EDMOND — Emily Oliver, 16

• Edmond Memorial High School

• Modern Dance

Q: Why did you want to attend OSAI this year?

A: The reason I wanted to attend OSAI was that I attended last year and met so many people that were interested in the same things I am. It was so fun to make new friends and learn about my passion.

Q: What do you hope to learn this year?

A: I hope to learn about the professional world of dancing and what it will take to be a professional dancer.

Q: What do you enjoy most about the arts?

A: Dancing has been an escape for me; it lets me express myself without having to speak up about my feelings.

Q: What artist do you look up to the most?

A: I look up to my teacher Amy Reynolds-Reed. She has taught me so many lessons, not only about dance, but also about life. She created my passion for dance and gives me so much inspiration and encourages me to follow my dreams and give everything my full 100 percent.

Q: What got you started in the arts?

A: My sister was also a dancer and she got me started in dance, but Amy kept me going.



Alyssa Parsons, 17

• Edmond North High School

• Creative Writing

Q: Why did you want to attend OSAI this year?

A: I want to improve my writing through the instruction and constructive criticism of a profession and my peers, as well as for the artistic experience.

Q: What do you hope to learn this year?

A: I hope to learn more about different theories on poetry.

Q: What do you enjoy most about the arts?

A: I enjoy that it allows people to express individual ideas, but ultimately unites people through the emotional experience everyone can relate to.

Q: As an artist, where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: In 10 years I know I will still be writing, whether as part of my job or for leisure, and I hope to have clearly established my voice as a writer.

Q: What got you started in the arts?

A: I can't clearly remember the start of my involvement in the arts, it's just something I've always done.



Amanda Rainey, 17

• Deer Creek High School

• Film/Video

Q: Why did you want to attend OSAI this year?

A: Kids who are great at what they do, and love doing it, are all going to be at the same place and I really wanted to meet and work with them. I still can’t believe that there’s really a place that really puts so much value in creativity. How could anyone pass that up?

Q: What do you hope to learn this year?

A: This is a redundant answer, but I want to learn about film and video. The making of it and how it all works. It’s hard to explain. I was admitted for my screenplay, so I still have a lot to learn about the actual filming. That part’s fascinating to me. A screenplay is kind of like a poem in a foreign language. Turning it into a film translates it. I want to learn to do that without getting it all lost in translation.

Q: What do you enjoy most about the arts?

A: Minds. I love how it works in everyone’s mind, and how what’s in everyone’s mind comes out in their bodies or music or keyboards. That’s why I love it. It’s human connection you can experience. A story can last for ages in a person’s mind, so much longer than so much else. If you ask someone “Who was with you when you first saw Peter Pan?” They’ll probably have to think about it, if they can remember at all. Ask them what it was about and the story will come tumbling out. That’s how all art is. When the product of one person’s mind touches another, it’s special. It’s memorable. People may forget the title or the writer or the actors, but they won’t forget what they did.

Q: As an artist, where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: Ah, that’s a difficult question. I can’t really answer this one with a metaphor or hypothetical example, huh? It’s a hard business, anything related to the arts is. It takes a lot of work and a lot of let-downs. I’m definitely going to work for it, of course, but I can’t be sure of much. So I suppose, in 10 years, I’ll be writing, like I always do, and inventing movies and stories in my head. Whether it’s as an actual screenplay writer, or as a girl who jots down movies when she gets the chance, I can’t really say. Obviously, I’m really hoping for the former!

Q: What got you started in the arts?

A: My mom says “birth.” I really can’t remember a time when I wasn’t spouting stories or trying to create things. It’s the minds thing again. I actually started with drawing as a little kid. I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to get what was in my head on paper. (Maybe that’s when a fellow first-grade artist and I decided little siblings make a much better canvas. We were right, by the way.) When I got older, I started trying to draw pictures with words instead. I guess it was only a matter of time before I wanted the pictures I wrote to move too and I got into film.



Sarah Reid, 16

• Edmond Memorial High School

• Violin

Q: What do you hope to learn this year?

A: This year I hope to learn more about Rimsky-Korsakow’s Sheherazade, which is one of the pieces the orchestra will be performing.

Q: What do you enjoy most about the arts?

A: I most enjoy the opportunity to be creative and expressive.

Q: As an artist, where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: In 10 years, I see myself writing and composing my own music, while also continuing my passion for the violin.

Q: What artist do you look up to the most?

A: Currently, my favorite violinist is probably Andrew Bird, but Itzhak Perlman has always been one of my favorites as well.

Q: What got you started in the arts?

A: I honestly can’t remember why I started, playing violin has just always been something I have loved to do.