Almost A D-Xirable RockU Graduate!

So, I'm almost done. I'm almost a RockU Graduate of Fall 2011!

Sunday,
I enjoyed the Christmas Party with my D-Xirable sorority sisters! It was a lot of fun! We made pretty picture frames. The best part of it all for me is that my PIC Grace C. enjoyed her secret sister gift. That made me happy. The lovely Carma R. was my secret sister. It took me three times to figure out it was her. She got me one of the best gifts EVER! She got me a fashion sketchpad and I LOVE it! I can't wait to sketch fashion designs in it! Thank you my wonderful Carma!

My D-Xirable sorors, Sarah D., Carma R., and Alexis P. working on their picture frames!

Silly Grace C. and my DXP mom, Lauren H., working on their picture frames!

My DXP mom, Lauren, and her lovely picture frame with a photo of her in it!

My lovely sorors, Monica W. and Alexis P.!

The AMAZING fashion sketchpad that my lovely secret sister, Carma R., gave me!
LOVE it!

The homemade picture frame that I made!

Monday,
I did nothing at all. I just relaxed at home. And yes, I know, I did it during finals week. But hey! I only have 3 finals and only 1 of them is an actual exam. Don't judge me! LOL! It's the first year that I EVER got to do a little relaxing during finals week.

Tuesday,
I chilled at home and worked on my final paper for American Lit. I hope that I did good on it, I could really use an "A" on it!

Wednesday,
Still chilled at home and emailed my teacher my American Lit. final paper. Here's to hoping that it's good! Worked on my Race, Religion, and Ethnicity take home final. It was harder than I thought it would be. I hope that it's good because I REALLY need an "A" in that class. If I get an "A" in that class, I can finally join TAK! (Theta Alpha Kappa: Theology Honor's Society). Yes, I want my honors. LOL!

Sincerely,
LaTasha Bunting aka "The girl that always wear high heels"

D-Xirably Close to the End! Part 1

So, this week was my last week of "actual classes" for my undergraduate studies at RockU. But first I will finish my weekend.

Saturday,
It was my girl Ashley H.'s birthday! I hope she had a great one! We (Keshia, Erika, Brittanye, and I) went out for her birthday. I had such a great time!

The "birthday girl", Ashley H., and I!

Keshia W. and I!

Ericka C. and I!

Sunday,
I had my last chapter EVER with my sorority sisters. Needless to say it was very memorable! I love all of my sorority sisters!

Monday,
I had American Lit. class. We had a quiz. We all got A's on it since it was a quiz over our thesis for our final papers.

Tuesday and Wednesday,
Stressful. I had to go to classes and to work on two papers that are due Thursday. I also turned in my Senior Thesis. It's a collection of autobiographical poetry.

Rest of my last week to come!

Sincerely,
LaTasha B. aka "The girl that always wear high heels"

A D-Xirable Date Party and Some D-Xirable Highlights!

So, it was another busy week at RU. Here are some of the highlights:

Having lunch on Wednesday with the beautiful and sweet Paulina C. We talked about how our semester's are going and our classes. It was really nice!

Paulina C. and I at Rockhurst!

Hanging out with the lovely Meghan P. after musical rehearsals Wednesday night. We went to CPK (California's Pizza Kitchen) to eat. It was tons of fun. We talked, ate, and enjoyed each other's company. We also went to see some of the Men's soccer game against William Jewell. It was fun and RU won that game!

Me and Meghan P. at CPK!

Going to the Community Center yesterday morning to help with Safe Trick or Treat. I stuffed small bags with candy. In 2 hrs. and 30 mins I stuffed 200 bags with candy, 2 boxes full. Each of the boxes had 100 bags in it. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work!

80 bags of candy that I stuffed

(2 boxes of candy that I stuffed)

Going to DXP's Date Party with Ja after musical rehearsals on Friday night. DXP had a scavenger hunt on the Plaza and we ended the night with some CPK. Yes, I went to CPK twice this week. It was not planned either, LOL! Despite being separated from Ja during the scavenger hunt, I had a lot of fun doing it with my team. I was on Team 1 with Alexis P., Shelbi J., Sarah D. and her date, and Grace C. Team 2 included Ja, Monica, Carma, Sarah N. and her date, and Grace's boyfriend Dylan. Although we tied on finding the scavenger hunt items, Team 2 won because of their creativity.

