To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – The Valentine’s Day Concert

Composition major Matthew Liu is BACK with a special Valentine’s Day salon recital!

This Valentine’s Day, Matthew Liu will be giving a story salon inspired by the Netflix original movie “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” An assortment of stories with some songs and scenes will be played out for all to enjoy on Thursday, February 14th at 7:30PM in Lounge 11. Refreshments will be provided by Juilliard Christian Fellowship. Check out the link below to see how you can be in on the salon!

https://www.facebook.com/events/275614310029161/?ti=icl

Finding Peace in a New Juilliard Yoga Collective

Nedra Snipes is a 2nd year M.F.A. actor in the Juilliard Drama Division and founder of J-Tribe Flow Yoga, a new wellness-based yoga collective for black women, women of color, and their allies. Fiona Robberson, co-editor in chief of the Citizen-Penguin, sat down with Nedra on Tuesday to discuss the origins of J-Tribe Flow Yoga in advance of their first official yoga session, which begins Wednesday morning, February 6th.

Photo by Chris Silvestri

Nedra Snipes is a 2nd year M.F.A. actor in the Juilliard Drama Division and founder of J-Tribe Flow Yoga, a new wellness-based yoga collective for black women, women of color, and their allies. Fiona Robberson, co-editor in chief of the Citizen-Penguin, sat down with Nedra on Tuesday to discuss the origins of J-Tribe Flow Yoga in advance of their first official yoga session, which begins Wednesday morning, February 6th.

What is the origin story of J-Tribe Flow Yoga?

It’s really new! We’re starting officially in the first week of February. The collective started in the fall of last semester, when Rosie Yates, a 2nd year drama student, was asked to do an event as an RA for the Juilliard Residence Hall. Melissa Golliday, a 3rd year drama student and fellow RA, decided to collaborate with Rosie – together they created a wellness event that became the first iteration of J-Tribe Flow Yoga. It’s specifically for black women, women of color, and OUR allies, which includes and extends to persons who identify with the male pronoun.

 

What was your journey to yoga?

After 1st year of my drama training, I was feeling outside of my body and outside of my yoga practice. I went to Core Power Yoga, saw a posting for teacher training and went before I knew what it was going to be about. I wanted to go deeper into my own personal practice. I studied Power Vinyasa Yoga, which in a nutshell, is about constantly activating your core. You’re building strength and breath, both of which increase throughout the flow. We start slowly, move through the series again, and move into one breath, one movement, which at that intensity, elevates your heart rate, your breath, your focus, and your strength. It’s a transformative experience when I get to share that transformation with other people.

 

Why do you feel yoga practice is necessary for black women and women of color at Juilliard?

For me, coming to Juilliard and trying to find some semblance of self-care in the midst of this training schedule, especially as a person of color, creates a lot of weighty forces that cause you to take big pauses, and could impede your training overall. J-Tribe Flow Yoga is specifically for black women, women of color, and our allies – the motivation behind that is for us to see others like ourselves in a room, striving for the same level of greatness that we all desire in this building. I want others to take ownership of their own bodies, even if only for an hour. And there is something different that happens when you share the same breath with other people.

 

What happens when you share that breath?

I truly think we breathe for the first time when we’re together. I’m currently working on bringing my full self into a room and feel that when I’m in a room with women of color, with black women, and with our allies who I know are supporting us, there’s a release that happens. And that’s important.

 

For someone who has never done yoga before, what should they expect from J-Tribe Flow Yoga?

They should expect peace and tranquility. They should not feel like they need to be a flexible person, or someone who has done sports all their lives, or anything like that. They just need to be someone who wants to commit an hour to themselves. In my teacher training, they said that if you want to stay in a single pose for a whole hour, maybe a resting position like child’s pose, that is your practice. That is yoga. It’s not a flexibility contest, or a social contest. For me, it’s more of a deeper, spiritual experience. I say come with your heart open and breath flowing. And bring a yoga mat, towel, and water!

 

How many times do you plan to meet?

We hope to meet 9-10 times over the course of this semester, starting this Friday. We anticipate having two sessions per month, depending on holiday and break schedules. I want for us to bond, not just by doing physical activity together, but to also have us grow mentally and spiritually together. It’s my goal that we can have conversations about what it means to be a person of color, or an ally.

 

Is it going to open up to elements of self care and wellness beyond yoga?

