This reminded me of my overwhelm/opportunity post from a week or so ago. What are my weaknesses? And my strengths/superpowers?
Insecurity / Confidence (Yes, they can exist in the same body)
Jealousy / Compersion (the latter is a new word for me)
Scarcity / Abundance
I can trace all the perceived weaknesses I have to my upbringing. Imposter Syndrome was pretty much the predominant factor in being brought up by Eastern European parents of a certain generation, as was fear of not having enough to get by. Jealousy – well, I think that’s pretty much something ingrained into me by my mother, but that’s neither here nor there. At least not today.
What has given me confidence, compersion, and a feeling that abundance is available to me?
My husband, friends, my colleagues, and my career as an artist and teacher, I wish that I’d found them earlier in my performing life, but it’s there now. Not sure if they are, necessarily, my superpowers (I’ve always considered my primary superpower the ability to say, “Hey, do you know who you look like?” but that probably doesn’t count), but I believe that they contribute to them. Another post will focus on what I think my superpowers are as both an artist and teacher and how these strengths may contribute to them. Probably in the New Year!
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Looking to find your superpowers as a performer? Contact MVS to set up a Vocal Discovery Session.
Christine Thomas-O'Meally, a mezzo soprano and voice teacher currently based in the Baltimore-DC area, has performed everything from the motets of J.S. Bach to the melodies of Irving Berlin to the minimalism of Philip Glass.
As an opera singer and actress, she has appeared with companies such as Charm City Players, Spotlighters Theatre, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theater of Northern Virginia, Opera North, the Washington Savoyards, In Tandem Theatre, Windfall Theater, The Young Victorian Theater of Baltimore, and Skylight Opera Theatre. She created the role of The Woman in Red in Dominick Argento’s Dream of Valentino in its world premiere with the Washington Opera and Mary Pickersgill in O'er the Ramparts at its world premiere during the Bicentennial of Battle of Baltimore at the Community College of Baltimore County. Other roles include Mrs. Paroo in Music Man, Mother Abbess in Sound of Music, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, both Hansel and the Witch in Hansel & Gretel, and many roles in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Her performance as the Housekeeper in Man of La Mancha was honored with a WATCH award nomination.
Ms. Thomas-O'Meally received an M.M. in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She regularly attends master classes and workshops in both performance and vocal pedagogy, and is certified in all three Levels of Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method. Her students have performed on national and international tours of Broadway productions, at prestigious conservatories, and in regional theater throughout the country.
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