Hello from L.A.!

Hello...it's Kirby posting from L.A.
I haven't been posting much because I've been so busy. Currently I take 3 hours of dance each day and 3 hours and 20 minutes of theatre. My theatre class is amazing. I have a fabulous teacher who loves the world and loves theatre and is so friendly and comfortable to act in front of. We are doing the play, "The Little Princess". Those of you who haven't read the book I highly suggest it because it's a wonderful story with the sweetest characters. So far we haven't been cast yet but we're still going through auditions. I'm crossing my fingers in hope to get one of the lead roles or at least a speaking part. My dance class has been very fun but awfully tiring. I sleep in the car on the way home every day afterwards. Each class is so different and challenging and I can tell that I'm learning a lot and already am more flexible. So overall my first week of summer in L.A. has begun and I've been loving every moment.

"Goodbye" (to KIRBY)

Kirby, right now you are driving to Mexico City to catch your plane to L.A. but I am writing this anyways. Saying goodbye is something that I really hate, it is so hard, especially saying goodbye to you. I really hope that our goodbye won't be the end of our friendship. You are the best friend i have ever had or ever will have. You have totally changed me from a boring REALLY proper and strict, boring person to someone that i actually like (oh, and who is weird). Although you can be really weird sometimes (in a good way) and we hated each other when we first met, you are still my best friend and i think that is so cool. We have so many memories and I will never forget them, even if i die (which will be weird, cuz i'll be dead) but I think that there is some reason that this is happening, and I hope it is all for the best. Just remember that you are my BEST FRIEND and the greatest one ever!! And so the chapter of Melissa & Kirby or Kirby & Melissa ends (but not really), our life together has been so much fun (but really this can't be the end. Promise? well i do). It was so painful saying goodbye and watching you drive off, and closing the door to your house knowing that I will never see it again unless on vacation or something, but i guess that had to happen at some point, I am glad that it happened after we became best friends. This next year will be so weird without you, i truly don't know how i am going to survive, because nothing will be the same without YOU Kirby. Love you so much!!!!!!!

Bye Melissa

In a couple of hours my long weekend will end leaving my life completely changed for good. It seems like it will be terrible but hopefully it's for the best. I have spent over a hundred hours with Melissa this past weekend. We've been trying to fit in every ounce of of fun possible into the short time we have left as if to make this a happy ending. But there is absolutely nothing I could do that would make tomorrow, my last day with Melissa, any less painful. How could six years of friendship be ended with a simple, "Bye"? We definitely have had thousands of memories together and I know I will never forget them until the day I die. But I have no idea how my life will be next year without you even if I get to visit you every once in a while. Tomorrow I will board my plane to L.A. and so begins my summer adventure that will change my life because it could never ever be the same without you Melissa.

Maya's 2nd article in Atencion

Dancing with Doris
By Maya Trujillo June 6, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Dance
Doris Van Bebber
Sat, June 7, 7:30pm
El Sindicato
Recreo 4

Dance
“The Audition”
Doris Van Bebber
Tue, June 24, 7:30pm
Mesones 82

Loud music coming from downstairs classrooms fills the building. Drums. Flamenco footwork, jumps and turns pounding on the wooden floors make it difficult for me to talk to Doris Van Bebber while sitting in the cafeteria.

She is a dance teacher at El Sindicato and also is the director of the educational and creative program of the Performing Art School which combines dance, theater and music classes. She has been dancing since she was four years old, but really became interested in dance at 23.

An average-sized woman in her forties with light brown hair and small green eyes, always very well dressed in high heels and fancy, colorful shirts, she walks up the stairs every day at 6pm waving to her students. “Listas? I’ll meet you girls in the classroom.”

I decided to interview her because of how interesting, dedicated, busy, full of life, fun and creative she is. She is doing a lot for San Miguel, such as giving opportunities to people who are interested in the arts and helping them by giving scholarships to those who can’t afford a class.

Maya Trujillo: Why do you like dancing?

Doris Van Bebber: It makes me feel good. I like to express myself through movement and I think dance is a universal language that can be understood everywhere. I can’t even listen to music without moving.

MT: Did you attend a dance school?

DVB: Yes, I did. I started when I was four and continued until I was a teenager in Germany. Then I stopped taking dance lessons, but was part of a group of young dancers and actors who tried to explore movement. Later on I again took dance classes when I was 18 or 19 years old. When I was 23 and living in Mexico City, I really started to do nothing else but dance. After that, my entire life was about dance.

MT: What is the difference between dance in Europe and dance in Mexico?