Ja and I at the Plaza!

Some of my team - Sarah D. and her date, Shelbi J., and Grace C.!

Me and Shelbi J. at CPK!

Me and Sarah D. at CPK!

Me and Alexis P. at CPK!

My sorority mom, Lauren, and I at CPK!



We went to see Paranormal Activity 3 at Cinemark Plaza after DXP's Date Party. The movie was both funny and a little scary. Ja and I laughed several times during the movie.

Becoming a new member of Sigma Tau Delta (English Honor Society)!

Well those are the highlights of my week and weekend so far, tonight I will be going to WOF (World's of Fun) for HalloWeekends.

D-Xirably,

LaTasha B. aka "The girl that always wear high heels"

D-Xirably FALLing into Laughter!

So this week was a busy one but what's new? LOL!

• One: The weather has been very cold. It seems like Mother Nature skipped Fall and went straight to Winter. Not really since there wasn't any snow on the ground but it was chilly this week.

My sorority sis, Sarah D., and my sorority mom, Lauren H., keeping warm in a D-Xirable blanket during Caramel and Candied Apple sales!

• Two: My sorority, DXP, had Caramel and Candied Apple Sales this week. It went well. Thanks for all of those that supported DXP with the Caramel and Candied Apple Sales! We appreciate it! 

DXP Caramel and Candied Apple Sale sign!

Sorority sis, Sarah D., and sorority mom, Lauren H. during Caramel and Candied Apple Sales!

My sorority mom, Lauren, and I during Caramel and Candied Apple Sales! Mother and daughter pic!

• Three: I started my job as Assistant Director for the musical, Gone Missing. Susan has been really great in allowing me to contribute my thoughts and opinions so far and I really enjoy working with Tom. He's so funny! Also, it was so entertaining and fun watching the cast work on choreography with Chris on Tuesday.

All sneak peek photos of Gone Missing rehearsal are courtesy of my PIC Grace C.:

Anna H. and Chris working on choreography!

Quentin S. and Chris working on choreography!

Most of Gone Missing cast working on choreography and Susan!

My PIC and Gone Missing stage manager, Grace C.!

• Four: I participated in a Focus Group for the Communications Dept. It was really cool! I enjoyed giving my thoughts and opinions. Also, I got to hang out with Mariah B. for a little while. It was nice because we hadn't seen each other that much this semester.

• Five: Mariah B. and I, along with the Musical Cast and other Focus Group participants, went to the Fine Arts Dept. meet and greet. It was nice. I got to enjoy some yummy pizza while talking and laughing with Mariah B.!

• Six: I turned in my Sigma Tau Delta (English Honor Society) application and I turned in my Individual Service Project (Computer Skills Tutoring) hours into the Service Center.

• Seven: I GOT TO LAUGH! I watched Horrible Bosses at my DXP mom and sisters THV. It was so funny! I enjoyed the movie! And today, my sorority mom Lauren and I had the pleasure of watching our sorority sister Monica W. fall out of a hammock while attempting to get into it. LOL! It was so funny! I love you Monica! :) 

My sorority mom, Lauren H., plotting on our sorority sis, Monica W.!

  

Well, that was my busy week!

D-Xirably,

LaTasha B. aka "The girl that always wear high heels"

RockU Solid but Driven D-Xirably Insane! Part 1

So, a lot has happened over this past week,

Sunday,
I had my first full run-thru for my show. It was interesting, that's the best way to put it. I am eternally grateful to my cast for showing up and participating though. Most of them are off book and have their lines memorized which I really love! Three members of the cast were excused for work reasons and I had one no show... Given the fact that I had four necessary characters gone, it wasn't too bad of a run thru. I had a couple of people late though but that's okay. I still need to work on my show though. I have to put some things together and work with my actors a little more. Alan Nichols came to the full run thru and he gave me some great advice. I will be working on incorporating his advice into my rehearsals. Hopefully, things will look at lot better for my next full run-thru! Not to mention, hopefully I will have my entire cast there! Other than that, I tend to be a perfectionist. So, I am freaking out a little bit. We have two weeks until the show opens and it's making me nervous!