Yes! I’m excited about our upcoming BE Series in March – BE Powerful, BE Grounded, and BE Restored. The BE Powerful series will involve more of the core element of yoga through power vinyasa flow, to teach us about inner will and how to tap into our core strength at any point. BE Grounded will focus on sustaining fundamental poses for 4-6 minutes at a time. In this series, the yogi principle of Dhristi breath will lead us through each pose as heat is built within the body. BE Restored will finish out the year with a restorative yoga flow to our favorite records.

I’m also planning on an Abundant Gratitude Brunch at the end of the year to celebrate, break bread, and be together outside of this building. We’ll have guest instructors as well – friends from the area, local yoga teachers who are women of color within New York, teachers from the Harlem area and Brooklyn, where there’s another organization specifically for women of color, and more. It’s important that we’re showing leaders of wellness who are outside of the societal norm.

 

When I attended your first yoga/wellness session last semester, there were a lot of instances where in the midst of poses, you were encouraging students with affirmations and power phrases. Where does that come from?

Part of my teacher training includes setting an intention from the class that is close to you, that you can share with your students and those who are working with you. It has to be specific to you, and something that you can all work on universally. I have this thing about light – my first song in church was “This Little Light of Mine!” – and I believe light is something we all have within us. A quote from Marianne Williamson that has always resonated with me, goes: “We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

I just want to hone and cultivate a world like that, where everyone is shining their own individual lights, that you can shine yours in whatever way you can. It should shine big, which is why I reiterate it – at a certain point in the poses of the flow, at the challenging points, you can shift your focus to a higher power or a higher light which will help to lead you forward. This is also an important part of your life flow – when you take focus away from the negativity and stresses of your life and instead focus on what you’re learning in this moment, even if you’re feeling uncomfortable, you can share that sentiment with someone else in your space. We’re all so talented here – we’re inspired by others, but don’t compare yourself to others. You have your own light.

 

What do you anticipate being the future of J-Tribe Flow Yoga?

Nedra Snipes of J-Tribe Flow Yoga

Right now, we’re scheduled up until the end of 2019. I’m looking for us to have a wellness retreat that will happen before the start of the new school year which will help us to become grounded and centered before we start back up at school. I love that J-Tribe is starting here at Juilliard, but I do want it to extend beyond these walls. This is our first way that we’re connecting and communicating with one another, but it should spread like a spider web in how many women we reach through this. I’m hoping that after this summer, the women of this school will know that they have a support system – they will feel like they belong and that they have people to reach for in their times of need. I’m hoping that this tribe will continue beyond Juilliard to performances on Broadway, movie sets, composing endeavors, musical performances, dancers in their first company overseas, and that even in high-stress situations, these women will know they can call on these people to love and support them.

 

Finally, where does the name “J-Tribe Flow Yoga” come from?

Of course, the J comes from Juilliard. Tribe is ancestral for me and my cultural history. A tribe is something that cannot be broken, it is made up of a vast majority of people who have their own individual role in the tribe, whose job or role cannot be compromised or taken. We’re all doing that here at Juilliard, right now – if we were to switch or fulfill another purpose in this world, it wouldn’t work. In order for us to work as a tribe, we need to work together. Yoga speaks for itself – I wanted to start with that. In J-Tribe Flow Yoga, we’ll always start with a physicalizing of release to let go of the armor we all carry every day to protect ourselves from the world. Even the act of getting on the subway to come to school requires a bit of armor. By letting go of our basic survival instincts, we become aware of our thoughts and breath, which connects us to our mindful wellness practice and develop a sense of flow. I’d like for our collective to flow through this wellness program, flow through our lives, flow through this world.

And flow through this program at Juilliard! I feel sometimes through this training that I’m driving a stick shift car, and I’d like it to be more of a seamless flow. Things are coming at me. I’m learning new things, letting go of habitual patterns, gaining a stronger sense of consciousness of my craft, and all of that can happen with a flow. It doesn’t have to be a violent undoing. If I had flow while going through this program, I think I would feel like I’m on my first day of kindergarten. I would be curious, knowing no difference between learning and failing, having no physical or mental response that would make me want to hide. I would let my light shine. All the time.

 

J-Tribe Flow Yoga will have their first official session on the morning of Wednesday, February 6th. Time and location TBD. Please RSVP to reserve a spot. 

If you’d like to sign-up to attend J-Tribe Flow Yoga’s first official yoga session, have questions, or would like to send in song requests, please email Nedra Snipes at nrs4@juilliard.com.

