the number of women who are found in dumpsters in all these police shows.  These images are medieval and we have a generation that is addicted to these metaphors. They don’t know any better, because this is what we fed them.

A pop culture couple that I really admire is Seal and Heidi Klum. They were friends for years before they married, and their love for one another is palpable, when you see them together. I’ve watched Madonna for decades now, ever since she skipped out on stage wearing lingerie claiming to have a message about female empowerment. I’m sure Madonna’s message is somehow clear to her, but I’m not sure it’s clear to younger artists; she hasn’t fostered individuality for women if young girls are walking in her shoes rather than their own.  And wearing underwear as outerwear on the street just tells the world, “Don’t bother with my mind, that’s not what’s interesting about me.”

You’re bringing the girls to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston; what’s the purpose?

She wasn’t the most classically beautiful woman in the world and she knew this.  Yet she only had to walk through the doors and people gasped - they realized there had never been a woman like her. Eighty years after her death people still gasp, the moment they walk into her museum.

And she wasn’t popular. Her first act of defiance when she came to Boston was to throw an etiquette book in the trash; one that a Proper Bostonian gave her as an orientation. But she left her museum, and a beautiful message; you’re here for a purpose, to leave world better place. You can only get there by exploring your individual voice and asking why you’re here.

Are there any female actors you admire today?

It’s almost a cliché to say Meryl Streep but she has a genuineness that is undeniable. Tracey Ullman told the story, in an interview. They were filming “Plenty” in some exotic location - Tunisia, I think. Meryl had every right to sleep late on the days she wasn’t filming. But she would show up in her station wagon with her kids, to pick up everyone else’s kids, and take them sight-seeing for the day. This image brings me full circle to something an acting professor at Brandeis, Ted Kazanoff, once said; ”If you have no life you have no art.” For Meryl Streep, spending time living her life is high art.

Another woman I admire is Martha Graham, the choreographer. She once said, “There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.” “Ophelia Rising” is about learning to let that unique expression free.

“Ophelia Rising” is a two-week intensive running from July 12 to 23, 8:30am to 12pm, Monday through Friday. Limited class size. Reach Sara Maurno at www.walkthewalksalem.com, or drop in at GASworks on Artists’ Row, Salem.