Devon W., Kayla F., and Brian T. after Booby Trap full run-thru

Kily N. and I after Booby Trap full run-thru

After rehearsals, I had chapter. It was the shortest chapter yet which I really appreciated! The D-Xirables Carma R., Lauren H., Sarah D., and I worked on our (DXP's) homecoming golf cart. (Did I mention that homecoming week is coming up? Well, it is! I am excited for that as well!) Our golf cart represents Florida! Carma's mom had an amazing idea for our cart and it turned out amazing! I am so proud of our decorations for it! I adore the flip flops and the Minnie Mouse ears, bow, and hands! It looks really nice! We have oranges hanging from the sides of it which is cool too. I'm really proud of our cart this year!

Sarah D. by DXP's "Florida" golf cart

Carma R. working hard on DXP's "Florida" golf cart

Me and my sorority mother, Lauren H. by DXP's "Florida" golf cart

It's DXP's beautiful "Florida" golf cart! Look at the Minnie Mouse bow, ears, and gloves!
Plus the flip flops and oranges!

Monday,
After class, I had to teach Susan's Introduction to Theater Arts class. Only at RockU, with the permission of an amazing teacher who had to be out of town, can you be a student and get the opportunity to teach a class. I was really scared though! I've never taught a class of this magnitude. I was worrying about it all night! After all that worrying though, it didn't go too bad. My job was to teach them about blocking and to talk to them about my job as a director. Sarah B. took role for me since my job wasn't to learn their names when she already knew who everyone was. She is Susan's TA.

We started off with a warm-up courtesy of Sarah B. We did sound and motion. Not only did it get the class to participate but it got me to warm up to the class as well, which calmed my nerves a lot! We then had them break up into 4 groups.

Following Susan's instructions, I had the class do an exercise. I had one member of each of the groups be the leader or "director", and this person was responsible for creating shapes with their "actors". One director had their actors put their hands into two hearts, one director had the group do the YMCA letters, one director had his group in the shape of a triangle, and the other director had his group do a little "r" for Rockhurst. It seems I'm not the only one that loves RU! :) They were creative about it.

Then, I taught them the different levels of/in blocking. Again, following Susan's instruction, I had several students step in as my actors to show the different blocking levels and asked the class where the focus was or who caught their attention. They did this exercise really well and understood that levels play a huge role in blocking. Whoever is elevated on the couch, has the focus, and if they are on the same level, whoever the characters' are looking at has the focus. They also learned that if someone is standing closer downstage they will have the focus over someone upstage.

Also, I showed them how to play with space and sets in blocking. This is after I had a student use the space and set pieces (couch and table) first to block a group of their classmates or "actors". I then showed them that there is more than one way to block a scene with just a couch and table.

I talked with them about my job as a director. My D-Xirable mother, Lauren, stepped in and talked about her job as a director as well. We discussed our set ideas, costume ideas, the casting process, and any problems that has come up along the way. I was really happy when my D-Xirable mother stepped in because I was running out of things to say!  Sarah B. talked about her job as a lighting designer as well, which was amazing!

Lastly, Sarah B. had them improv a scene. She had them break up into groups and one student in each group had to "direct" scenes without their "actors" talking. They had to to do this in a way that the audience understood what was going on. They had 5 mins to prepare each scene and then they had to do them. Sarah B. and I was really impressed with the scenes that they came up with. All of them did a great job on it! The first group was super funny because he had an actor kill his entire group and get away with it. It was too awesome! Another group had musical chairs which was also entertaining to watch. It was fun to watch who won! One group presented a girl fight that ended with them hugging in the end. The last group had an actor assault a woman and then get arrested. Like I said, they were creative with their improv scenes!

The teachers for the day: Sarah B. and I!

The class was over after those scenes (It ended at 10:45am). All my nerves were finally gone! Hopefully they had some fun and learned something new. While I taught Susan's class, Brian and Sam did their rehearsal on their own and without me which I loved.

I had my rehearsals for Booby Trap at 12:15pm until 2:30pm. They went well. I was happy when Roberto showed up and finally got to work with Erica a little bit. He didn't change much though, he liked the scenes the way they were.