Matt Liu’s Big Blue Couch Concert!

Composition major Matt Liu is back for another Juilliard concert on Sunday, November 4th at 5 pm!

Just me, my voice, a piano, and a big blue couch – plus some friends to help me out! I’ve always LOVED sharing my stories and with this easy, breezy concert on an easy, breezy Sunday afternoon I’ll get to do just that. Join me for an (early) evening of my songs, anything from beloved Liu compositions to never-released treasures, to even sneak-peeks of my infant musicals (“Plush: A New Musical,” “Faun,” “Love That Happens,” “Two Boys on a Bus”). If you’re reading this – YOU ARE INVITED! Please feel free to join me and invite all you’d like. This is a family event! Doesn’t get any more “big blue couch” than that!

Big Blue Couch: The Songs and Stylings of Matt Liu
The Juilliard School, Room 309
Sunday, 11/4/18 at 5PM
Free admission

Senior Recital Promotion – “What’s On Your Mind, Matt? ” The Matt Liu Show

Matt Liu’s Senior Recital is on April 10th at 8 pm in Paul Hall! Check out his special promo video!

Dear friend,

I’d like to invite you to my senior recital! It’s going to be a fun show akin to Ellen, Oprah, all the greats, so come have a great time. 34 performers – 21 musicians – 10 singers – 3 dancers – 9 original musical compositions – 1 stage – 1 Matt Liu.

Hope you can come! Tuesday, April 10 at Paul Hall, 8PM

All my best, Matt

Juilliard Student Art Show

The Juilliard Student Council, in collaboration with the Office of Student Affairs, is putting on Juilliard’s first student art gallery event!

The Juilliard Student Council, in collaboration with the Office of Student Affairs, is putting on Juilliard’s first student art gallery event! The gallery will take place in the SMR on April 12th for a few hours and will be open to the Juilliard community. There will be snacks and light refreshments. This is an opportunity for Juilliard students to showcase their art and get more exposure, as we have many talented artists among us! If you choose to participate as an artist, there will be a time for you to speak about your work, but this is not required. We will attempt to display works of any media that the space allows. On a larger scale, this event is an effort to include more meaningful visual art in our everyday lives at Juilliard.

Juilliard Solidarity with the International Women’s Strike Meeting

The Juilliard Solidarity with the International Women’s Strike planning meeting will take place Wednesday March 21st at 1pm.

The Juilliard Solidarity with the International Women’s Strike planning meeting will take place Wednesday March 21st at 1pm.

The following will be discussed:
1. Why is there a Women’s strike?
2. What is the Women’s strike trying to do?
3. What does Juilliard solidarity/participation look like?
4. Plans for Juilliard Solidarity March 8th

Location TBD

Letters from Gottlieb & Zhang — Meet the Library’s new student-led Curated Bookshelf

See the letters sent below, reprinted here with permission, to the student body earlier this month from student Angie Zhang and Juilliard’s VP for Library & Information Resources, Jane Gottlieb. Angie Zhang also notes a wish for increased Drama and Dance involvement in future recommendation cycles, so contact her or library AT juilliard DOT edu to get involved!

Letter from the Student Curator

Dear Friends in the Juilliard Community,

I am most excited to share with you the launch of a new student-led initiative here in the Lila Acheson Wallace Library: our “Curated Bookshelf,” which was created with you in mind.

The centerpiece, a list of book recommendations by students, alumni, staff, and faculty members of Juilliard, is designed to spark conversations and highlight the wonderful resources here in this library. The books on this list have call numbers listed below the titles for your convenience, and books that are not in the library or in the process of being acquired will have either the cover of the book on display, or the actual book, generously lent to the library for the month by the recommender.

As an extension, you will also find an electronic copy sent directly to your email inbox with additional recommendations and blurbs written by featured members of the community. There will also be a fun and light-hearted “What’s on your bookshelf?” section starting with the next edition, which will span a wide variety of genres.

Each month, we will also have a Library Staff Spotlight. Comments from the student body in previous years suggest that more interaction with the staff in the library would make for a more enhanced study space and environment. With that in mind, this slice of the pie aims at telling stories and finding common interests, which could result in fruitful conversations and discoveries. I highly recommend this month’s Q&A with library cataloger, David Snow.

