Meet: Sara van Gaalen
Every convocation at 911吃瓜 we like to celebrate new alumni from the graduating cohort by asking them to respond to our "exit interview" questionnaire. New SCA alumnus is an easy choice for this important job. During their time at the SCA, Sara was involved in numerous projects as a performer and theatre maker, stage manager, and production manager, maybe often all at once, and also took a turn as the President of the . Sara was also an excellent spokesperson for the SCA in an interview and produced by the media team at 911吃瓜 proper. So good! We're sorry to see Sara go, of course, but mostly thrilled to see what's next for them! Please meet 鈥� Sara van Gaalen!
Please tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Sara van Gaalen. I did a Theatre & Performance honours degree here at 911吃瓜, graduating this spring with distinction. I am a freelance artist and stage manager.
How did you end up choosing the SCA for your studies?
Originally, I really wanted to go to another school, and I got into that school as well. However, when I did the almost 6-hour SCA audition something really shifted for me. I had found the school that prioritized weirdo contemporary artistry. I found the school that was going to turn me into someone who wasn鈥檛 waiting to get an audition but instead the person making the work. I remember walking on the beach with my parents and one of them was the SCA and the other was the other school and making them debate. It was no use, there was a clear winner from moment I met Ryan Tacata and Erika Latta. I knew that the SCA was where I should be.
Please tell us about your time at the SCA?
I had a fabulous time at the SCA, truly it was my home. I spent every possible moment doing everything I possibly could do. In my first year I participated in the Live Acts Festival and two masters shows. In my second year I did Live Acts again, did the Berlin Field school, and did a third master鈥檚 show. By the time my third year rolled around I was known for being everywhere all of the time and I continued to do that by branching out into the dance, film, and production design disciplines, of course while doing Live Acts projects as well. These Live Acts projects we were lucky enough with the support of James Long, Kyla Gardiner, and Wlad Woyno to tour to Up In The Air Theatre鈥檚 rEvolver Festival. I production managed and performed in that show. Half-way through my third year I took on the role of the Theatre Student Union鈥檚 President and served in that role fostering community until I graduated. In the summer between third and fouth year I had the absolute pleasure of taking a class that connected us with a project at Neworld. I got to perform in Eyes of the Beast and get a real understanding of what a professional production is like. I took my fourth year to really focus on my own Live Acts project. My time at the SCA was filled with exciting projects and lovely people from all over.
Any outstanding memories from your time at the SCA and 911吃瓜 (pro, for sure, but also con, too, if there's something you'd like to talk about)?
I have so many wonderful memories of the SCA that it is really hard to choose. What made the SCA so wonderful was the little things, poking my head into Emily鈥檚 office and chatting, passing Heman in the hallway and him being surprised I鈥檓 still at the school, chatting with friends in the lounge, and running around so busy all of the time. I loved that we would all come together as a team. I really cannot choose a favourite moment. Is it when I did Jami Reimer鈥檚 Soft Tongues and met a lot of my closest friends and was forever artistically inspired by Jami? Is it when I did Scratch with Rob Kitsos, memorizing numbers in my head as a I danced, building wonderful relationships, and making up silly nicknames for Rob? Is it the first successful TSU event that I witnessed? Is it all of the eureka moments that happened while devising work? Is it sitting down in professor鈥檚 offices getting really good advice? Theres so many more to choose from I really can鈥檛 decide. I think the one that sticks in my head is the most recent one. Right before I crossed the stage to graduate, Erika Latta and I were making faces and gestures at each other. I didn鈥檛 really care about shaking the chancellor鈥檚 or president鈥檚 hand, what sent me off as an alumnus was Erika blowing little kisses at me. The SCA was really my home and that is how I鈥檇 like to remember being sent off.
What are your plans (both non-academic and maybe academic)?
Working on shows! Moulding my craft! Do more of everything I did at the SCA but not have to wait for a grade back. I鈥檝e got some projects already coming up and on the go. I would like to do a good mix of stage management and performance making, I already am. I want to learn more about myself as an artist by practicing it. I think eventually I would like to get my Masters. I want to be able to academically study a research question and let it consume my life for a couple years. A masters would also open up doors to teaching, and I like mulling over the idea of teaching in my head.
Finally, what advice might you give to prospective SCA students?
My very first day at the SCA I had a fourth year tell me this: 鈥淵ou鈥檝e heard of a triple threat? Become an ultimate threat.鈥� I took this to heart by learning and participating in everything and anything. I recommend that prospective SCA students do the same. If I could speak to first-year Sara I would say 鈥� don鈥檛 be perfect. Which was a critique that I got often from professors which frustrated me to no end because I didn鈥檛 understand why I shouldn鈥檛 be. Prospective SCA students I鈥檓 here to tell you 鈥� don鈥檛 be perfect. Be messy, make mistakes, try things that might not work and then try them once again. These oddities of imperfection may just be where you find the juiciest beautiful moments of your artistic career. And, think of the SCA as the start to your artistic career. Yes it鈥檚 school, (and take advantage of all of the school stuff you do), but also treat projects as more than assignments, treat them like opportunities to build the foundation of your artistic career. But never treat humans like opportunities! Treat them like your friends, because they will be your friends. It鈥檚 can be a lonely world out there being a weirdo contemporary artist so hold on to those people that speak your strange language.