We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Małgorzata Jasiniak a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Małgorzata thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
My first thought connected to taking the risk is Tarot reading and how it represents our life. The Fool is the first card in every Tarot deck, symbolizing new beginnings, a leap of faith into a new journey and the willingness to take risks guided by intuition. Even though a change is always scary, I believe we cannot escape it, and we will always be forced eventually to jump into the unknown. I’ve always thought of myself as a safe player but when I look back at my past decisions I realize the courage of my younger self and the risks I’ve taken for my dreams. I am from Krakow, a city considered as one of the big ones in Poland, but still much smaller than most metropolities in America. When I was a teenager, I felt that my surroundings were grey and grounding. Most of my friends were pushed into a more “stable” course of studies like Med school or Economics which I was persistently avoiding to continuously pursue art. I didn’t really consider myself as confident or talented but somehow I always end up on the stage.
From what I remember, my earliest risk was my first big solo in a singing competition. My body couldn’t stop trembling but I stood up tall and I sang to the shakinly held microphone. The first applause is something that cannot be forgotten. It gave me enough strength to laugh at the warnings about struggles of being an artist as I was growing up, and helped embrace the desire to do it forever.
Another big leap was to study in the United States. It was in the middle of the pandemic, the world was unpredictable and weird, and so was the idea itself, which also seemed crazy at that time. No one I knew thought of moving so far away, the legends of Broadway felt unreachable, and I wasn’t even that good in English at that time. I don’t know where my strength and faith came from but I studied by myself for the SAT and TOEFL exams, I practiced auditioning and sent it all out there to The Big West. And I got it – I passed the tests, got into a great school (AMDA), and was all ready to conquer the Musical Theater world. Which immediately led to the biggest risks of all – moving to New York. I remember how I cried on the plane, knowing I’m leaving everything I was familiar with behind and that I will probably never really come back. It was a big leap from a cliff that molded me into the person and an artist I am today.
Yet, I am looking closer, at my everyday achievements and recent moments of being The Fool. My transfer from AMDA to The New School, which inspired me to reach for the camera and a pen, to make movies and write tons of scripts; finally having the bravery to audition for a male role of Algernon in The Importance Of Being Earnest and getting it; finally my exploration of sexual and gender identity which led me to feel more free and myself than ever. The more I look back on the past few years, the more I am amazed with all of my life decisions and change of directions that collectively are getting me closer to who I want to become.
Thus, both my realization and resolution is to embrace the energy of taking on the risk. Just as I am forced to leap into a play with full trust in the unpredictability of performance as an actor, just the same, I want to remind myself to be encouraged to thrust myself into a change in everyday life. It’s a New Year and I want to stay The Fool, leaping into the unknown and learning all over again.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Gosia and I’m a nonbinary performer, musician and aspiring director from Kraków, Poland. I graduated from the State School of Music W. Żeleński in Kraków with a Professional Violinist title, the American Musical and Drama Academy in New York with a Musical Theater Certificate and I am a freshly graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts from The New School. My most recent credits include Lang Theatre and Dance Productions: The Importance Of Being Earnest (Algernon), Performance A: Hip House & Street Club Dance and We Are P*ssy Riot or Everything is P.R (Press); The Heights Players production of Guys and Dolls (Hot Box Doll), and IHRAF TRANSforms: Celebration of Trans Artists production of Now Boarding (Jo). During the last two years, I was improving continuously my performing skills and acquired new knowledge in directing, filmmaking and playwriting by working on the various sets for independent projects. My immediate goals include directing a full-length production and continuing to perform. Ultimately, I aspire to create and perform in authentic and impactful pieces that resonate deeply with audiences, contributing meaningfully to the creative community.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
At the beginning of my Theater education, I was often told about typecasting and how it is essential to understand my “type” in order to use it to book a show. I agree that it is sometimes a useful tool and artists should use whatever it is given naturally. However, I witnessed how often this particular idea can be overstressed, and harm young performers’ self confidence and image. There are some sad stories of my young college 20-something friends always being casted as much older women in their 40s just because they are not matching the societal standards of beauty or “type”. I definitely was affected by it and tended to audition for sweet blonde girls as I was perceived as at that time, which made me miserable and burned out. However, I was lucky enough to go back to school and meet more queer and trans people who taught me to stay authentic to myself and go for roles I am truly interested in and projects I’m passionate about. Even last year, I was so scared to enter the room and ask for a male role but I braced myself and, to my surprise, booked a wonderful show as Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest with an inspiring director Jonathan Taikina Taylor and never felt better and more empowered in my performance. I am still worried sometimes about the difference between my appearance and identity but I won’t ever come back to hiding behind whatever “my type” might be.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
On a small scale, I would love people to support local performing arts centers, private events, theater festivals etc. by attending the shows and donating. It’s the simplest of ways to create a space for independent artists to make projects they are truly passionate about and to see authentic raw ideas. Additionally, there are tons of international artists in the USA that I am particularly interested in to encourage you to support. As one myself I want to bring awareness about the struggle not only to make our art and express artistically with no money or space but to just stay here, in USA, too, which is impossible without solid paper work and funds. Thus, please help international artists and students by giving them recommendations to good lawyers, helping them book a job, or even simply providing financial support .
Contact Info:
- Website: https://malgorzatajasiniak.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jas_ma19?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@malgorzatajasiniak?feature=shared
Image Credits
Vaishanavi Raul – https://www.behance.net/gallery/183381211/Pulse?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaam2xXO-GudO8R_ikUmP3AHjuy4TNlDuJikIq_7Zy9nsnzeLvq6ixlLfz0_aem_U4vaNdajg_soBrmNrqyOOA Mike Wong https://theothermike.co/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabI3aklYiedK2pqyRTd6w3SvtqLJe5rpTyPFo0h_jQaTEZaOzkNK8cLWI8_aem_N5Ws4ruhRBM8zv9_ORn28Q Anna Szklener https://www.anna-szklener-photography.com