2013 Arts in the City

OPERA OPERA OPERA!!

Der Rosenkavelier was wonderful. The costumes were exquisite, the sets were ornate, and the music was mind blowing. The ending was sad but beautiful. The voices were gorgeous and carried all throughout the theater, and the singers played their characters perfectly.

The ending of the opera was bittersweet. It was beautiful but also sad. The Marshallin gives up Octavian, her love, so that he can be with Sophia. She doesn’t want Sophia to end up married to a disgusting older man whom she does not love, like the Marshallin had to at her age. She’s giving up love so that the person she loves can be happy and to change the fate of a young woman whom she knows nothing about. This act of selflessness is moving and sad, although the lovers are happy to finally be together. It’s a beautiful contrast that was executed perfectly.

Look and Look Again: Eating the Wall Street Journal–Pope L

When I first looked at this piece I found it very intriguing. What caught my eye was the pendulum looking object in the middle of the structure that for some reason reminded me of Miley Cyris’ “Wrecking Ball.” I also loved the paper mache effect and the way the newspaper overlapped. I didn’t even notice anything on the top of the structure. On my second look with the guide, I looked up and saw a toilet, and a bottle of ketchup, and flour, and a carton of milk. Now I was confused. Then I saw the TV in the background. At first I thought that maybe the whole structure was simply to symbolize that the world of business isn’t elite and that businessmen aren’t superior, which is why there was a toilet and other everyday items on top of the structure. Then I watched the video a bit close and the guide explained what the performance really was: A man eating the Wall Street Journal with ketchup and milk and regurgitating it every so often. Well. If I wasn’t already uncomfortable, I was now. The thought of someone damaging themselves like that makes me cringe, and watching someone swallow newspaper on screen makes me nauseous. I understand the concept and the profound meaning behind it now; I was right to an extent when I first looked at it, except this performer took it to a whole other level.

Music in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

There was, surprisingly, a lot of music in this show. In this rendition of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the lines that are usually spoken but written as a song were actually sung, which I thought added a lot to the performance. The fairies were played by children, so their voices were young and had a children choir sound. Their pieces were often sung from the balconies, which created an ethereal,above-our-heads feel. They were also dissonant, which made the sound otherworldly. Their were two boy soloists that sang over the choir. Boy soloists and choirs are often called “angel choirs” and are used to get that angelic sound.
These pieces were used to establish mood and vibe. Music was also used for humor. When the actors thought that Bottom was dead, they began singing a funny version of Amazing Grace with improv. This made the audience laugh and further convinced us of the silliness of the characters.

Costumes

The costumes in “Romeo and Juliet” played a very important role in establishing who each character was. Juliet, for example, always wore a white dress, which represents innocence and purity and youth, with black combat boots, insinuating that she is rebellious. Romeo wore a white v-neck shirt with a blazer, giving off a cool, young, hip vibe. Capulet wore a long, robe like suit jacket that was red and ornate, signifying both his rank and his old fashioned way of thinking. Lady Capulet wore a cheetah print outfit and a lot of pink, which I took to symbolize her desire to be young and reminded me of the mom’s we see in popular movies like “Mean Girls;” she just can’t relate to her daughter because she’s a little too caught up in herself. The costumes were not traditional or coordinated with each other in any way (they even crossed time periods) but I thought it worked.

Fall for Dance Story/Review

“Fall for Dance” was a unique show in that the program had a wide range of styles and stories. The first part was a tap dance section, where there was no music, only the tapping sound of the dancers feet. It started off with three dancers on blocks and expanded to a line of dancers. At one point there was almost a competition vibe on stage because of the call and response section between three soloists. Although there was no clear story told from expressions or acting, the tapping beat never dropped and each person was playing a unique character through the way he or she danced. It was astounding because at times there were up to twenty people on stage, yet there was never a stray tap. The second act we saw had used a kind of ballroom dance and more modern, at times Motown, music. This told the story of Othello, the Shakespeare tragedy. In the first part we see a happy couple, representing Othello and Desdemona. They look happy and romantic, and the music adds to this vibe. Then, we see Othello give her the handkerchief. She drops it later in the story and we see another dancer (Iago) pick it up. There is a scene where Both couples (Othello and Desdemona, Iago and his wife) are dancing, and it seems a little competitive. We also get a dance segment where we see Iago mistreating his wife, and Iago and Othello seemingly bonding before the handkerchief is revealed. The last scene is a harsh dance where we can clearly see that Othello has killed Desdemona. I thought that this was an interesting take on the story, however I did not enjoy it as much as the first piece. Contrasting to this section, the next was a calm modern ballet duet with a bass and piano duet. The piece was called “Brothers,” and both dancers were extremely masculine looking, however one was female. The dance also looked like a romantic one, so I’m curious as to what exact story it is telling. I love this dance because of the calm and romantic feel and the live duet happening behind the dancers, The last section was a portion of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” which at one point in history had been banned because of content. The portion we saw had harsh movements and seemed almost cult like. We saw a young woman being kidnapped for sacrifice and tortured an raped all through the dance movement. The music and sharp movement made this piece scary and unsettling. I though that it was very well done and an interesting way to end the program, since it was the oldest piece on there.

Woodstock Festival 1969

The first Woodstock Festival took place from April 15-18, 1969. It did not, in fact, take place in Woodstock. It took place in the town of Bethel. Woodstock was where the festival was supposed to be, but a permit to have the festival there was unattainable. The permit was secured in Bethel for $75,000. The name was Woodstock catchy and it stuck, even though the festival was not in that location. The Woodstock Festival took place after the Martin Luther King assassination and the summer of love and in the midst of the equality movement and the Vietnam War. Young people were rebelling with their sit ins at colleges and the like. This was the time of hippies and peace lovers and rock music.

Woodstock was one of the largest rock festivals at the time. The talents featured at the festival include Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and many other famous names. The turn out to the festival was huge, over 400,000 people showed up. One of the most remarkable things about the festival was that it was surprisingly peaceful for its size. There weren’t really any significant fights or breakouts. Woodstock changed popular music and pop culture forever simply by being a rock and peace concert, allowing people to live and be together in a peaceful way. It also changed the music industry by making rock music the more popular music and increasing the popularity for more artist collaboration festivals.

Here is a link to a video of Janis Joplin to give you a feel for the festival:

Art is quirky

I took the first photo after asking for permission from the artist. He was sitting, barefoot, on a bench near his artwork. He was chatting with a young couple about his work and showing them all of his paints. I had been looking at his artwork for a while; it was all so colorful and provoking. I especially liked the box that said “I think outside” on it and the “A better world” sign. He greeted me with a big smile and said “Why hello there!” I asked if I could take a photo for a school project. He said “Sure, you can even take the picture for your mom!”

The second photo is of an apartment window with lace curtains and a fire escape in front of it. The apartment is dirty gray stone with black accents. It is beautiful (especially the contrast between the dirty outside and the delicate lace curtains), but it is also ordinary. It is commonplace. It is very different from the colorful photo of the artist.