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Hello my name Coby Hughes, I am a Performers Process major at the University of Texas at Austin. I grew up in the DFW area  and moved to Austin this past year. When I was growing up, being an artist was not on my list of aspirations. As I went through school, I became very curious about the arts. I started taking theatre classes in the 7th grade and ever since I have been enthralled by the arts. Over the years I have been in many productions on and off the stage. The first time I was a part of a production I was given a supporting character role and had to learn how to exist on stage. Learning these skills  lead me on the path I am on today. With every show I am blessed to be a part of I expand my knowledge of the arts and how to effectively maneuver it. One of the most impactful decisions I made in my pursuit to be a better artist was enrolling in the College Audition Prep Weekend. I was able to communicate with many different  colleges and receive helpful feedback on my mock auditions. This taught me the necessity of networking and helped me become a more confident actor. Coming to UT I was nervous about the level I was at compared to the other students. UT has taught me that artists grow together. Through the constant collaboration we took part in I was able to grow and practice the skills I had been developing in class. Now that I am at the end of my first year, I feel confident that I have grown into a better and more experienced artist.

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Something that I have always enjoyed and valued about theatre is the vast diversity it attracts. People from every corner of the world practice theatre and it uniquely allows them to share their own stories. Here at UT it is no different, I have met so many different people from so many places. During the multiple workshops we went through I was able to become closer with my classmates and learn more about them and their backgrounds. During the devising workshop we did an activity called mapping geographies. Everyone made their own piece depicting different moments in their life. Throughout this activity I was able to explore my own life, as well as others through the art that they created. Seeing how others interpreted this project and how they expressed themselves through moments in their lives was really awesome to watch. It allowed me to become closer with my classmates and set us up to collaborate better in the future. Learning from others is the key component to collaboration, because you can't know everything all the time. Some people have expertise in certain areas and using those people to your advantage is what collaboration is all about. You help me, I help you. In class we collaborated on all sorts of things, I never was a dancer so in the dance section I had to learn everything from other people. Having other people around you that you trust and can rely on is vital to creating a safe and comfortable environment in which you can create beautiful pieces of art.

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https://theatredance.utexas.edu/stage/cohen-new-works-festival

This is the front page for the Cohen New Works Festival, there is a gallery posted as well. This is the perfect example of learning from each other and collaborating to create something special.

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College of Fine Arts - University of Texas at Austin

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The Cohen New Works Festival | Department of Theatre and Dance - The University of Texas at Austin

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The Cohen New Works Festival is a biennial, week-long showcase of new work created by students at The University of Texas at Austin held in various locations in and around UT campus. The 2019 festival will take commence April 15th - 19th, 2019.

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In my previous padlet entries, I said that what I wanted out of this class was training in a multitude of different fields. This class did not disappoint. In every section from Devising to Dance, I have learned so many new skills that I hope to develop even further here during my time at UT. Learning about the basics of each section was great but where I really grew was when we collaborated to make art. I don't have any experience dancing, so when it was time to go to the dance section I was nervous. But through multiple collaborative efforts to choreograph ourselves and our peers, I came to really enjoy it. I learned so much in that section not only from Professor Joel, but from my peers with more experience around me. Whenever I would struggle to understand a concept in dance or any other section, I knew I could turn to my peers and count on them for assistance. Everyone needs help sometimes, and others have more experience in certain areas than you so use them to your advantage and vice versa. Using others' knowledge has helped me grow as an artist and begun me on my journey to be a holistically trained artist. This year I have made great advancements in my goal to become a holistic artist. In PCP and Technical Theatre I got to experience so many different techniques and areas of theatre that I had never thought I would get to try. Learning the basics of all these skills will allow me to be informed about more things in the theatre world, and allow me to be of more use in any situation.

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This is a renaissance man, by being holistically trained I will become a "renaissance man" as well

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Failing Up is a concept coined by Leslie Odom Jr. , which basically means whenever you fail, use it to your advantage. Failing can be hard and it happens to everyone. But using that failure to grow as an artist and learn from your failure, is something that I have been able to practice thanks to this class. In the playwriting and directing section of this class I was faced with many challenges. We were tasked with writing our own original monologue having to do with our hometown. My first draft was not all that. After receiving feedback, instead of feeling down on myself for not producing something perfect I went back to the drawing board and used the criticism I received as a starting point to creating a new work. I have failed in this class before, but thanks to my professors and my amazing classmates, I was able to “fail up”, and grow to be an even greater artist. Failing Up is a great mindset to have while being an artist. It is a great inspiring message, never giving up is something every artist should strive to do. Who knows how many auditions, interviews, and castings you will go through. Not every one will go your way, but being able to pick yourself up after your failure and learning from it is what failing up is all about. This semester in PCP the final project provided an obstacle that I had to overcome. Our presentation consisted mostly of devised movement and that is an area that I don't have much experience in. But by not giving up we were able to create a nice piece and put on an entertaining performance.

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This is the book by Leslie Odom Jr. that explains the entire concept of Failing Up.