Entry #11- Music

This music is in 4/4, the solid green note gets one beat, the open green note will get two beats. The two dark lines at the end of the piece are called a double bar. This song is Mozart's "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" or Twinkle Twinkle little star.

Prokofiev wrote "Peter and the Wolf". Stringed instruments play Peter, the wolf is played by french horns. The bird is a flute, the duke an oboe, and the grandfather is a bassoon. There is no alligator...there is a cat though and the cat is played by a clarinet.

Entry #10- Opera

Turnandot is an Opera that was written by Puccini. The general idea of the story is that by Mandarin law, anybody who wants to wed the princess is given three riddles to answer. If they cannot answer the three riddles, then they are beheaded. There is to be a beheading at dawn, and a crowd has gathered to see the beheading. In the process a blind beggar man is thrown to the ground, and a young prince (of Tartary) recognizes his displaced father. The father introduces the young prince to the only servant who has been faithful to him, Liu. When she is asked why, she says that once the prince smiled at her (she is secretly in love with him). At the beheading of the Prince of Persia, the prince of Tartary sees Turnandot and falls in love with her. Before he can announce his intention of requesting her hand, three advisers come out and tell him that he shouldn't want to lose his head for her but he refuses to listen.
In the second act Turnandot explains that her ancestor was happy ruling until she was ravished by the prince of another kingdom, and that she refuses to wed because of her ancestor. The Emperor poses the three riddles to the Prince and the prince gets all three correct. In this Turnandot begs her father to have mercy on her and to not make her marry the Prince, but she has given the Emperor her word and the Emperor says that the oath is sacred. The prince says that he has a proposition for her, if she can find out his name before sunrise then she can cut off his head.
In the third act, Turnandot is desperately trying to find out the Prince's name. She has guards bring her the Prince's father and Liu. Turnandot commands Liu to tell the prince's name but she won't. She says that even Turnandot will learn to love, and then Liu kills herself. The Prince tries to make Turnandot love him, and so he kisses her. Feeling herself falling in love with him, she tells him to leave, but instead he reveals his name to her (Calaf). She and Calaf approach the Emperor's thrown and she says that she knows his name. She says that his name is Love.

Mozart wrote many operas two of which are Don Giovanni and the Marriage of Figaro

Light Opera is different from Opera in that not all of it is sung. There is more singing than that of musical theater but there are spoken words as well. In regular Opera there is no speaking, the whole story is sung.

Entry #9- The South Carolina Philharmonic

I went to see the SC Philharmonic in their show, "Song and Dance." The point of this show was to celebrate the Greek Festival. The repertoire included Nikos Skalkottas Five Greek Dances, Copland's suite from Appalachian Spring, and Brahms' Symphony no. 2.
The performance was beautiful, each piece being very different from the last. The musicians were superb, each musician's face was different. Varying stages of concentration and joy showed on each face. The first piece, Five Greek Dances,was more upbeat. It was written and published in the 30s by Skalkottas. The music itself is based loosely on 36 Greek dances. The second piece was Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland (my personal favorite!!!). The music is really beautiful, slow and melodic in the beginning, then becomes more upbeat, and then resolves with the simple tune Simple Gifts (instantly recognizable and very touching.) The third piece is Symphony no. 2 by Johannes Brahms. It opens softly, and moves to a more minor and melancholic tune. The end is still gentle, but seemingly happier. It is a beautiful piece that could be used to describe the fluctuation of somebody's mood, and perhaps that is what Brahms intended.
I will always love Aaron Copeland (although I have a love of Brahms as well) and his piece was my favorite of the evening, with Brahms coming in a close second. I didn't enjoy the Greek dances as much, perhaps because it was my first time hearing it and I wasn't really sure what I was listening to, until I read the background notes in the program later.
The Philharmonic performed beautifully and I really enjoyed the whole performance.

