A lucky opportunity came my way when I was asked to teach a 3-day workshop for the Re:Master opera students at the Sandberg Institute. It all started when I bid farewell to Sasa Hara after their Dungeons and Dragons show (in drag) at the Overkill Festival in Enschede. Sasa expressed interest in seeking my advice on making silicone faces for their drag personas. I was thrilled to help, but things quickly escalated as the entire class of Re:Master opera students wanted to learn the technique as well!

Fast forward about four months and I found myself standing in front of 14 talented students, guiding them through the process of molding each other’s faces to make custom-made face masks for future performances. Initially, I was intimidated by the task, but it turned out to be an incredibly rewarding experience. The process was labor-intensive and required a lot of preparation. I’m a bit proud of the DIY solutions I proposed, such as creating bald caps out of garbage bags (which actually turned out to be pretty stylish on some!).

Despite the time pressure, the students’ final results were surprising and impressive and it seemed they had a lot of fun working with their hands and playing with my face masks which brought there as examples for inspiration. It just goes to show how some random meetings can lead to wonderful and inspiring experiences!