Choosing to become a performing arts major is a huge decision to make. You have to be hard working, talented and committed to performing. Being a performing artist is hard but we're not exactly the super serious, turtle neck wearing weirdos that you think we are.
1. We break out into show tunes.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes...is probably how much time we’ve spent singing show tunes out loud. You probably hear us in the cafeteria or across the courtyard breaking out into Hamilton or Les Mis.
2. We over analyze everything.
Performing art majors basically major in being human. Dancers notice movement and body language, music majors notice vocal patterns and over analyze music on the radio and theater majors? We're the worst. Theater majors analyze every single thing you do; we notice small mannerisms and how people act because, well, we’re actors.
3. We’re always in a show.
We never have free time. We’re always either in a play, a musical or a dance. As performing artists, we have to adapt to having a full schedule to pay the bills so we try to do as much as we can. It’s a challenging lifestyle but we love it.
4. We’re always at rehearsals.
When don’t we have rehearsals? We are in rehearsals 25/8. Go ahead and ask a performing arts major if they want to hang out tonight. The answer will most definitely be “Sorry! I have rehearsal.”
5. We also break out into monologues .
To be or not to be…an annoyingly obvious performing arts major? Monologues are hard to remember, but we have to be able to memorize and perform them. Not only that, they get stuck in our heads and we recite them constantly. I’d be lying if I said I had never had someone come up to me and ask me if I was talking to myself.
6. We always stand/sit in circles.
For some reason, every group exercise we do has to be in a circle. A class has never not begun with “Alright guys, let’s form a circle!” We warm up in a circle, we do group exercises in a circle, we play games in a circle. Heck, if we didn’t start class or rehearsals in a circle, everybody would be very confused and maybe even a bit distressed.
7. We warm up for every class/rehearsal.
Speaking of circles, we have to warm up for every single class/rehearsal. Whether it’s stretching, vocal warm ups or games. We never start class or rehearsals without warming up. If we didn’t, we’d be off our game. You can’t hit that high F or that split without warming up.
8. We always have our scripts/music.
There is not a time that you will find a performing arts major without a physical copy of whatever they're working on. I would never leave my dorm without my script and sheet music because there is always time to memorize and practice your pieces.
9. We get to know each other a little too well.
Performing arts departments tend to be small. Really small. So you usually get to know your peers a little too well. I could probably tell a deep dark secret about everyone in my department (but I won’t).
10. We never let each other down.
No matter how many scarring secrets you know about your department, you still love them and would never let them down. We all take our careers very seriously and would never quit on each other. That speaks volumes about the kind of people who choose to be performing artists.
