Actor (she/her) : Storyteller : Collaborator
This morning I had some acting fun doing this audition self-tape, playing a very unhappy, self-entitled individual. I removed the audio from the scene itself for project confidentiality. Also, the angle isn’t the best (I’m still refining my tech skills – a lifelong process I do believe, lol), but I think it works for the role.
Enjoy!
Silent Scene from Dalit Berkowitz on Vimeo.
I stopped trying to “cover my silvers” a couple of years ago. #Grayhairdontcare, as the hashtag goes.
But there really wasn’t so much gray….until….I recently made a discovery.
There’s apparently a bevy of silver strands nestled within my hair, particularly in the side sections.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
Somehow the middle-parted bang style I was wearing was covering them up a bit more.
It wasn’t intentional. It’s just what happened.
These strands are unpredictable. A bit wild.
Thoroughly unapologetic.
They thrive on the edges. In the underneath.
Outcasts like I can be.
And I like them.
And I’m curious to see how I might let them out more. In all their wiry abandon.
(Well, maybe with a little product, but hey, why not?)
Please notice something to appreciate about your one precious body in this one precious life.
Or be interested in. Or amused by.
Inside. Outside. It doesn’t matter.
It’s all part of the rare puzzle that is you.
Feel free to comment on what that might be!
Either way, keep shining and keep noticing.
Kinks and all.
XOXO
Dalit
I just edited a new acting reel. The last few years, there’s been a trend towards 30 second clips and 1 minute “speedreels.” The common refrains have been shorter is better, industry doesn’t have time, and casting decides in the first five seconds. That may be true to a certain extent, but I thought it could be nice to edit something a little longer (only 3 minutes but still) that showcases some of the breadth of my work and that has a little breathing room.
It’s funny (not really funny though) how easy it can be to follow the crowd – do the supposedly popular thing.
But it can hurt after a while too. Especially when you realize that you’re somewhat blindly doing what X says is *right* and then you realize that they don’t have “the answer” anymore than Y or Z does. And that perhaps that no answer at all.
Making our own marks can feel clumsy and painful at times. But at at least then we can learn from actual experience – instead of being disappointed in others (or ourselves) that we are buying into or someone else’s version of the truth.
So make some marks. You don’t have to share them if you don’t want to or you’re not ready yet, but make them. No one can make your marks but you.
XD
Hi, friends!
Like for so many of us, it’s been a year of sorting, honing, tossing, and making. Here is something I made. Press play and take a listen!
there is a stain it can’t be seen and there are rocks they keep moving you spin around making new shapes the air is hot you trace your brain but there is heart and there is mind and there is love some of the time there was a place you knew yourself you recognized your winking eye and then they came the had their rules you fought but still they got you schooled the shook your heart they hooked your mind a twisted love built upon lies do buh do buh do... I know for sure not much again except the sand it keeps falling you’re hoping still there’s something new could it be hidden in your plain view a little heart a little mind a little love some of the time some of the time some of the time November 2020
returned from N.Y. I gather strength to share some pics food especially to let you know I am warm and alive and even eager to move forward shakily steadily shakily steadily we begin again shakily steadily appetite awakens the corner we turned is still near but the call though indistinct is clear xD
I’m ending this bizarre year with acting work: a commercial and a short film. Both were so much fun – albeit quite surreal, given all of the COVID precautions. I took four tests last week to ensure my health for both projects. I’m extremely happy to be working with safe and kind humans. And I’m so grateful to be healthy and creatively engaged with others. Here’s to more of it – ideally without the need for masks, eventually.
Stay safe, my friends. And do what is necessary to be close to what you love, whatever that may be.
Dalit
Deep summer greetings to you all!
I hope this finds you healthy and managing as well as can be expected in these complicated times. I heard something recently from creatrix and muse, Beth Lapides: “Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad.”
I love this very much and I offer it to you. These are confounding times. Everyone I know is being forced to dig deeper, to listen more closely, to consider what really matters, both personally and collectively. It’s not comfortable. But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad. This gives me some solace and I hope it does for you too.
In acting news, “Premenstrual Margot” will be at the Newport Film Festival in August as part of the collegiate showcase as well as the Women’s Film Festival in Brattleboro, Vermont (in its 29th year!) in September, and the Skyline Indie Film Festival, also in September. More on that to come.
