A SUMMER OF SPACE
David Post is a person who has traveled the world, but still has deep roots in Ukiah. Post recently returned from St. Petersburg, Russia, performing as a vocalist with his jazz ensemble. In a few weeks, he'll be teaching dozens of children at SPACE: Near & Arnold's School of Performing Arts & Cultural Education as a faculty member of their Summer Camp program.
Post's students will be performing The Lion King. The two-week session begins July 18th and is for children ages 8 through 12. Two public performances will take place on Saturday, July 30th.
Post graduated from Ukiah High School in 1981. “When I was a junior, my girlfriend, Maria Delpino was a member of the Ukiah Players Theatre. She encouraged me to try out for my first role. I played the bellhop in Dracu-la-la,” Post reminisces. He became smitten with the arts, receiving instruction from veteran Ukiah Players thespians like the late Jack Christ, as well as mentors within the SPACE community.
“My youthful dream was to work at the Palace Hotel, but I was too young. Fortunately, Pat Kuleto saw my UPT performance in the Palace Ballroom, and asked if I'd like to be his bellboy,” Post smiles. “That was my first job. I'd perform a song and dance number every time he had guests. I remember carrying Bill Graham's bags to his room and interviewing Guglielmo Cavellini for the Ukiah High School newspaper during the Dada Festival.”
Post majored in Music Education and received his BA from the University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music. He was the Choir Director for the Fort Bragg Unified School District for five years.
“I received a lot of jazz education in my undergraduate years and got pretty serious about harmony and theory.” He became the Vocal Jazz Ensemble instructor for Mendocino College, working in that capacity for about five years, and from there, went on to work professionally in the jazz world, recording with Grammynominated arranger Phil Mattson, arranging music for the Manhattan Transfer and playing and/or studying with luminaries like Bobby Mcferrin, Dave Holland and Ray Brown. Post was named Outstanding Male Vocalist at the Pacific Coast Jazz Festival.
In 2004, following an amicable divorce from his stillbest-friend Ann Macdonald, Post took a course with selfhelp scion Tony Robbins. “The main questions he addressed were, `What are your passions? What's your dream life? At life's end, can you say you accomplished your dream?' I realized my dream was to start my own school for the arts.” And that's exactly what Post did.
Post founded the Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth in 2006 with 8 students. “In 8 years, we were serving 1,500 students from 8 different public schools in a 170-seat theater in heart of Bellingham, Washington.” Their mission, according to Post is helping kids remember their potential.
“I feel like kids are intrinsically tuned in at birth, and society un-teaches them. Our goal was to help kids remember their creativity, to love, cooperate and inspire each other. The program was love-centered and based loosely on Lao Tsu's Tao Te Chingthe philosophy of “do without doing.” Another fundamental model for his school was his experience teaching at SPACE in the `90's.
“I took SPACE with me. It helped create the success of my company. One brilliant idea was rotating the cast- taking a large cast and dividing it into singing, dancing and acting groups during rehearsals. No one gets bored, classes are smaller, and kids learn more effectively than when everyone is doing everything simultaneously.”
After working 60-hour weeks for 10 years, Post was ready to pass the torch. “We were doing 15 productions annually, breaking classes into about 6 separate age groups to address different learning styes at different ages. We wanted to give students mul
tiple opportunities to have parts and lines. The most important idea wasn't that I was creating a musical theater arts company- it was that this was a children's community. Kids walked in and said, `I'm home.' It was the best damn thing I ever did, and SPACE had and has a huge influence on its continued success.” Post is now a director emeritus and will build an alumni group next summer.
Like SPACE, Post's approach to the creation of a production is as important as the end product.
“A show with kids I'd been with for 3 or 4 years began going off the rails, with kids missing entrances and flubbing lines.
I went backstage and asked, `What's going on?' The kids say, `The stage manager's bossing us around. Zoey's fighting with George.' Relationship stuff. Totally normal teen behavior. They felt belittled by the stage manager and wanted to be treated respectfully. They were right. I told them, `You've been amazing for years, and this has never happened. So we're getting rid of the stage manager. I'm handing the show to you. You know what to do- the set changes, the costume changes. You own this. I have 100% confidence in you. Lo and behold, they nailed it, every single show. That was a huge `Aha' moment which permeates my teaching. It's not about me convincing kids or manipulating them into doing the right things. They already know the right things. Even
if they `fail', that kind of learning lasts. At SPACE, as at my school, there's no fear-based instruction. It's about empowerment, trust and love.”
Sometimes, parents need education.
“One of my students was in her own world. She had a friend she just loved. She created a little moment where she'd chase her friend, laughing, across the stage. I couldn't even tell you what she was saying. Her parent became livid, saying, “How can you let my daughter go up there like that? It's humiliating!' I tried to explain that this isn't about our experience. It's about the children's experience. You can't codify or put a value on what they're going through. We don't even have to understand it. I told the mother that her daughter was perfect, just the way she was, having a ball, laughing, chasing her friend on stage. We hit the goal.”
Other times, parents would try to influence Post's casting decisions.
“Parents would say, `David, can you give my son a big part? We've been friends for a long time.' I'd say, `We don't work like that. We cast based on what we feel is right for that kid at that time.'”
The same rules apply at SPACE.
“For the Lion King, we're double-casting so we'll have two shows. All kids switch roles. This gives them chances to participate in twice the amount of acting, singing, dancing to sink their teeth into.”
“We focus on characterization. We're not going to use body mics. We're going to teach kids how to project. We'll be playing live music and making masks similar to the Broadway production where the masks sit on top of your head,” says Post.
“We have a great staff including Ayisha Walls as guest director, Eryn Shon-brunner, choreographer, Diane Mcclure, our drama specialist and Ignacio Ayala taking care of logistics.”
“We return to SPACE after the performances for a cast party and a closure exercise. Each child gets to say what their experience was about and share what was meaningful about the camp. It's a really powerful and moving experience that helps kids take time to cement it all in- the friendships, the learning, the meaning. It's great for kids to hear this from one another,” Post concludes.
Additional SPACE summer camp sessions are being offered this summer. including “A Musical Theater Mash-up,” “Street Dance, Contemporary and Art Dance” and a “Teen Dance Intensive.”
SPACE onsite camps are free to Ukiah Unified School District students. Limited funding is available for students of Redwood Academy or Ukiah and Accelerated Achievement Academy. For students needing financial assistance, a limited number of scholarships are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. For registration and information visit spaceperformingarts.org or phone (707) 462-9370.