Entry #8- Reduced Shakespeare Company

I went to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company at the Koger Center. This particular play is the plays of William Shakespeare reduced into a couple of hours. It is designed to appeal to the general public, because the players use goofiness and a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor to educate people on the basic plots of the Bard's plays.
They condense plays such as "Hamlet," "Romeo and Juliet," and "That Scottish Play" as they call it. They go through all the "kings" such as "King Lear," "Henry IV" and "King John." They also go through "Othello," and perhaps a good example of the humor used over-all is in Othello. Shakespeare mentions that Othello is a "moor" and the actor portraying Othello comes out with boats tied to his neck. The play on words being the difference between "moor" (people from North Africa) and "moor" a place to tie up boats.
I believe the interpretation for this play lies in the Company's desire to spread Shakespeare to the general public. They get the audience involved, and because of the humor even children can understand the interpretation of these plays. The performance was fun to watch, and very engaging. The fact that it was free for USC students was also nice.
I love Shakespeare and the RSC (Reduced Shakespeare Company) managed to accurately portray the characters (albeit exaggerated caricatures of Shakespeare's characters) and the plot lines with humor in a really fantastic way. I would love another opportunity to see them perform again.

Phantom of the Opera

There were very many art disciplines presented in this movie, mainly because the story itself focuses around a large group of artistic people who work together. Some of the art forms that are shown are 1) singing 2) ballet 3) music (instrumental) and 4) art (back-drops etc).
Many things would be particular about the life of a dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet in the 19th century. The students would start dancing with that program at a very young age (as young as three.) They would be taken from their parents, and live in the school itself. During the day, they would attend a variety of classes from different instructors. Their schedules would be strictly adhered to, as to when they attend what class, when they are allowed to eat, and when they are allowed to spend time outside the classroom. The original building where the school was located burned down in the 1700s, and they relocated to a different building.
When I was studying with the Royal Academy of Dance (based in England) my instructor showed us a DVD of the Paris Opera Ballet School to inspire us as a class. This particular school was very well known (as well as the Kirov Academy in Russia) as one of the top schools that turned out the best dancers. The discipline that these children were expected to have at such a young age astounded the world. They were the best.

Entry #7

Theater Diagram- Proscenium Stage

1. Proscenium
2. Built Piece
3. Off Stage
4. Curtain
5. Setting Line/Apron
6.Auditorium
7.Border

Entry #6

Why do people dance? Oh geez. Asking me this question is like asking me "why do people breathe?" and expecting an answer other than "because they just do." When people ask me why I dance I have no other answer other than- I have to. It is as much a part of me as breathing. I couldn't not dance if I wanted to.
When I look back on my life, I remember being two years old and trying to follow my older sister into her dance class. Because I was so young, my teacher would take me into the back hallway before I was able to sign up for classes, and she would ask me to do simple things. I still remember to this day her asking me to do grands battements. And I would do them, in my little shiny white Keds. To me dance is something I do when I'm deliriously happy, devastatingly sad, or feeling like I need something to pick me up. I cry when I dance, I laugh, I get frustrated and I feel invigorated. Dance is so much a part of me that I couldn't imagine not being a dancer. I always knew that I wanted to be a dancer. In my first ballet class (I was three when I started taking) my teacher would give us time at the end of the class to dance out whatever we wanted to be. Most little girls wanted to be butterflies or princesses. And my answer every single time was that I wanted to be a ballet dancer.
Last year I took an improvisation class and in a discussion that we had during this class, my teacher asked us why people dance, and why do we identify ourselves as dancers before humans when we were humans first. And as I thought about it I realized that I was only a human for two years longer than I've been a dancer.
I have to dance.

Entry #5

Every time I go through the Horseshoe (I run through there a lot) I always look for Rutledge College. It is beautiful, and it is the oldest building on campus (...when I was a freshman I had to ask the then student body president what the oldest building on campus was...believe me I never got over that...) It is such a beautiful building. There are columns supporting the entrance to the building, which give the building a strong look. There is molding at the top of the building, which is white and gives the building a polished finished look. The color of the facade of the building is a gentle peachy-pink color, which is warm and inviting. I'm from Columbia, and the Horseshoe has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but knowing that when I stand in front of Rutledge that I'm standing in front of some history.

Entry #4

I went to see Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky. It was an incredible story for me, because as a dancer and all around girly-girl I knew the stories of both Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky very well. But I never knew that these two people's lives were intertwined. Both of these people had incredible talent, and both were condemned as being too modern.

The story was a little slow at times. I was fascinated because I love Stravinsky and know his work very well, and of course who doesn't love Chanel? I am also very familiar with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. I don't know very much about movies but I really did enjoy this movie. I hope at some point I'll be able to sit down and watch this movie again when I get the chance.

Entry #3

During class today we were given time to go downstairs and peruse the gallery. The artworks that were on display in this particular exhibition were truly amazing. Each one was different but at the same time they seemed connected, they seemed to be cohesive to each other.