Finally, here are some new headshots I got earlier in the year before the great unraveling. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was just a few months. Enjoy!
Love,
Dalit
Did I mention they love me in Japan? LOL. The above is a clip from an article in a Japanese lifestyle blog about Amazake Co., my husband’s start up business which launched last summer. I am the chief advisor (we made that up, but of course I am) and it’s been quite an adventure to say the least. The taste-testing has been beyond fun (it’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it), and it’s pretty cool to see others learn about and enjoy this traditional fermented Japanese sweet drink. Unlike other Amazakes you might find, this one is hand-crafted and non-pasteurized, so it has all those probiotic benefits, too!
In acting news, “Premenstrual Margot” is having its premiere this March at the Women’s Film Festival in Brattleboro, Vermont. This festival is in its 29th year and features films “by and about women for everyone.” I spent some time in Putney and Brattleboro years ago, so I’m stoked the film will debut there. It’s a uniquely beautiful part of the United States, and the festival itself has a fantastic lineup this year, as you can see here. If you’re in the area, do check it out!
That’s it for the moment. Wishing you a great, nourishing year.
XD
Happy December, friends!
Well, yesterday I submitted my nominations for the upcoming SAG Awards. So many remarkable shows and films to watch and reflect on….what a treat it’s been to be on the nominating committee this year!
It’s been an intense few months, between screenings, acting, teaching and helping my husband with a nourishing new venture. More on that to come! I gave my final exam this morning, so I’m ever so gently starting to recalibrate. Hallelujah, for reals.
Here are some images from some of that, in no particular order.
As we come to the end of this year and decade (!), I feel extra aware of this precious life. Everything is so tender, so fleeting. We must be kind: to ourselves and each other…it feels so imperative now.
So here’s to life – to learning and celebrating all of it.
XO
DB
Here we are mid-year kind of!
It’s a been a busy one so far, between acting, teaching, and helping my DH with his knee recovery. It’s also been uncharacteristically chilly here in Los Angeles. It hasn’t felt like spring, or at least the spring of my memory…But it’s this year’s spring, so spring it is.
In acting news, the feature I worked on last summer is in its final stages of post-production. Exciting! And the Chapman thesis from last fall had it premiere and hopefully will have an impactful festival run. I also filmed another USC short (second of the year) which should be completed soon. It’s always interesting to do one’s part and let go. There’s not much to be done about these things now. That’s one of the unique things about any collaborative creative process: we do our part, pass the baton, and hope for the best. And no matter what, there are lessons and unexpected surprises that emerge.
The really exciting news is getting a new mattress! Ha ha. But seriously, when it was raining a lot last month the current one (a years-old futon one) was getting so painful to sleep on. Something about the moisture. After years of no issues, my back was starting to revolt. So finally, we took the plunge and ordered an eco-friendly, sustainable, hard “legit mattress” that just arrived. Setting up that bad boy today!
Here’s to a great June. May you up-level what is needed, celebrate your successes (there’s always something, right? ;-), and sleep well when you do.
XO
Dalit
Pics from 2 recent projects: a short film, where I play a conflicted single mom through different eras, and a tv pilot, where I play a concerned Orange County neighbor:
xDalit
Hello, friends!
Last month was the premiere of “Premenstrual Margot” at Chapman’s Folio Theater. It was a great night, reconnecting with cast and crew, watching the other splendid films of the evening, and making new friends. Enjoy some behind the scenes shots in this post!
In other news, it’s been a time of recovery for my DH who had knee surgery nearly two months ago. Neither of us anticipated what this process would take, but finally things seem to be stabilizing. And of course, it’s like the universe knows I’ve been in caretaker mode these last number of weeks, so things have been rather gentle acting-wise. 😉
All of this, and I mean all of this has been fueling a fresh consciousness awakening, a cellular homecoming that feels like everything.
So here’s to divine timing. The waiting in the wings that you are savoring because somewhere inside, you know it means everything. This moment. That moment. The shadows that give way to the light. The bubbling that gives way to stillness. And it’s all a dance. All one big surrender.
XD
