Thursday, September 11, 2003
Brittany Bottemuller has dreams for the future. She dreams of someday being an actress -- or possibly a marine biologist. She has plenty of time to make up her mind since she's only 13, but her actress dream received a healthy boost this summer when she attended an acting workshop in New York.
The Monticello Trails Middle School student has taken dance lessons since she was 4. She has trained in jazz, tap, ballet, modern dance and in pom pom and cheerleading class. She is also a cheerleader at Monticello Trails.
Brittany's parents, Julie and Brett Bottemuller, moved to Shawnee from Missouri several years ago, but Brittany continues to take dance lessons from DeAnna's School of Dance in Grandview.
Recently, a professional entertainment agent and teacher, Peter Sklar, came to the studio and interviewed various candidates for his "Beginnings" workshop based in Harrison, N.Y. He chose Brittany as one of the dance students who had the most potential for a career in entertainment.
"He was looking for openness in feeling and a great personality," Brittany said.
She said that seven from her dance school were selected for the workshop but only four actually attended.
Brittany flew to Hilltop Camp in Hancock, N.Y., to spend nine days and eight nights immersed in the "Beginnings" workshop with more than 100 other participants. The workshop participants were assigned to groups that stayed in cabins with a chaperone. They ate organic foods and spent the day exercising and studying different aspects of being an entertainer.
The participants filled out forms indicating their preferences in classes. Brittany felt she knew more about dancing and therefore chose acting classes to improve her skills in that discipline.
"There were six periods in the day," Brittany said.
The first time period was spent studying improvisation. Brittany said this exercise was modeled on the television show, "Whose Line Is It, Anyway." The second period was standup comedy; the third, self defense for girls; the fourth, Bob Fosse-type dancing; the fifth day was a break to write home or work on a monologue; and the last workshop of the day was called "Where Eagles Dare."
"In this time period, we tried acting and other things we had never tried before," Brittany said.
One of Brittany's vocal workshops was with a cast member from the Broadway play "Urine Town."
During the last part of the workshop, the participants wrote a monologue or chose one to perform as part of an off Broadway show. Brittany presented the monologue "Contact," written by Valerie Woods. A casting director and other show business professionals watched the youngsters perform and evaluated them. The youngsters also took a trip to Manhattan.
Brittany said she came home with 2 1/2 pages of friends' names and contact information.
"I learned how to act better," she said. "I learned how to do standup comedy. And I learned how if someone grabs me, how to pull them down."
She added that she also learned about eating healthy food.
Even though she missed the first six days of school, Brittany feels the experience was worth her time and effort.
"I'd like to do it again," she said.