02/02/2022
I work with teachers and encourage them to "meet their students where they are on that day." I do this to have them practice the art of "not assuming" that students will be/act like their "biases." Now, a bias isn't always a bad thing, but is a hard held belief based on our past experiences, modeling, mentorship, etc...
I am constantly amazed by people in our business who assume (random sampling of what I've heard) that a student is too ADD, too afflicted with emotional trauma, too gay, too straight, too femme, too butch, too distracted, too focused, too slow, etc...to succeed in our version of our artistic world. I see this in all levels of our business of singing. Imagine if you had been "too" (any of the above) and your mentor decided you weren't enough or worth their time to meet you where you were at that time. Imagine where you might be and how much trauma you'd have gathered along the way. DO BETTER! Exercise your empathy as you would have wanted for your "little" self.