Finally, I had to watch the dance auditions for the musical from 3-5:45pm. The dance looked fun so I tried to learn it with those that were auditioning while Grace C. took down names for me and wrote some notes. She also took pics which was wonderful! Love her for that! The dance was super hard though (for the girl's part). I couldn't keep up, Chris (the choreographer) was moving way too fast for me! I felt bad for those that were auditioning! I only did it for fun and it was tough! I watched those that auditioned though and reviewed Grace's notes to see if we agreed on them. I will be the assistant director for the musical and since Susan couldn't be there I sent some notes that Grace and I had about the dancing auditions to her. I also went to the Players meeting. It was short which was really cool. I didn't get home until 8pm.

Chris with Danny G. during dance auditions

Another photo taken during dance auditions

D-Xirably,

LaTasha B. aka "The girl that always wear high heels"

More About Your D-Xirable RockU Blogger

Who am I?

• Name: LaTasha B.
• Age: 21
• Born and raised in Kansas City, MO but grew up in Raytown, MO
• I'm nice so please ask questions and leave comments! :)
• My amazing mother is Tonya J.
• My wonderful Godmother is Ms. Angela (Angie) J.
• My lovely little sister is Toni (Nico) B.
• Two of my amazing sisters for life are Shaunte (Te) F. and Reja (Ja) J.

From top to bottom:
My big sister Te and I, my little sister Nico and I, and my big sister Ja and I!

My big sister Ja, my big sister Tamika F, and I for my 21st birthday at the casino!

• Favorite Colors: Pink, Green, and Black
• Favorite Artists: Aaliyah, Selena Quintanilla, Adele, Bruno Mars, Drake, Alicia Keys, etc.
• Favorite Hobbies: Shopping, writing, acting, drawing, fashion design, etc.

Why did/do I go to RockU?

I went to RU because it was close to home and because I liked the feeling of the campus. Plus, I knew that the campus and the class sizes would be small and perfect, just like me! Just kidding! :) But I did like how small the campus was. It was easy to get to all of the buildings within a nice time frame. And since the classes are small, the professors learn and remember your name within the first few class meetings. Plus, the professors are easily accessible so you can come to them whenever you have questions or need help.

Why do I love RockU so much?

Well, I am a member of Alpha Psi Omega. It's the National Theater Honor Society. I just crossed last semester!

Alpha Psi Omega inductees from last semester: Sarah B,. Brian T., Erin S., Chris R., Sarah N., Alexis P., Marqwan S., and I!
(photo courtesy of Lauren H.)

I love the Theater program at RU! I've been in more plays than I ever imagined to be in! I definitely recommend the RU Theater program to those that are interested in Theater!

Some pictures of the last shows that I've been in:
(All photos courtesy of Lauren H.)

Theatreworks 2011: Zombie Play
Back row: Sarah N., Danny G., Gavin F., James C., and Marqwan S.
Front row: Allison B., Mitchell K., and I

Theatreworks 2011: Doin' Time: Through the Visiting Glass
Carma R., me, Brian T., Grace C., Alexis P., and Erin S.

Theatreworks 2011: Doin' Time: Through the Visiting Glass
Me, the Healer

MacBeth: Bryon G. (Doctor) and I (Gentlewoman)

MacBeth: Hannah A. (Lady MacDuff) and I (Young MacDuff)

MacBeth
(full cast photo)

Two of my bestfriends at RockU are Reja (Ja) J. and Paloma C. I've had so many wonderful memories with them over the years! Also, I spent the night so many times in their dorm room last year! I've always been a commuter at RU since I live close by.

Ja and Paloma in their dorm room last semester

Paloma and I in their dorm room last semester

Ja and I in their dorm room last semester

Paloma and I in their dorm room last semester

Lastly, there's my D-Xirable sorority sisters of DXP! I love them all and I really love my sorority mother, Lauren H. We are spending so much time together this year because we are both directing plays and we have a couple classes together. I love spending so much time with her!

My sorority family line: Me, Erin S. (G-Ma), and Lauren H. (Ma) before Greek Formal last semester

Well, that's a little more about me and my life at RockU in a nutshell! There's tons more to say but I'm getting sleepy.

D-Xirably,

LaTasha B. aka "The girl that always wear high heels"