PAGE 10 • GO! MAGAZINE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2021 • THE BULLETIN
cover story
Area creatives share those seminal
works, people that sparked their journeys
BY DAVID JASPER • The Bulletin
W
ith this week’s issue being devoted to a theme of “firsts” — which could mean first efforts or fresh starts — this reporter reached out to some area
creative folks in the performing, literary and visual arts to see if they could pinpoint a person, performance or work that inspired them on their
artistic and professional paths. Next week, we’ll share more of the stories involving perseverance, in honor of National Get Up Day, on Feb. 1. In the
meantime, with these artists’ various backgrounds, their answers were as unique and inspiring as their creative pursuits:
CHRIS THOMAS, COMPOSER
AND MUSICIAN
I can pinpoint two
moments early in
life that set me on
course! Part 1: When
I was in second grade,
I overheard a local mu-
sic teacher (in Pendleton
where I grew up) play a few
bars of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.” I
had never been so enchanted by a piece of
music. I memorized the tune and held it in
my head all day until I got home to sing it
for my mom. She knew what it was right
away and played it on the piano. Right then,
I knew I would spend the rest of my life sit-
ting at a piano learning the music of Bee-
thoven.
Part 2: After realizing I was hearing orig-
inal music in my head, the prospects of
going into the big scary world as a concert
music composer seemed harsh, daunting
and impoverishing. I had also been ob-
sessing over the classic films of Hitchcock,
Fellini and Truffaut, but didn’t make the
connection that I could follow my love of
cinema into a career in music. Then I heard
Danny Elfman’s new score for “The Night-
mare Before Christmas.” I heard so much of
myself in that music! I knew right then that
cinema was where I belonged, and there
were other composers ahead of me whose
careers would be my guiding light. To this
day I’m forever grateful for the music of
Bernard Herrmann, Danny Elfman, Nino
Rota and the other off-beat thinkers who
taught (me) my strange imagination had a
place in this world.
KATY IPOCK, COMEDIAN, COMEDY PROMOTER
I remember sitting around the house as a
kid listening to Bill Engvall’s album “Dork-
fish.” My parents were laughing hys-
terically at lines I still quote when I
drink more than two Coors Lights.
I remember my older brother
sneaking me into his room to
watch “South Park.” Bill Engvall
and Trey Parker taught me the
power of humor.
I didn’t see comedy as something
for me until a couple years after my
son was born. I was desperate to get out
of the house and do something that wasn’t
related to cleaning up diapers, litter boxes
or toilets. Honestly, I just wanted some at-
tention from strangers, and a stand-up open
mic seemed like the most ethical way to get
it as a married mother. I guess I can thank
being elbow deep in poop for the moti-
vation to put on real clothes and tell dirty
jokes.
MEHAMA KAUPP, DANCER AND BEND
BURLESQUE CO-FOUNDER
The first thing that comes to mind when
I think of what influenced me to start bur-
lesque was the movie “Some Like it Hot.”
Specifically the scene where Marilyn sings,
“I Want to be Loved by You.” That movie
meant comedy, sex, silliness, and it started
my obsession with pin-up and burlesque
culture. I always had a huge desire to im-
itate and exude sexiness, and confidence
like Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and
Eartha Kitt. The ability to combine a sultry
attitude into art and add feminism really in-
spired me from a very young age!
TODD LOOBY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BENDFILM
“The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line
of a hundred tacks. See the line from a suffi-
cient distance, and it straightens itself to the
average tendency. Your genuine action will
explain itself, and will explain your other gen-
uine actions. Your conformity explains noth-
ing. Act singly, and what you have already
done singly will justify you now.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
When I look back at all the individual
“eras” that brought me here: an exploring
youth, either playing sports or locked in
front of a TV, an avid reader, environmen-
tal science master’s degree, business man-
agement job, self-taught filmmaker, into
nonprofit management, to BendFilm, it
all makes perfect sense. And I would say
that the single work that brought every-
thing together and made sense of the seem-
ingly conflicting interests I always had in
my youth when I lacked sufficient idols or
friends who had similar interests, it was
the introduction to Emerson via “Self-Reli-
ance” and the transcendentalists. Through
that, my young mind was set on the West
and taking a singular path there. I saw a few
posts Monday in celebration of Dr. Martin
Luther King and one of them was his emu-
lation of Emerson and it all came flooding
back. And what I love about both King and
Emerson is that they both placed great im-
portance on self-knowledge as a necessary
prerequisite for how one should should use
it in service to others.
CHRISTIAN CLARK, ARTISTIC
DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR
CENTRAL OREGON
MASTERSINGERS,
DIRECTOR OF MUSIC AT
TRINITY EPISCOPAL
CHURCH
I’ve loved classical mu-
sic as long as I can remem-
ber. My mom tells me I was
picking out songs on my Cookie
Monster piano at age 3, and I joined my first
choir at age 5. I remember loving TV shows
and cartoons with good music … especially
the Looney Tunes opera episodes, and Tom
and Jerry’s “The Cat Concerto,” featuring
Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.
However, it was my future high school choir
director who convinced me to choose choir
in my sixth grade year (rather than band or
orchestra), and he continued to influence my
musical choices even beyond college. I am
grateful to him, and the many other teachers
who helped shape my musical career.
MICHELLE MEJASKI, DANCER, CHOREOGRAPHER
I would not be where I am today if it were
not for my tap teacher, Miss Carol Roller. I
started taking tap classes with Miss Carol
when I was 4. The studio I attended was
Dixon Dance Studio in Indianapolis, Indi-
ana. It was a small recreation studio. They
did not have competition instructors or
pre-professional training. When I was in
eighth grade, Miss Carol told me that she
had taught me all she knew as far as tap
technique, but she wanted to continue to
instruct me. She asked me if I would like to
learn how to choreograph. I did not hesi-
tate at the chance and most eagerly said yes!
When I was a freshman, the studio offered
me a teaching position. I choreographed for
and taught Beginning Tap for adults and
Beginning Jazz for ages 8-10. I taught
at Dixon Dance throughout high
school and had three tap classes
and two jazz classes by my senior
year. I continued training in tap,
musical theater, jazz, and chore-
ography at Ball State University
and professionally throughout my
adult life. Miss Carol instilled in
me such a love for dance that I carry
with me every day. The path she set me
on has led to Mejaski Choreography & Pro-
ductions here in Bend. I would not be here
without her support, friendship and belief
in me.
e e
David Jasper: 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com