BYU summer Dancesport

I have never attended a ballroom dance competition live before so this was another first for me. I was impressed with many of the dancers I was going expecting to see a bunch of amuteurs stumble their way through some bad dancing but it was pretty good. I could definitely see the stress in some of the faces but at the same time I could tell that everyone out here was here for fun. The most interesting dance to me was the cha-cha becuase I have danced it before. I like the upbeat rhythym of the music and I like latin culture in general, they know how to party.

I thought the pricing was a little steep for an event like this and I feel like the only way someone would get their moneys worth would be to stay the entire time. This is something that I could not do. First because I don't enjoy watching people that much and second because of other time restraints. Overall though I was impressed with the dancing but would rather pay 5 bucks to go dance instead of watching people dance.

Jackson Pollock

I’m going to start off being honest; this class has been different than most I have taken here at BYU. I have taken more science classes than any type of humanity class in the past and so I don’t lie when I say this class has been a struggle for me. I also will not lie when before this class I could recognize famous pieces of art but I couldn’t really analyze them. That is why I am surprised when I look at some pieces of modern art and I enjoy them. At one time I would have just said that is garbage but understanding the background and how one movement affected the next movement makes things interesting. Jackson Pollock might be one of the most abstract artists of the 20th century and his painting Number 1 shows it.

At first glance Number 1 just looks like a canvas with a bunch of paint splattering and dripping all over it. That might be because that is exactly what it is. As one looks at it though there is something aesthetically pleasing about it. The colors really do seem to flow and blend with one another in a random yet orderly manner. When I look at it the black seems to make so many random shapes that leave the imagination to go to town. Almost all of the lines in the painting are rounded in some way but to me they seem to be pointed up as well telling our imagination to stretch.

It seems interesting to me that although when I look at the painting there is no central focus point. The painting is about motion and it is up to the observer to like or dislike it. The entire canvas is filled with paint except for a small area at the top. By doing this whether on accident or on purpose Pollock seems to keep our eyes moving from side to side rather than up or down or in circles. Even though the darkest lines are pointing up Pollock keeps us expanding the painting horizontally with this technique.

Film

In class this week we discussed the history of film. This whole class has been something new to me and this subject continued the tradition. I can sit down and enjoy a movie but when it comes to some of the older films I guess I just get bored. I have not seen that many older movies or so called classics that portray the development of film. I have been spoiled with color so much that I guess I get bored when watching black and white. In a learning atmosphere I did enjoy watching some of the older movies but when I watch a movie I’m usually not looking to learn, I’m looking to veg.

My other philosophy on movies is that I am looking to be entertained as well. I understand that there are some things that a movie has to have to make it good and we understand most of them by experience. If a director isn’t doing his job then he won’t make money. I will most likely never be a director or anything close to it but I will enjoy movies for the rest of my life. This is my other point; I don’t want to dislike a movie just because it is missing something that other movies have. I want to like a movie because I was entertained. That is the director’s job: to entertain the audience. If I and the rest of the public are entertained then he will have a job just like when I have a job if I do it correctly then I will continue to hold my job.

Singing in the Rain

This week I attended Singing in the Rain at the Hale Theater. I was actually really impressed with the production and acting. I was surprised because I thought I recognized the lead actress and I did. I didn’t know her that well but I had met her before in a ward that I attended. She and the rest of the cast did an excellent job. I have never seen the real movie all the way through but I have seen some scenes and I recognized all of them in the production. I especially liked the rain scene right before the intermission. The water was everywhere and the cast went out of their way to get the audience wet. The people in the front row got ponchos but everyone else had to fend for themselves. At the beginning of the scene they even had a light post come out of the floor which I didn’t expect at all. I did go with my girlfriend and Singing in the Rain is one of her favorite movies so she told me what they added and what scenes they didn’t do from the movie.

