Opera Day!

Opening the day, early in the morning we had a french class, we learned how to read colors, count up to 20 (vingt). We had a group lunch at La Pizza and met two young French students and exchanged in English and French. In the afternoon we had an art seminar, where we discussed motive, mode, and motif for different art pieces. We also read a discourse on the connection of writing and picture art, and how art autonomy is almost non-existent. We dove deeper into the aspects that connect a drawing to a piece of writing, and all you can draw from a text based on the words. It gave us a chance to build community as the seminar included other students from America. I made a new friend (shout out to Ashley!!!) And even got to show off some of my expertise in anatomy while deciphering which drawing was the original, so all around fun.

Finally came the main event, the opera. Jacob, the voice and Michal on the piano, performed polish songs for youth night. They entertained us with light jokes in between and even a backflip! The singer had an 8 octave range so his voice resonated well with the walls and because our seats were so close to the stage (shout out to TOCA for such premium seats) the vocals were felt in our eardrums. And the backflip was so unexpected I mean it shifted the entire mood from something quieter and serious to a performance where we felt comfortable with the performers. (and I definitely think he enjoyed bantering with us as well). The day ended on a truly high note.

– TOCA in France Summer 2025 Fellow, Dillion Frazier-Douglas