So it seems things have been pretty good (well, not all good, maybe ultimately good or valuable, maybe eventful should be the word I'm going for) since Thursday's class and I want to say it was because of Thursday's class and that could be true (it's probably partly true) but I'd probably be lying to you or to myself or to someone if I said it very certainly.
At least, it wouldn't be fair to the awesome people I've met or have gotten to know better since Thursday and it wouldn't be fair to the randomness of randomness or consequences of just stuff happening. (I think.)
Well I guess it's because Thursday's class didn't seem like routine and that's how I feel like this week has been. Which is good. It's good to get out of routine.
I was so excited about Thursday's class because it was startling. Especially that first round. I got really excited to try it again when Francis was giving us a kind of discussion/debrief. This class is kind of all about putting yourself out there and taking chances, which I try to do in some small way everyday, and so it was almost like a special treat to have that space of time when everyone was putting themselves out there. It was a really safe environment then, kind of a 1-2-3-catharsisnoweveryone! thing. It kind of gave you a taste of what is possible.
That said, I'm superlyexcited about acting out the Ramayana, too. Challenges are funnn.
How crazy is it that all you have to do is put up one of the mudras and even standing becomes something close to magnificent?
It felt really good to get the step/move we were practicing close to correct because the sequence we learned is one of my favorites so far and I was feeling pretty pretty doing it but then I was just like flwarshhth?! snapped out of some kind of trance when Sravya pointed it out.
One day in Intro to International Politics I got really frustrated because we were talking about international politics theories and it was based on the fact that relations between states pretty much relied on how many guns you had. And that pretty much governed everything about international relations. I could hardly sit still in class because the entire time I just couldn't believe that we had to deal with and consider other states based solely on how much brute force they had. It seemed so... stupid. Immature. And it made me wonder if you could be successful in international politics or relations if you were a pacifist.
It was just something you had to accept, my friends were telling me, that that's just part of the way things inherently work. So I thought it's kind of like the first time I played Guitar Hero and I was basically having like, a crisis over the fact that the plastic guitar wasn't real and how can I play this song for real on real guitar but not get it on Easy level Guitar Hero? So in order to enjoy the game (and go onto Medium!), I had to accept that it wasn't a real guitar and I wasn't playing real music and it was, in fact (this took me a while), a game.
Anyway I'm mentioning those random examples because it's kind of related to the question of: can you be a successful performer if you don't like getting the attention of lots of people at once (i.e. an audience)? Can you be a performer without liking to perform in front of others? I mean I think Hugh Grant said something about how he's terrified every time the camera rolls? (I hope he wasn't being sarcastic or ironic when he was saying this or this would totally go against my point.) And then everybody gets stage fright. So at this point I figure that it's all just part of learning the art of performance and that it's something you just have to accept to continue with it... it's not the whole thing or what performance is all about, but it's inherent in the fabric of the thing. So I guess that's something I have to come to terms with.
On Thursday (video-class) I (formally) met Selma and Erich.
I saw Scams of Scapin on Friday and it FANTASTIC. My favorite production I've seen this year. I was gushing over the set even before the play started and then the characters got on stage and the clown in the corner started making noises then Andrew (my hall's OA) came on with bambambam one after the other energy and it took me like 5 minutes to realize that the old guy was Jack (and I'm not saying that because he had a mask on, haha), it was that good.
I also just watched Jason's play and it felt like class in that there were so many things that came up that were thought-provoking and that I wanted to write down or question later on. And the acting was intenssseee. So woot to student-producted/acted/directed/written/everything plays!
Kudos keep it up!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Love handles
I had to look that word up. I thought it just referred to either side of your waist-ish. Anyway, urban dictionary is a great source of entertainment especially when you spell it lovehandle (lublubs and bitchhandles, haha!).
So it's not my love handles but just the sides of my waist that I realized at my 12:00 today were aching. (That is a really weirdly constructed sentence.) I didn't think that just pivoting your waist a bit for the steps yesterday would have that effect (it didn't hurt when I was doing it... I wonder why, for example, my arms and shoulders don't ache?).
I think yesterday was also the first time I consciously realized that what we're doing is art. I guess since then it was just a subconscious given. The only thing in my conscious was: this is cool, this is fun, this is exercise, this feels good, this is hard, this is pretty and I want to do that. But then comparing it to other forms of art--most other forms have some kind of external product. Like music, a painting, a picture. But then we are the sculpture, as Francis said; the body is the art and the medium and the canvas. It's our bodies that we're moving and orienting to create some appealing shape or magnificent maneuver. You can't give it away or send it to someone because when you're done with it, you bring it with you (turn it off, in a way) and people must commit it to memory.
Anyway I liked how this was a really physical class--my thighs and arms and not-love handles were working hard. It was kind of a bad day not to have a change of shirt, too... especially since I feel like I sweat profusely (and it was hot! in there). Mrrf.
