What do Robin Williams, Anne Hathaway, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese all have in common? They graduated from either Juilliard or New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. These are the two schools aspiring artists only dream of getting accepted into because these two schools turn aspiring artists into extraordinary artists.
We often tend to focus on the high profile alumni that attended these colleges, but what about the people who have taught all these alumni? One of those people is Deborah Lapidus.
Lapidus has taught acting and singing at Juilliard and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts for over 30 years. Along with being a teacher, Lapidus has also been a vocal coach to actresses like Jane Fonda, Sigourney Weaver, and Claire Danes.
She was even the director of Williamstown Theater Festival’s cabaret for seven seasons which included artists like Broadway legend Nathan Lane.
Given her impressive background and experience, it seemed like a no-brainer for the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs to ask Lapidus to be a guest speaker for some of their panels.
One of those panels Lapidus participated in was centered around the arts and whether the panelists considered the arts as a pillar of civilization or a commercialized commodity. Lapidus believes art can simultaneously be both.
“People who create art are different from the people who are in the commerce-end of art, and I think there’s a place for all of them at the table,” said Lapidus.
One of the more lighthearted moments of the discussion was when an audience member asked the panelists on how they define art. Lapidus answered the question by recalling an anecdote where someone was looking at a piece of modern art that was basically a white painting inside of a frame and they said that their grandkid could have made that.
“The other person said ‘Yes, but they didn’t’,” Lapidus said to the audience who broke out into laughter and applause.
After the panel was over, Lapidus talked to some of the attendees of the panel and graciously answered their questions. One of the questions she received was what it is like to teach at Juilliard and NYU.
“Well, it’s exciting…you walk through those halls, and you hear music. You walk by, and you see someone doing a beautiful dance. You walk in, and you see amazing plays, and you hear amazing voices. It’s all going on at once. It’s a real kind of multicultural experience,” said Lapidus.
When asked about what it is like to be an arts educator that is shaping the next generation of artists, Lapidus replied, “I like opening up people’s minds and voices and getting someone to do something they didn’t know they could do…and then just seeing how they fair out in the world.”
With only a minute left before she had to go, the last question asked was for her advice on aspiring artists that need help with their confidence. “To create art is what’s important… Letting that [lack of confidence] be the thing that actually shoots you down can be the thing that actually makes you want to create,” said Lapidus.
For all we know, Lapidus could soon be teaching the next Anne Hathaway how to do just that: create art that inspires.
HCXOXO,
Kelli Carmack
Photo courtesy of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts website (https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/grad-acting/95853581.html)