Unknown Kids

Vanessa's Journal

Unknown Theater company member, Vanessa Waters, began weekly visits to My Friend's Place in February of 2004. After gathering a deeper understanding of clients' needs we officially launched our weekly workshops on September 7th, 2004.

Below you will find exerpts from Vaness's journal, providing a sense of the early days of our partnership with My Friend's Place.

[The entries have been editied to protect the confidence of the clients at My Friend's Place.]

2/26/04

My first day volunteering entailed participating in the Cirque du Solei workshop, meeting clients and staff and feeling things out. This class is simply called "circus" by the clients. Phillip and Rob are the two men who run circus. They are from Cirque du Monde, which is Cirque du Soleil's outreach program.

…Once inside, we do a warm-up with some drumming. There are about ten kids, plus Phillip, myself and a staff member from My Friend's Place. We all get an empty Arrowhead water container for a drum. Drumming begins…the clients love it and there's a bit of a free for all, which eventually transforms into a rythmic give-and-take around the circle.

After the group warm-up we all chose an activity to work on. Some choices were juggling, tight rope walking, stilt walking, and later some tumbling!

…Finally we came back together and played the BEST zip, zap, zop game I have ever experienced! It was focused, invigorating and highly competitive. I have to say before the kids knew how to play they were very apprehensive and felt it sounded silly. However, when Phillip, Rob and I began demonstrating they changed their minds.

When class began we had eight to ten kids and by the time our zip, zap, zop game got going we had at least fifteen. This was a great introduction to the possibilities of Unknown Theater's partnership with My Friend's Place.

3/4/04

…This time our warm-up was a ball toss. We formed a circle and it began as a "name game" -- announcing your name before passing the ball off to someone else. The ball toss soon evolved into fast-paced challenge to find a partner who's name you were able to remember in the midst of all the excitement . We really needed to focus, trust and pass quickly! We ended with twelve balls going at once! It was very exciting. The clients loved it.

(My partner was great. He's funny, friendly and quite animated. I think he would be a great addition to our theater workshop).

…During this warm-up I observed many acts of caring and kindness. I witnessed someone taking the time to practice with another kid who was having some difficulty. It was really touching. The clients here really seem to take care of one another and circus really enables them to do this.

…I made a great surprise discovery today. I was looking for some tennis shoes with one of the girls so she could use the stilts, and we came upon some tap shoes. She was elated! Well, I suggested she try them on and sure enough, they fit. So I took her aside and taught her some basics. We warmed up our feet and ankles and off we went. Another girl joined us and we had ourselves a tap class! We tapped for about thirty minutes and I promised to return next week. Rob and Phillip were happy with what happened and encouraged me to continue next time.

3/11/04

I walked around the day room today to say hello to kids I've met. I am beginning to remember names and faces. They are beginning to get used to me being there once a week.

We warmed-up with the same ball toss as last week and we got up to thirteen balls this time!

…The two girls didn't show up to tap until the middle of circus. In fact, I had a new student who politely asked if I'd teach her some of the steps I'd taught the other girls. We worked for about thirty minutes. It was great.

…I am so excited to really work with everyone. This is the right place for Unknown Theater. This is the right place for me.

3/18/04

…There weren't many clients around today for circus. So, Phillip decided that we'd watch a Cirque video. I think he put in the Varakai performance. It turns out that last year Phillip and Rob brought fifty clients to a Cirque du Soleil performance. I thought that was really incredible. Phillip said the response was overwhelming.

Little by little, clients straggled in to join us watching the video. By the time I left there were four additional people firmly planted on mats, mesmerized by what they were watching. I left feeling great.

3/25/04

Circus class was cancelled today because the guys were out of town. A staff member suggested I just hangout with the clients in the day room. I happily joined a group of clients for a game of dominoes.

…One client was particularly helpful. He was a good teacher and seemed to really enjoy helping me put just the right piece down. I left after several games and conversations with familiar faces. I also met a couple new kids.

4/1/04

…Today Phillip had a very large, purple rope! I had no idea what to expect. He asked me to grab one end and spin. Jumprope! One at a time you had to jump in, jump and jump right back out. It was very exciting and got better and better every minute.

Next we had to choose a partner and jump in together. People were really cheering each other on and working together. After a couple of rounds we had to go in with our partner again... but one person had to close their eyes.

My partner turned to me and said, "I trust you. I'll close my eyes." Well, we were instructed to hold hands, listen to the beat of the rope hitting the floor, count and go for it. Our turn came and it was great. We did it with no complications. It was good teamwork and a good lesson in trust.

Then Rob and Phillip challenged us to see how many people we could get jumping at once. It was so fun. People were hesitant at first, but once it got started, man was it exciting! We ended up getting seven people jumping at once.

The cheers, high-fives, and congratulations were really beautiful. New people kept coming in. You couldn't help but want to see what was going on. The room was on fire and the laughter was contagious.

Participation is at an all time high when there is a goal to achieve. When there is something to strive for the determination is powerful. I guess that's why these kids make it on the streets.

4/8/04

I attended the writer's workshop today. It was quite a different experience from circus. Overall, it was much more calm, quiet and very personal. The teacher, Brooke gave us a subject to consider: dreams. She passed out paper, markers, pencils and pens, etc. You had the choice to either write or draw.

Everyone immediately began creating! There were seven of us sitting around a table working very busily for about thirty minutes. Then we had the opportunity to share what we did. Not everyone chose to share. I sat in awe. The writing was beautiful. The drawings were spectacular.

I learned a lot about the kids sitting around that table. It was an experience I'll never forget. Sitting next to me was a rather large, tough looking boy. He read his piece and it was so loving and sensitive. I have to say I was surprised. He brought me to tears.

There is so much talent here. I felt privileged to be a part of this group.

4/15/04

I attended the writer's workshop once again. The format was the same, but the subject this time was family. Most people were a lot more introverted this week. However, those who shared their pieces did some wonderful work.

The writer's workshop like I said before is very personal. The clients are sharing their inner most thoughts. I don't have as much to say. I will say that there are many people here who I would like to get involved with our theater workshop. I only hope they will be interested in writing scenes or even full-length plays.

I see some great teams that could be formed.

4/22/04

There was no circus or writer's workshop today. I spent my time here today in the day room. I joined a group playing Uno. Our game went on for at least an hour. It was the longest and most competitive game of Uno I've ever played. We had a really great time.

One of the clients I had met from the writer's workshop last week was a player in our game. He was very interesting and very creative. He went on about how he likes to draw and how he would be very interested in attending a theater workshop. I was really pleased.

I am getting to know how the dynamics in the day room work. I am getting to know what each person really likes or does not like to do. This will be especially helpful when planning the curriculum for the theater workshop.