Storytelling Workshop

That was such a delight! I felt so good being back in the days where life was all fun and games. But a big pat of that was that fact that I got so comfortable with Ms. Julia (which I did not expect),- she has such a friendly, open and inspiring personality, that it makes you smile.
We started off with introducing ourselves, and then shaking it all out/ getting ourselves loose, then came this storytelling activity with the magic crystal ball, and then her storytelling, us storytelling, and then another round of the crystal ball. I enjoyed it all- the whole concept of using every talent you have to get one idea across, really appeals to me. The best pat though, was when WE got to do improv- with a bit of planning. I loved playign the big bad wolf and then the grandmother. I felt so :).
One thing that affected me the most though was how much I miss being free- and I have noticed that I am becoming more like that lately, but at the same time, I feel like I am losing myself in that, so I need to get my life on the right track. Another thing was that, people said that the Jim Boni workshop was similar to this, and I really want to experience that then- it seems so interesting, and moving, and :).

Mr. Carl...OUR books

Okay, so now that we finished our books, which if I may, looked amazing (with a few glitches here and there), we will be starting our own designed books. And since I don't exactly write with a serious passion like Ilana, or have a 365, where I take a picture of myself, I don't have a special aim for it, I am doing it for the fun of it. My book, so far is (you can click on it, to see it better)...

Mr. Carl....Take 3

I had tons of fun on Wednesday. We finally completed our books....glued all the corners down, which I actually failed at because they came out extremely angular. Then, we added an extra black paper to the spine, and finally glued down our books. Oh, wait, in between we bent our spine in a bit to make it look like a real book. The final product will be seen tomorrow, but I am so excited and proud of myself. The process was fairly simple, but still, I made my OWN book.
Now, for my future project though, I haven't been able to think of a mind blowing idea- nor do I think I want to. I really like the very organic and simple books, so I am thinking a ribbon will do best, and maybe some kind of cloth (I am not sure what, and am planning to ask Peanut Butter tomorrow). I cannot wait to see all that people come up with, and the end results for that :)

A little change in plans

So I am not doing charcoal (profile) drawings anymore, but instead a movement over time type of installment- involving photography, dance, a wall, tracing, tons of help, paint/ pencils, etc. As I get to understand/ come up with more ideas, I will keep y'all updated...

Mr. Carl....Take 2

Continuing from where we left off last time, it was now time to create the cover. We first measured the "faces" and spine of the book- and cut out, with those measurements, cardboard type of things to serve as the "hard" part of the cover (but added about an inch to the parts on top and bottom). Afterwards, we cut out black paper using the same measurements (we just added about an inch to the sides now). And we glued the cardboard pieces onto the paper, making sure we leave space around the spine, enabling the book to be able to fold. I believe that next time, we will learn how to attach the pages onto the "cover." It has been an enjoyable process only because I am learning so much, not only about creating books, but also the styles in which you present them, their "origin," etc. I have to admit though, that I was not able to master the process we just learned, I needed A LOT of help from Mr. Carl, who was happy to oblige. I cannot wait for more, and as Cassie said, redeem myself :)

4th Quarter

Can you believe it, we are already in the 4th quarter! I am going to be a sophomore next year- but at the same time that saddens me, thinking about all those that are going to leave/ those that I am going to have to leave.
Anyways, enough with the emotions...I will be reading Blood Memory by Martha Graham :). And I will attempt to do a charcoal drawing (profile of someone) on those days that I am freeeeeeeee

Book Binding Workshop Day 1

I love English accents- especially Mr. Carl saying peanut butter....Ashley literally has become a fan. But besides that, what interested me the most, was the fact that, ever since a child, I have been wondering of the process through which a book is bound, and today my answers came though Mr. Carl. It was sooo cool/ different/ unique- kinda like knowing what that thing is at the end of your shoelace, to have been in the workshop. I learnt about signatures, and English people, and bones being used to make paper folds crisp, Ilana being kept away from sharp objects, and metal presses, and Cassie's epic fail(ness)with cutting paper (which, did you know can come out like cool, frazzled paper, with simply a ruler, and a lot of paper) and sewing.

The best part of all though, was how much happiness I felt in the end- I mean, come on, I freakin bound paper! Thats very much beastly. Moreover, I liked how we kinda bonded...talking about random things, learning how to make paper look cooler, helping each other in the small details, all sinking together, etc. I can't wait till Friday to make a cover....I can positively promise that I will be very proud that day :)

The only thing left do is, figure out what to put in it...