DVB: In Europe you have much more support. There are many dance schools all over the country and most of the time, they are pretty successful. There is much more work for dancers and it’s an accepted art form. In Mexico, there is little support and to get to perform is hard. The good thing here is pioneering in the dance world.

MT: Where were you born and what is your age?

DVB: In Giessen, Germany, an important university town 50 km from Frankfort. I’m 47 and I have no problem with people knowing.

MT: Did your parents encourage you to dance?

DVB: Not really. I actually chose another career because of them. I’m a chemical analyst. They didn’t like the fact that I came to Mexico, either. My parents felt it was too far away and we wouldn’t see each other often.


MT: How old were you when you came to Mexico?

DVB: I think I was 21 or 22. I came to Celaya because of my career and I stayed. I didn’t know Spanish, but I knew French and English. Because I had studied Latin in school, it wasn’t hard to learn Spanish. A year later I met my husband.

MT: What were your dreams before you became a dancer?

DVB: I actually wanted to be a singer when I was little.

MT: What are your dreams now that you are a dancer?

DVB: To be a better dance teacher because I love to work with children and teenagers.

MT: What is the age range of your dance students?

DVB: My youngest student is five years old and my oldest is 62.

MT: What is good about working with teenagers?

DVB: I love the energy they have. They are very creative and funny. If they really want to learn how to dance, they are interested in attending my classes. Working with teenagers is a big challenge for my personal growth as a teacher and professional.

MT: What is bad about working with teenagers?

DVB: Nothing. They can be challenging though.

MT: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

DVB: “Five, six, seven, eight” and “From the top!” and “Ready?”

MT: What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?

DVB: It happened when a choreographer decided to present a dance piece at a poetry festival that had nothing to do with the festival theme, so the audience was openly hostile. They even stood up, threw things and yelled at us. It wasn’t only embarrassing for me, but for all the other dancers, too.

MT: What is your greatest fear?

DVB: Being paralyzed, I guess. Ha ha!

MT: What do you dislike about yourself?

DVB: I don’t like myself when I’m angry.

MT: Which living person do you most admire?

DVB: I don’t think I can select only one person. I admire great writers. I admire people who fight for ecology and those who make a difference in the social environment.

MT: What would you consider your greatest achievement?

DVB: I can’t say that there is one big achievement. It is all the sum of small ones. Professionally, some of the shows I’ve put together with my students have been great achievements. In my private life, raising three wonderful children is also another great achievement.

MT: What is your idea of perfect happiness?

DVB: To find a balance between my professional life and my private family life.

MT: When and where were you happiest?


DVB: One of my happiest moments was riding on a wonderful horse in the middle of an open field. I had a tremendous moment of freedom and liberty. Also when my children were born. Some of the performances I’ve given. Actually I have had many happy moments in my life.

MT: Where do you see El Sindicato in five years?

DVB: I would like to see it filled with lots of students interested in the arts—dance, music and theater—and would like to be able to give scholarships to the ones who want to dance but can’t pay for it.

MT: When are your next performances?

DVB: June 7 in the El Sindicato and June 24 at Ángela Peralta. The second performance is called “The Audition.” I had the idea that auditions can be funny and the idea of our show is that everyone can participate.

Doris Van Bebber is my jazz dance teacher and I admire her. She has taught me to clean all my dance moves and control my turns. Her programs will surely attract many more people to El Sindicato in the future.

“And five, six, seven, eight!” Doris yells out.

Maya Trujillo is 16 and attends the Victoria school. She rides a moto named Billy Bob Thornton Mackenzie and has taken jazz dance classes twice a week since age 12 from Doris Van Bebber.

Rita DeBrito Interview

Interview with Rita DeBrito, “Once a teacher, always a teacher. It’s my life!”
Director of the San Miguel Summer Science
By Kirby Feagan & Melissa Lawrence
Date: June 3, 2008


Rita DeBrito has accomplished many things in her life. She has been a bilingual teacher for over 30 years, She was a mentor for the New York City Board of Education and an adjunct professor in most of New York City’s teaching colleges, including Columbia University, Before moving to San Miguel, she raised Dutch Belted rabbits on her farm in Vermont, she took flying lessons, was a bee keeper and learned how to hand glide and sheet shoot. Currently she is the Co-Founder and Director of Science Camp San Miguel, which offers summer science camps to kids ages 8-12.

We first met Rita when she taught science for our home-schooling cooperative here in San Miguel two years ago. Before Rita entered our lives, we thought science was boring. Now we know it can be fun and interesting. She is a great teacher with a gift to inspire and motivate her students with ease. It didn’t take long for us to admire and adore her. That’s why we choose to interview Rita.


