Author: aishwarya12

When the performance began, I felt the whole show was going to be an interpretive version of the 80’s aerobics and exercise videos. The performers’ costumes only supported my believes. As their motion began to get more complex, I began to pay more attention to the beat and their movement. Each dancer had great coordination with other dancers and time.

What amused me was that the background music in each performance played an important in eliciting an emotion in the audience, or at least in me. Their different steps and timing of movement also gave away different messages. Sometimes the motion (in terms of timing) conflicted with the beat of background music. In other words, the music had faster beat than the dancer motion indicated. I also liked that each performance had different meanings even though the dancers did not show any expressions. This was also the part that irritated me, because we are used to having a clear idea about almost everything. Not knowing was annoying but it also allows us to attach our own meaning to things.

In the end, it was a great experience. Although, I wish we had a little bit more information on what inspired the dance’s creator to invent the art form.

When I read the script as it was, I visualized characterized and places differently than they were in the read aloud. When I read the script, I felt as if Howe was a harsher than the actor portrayal. I felt as if he would be taller and not so emotional. I felt that Whitney would be more jolly about life, in the beginning, than Joshua was.

The read aloud was AMAZING! When I was reading the the play, the order of the events confused me little bit. however the read aloud, even though it was not acted out fully, made more sense to me. It helped to understand the different scenes better. The actors was great; I felt all emotions that the actors felt as they were reading out loud. It even helped me interpret certain scenes better. Overall, the experience was great! I can’t wait to watch the whole play!

I don’t know why when Rich Stremme was talking about punk music, I kept remembering the rock band Skillet. His presentation was very interesting because I felt like I misunderstood hard rock before; he especially classified what it really meant to go underground. I felt as if punk is more of a movement. The books were very informative. I also like when he explained his tattoos. The cassette radio just made me feel nostalgic. Making the pins was the best part, and I was amazed by the machine.

The idea of going to the opera made me dread the journey. The stress that the Wednesday class went through on their way to the opera made me feel that the show was a chore. When I got to the Lincoln Center Plaza, I was marveled by its beauty. As I waited by the door, I saw people walking in dressed as if they were going to an award ceremony. I felt underdressed even though I never dress so “fancy” for any occasion.

When we entered the theater, it looked like as if it was a movie set. The grand stairs, the red carpet and the chandeliers, all were so amusing. The annoying part now was the five flight of stairs.  When we finally reached the seating, I was scared to even lean to look down.

But, when the performances began I was amazed. The different sets were amazing, one of the sets looked almost like a movie. Even though I had read the play and watched the movie, I was still surprised by the storyline. The subtitles were such a help. Sometimes, I just watched the scene rather than reading the subtitles. I felt so emotional at points and found myself talking to the characters during different scenes. It was as if the characters were listening to me at times.

I loved the overall experience was great but I wish our seats were closer, so I could have seen better what was happened.

As the day started with a heavy rain, I did not have a good feeling about how the show was going to be. The gist of the play made it a sound about so-so. When I walked into the theater and saw posters with puppets, I thought it was going to be a journey with sesame street for the next few hours.

All this being said, the play blew my mind. I’m not sure as of yet if it was in a positive manner or negative, but it was something out of the box. The storyline was not boring or dramatic. It addressed real-life issues people face when getting through life after college. Even though the content was not as PG-13 as I thought it would be, it still managed to be entertaining. The songs were very catchy and the characters were hilarious.

The experience was a little new for me, but it did not hit me too hard.

Aishwarya Udayan

The musical duo sounded very interesting. I was so happy to know that their beginning was in Queens. The presentation showed how they impacted New York City and more importantly how the city influenced them.

After the presentation, I listened to a few of their songs. Their synchronized voices sound so heavenly. After hearing them sing, it only makes me sad to know that they have parted their ways. I wish that they still worked together; they are an amazing duo!

-Aishwarya Udayan

When I went to the Queens Museum of Art, I expected to see oil paintings, sculptures and abstract images. However, this museum was nothing like that. This museum embraced art in all forms, it had video presentation, stain glass lights, coasters, cutlery and chinaware.It was the least expected things that were in that museum. Something that made me more puzzled was a room filled with plastic bottles. I remember glancing towards my brother and seeing the same confused look on his face. When we approached a museum curator, she explained o us that the plastic bottles were way of tracing a path. The artist had travelled to China to at different times in her life to race the ‘wandering lake.’ Every time she visited the lake its path had been altered, just as a human life. The meaning gave the work a new meaning.

As we moved as we upstairs, I saw handcrafts, models and shirts that raised of awareness of about the struggles of American Indian tribes and Hispanic communities. It something new for me because I had never seen a people’s movement recorded in a museum.

Then I moved on to a section that was about the New York world fair. There were uniforms, magazines, coins, plates and mugs behind a glass shelf. The area lead to a panorama hall of Never Built New York. The panorama was a hall with the New York city model map on the floor with lights on some buildings. As I moved down the panorama and into the all on the side I realized that all the building in the light were building who were never built in New York. I look at each and every never built structure and marveled their beauty. It made me appreciate New York city.

  

In this trip, I expected to be as confused as my trip to the NAWA. I was sure that I was going to be not have an interaction with the artwork. On the contrary, I was amused with the art, and since we were supposed to move in groups I understood the artwork and took the time to admire the work.

The variety of work was really interesting, it showed how different cultures were able to use the same colors and resources to express completely different ideas. The only downside was that we didn’t have much time to look at all the types of artwork and visit all the floors.

However, the work that we visited showed so much detail even in the smallest things.  One work of art that, I believed made us connect was Au Coeur de la Paresse. In the description of the painting we found that the painter focused on the aftermath on world wars. The painting was able to produce a very good conversation within our group and with other groups. We talked about how detailed the painting was and more importantly what each detail meant. It interesting to see how the smallest thins such as a shadow or even a dot can produce so many different meanings. And this is what made my experience in the Brooklyn museum incredible.

-Aishwarya Udayan

This being my first time going to an art gallery, I expected a lot from my first visit. However, when I went in and stood in front of the paintings, photographs and models, I was just confused. I remember thinking to myself, “am I supposed to feel something? Is this piece of art supposed to make me have deeper understanding of myself or the world?” Ultimately, I was puzzled by the whole experience. Some models even startled me like the “baby deer” and the statue with a cow’s head. I wondered why the artist decided to create the models in that manner.

As I was going through different paintings, I realized that I liked photographs over the real paintings. I think that could be because the photographs were of things I see in my day to day life. I think I was also the fact that a painting is always shows that it is addressing a perspective however, this idea is not considered when looking at a photograph.

A painting that I really connect to was the one with the Sandy by Janet Tsakis because it shows that numbness a person feels when he/she is under stress or going through pain.

Overall, I liked the art gallery because every picture hinted to a new idea and a new perspective. I enjoyed seeing different colors and different worlds unite in the same room.