Today's Presentation

I was nervous. Period. End of story. I think I did okay only because I addressed the questions, or at least I think I did, to my fullest. Unfortunately, I stumbled...using umms way too often. I did not have any notes or slideshow to help me out, which I usually do prepare, but this weekend was way too stressful for that, and so felt that I rambled too much on what I gained, and less on the book itself. I feel that I shouldn't have been trying to look out in the familiar faces for one that would just calm me down (usually that's what I do with my other friends). All in all though, I feel good for going up and getting out all the thoughts that I had wanted to, even if it might not have been done in the "smoothest" way.

Friday

Friday was really, very nice. It felt so great to look at what others have been toiling over for the past month....from  the charcoals and the movies. i like hearing critiques about everything because then it allows you to see flaws in your own work- to see where your lacking and where you need to start improving. I want the rest of my year to be focused on improving. Everything. From school work, to time management, to dance, to friends, to friends to family, to behavior. I guess its never too late to make a new year's resolution.

....

This is an article on Twyla Tharp's piece on Broadway.... I read her book, The Creative Habit, and had read about this, but am more excited to know/ hope that it is easily accessible.

the link to the article, or it is right below
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/theater/01tharp.html

Twyla Tharp has been choreographing to the music of Frank Sinatra since the 1970s, but “Come Fly Away” brings her Sinatra dances to Broadway for the first time. Charles Isherwood, a theater critic for The New York Times, hailed it as “a major new work of pop dance theater,” while The Times’s chief dance critic Alastair Macaulay called the choreography “less sensational than sensationalistic” and “intimacy perverted into exhibitionism.”

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Rika Okamoto and Matthew Stockwell Dibble in the choreographer Twyla Tharp’s Broadway show “Come Fly Away,” set to Frank Sinatra songs. 

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Charlie Neshyba-Hodges and Laura Mead in Twyla Tharp’s “Come Fly Away,” a dance pop piece on Broadway. More Photos >

How can two experts see one show so differently? The critics continued their conversation on the ArtsBeat blog. Here’s an edited and condensed version of their exchange; the entire discussion is at artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/come-fly-away/:
CHARLES ISHERWOOD Alastair, I’m sorry you found so little to enjoy in the show, particularly since there’s more dancing in it than there has been in probably the last five seasons of Broadway musicals! But I fear a lot of what you object to in “Come Fly Away” is what makes it viable as a Broadway production. Twyla Tharp needed to consider the perceptions of audiences who are not necessarily sophisticated viewers of dance. In fact, by the standards of dancing on Broadway, “Come Fly Away” is very accomplished indeed, and if it seeks to entertain rather than show off Ms. Tharp’s gifts at their most subtle, that’s only to be expected. I think it’s exciting that a choreographer of her stature continues to tackle the challenge of bringing pure dance shows to Broadway. Nobody else is doing it, and it’s probable that even Ms. Tharp wouldn’t have the chance if it weren’t for the jukebox musical phenomenon.
Can you think of a contemporary choreographer whose work would be able to hold its own on a Broadway stage today?
ALASTAIR MACAULAY Charles, let’s establish a few things first in case readers misunderstand us. You go to a great deal of dance, perhaps more than any theater critic of the present day; and I go to a great deal of theater. (I’m writing this in London, where between dance performances, I’m catching up with theater.) So I imagine you can answer the question you’re asking perfectly well.
Quantitatively speaking, you’re right: there’s lots of dance in “Come Fly Away.” Qualitatively speaking is another matter; I’d rather look at several dance parts of “Billy Elliot” or even a couple of sections of “Fela!” (which I don’t much like over all) than most of “Come Fly Away.” Some of the individual dances in the Tharp show are good or better than that, but the context stops making them look good: they’re miscast, or they’re wasted in this undramatic clubland nonevent.
And we’re critics: our first task is not to determine what big-theater audiences will like but what we think is good and why. We’re critics because we have criteria and we use them: different criteria on some occasions, but serious criteria to us. Sometimes we’re both going to object strongly to shows that we can see are very popular indeed; sometimes we’re both going to enthuse passionately about productions that leave most people cold.
The question is not “Who could have done this better than Tharp?” but “Why isn’t this remotely as good as Tharp’s best work?”
ISHERWOOD I was simply curious to know if you could identify some choreographers who might have the talent to wed serious choreography with a more populist show. As much dance as I see, I see a lot less than you. And I certainly don’t let considerations of box office or the potential audience appeal of a show influence my opinion. To a critic such considerations are immaterial, or should be.
But a full-scale Broadway show and a more intimate piece made for a ballet company (like “Nine Sinatra Songs,” which [in your review] you much prefer to “Come Fly Away”) are vastly different animals and need to be considered as such. Twyla Tharp is a smart woman, and she knew that to make this material work on a large-scale, full-evening basis, some showmanship was necessary.
I also think we disagree about the nature of the event. For me “Come Fly Away” is not intended to be about intimacy as much as it is about the performative aspects of romantic attachment, the roles that men and women play when they are courting each other in public. It takes place in a nightclub, after all. So in that sense I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what you call the show’s “exhibitionism.” It’s about the pas de deux as a public mating dance.
MACAULAY Yes, I’m afraid we differ about the nature of this event. We also differ about the nature of what’s appropriate for Broadway. I don’t accept that entertainment and subtlety are opposites or that an artist need choose one rather than the other. Do you think Fred Astaire decided to abandon subtlety so as to be entertaining? I certainly don’t. Do you think ballet isn’t entertainment? George Balanchine would have disagreed. The same can even happen in the jukebox musical, a genre I’ve often enjoyed. (I’ve loved “Mamma Mia!” since its West End premiere.) Twyla Tharp more or less invented the jukebox ballet with “Deuce Coupe” (1973), which I adore. So it was fair to hope she’d be right for this show.

