Meet Nic Ruley, a third year Interdisciplinary Arts & Media MFA candidate who will be presenting his thesis in May.

Where did you get your undergraduate degree and what did you study?

I did my undergrad at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio from 1998 to 2002, studying non-traditional theater and autoperformance, with a major in Theater / Dance. The school was really DIY both in its educational structure and facilities. So you really had a sense of responsibility for both your art, your craft, and your education. Theater also wasn’t just theater. We didn’t have a department to design your sets and lights and props – we had to do it ourselves. This really made you look conceptually at ever piece of the performance, every sound, every object. And you learned to work on the tightest of budgets, but still churn out full productions on a mainstage.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently in thesis working on issues of historical violence against the gay male community and how that works on the whole queer identity. In a way, I’m returning to my roots by working on a larger scale theatrical production with an ensemble. The opportunity of having a year to work on a single piece is really luxurious, in a way. Not, like, in a bubble bath way, but it really affords looking deeper and experimenting with new materials and methods. And again, not like, pyrotechnics and suspension, but really finding the RIGHT movement for the word, which is the RIGHT word for the emotion. There is a lot of freedom in having the time to work like this. But it’s a lot of work. And, as you can probably read into this, I’m still in the process of writing and moving and generating the material. Process, process, beautiful process.

How has graduate school changed your practice?

Columbia has changed my process by not allowing me to take any moments for granted. Sure, I could be drawn to putting my body in the space in a particular way. (Let’s call this inspiration.) But grad school has forced me to look at all of those beats and really unpack them. Why am I putting my body into the space in this manner? Where does this fit in my overall process? Where does it fit into the larger discourse? And what does it say that I am presenting this material at all? I don’t want to imply that I wasn’t asking these questions at all before, but certainly not to the depth that I am now. When you’re in the real world, or some consumer driven theater system in the suburbs, WHY your lead character delivers her monologue with smeared lipstick won’t be the focus nearly as much as whether that choice will result in more butts in the seats, so to speak.