Dear Diary, What is an Ensemble?
In the text “What is the ensemble” my course read in preparation for our first week of Building the Ensemble spoke about how ensembles are found in everyday life. A true ensemble when broken down in simplest forms is a group of people with a shared goal. The other bus riders this morning and I are an ensemble. The collection of freezing cold students waiting for the fire drill as Green Park Accommodation to be over and I are an ensemble. Technically. But an ensemble is also a feeling of comfort and trust. I have been fortunate enough to have worked in some incredible ensembles I hold close to my heart and ultimately, I consider them family. In my life ensembles have been artistically motivated groups where we collectively make artistic decisions with some level of an end goal in mind (typically a performance, but not always). The difference between the ensemble of bus riders and the ensembles I think of when I think of home is that they don’t simply occur out of circumstance. For an ensemble to be successful above just meeting the end goal (the bus riders can arrive at their destination without much commitment to the group) there has to be passion and interest from the members. A willingness to sacrifice for the whole of the group. Through allowing others to see yourself as an artist, often a role that is vulnerable and raw, the ensemble can mold together and create more than just a good production.