As I was walking, many of the paintings caught my eye, but there was one in particular that I found very fascinating. I realized that it must be because, as a dancer, I have a built in fascination with the human body. This painting looked like a body in movement, and I thought that it was really beautiful. It reminded me of some of the exercises that we do in some of our movement or improvisation classes, because it looks like a spiral. The painting is very primal, the colors almost make the painting look as though it was created from clay. It was a very beautiful painting.

This painting is by Laura Ferguson. It's called Twisting Figure. It was created by mixing oil paint with bronze powders, giving it a very textured look (which is what reminded me of clay). The painting focuses closely on the flesh and muscle of the subject. The colors are muted, and natural, giving the painting an earthy look.

Overall I liked this piece because it seems so natural. The twist of the body and the colors bring the whole painting to life in a way that really captures the onlooker.

Entry #2- Aesthetics

What are aesthetics? That's not a question that I usually ask my self. Or not consciously. But I think that we all have moments when we wish that we could capture what we are seeing and have it forever. And I think in those moments we define what aesthetic is to us. Something that, even subconsciously, gives us pleasure to look at.
There are four domains of creativity:
1. Fluency- When you're coming up with different ideas, fluency is the ability to come up with many different ideas
2. Flexibility- Flexibility is the ability to move quickly from one idea to another, from different perspectives
3. Originality- The ability to think of something "first," that nobody else has thought of
4. Elaboration- The ability to add to ideas to improve them
I had a practical experience that turned into an aesthetic experience a few weekends ago. I was riding in the car, which is a mundane experience usually. I was at the military base where my fiance is stationed, and I was riding in the back of his truck out in the country. It was a really beautiful evening because it was cool and not too humid, even though it had been raining on and off all day long. When I glanced up I saw a rainbow, which was absolutely breathtaking. The way that it was such a simple thing that was so beautiful none the less was an incredible experience. Not only was I able to see the rainbow, I could also see the reflection of the rainbow as well. The colors of the rainbow were so pure and so clear, that even when I'd taken several pictures, I wasn't happy with they way they looked. The pictures did not do justice to the beauty of the rainbow in anyway.

Entry #1- Introduction to Art

I've always considered myself a pretty artsy person. I was always much more acclimated to the arts than I was to math or science. I took several drawing classes in high school, as well as a photography class. I enjoyed the drawing classes, but I really loved the photography class. I haven't ever really been very good at sculpture but I enjoyed making mosaics, and working with water colors.
Its been a while since I was actually in an art gallery, I used to go on weekends with my parents when I was younger. I did actually get the opportunity to be the subject of an artist recently though. We had some artists come into our dance studio and sketch us while we were learning a contemporary piece, and that was an incredible opportunity because I got to see how exactly they build their work, and it was an opportunity for them to see how we work as well.
I've been to several plays, and performed in several musicals as a dancer. Musical theater is something that I've always enjoyed and my father is a musician, and I've had the privilege of watching him as musical director of several musicals.
I guess I learn best under visual conditions. I guess that is part of dancing, having to watch and replicate certain movements exactly. I'm taking Arte 360 part of my Education Cognate which I feel is really important because I want to teach Dance in public schools, but I really believe that all of the arts tie in together and if I can get ideas on how to incorporate the visual arts into my dance classes then I will feel like I've taken something very valuable from this class.
Dance is the one art that I have always taken very seriously. While I have enjoyed the other art forms, dance is the one art that has really moved me in every way. So many things inspire me when I dance, but usually the strongest influence on my dancing is how I'm feeling emotionally. I've noticed that so many times how my dancing looks is connected to how I'm feeling, and so I learned quickly to turn that into something I can use to further my art. I believe that art is anything that can communicate feelings, or a political issue, or something that is important to the artist without the use of words. No matter what the artist's medium of choice, as long as they are conveying something that is important to them I believe that it is art. I believe that "good" art is something that is widely accepted or appreciated by many people.
I think that an "Art Film" is a film that is a film that was created, not to be entertaining, but to educate people or to let people become aware of an issue or something that would not be entertaining to the general populous.
Right now, I have the music to a contemporary dance piece in my cd player. I like listening to it and reviewing the movement in my head. It makes it easier when I'm practicing to remember what the movements are supposed to be.