You think she does it well; I don’t. I very much like your phrase “the performative aspects of romantic attachment.” There’s a degree to which being in love involves role playing and other aspects of acting, isn’t there? That’s much of what I love in a good tango show, for example. But for me the performing in “Come Fly Away” isn’t either absorbing or convincing. Babe, Hank, Sid, et al. aren’t interesting characters; theirs aren’t interesting stories. Can Ms. Tharp distinguish the public side of erotic behavior from porn? “Come Fly Away” makes much of a lift that Balanchine made sensational in 1957: the crotch-splitting lift with thighs and groin opening right at the audience. It’s not really a subtle lift in the first place; it can still seem shocking. But Ms. Tharp recycles and recycles it here: it becomes mere sensationalism.
I don’t mean to sound prudish. But the nightclub where people need to keep carrying on like the pathetically exhibitionistic creeps in “Come Fly Away” is not a nightclub in which I want to stay; they’re bores.
ISHERWOOD “Pathetically exhibitionistic creeps”? But also “bores”? I myself find the occasional exhibitionistic creep I encounter to be anything but boring. Far better than the mousy, introverted kind who resolutely refuse to scamper around doing jetés and arabesques.
A few defensive thrusts here: Of course I do not believe subtlety and entertainment are incompatible, or that Broadway is a wasteland when it comes to art, so no need for you to be depressed at the idea that I languish under these benighted illusions. But how you can celebrate “Mamma Mia!” — not what I’d call the epitome of delicacy — and decry “Come Fly Away” as crass is frankly baffling, unless you are judging these works by wholly different standards. As for the porn issue, here at least we can agree on some level. Hate the crotch splits in “Come Fly Away.” Hate the same move in Balanchine’s “Bugaku.” But to suggest that “Come Fly Away” is mostly porn — and boring porn at that! — is reductive.
Anyway, I’ve enjoyed our exchange. We’ll meet when you return from London and have drinks. Or toss them in each other’s faces, as the case may be. (Note to readers: blatant joke, that.)
MACAULAY Please don’t be baffled. No, “Mamma Mia!” is not the epitome of delicacy. Obviously, neither you nor I want all works of art to meet all the same criteria all the time. But if the “Come Fly Away” characters had the exuberance (quite different from exhibitionism) of the “Mamma Mia!” characters or could make us laugh at the absurdity with which they burst into their Sinatra numbers as the “Mamma Mia!” people do, I’d be happy.
“Come Fly Away” is a reductive show; its view of human nature is very limited indeed. And that stops me from liking these dancers or even the bits of Tharp-Sinatra choreography that in other contexts I’ve admired. Here, by the time I get to “That’s Life” and “One for My Baby,” I think, “Enough already.”
I’ll buy the first round of drinks, when we’ll talk mainly about other things anyway. Just now I mainly long to speak of “London Assurance,” which I saw at the National Theater here in London and, like you, loved it. As you know, it contains some very memorable dancing!