Arts:
In general, I would like to learn more about the values, interest, traditions and history of art in Berlin or in a larger German context. Specifically, of course, I would like to focus on the musical aspect of this. Of the links on the course blog I found the "Rythm is It!" project and the Sasha Waltz Radial system particularly interesting.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
A Lot of Dancing...
I have never been to a ballet, so this was a fun new experience for me. I read the story of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" a long time ago in my highs school freshman English class, and I couldn't remember much about it except that there were some lords and ladies and some faerie people. So when the ballet started, I was afraid it would be difficult for me to follow (and I hadn't thought to read the synopsis...). But I was happy to see that it was very easy to follow the drama and plot and there wasn't a single idea I couldn't follow.
As Shanga suggested us, I watched the dancers movements and how they place themselves and attempted to discern what the purpose of the specific movements were -- how the audience was supposed to react. One specific moment I focused on this idea was when the red man (sorry, I don't have a program with me and I cannot remember the names) was pursuing the blue lady and she was rejecting him. He would copy every move she made; when she threw her arms in the air, he would follow behind and throw his up in the same manner. It was clear that the function of this gestural emulation was to convey the feeling of him trying to get closer to her -- that he was striving to convince her to accept him.
As Shanga suggested us, I watched the dancers movements and how they place themselves and attempted to discern what the purpose of the specific movements were -- how the audience was supposed to react. One specific moment I focused on this idea was when the red man (sorry, I don't have a program with me and I cannot remember the names) was pursuing the blue lady and she was rejecting him. He would copy every move she made; when she threw her arms in the air, he would follow behind and throw his up in the same manner. It was clear that the function of this gestural emulation was to convey the feeling of him trying to get closer to her -- that he was striving to convince her to accept him.
Thinking on "Rethinking Thinking"
I enjoyed this article. I like most of the points they raise about feeling/thinking, and they explain their argument in various ways which are all relatively easy to follow -- this can be a very confusing and difficult concept to communicate.
However, I disagree with a couple of their main claims -- specifically, the statement that teachers "ignore the metalogics of feelings and intuition. We are taught and tested with words and numbers, and it is assumed that we think in words and numbers." Personally, I have witnessed this idea addressed in many of my classes over the course of my academic career. For instance, in my junior English class in high school we spent over half of a quarter analyzing and responding to texts pertaining to this idea of feelings leading to ideas leading to translatable concepts.
Also, I disagree with the statement that "We master the languages of translation but neglect our mother tongue. Feasts are set before us that we do not taste. We honor chefs and refuse to emulate them." It is true that, for the most part, how we are taught is through the translation of other people's creative thoughts and feelings, but I believe that the act of generating "novel ideas and conceptions" is something that all people do inherently; I believe it cannot be taught or manipulated in the manner this author seems to advocate but that it simply is. The lessons we learn in school -- the translation of these other "chefs'" creative thoughts -- help to broaden the scope of our creative thinking; they provide more food for our own creative thought.
However, I disagree with a couple of their main claims -- specifically, the statement that teachers "ignore the metalogics of feelings and intuition. We are taught and tested with words and numbers, and it is assumed that we think in words and numbers." Personally, I have witnessed this idea addressed in many of my classes over the course of my academic career. For instance, in my junior English class in high school we spent over half of a quarter analyzing and responding to texts pertaining to this idea of feelings leading to ideas leading to translatable concepts.
Also, I disagree with the statement that "We master the languages of translation but neglect our mother tongue. Feasts are set before us that we do not taste. We honor chefs and refuse to emulate them." It is true that, for the most part, how we are taught is through the translation of other people's creative thoughts and feelings, but I believe that the act of generating "novel ideas and conceptions" is something that all people do inherently; I believe it cannot be taught or manipulated in the manner this author seems to advocate but that it simply is. The lessons we learn in school -- the translation of these other "chefs'" creative thoughts -- help to broaden the scope of our creative thinking; they provide more food for our own creative thought.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Thoughts on Human Montage
I am very nervous about my abilities to create expressive presentations or performances in a short period of time -- I'm a little nervous of my abilities to create expressive performances in ANY length of time. I suppose that I've been creating performances with my own expressive ideas for as long as I've been singing, but when I perform a song, I have undergone a great deal of preparation and I have a rather detailed road map to follow. Also, when I was in the musical My Fair Lady I had a pretty explicit idea of what to express. The exercise we participated in last Thursday involved a few steps out of my comfort zone and what I am used to doing. I let myself worry too much about what I wanted to describe and how to express it. As soon as I stopped over-thinking about it, it became simple to isolate individual aspects to express and easy to portray them.
I did enjoy seeing all the images that the rest of the class composed. It was very interesting to watch a group and discern what emotions -- what thoughts -- they were trying to convey. Many of the images were based upon experiences that I could not have guessed had I been given ten years to interpret them, but as soon as the frame was explained, it would make perfect sense.
I did enjoy seeing all the images that the rest of the class composed. It was very interesting to watch a group and discern what emotions -- what thoughts -- they were trying to convey. Many of the images were based upon experiences that I could not have guessed had I been given ten years to interpret them, but as soon as the frame was explained, it would make perfect sense.
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