By Natalie Lifson
On Saturday, July 22nd, Nationally
acclaimed poet Cassidy Fiona
“Fiefie” LaColla will run a spoken word
poetry workshop at the Strawberry One-Act Festival from 12:30pm-2:30pm. The
first hour of the workshop will focus on writing and editing poetry, but the second
hour of the workshop will focus on performing poetry. According to Fiefie, it
takes more than just an ability to write to be a slam poet. It takes certain
dramatic skills specific to spoken word as well. For example, one of the
biggest flaws in inexperienced performers, Fiefie notes, is that they don’t
know how to express the emotions of the piece in their tones of voices and body
language.
 |
| Cassidy Fiona "FieFie" LaColla |
Following
the workshop, there will be a 90 minute spoken word performance on Thursday,
July 27th. This performance will be headlined by Fiefie, but workshop
participants will have an opportunity to perform their poems as well using the
skills they learned in the workshop. Sign up now before space runs out, because
there is a cap at 20 participants! The price of the workshop will be $50 and
includes a ticket to the performance.
From the time
she was a young child, Fiefie LaColla possessed a rare talent; the ability to
translate emotion into words, to inspire empathy. To Fiefie, words were more
than just a way to communicate. They were an art form. However, it wasn’t until
she was a young teenager that she began to put words onto paper and write
poetry.
When
she was diagnosed with extreme anxiety and bipolar disorder, she had so many
emotions that she didn’t know how to deal with. As she struggled with
depression, she rarely left the house. It wasn’t until her best friend at the
time dragged her to poetry slam at a little bar in town that she discovered her
love of spoken word poetry. Not only was it fun, but it functioned as a form of
catharsis and gave her a new purpose in life. To this day, Fiefie writes
predominantly about her own experiences and traumas. Although she rarely writes
about happy topics, her poems are hardly somber; rather, they express the hope
that her art provides.
After
discovering her new great love for poetry in that little bar poetry slam,
Fiefie immediately embarked on a long and rewarding journey in which she was,
at one point, the youngest nationally competing spoken word poet. Additionally,
she was the youngest person to be featured at the Midtown International Fall
Variety Festival in an hour long sold out spoken word show called “A Night With
Fiefie.” At 18 years old, she currently helps run and is a major performer at
the poetry organization Suffern Poetry. She also made it to 2017 National
Poetry Slam finals and will compete this upcoming August in Denver, Colorado.
While Fiefie
loves competing and is honored by her awards and accomplishments, her heart lies,
of course, in the art of poetry. According to Fiefie, "all art is
important because it is a way of channeling energy. People would channel their
energy into other things like drugs or violence, but channeling it into art,
especially poetry, is not only beneficial but can create something beautiful.”
However, her art is not only limited to poetry; her greatest love is, in fact,
acting, which has helped her greatly with the performance aspects of her
poetry. Although she cannot imagine her life without poetry, her biggest
aspiration in life is to ultimately be a film actress.
By giving this
workshop at The Strawberry Theatre Festival, Fiefie hopes to not only help
people better their art, but to help people better themselves. The influence of
spoken word on Fiefie’s life has been remarkable from day one and there is
nothing Fiefie would like more than to share the positivity and teach other
people to express themselves through art in their own unique ways.
Spoken Word Workshop & Performance with
Cassidy Fiona “FieFie” LaColla
Saturday, July 22nd from
12:30pm – 2:30pm
Performance: Thursday, July 27th at 9pm
Theatre at St. Clement’s
423 West 46th St. (Parish Hall)
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