It is my sincere hope that everybody will find something intriguing and inspiring in this new initiative. Like the school itself, this student-led project can exist only with your contributions and thoughtfulness. Going forward, I welcome any book recommendations as well as suggestions around how to adapt this project to better fit the needs, wants, and curiosity of our wonderful family of art appreciators and makers. Please send comments, recommendations, and feedback to aez AT juilliard DOT edu and I will follow-up with you personally.

Finally, this project would not be possible without the generosity and support of Jane Gottlieb, Vice President for Library and Information Resources (see her own welcome letter below); all the staff members of the library; Daniel Parker, President of Student Council; and everybody who enthusiastically agreed to be a part of this first edition.

Happy reading and exploring!

Yours Truly,
Angie Zhang

Letter from Jane Gottlieb

I am enormously grateful to Angie Zhang, our Student Curator of the new “Curator and Community Recommendations” project. This student-led initiative will help us achieve the ever-present goal of ensuring that Juilliard’s library collection best reflects the needs of The Juilliard community, and that students, faculty, staff, and alumni are able to engage with our resources in meaningful ways.

In addition to the book recommendations that Angie highlights in this inaugural issue, we welcome your ideas about scores, media, and online resources that should be included in the “Recommendations” listings. Please e-mail library AT juilliard DOT edu with your thoughts, which I will share with Angie.

And we’re so pleased that this initiative will help you to get to know the library staff better: they are treasures of the Juilliard community!

Jane Gottlieb
Vice President for Library and Information Resources

“Black is Beautiful, Black is Gold” — MLK Performance and Panel

Please join members of the Juilliard Black Student Union in celebrating black existence and contribution in a variety of performances ranging from dance, to song, and even original compositions by the members themselves! Immediately following will be a panel discussion on black contribution featuring leaders and members of the JBSU.

Please join members of the Juilliard Black Student Union in celebrating black existence and contribution in a variety of performances ranging from dance, to song, and even original compositions by the members themselves! Immediately following will be a panel discussion on black contribution featuring leaders and members of the JBSU.

“Black is Beautiful, Black is Gold” — MLK Performance and Panel

Monday, January 15, 2018

6pm in Paul Recital Hall

 

Tickets are not required for this performance.

Arts Advocacy through Community Service — Get to Know ASTEP!

Learn more about ASTEP with Juilliard alumni, Alli Job (Double Bass BM ’09 and MM ’11), staff attorney at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Alejandro Rodriguez, (Drama BFA ’09, Group 38), actor and Director of the Artist as Citizen Conference with ASTEP. Please join Alli and Alejandro on Wednesday, January 17, at 7 pm in the SMR, Room 105. A light dinner will be served. Bring your friends!

Please join Alli and Alejandro on Wednesday, January 17, at 7 pm in the SMR, Room 105. A light dinner will be served. Bring your friends!

Did you know that President Obama declared Martin Luther King Jr. Day a day committed to service? Well, he did! Although we can’t host service projects on MLK Day due to classes, OSA did want to acknowledge the spirit of the day by introducing Juilliard students to ASTEP, Artists Striving to End Poverty, a not-for-profit community organization. ASTEP was born out of former Juilliard student group, ARTreach, and a former faculty member. ARTreach did everything from serving food at soup kitchens to running an arts camp in rural Florida to helping with recovery efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina (The NOLA Project). The NOLA Project made its mark at Juilliard by being one of the longest running student led service initiatives.

After the founders of ARTreach graduated from Juilliard, they collaborated with a faculty member and formed ASTEP. ASTEP was conceived “to transform the lives of youth using the most powerful tool they had: their art. Today, ASTEP connects performing and visual artists with underserved youth in the U.S. and around the world to awaken their imaginations, foster critical thinking, and help them break the cycle of poverty.” (quoted from the ASTEP website).

Learn more about ASTEP with Juilliard alumni, Alli Job (Double Bass BM ’09 and MM ’11), staff attorney at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Alejandro Rodriguez, (Drama BFA ’09, Group 38), actor and Director of the Artist as Citizen Conference with ASTEP. Alli and Alejandro will share with you all the amazing local and global opportunities that ASTEP offers and provide information about the Artist as Citizen Conference hosted here at Juilliard in June. Alli and Alejandro were members of The NOLA Project and can share their experiences with ARTreach and how it impacted their time at Juilliard and how it continues to impact them today.

Please join Alli and Alejandro on Wednesday, January 17, at 7 pm in the SMR, Room 105. A light dinner will be served. Bring your friends!