The Hale Theater is an open stage that I would guess can seat about 200 people. It was a perfect size for this musical. They did a really good job about not only involving the front audience but both sides as well. I was actually sitting in one of the corner seats but I still got wet and I still felt like I didn’t miss out on anything. I was really impressed to with the costume selection and color throughout the production. When Lina approached everyone about suing and doing all the bad stuff she was dressed in red and black. She then sang this horrible song that made the audience dislike her even more. I didn’t feel bad at all when she was revealed as having a horrible voice. If you haven’t seen this play yet I would recommend seeing it. I saw it on Thursday and that was an amazing cast, go see it before it’s over.

Realism and a Doll's House

Realism started in the late eighteenth century but by the beginning and middle of the nineteenth century it was in full swing. Theater has been a part of culture for hundreds and hundreds of years but the plays were not normally about the middle class or average Joe. The play that I think best symbolizes the change in theater is A Doll’s House.

Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House in the late nineteenth century. It was one of the first realist plays that were written and it is about the troubles in a marriage. Nothing spectacular like a king or nothing about the gods but it is about a couple eight years wed and the troubles of the time. Nora is the wife and the husband is Torvald. It is quite a play that shows both the good and the bad things in marriage. Nora has done something behind Torvald’s back and she has spent years hiding it. Finally the man that Nora has borrowed money comes and tries to blackmail her to advance his career. They both have problems and they are quite evident throughout the play. Torvald seems to love Nora but he might love his reputation just a little more. Nora seems childish and loves to spend money. Neither seem good at communicating and I’m surprised especially at how Torvald treats Nora. I won’t give the ending away but it isn’t that they lived happily ever after and this especially seems to be part of the realism that we see.

Many of the things that the realists did in theater had great effects in the next generations of theater. They influenced theater in so many ways and you can see it if you sit down and read A Doll’s House.

Music

I am one of the four people in class that doesn’t know anything about music. At a young age I was forced to play the piano but would often hide outside until the piano teacher went away. My parents weren’t too happy and I would get grounded for a little bit but I just didn’t like to play the piano. This is why I’m writing about music so I can learn a little bit more because I didn’t take advantage of it when I was young. I really wasn’t a fan of the middle age music that we listened too. The monophonic stuff just sounded creep to me. One we got into the Baroque classical and romantic music then I enjoyed listening to it.

Vivaldi and Bach really revolutionized the music during the time period. Renaissance still just sounded like chanting but the new baroque music actually sounded like it had an intellectual sound to it. Then we started talking about Haydn and Mozart and the symphonies that I enjoyed listening to. I enjoyed learning about the sonata method as well. It seemed like it was a mathematical equation and that is how and why they wrote so many symphonies. The operas during that time period I wasn’t interested in at all. Verdi and Wagner were probably just as much genius in their music but I’m just not a fan.

Ballet

In class today we talked about dance and focused on ballet. In the past I have attended many ballet and dance performances. I have two sisters that are just older than me and were huge into dancing growing up. One of them actually got a dance scholarship at the university that she went to and so you can see that it was a major part of her life. They started out with ballet and had several performances throughout the year. I always dreaded going to the nutcracker every December and then several other performances during the year. I don’t think that any young boy would want to go to those but I was forced to. I tell you this so you can see why I started to have the distaste for ballet. My dislike would grow even more when my sisters would try and teach me ballet.

Later on in life I would date a dancer and would learn more about how the actual culture of ballet would catch on to the girls. Ballet seemed to demand perfection in every way and seemed to diminish the self esteem of many of the girls that I knew. Now this is one of the biggest concerns that I have with ballet. I am an exercise science major and have a huge concern for people’s health. Now I can’t watch ballet without focusing on the health of the individuals dancing. When we watched Swan Lake the girl just looked sick to me. Sure she had muscle to do some of the moves that she did but seeing her rib bones distracted me throughout the whole scene. I understand that ballet can be beautiful but I just can’t focus on it.