Original artwork by Jacquelyn Kruzic My last yoga class was a total disaster. After lots of steady improvement, I felt I was back at square one (or square negative-1 . . . is that a thing?). After class, the teacher checked in with me to make sure I wasn't feeling discouraged. And I wasn't. I knew I was struggling not because I had "gotten worse," but because the improvements I've made recently exposed a habit I had unconsciously developed to compensate for my poor form. Now that my form is better, the habit that used to help my stability is actually hurting it. We discussed ways in which I can strengthen the right muscle groups between classes and properly develop stability. Then I'll be ba
During the Olympic Games, the world's best athletes blow our minds with exceptional feats of skill and strength. This summer's games in Rio were no different: we laughed, we cried, and we watched in awe as records were smashed, history was made, and hearts were won! As always, the athletes who achieved these remarkable feats came in all shapes and sizes; each individual's body is the realization of it's own optimal physique for the sport. “You have to understand, everyone’s body was built to do something. I was built to do something, and that’s how I was built." - Michelle Carter, 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist (and world record holder) Women's Shot Put As a singer, it's easy to see the parallel
Webster defines badass as: often vulgar : ready to cause or get into trouble : mean often vulgar : of formidable strength or skill While I can have the mouth of a sailor, I'm not much of a troublemaker (I'm kind of anal about rules, actually), and when the idea of the badass soprano was born, it certainly wasn't because I thought I had any formidable strength or skill. Quite the opposite! The "young artist" years can be really demoralizing for young dramatic voices that aren't considered viable in lighter fachs - and that was absolutely my situation. In my early 20s, I was most comfortable singing lyric mezzo repertoire, but so many of the people who heard me couldn't get past the dramati
Ladies, the pressure to find the perfect audition outfit is real. I doubt I was the first singer to be passed over because someone didn't like my clothes, and I know I wasn't the last. Everyone has an opinion about what to wear (or what not to wear), and you'll never be able to please them all. But as someone who went from being consistently criticized for my wardrobe to someone who is consistently complimented, I hope I can help you find options that will get audition panels to stop focusing on your clothes and start focusing on your voice! It turns out that the problem with my "inappropriate" audition outfits wasn't so much the clothes, but how they fit (or, rather, how they didn't quite f
Hello, and welcome to the Badass Soprano Blog! The internets say I should make my first blog entry about who I am and why I'm blogging, so: I'm Bryn Jimenez, and I'm a young* soprano trying to navigate my way to an operatic career. My first decade of attempting to go pro began with some small successes followed by major frustrations and failures. These disappointments have, I hope, made me wiser and more badass. I want to use this blog to provide a sometimes useful and insightful and always entertaining perspective on opera and the opera world. Hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it :) Cheers! *As I'm in my early 30s and haven't done much in the way of YAPs, I'm actually