I feel like we all have to try harder to be more open and more of a community in class, vocally, but even though discussion was hard to break into, for some ironic reason it seemed like we were close in our awkwardness (but of course vocalizing our feelings made it more honest and open and in the end tight). Maybe it was a quick ignorance is bliss kind of moment.
So it's not my love handles but just the sides of my waist that I realized at my 12:00 today were aching. (That is a really weirdly constructed sentence.) I didn't think that just pivoting your waist a bit for the steps yesterday would have that effect (it didn't hurt when I was doing it... I wonder why, for example, my arms and shoulders don't ache?).
I think yesterday was also the first time I consciously realized that what we're doing is art. I guess since then it was just a subconscious given. The only thing in my conscious was: this is cool, this is fun, this is exercise, this feels good, this is hard, this is pretty and I want to do that. But then comparing it to other forms of art--most other forms have some kind of external product. Like music, a painting, a picture. But then we are the sculpture, as Francis said; the body is the art and the medium and the canvas. It's our bodies that we're moving and orienting to create some appealing shape or magnificent maneuver. You can't give it away or send it to someone because when you're done with it, you bring it with you (turn it off, in a way) and people must commit it to memory.
Anyway I liked how this was a really physical class--my thighs and arms and not-love handles were working hard. It was kind of a bad day not to have a change of shirt, too... especially since I feel like I sweat profusely (and it was hot! in there). Mrrf.
I feel like we all have to try harder to be more open and more of a community in class, vocally, but even though discussion was hard to break into, for some ironic reason it seemed like we were close in our awkwardness (but of course vocalizing our feelings made it more honest and open and in the end tight). Maybe it was a quick ignorance is bliss kind of moment.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Huit jours
I feel like I should post--this past week has been crazy and feelings have been all over the place.
I just hope it doesn't fizzle out. There are so many fundamental issues that still need to be addressed, and I'm feeling like since it's not all around me and I'm not somewhere in the middle of it that it's going away when it's really not. Then I think about the people that have been advocating Nichol's renewal for a while now, and about the flyers "Should Michael Powell Be Renewed?" that were up months ago (there's still one on the trash can by Dupont). It's really something you have to keep yourself informed about and involved in. I wonder what will come of the Board of Visitors meetings this week?
Anyway classes were amazinggg last week even though it was a little awkward to be outside and cold and in such a public space. I think it helped that we were in a circle because it made it feel more together and intimate even though we had no walls.
So I went to the MAC Speaker Series today and the stuff we were talking about made me think about self-segregation. I don't think it's that bad here (I hear it's horrific at UVA and it was pretty bad even in my high school) but it happens and it makes me wonder why it happens. I wonder if it's the same reason why people who look the same tend to be friends: people with dyed hair and metal accessories and piercings together, people with vintage stylings together, people with heavy eye makeup and sculpted hair together... It reminds me of that time in middle school when people who were best friends in elementary school start to become distant. I feel like that happens to almost everyone in some capacity. And I feel like sometimes it results in identifying with one's racial group. One of my elementary friends and I became further apart in middle school, but she became close friends with my Filipino neighbor and her best friend was Chinese. But then another friend of mine would only hang out with the tight 'Asian crew' in my grade. There was this one girl I hardly knew but she wasn't hesitant in telling people how her best friend was becoming 'preppy,' so she was 'embarrassed' to be around her.
I bet there's something in some psychology book about unconsciously feeling comfortable with people that look like you. Vision is in fact the dominant sense in most people. I've always kind of admired those people who are so friendly and accepting of everyone they ever meet.
Anyway I can't wait for class tomorrow and to get back into the swing of things! That class seriously keeps me sane and balanced.
I just hope it doesn't fizzle out. There are so many fundamental issues that still need to be addressed, and I'm feeling like since it's not all around me and I'm not somewhere in the middle of it that it's going away when it's really not. Then I think about the people that have been advocating Nichol's renewal for a while now, and about the flyers "Should Michael Powell Be Renewed?" that were up months ago (there's still one on the trash can by Dupont). It's really something you have to keep yourself informed about and involved in. I wonder what will come of the Board of Visitors meetings this week?
Anyway classes were amazinggg last week even though it was a little awkward to be outside and cold and in such a public space. I think it helped that we were in a circle because it made it feel more together and intimate even though we had no walls.
So I went to the MAC Speaker Series today and the stuff we were talking about made me think about self-segregation. I don't think it's that bad here (I hear it's horrific at UVA and it was pretty bad even in my high school) but it happens and it makes me wonder why it happens. I wonder if it's the same reason why people who look the same tend to be friends: people with dyed hair and metal accessories and piercings together, people with vintage stylings together, people with heavy eye makeup and sculpted hair together... It reminds me of that time in middle school when people who were best friends in elementary school start to become distant. I feel like that happens to almost everyone in some capacity. And I feel like sometimes it results in identifying with one's racial group. One of my elementary friends and I became further apart in middle school, but she became close friends with my Filipino neighbor and her best friend was Chinese. But then another friend of mine would only hang out with the tight 'Asian crew' in my grade. There was this one girl I hardly knew but she wasn't hesitant in telling people how her best friend was becoming 'preppy,' so she was 'embarrassed' to be around her.