M&K: What got you inspired to learn about science?
RD: My students. When I started teaching in 1972 in New York, I noticed that the kids didn’t care. Learning and teaching were boring so I stepped back and I took my kids lead and I noticed that all the boys were playing with batteries and cars and I said to myself, “Hey, that’s science.” When I realized that what they were interested in was science, I went back to school and took courses on physics, chemistry, aerodynamics and biology to become a better teacher.

M&K: What has been your greatest achievement in life?
RD: Oh good griefess Americanas! There have been a lot but I was invited to go to the White House to talk to Al Gore and Richard Riley about urban education. That was a pretty good accomplishment.

M&K: What is your favorite age of students to teach?
RD: I really like them around 12 and up. I also like teaching graduate students because they are focused and they know what they want to learn.

M&K: What brought you to San Miguel and what do you enjoy most about living here?
RD: 911 was basically in my backyard; Bush stole the election; the economics of living in New York was overwhelming and I turned 55 and was able to retire, so all of that pointed South. I love the outdoors, the weather, the people, the pace, and I love the small town.

M&K: Tell me about the science camp. Where did you get the idea to start the summer science camps? How many years have you been doing it? When does it start this summer?
RD: I got the idea to do it because I still want to share with kids my love of science and that’s what I do best and a lot of these kids here don’t get the opportunity to learn about this stuff. We’re going into our third year. This year Cesar Arias, (need his title here) is closing off the boveda at El Charco de Ingenio for the camp, but it won’t be ready until the summer of 2009 so this year we are doing a science club in the biblioteca.

M&K: What is your favorite word and why?
RD: I love words. I love to play with words….a favorite word? I love to talk…..My favorite word? I don’t have one. Onomatopoeia , that’s a good word. Kerplop, bang, smash, kablooey!

M&K: Do you have any regrets in life?
RD: No. Having regrets is a waste of time.

M&K: What career did you want to have when you were younger?
RD: I wanted to be a surgeon. It didn’t occur to me to become a teacher until I was almost married to my husband.

M&K: Who is your greatest influence in life?
RD: I think my dad. He taught me that there isn’t anything I couldn’t do.

M&K: What words or phrases do you most overuse?
RD: I catch myself before I say anything too much. I say, “That’ll do,” to my dog a lot. I say, “guacala,” a lot.

M&K: What is your greatest fear?
RD: I don’t have any. What’s there to be afraid of. Does a woman who drives alone from New York to san Miguel in a miata sound like she has any fears?

M&K: What is your motto?
RD: Have fun!

M&K: What are the best and worst things about working with teenagers?
RD: The best thing is that even thought they want you to think they’re not listening, they really are. The worst thing is getting past all the nonsense teens go through.

M&K: How many years have you been a teacher?
RD: More than 30 if you count my tutoring and science camp. Once a teacher, always a teacher. It’s not just a job, it’s my life.

M&K: What is your favorite topic within science to teach?
RD: I love teaching physics, biology, experimenting. I love teaching and everything in life is science. Everything!

M&K: Where do you hope the summer science program will be in five years from now?
RD: My hopes are that it will be institutionalized, that I’ll have young people prepared to carry on what they’ve learned and be interested in learning more about science.

M&K: Did science always interest you as a kid?
RD: I was always a naturalist. I was always looking for snails and squirrels. I’ve always been fascinated by everything.

M&K: What is your favorite memory of teaching?
RD: I have a million so that’s tough. I once was teaching a kid how to add and subtract using cuisenrods and all of a sudden he says, “I get it!” but he had a pencil in his hand and he jabbed my eye. I think I had to wear an eye patch for three months but it was great because he understood. But this was the best one: I never used to teach from the text book so I had my students working with ramps and balls to determine which balls travel the farthest and they had to graph their findings. I was checking on their work and one kid looked at me and said, “We haven’t done math in a very long time.” She didn’t think we were doing math because we never open the text book. I said, “Shhh…don’t tell anybody.”

M&K: How does your life in San Miguel compare to your life in New York? RD: My life here is a lot easier, of course. I’m not working…that helps. It’s so hard to park in New York. I had a good life there and I have a great life here. But now it’s just easier and I have the outdoors which I adore.

Information Box
Science Camp San Miguel Presents: Summer Science Camps at the Biblioteca
Dates: July 14 - August 1, 2008 (confirm)
Location: La Biblioteca Publica, Insurgentes #25
For more information, go to: www.sciencecampsanmiguel.com
Or email: sciencecampsma@gmail.com (confirm)
Or call La Biblioteca Publica: 152- (get # and confirm it’s the right one)