I bet there's something in some psychology book about unconsciously feeling comfortable with people that look like you. Vision is in fact the dominant sense in most people. I've always kind of admired those people who are so friendly and accepting of everyone they ever meet.
Anyway I can't wait for class tomorrow and to get back into the swing of things! That class seriously keeps me sane and balanced.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Notes
I think I got it! It's really been annoying not being able to put the cak's in musical notation because technically everything should be (seeing as we created the system in the first place). So here's what Bobby (whose ideas Eddy symbiotically? voiced throughout the whole class) and I almost got ( I think it goes faster and the cak's are triplets and that's why they've been tripp[l]ing us up [get it? ha, aha, ha]):
bold is where you cak
The sir tit pong tit's are 1 2 3 4 (or each "tri").
CAK cak cak
Tri pl et Tri pl et Tri pl et Tri pl et
cak cak CAK
Tri pl et Tri pl et Tri pl et Tri pl et
7 cak's
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
6 cak's
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
It's so much easier just to understand it by ear, though. Harder to explain by theory.
I think it's interesting how Francis told us that we're all a group on the same level but we are intermittent, transient teachers or leaders by whom we learn. It's like someone popping into your room once in a while to tell you what's what. It connected to the video in a sense because we were watching our teacher be a student. So everyone physically in the room at that moment became equal when he pushed play. And that's cool how he showed us that, because that's one of your most vulnerable and embarrassing states, when you're in a state of learning and imperfection and inferiority, when the painting or performance isn't finished or perfected yet.
I almost got into an uncontrollable fit of laughter with the new ahh's we did--the motions were just too much (it was mostly the circle-swaying that got me).
My voice kind of felt sore after that class, which means that I probably didn't use my diaphragm all that much. Gotta work on that one.
The Dodge Room is an OASIS for 4-hour chem labbers who actually use the entire 4 hours. (Mayonnaised sandwiches and shrimp gumbo and spicy oatmeal raisin cookies, mmm....) Plus that lady there was really nice.
Anyway, last class on Tuesday? Awesomest thing ever, the dance that Sravya did. I can't believe memorizing and performing 15x the dance sampler she did. It was crazy awesome beautiful. The transformations part and the part where the demon died? were my favorite parts. I can't wait to do (or at least try) something like that.
I don't remember much else from that class except the part where people acted out the 9 expressions and Jason acted out my favorite character EVER, the beggar person from FASA's Culture Night festival scene. Gets me evvvery time. Oh and we did steps! I almost forgot that.
I need to catch up on the Ramayana. I haven't read it since I wrote about it.
Last class I met Sarita and Rebecca.
Today I met Joey and learned about the evolution of the Aristocrats joke.
bold is where you cak
The sir tit pong tit's are 1 2 3 4 (or each "tri").
CAK cak cak
Tri pl et Tri pl et Tri pl et Tri pl et
cak cak CAK
Tri pl et Tri pl et Tri pl et Tri pl et
7 cak's
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
6 cak's
1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
It's so much easier just to understand it by ear, though. Harder to explain by theory.
I think it's interesting how Francis told us that we're all a group on the same level but we are intermittent, transient teachers or leaders by whom we learn. It's like someone popping into your room once in a while to tell you what's what. It connected to the video in a sense because we were watching our teacher be a student. So everyone physically in the room at that moment became equal when he pushed play. And that's cool how he showed us that, because that's one of your most vulnerable and embarrassing states, when you're in a state of learning and imperfection and inferiority, when the painting or performance isn't finished or perfected yet.
I almost got into an uncontrollable fit of laughter with the new ahh's we did--the motions were just too much (it was mostly the circle-swaying that got me).
My voice kind of felt sore after that class, which means that I probably didn't use my diaphragm all that much. Gotta work on that one.
The Dodge Room is an OASIS for 4-hour chem labbers who actually use the entire 4 hours. (Mayonnaised sandwiches and shrimp gumbo and spicy oatmeal raisin cookies, mmm....) Plus that lady there was really nice.
Anyway, last class on Tuesday? Awesomest thing ever, the dance that Sravya did. I can't believe memorizing and performing 15x the dance sampler she did. It was crazy awesome beautiful. The transformations part and the part where the demon died? were my favorite parts. I can't wait to do (or at least try) something like that.
I don't remember much else from that class except the part where people acted out the 9 expressions and Jason acted out my favorite character EVER, the beggar person from FASA's Culture Night festival scene. Gets me evvvery time. Oh and we did steps! I almost forgot that.
I need to catch up on the Ramayana. I haven't read it since I wrote about it.
Last class I met Sarita and Rebecca.
Today I met Joey and learned about the evolution of the Aristocrats joke.
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