2013 Arts in the City

Choreography on Midsummer Night’s Dream

Duirng this play, as oppose to any other play that we’ve gone to watch, the choreography and movement of the many characters was especially important. What I noticed about the characters was that their choreography almost indicated their mood or role in the play. For example, Puck’s sporadic and flexible movement indicated to viewers that her main role was to be a form of comedic relief. Because she moved so fluidly, you could tell that she was always cheerful and giddy. I found this type of choreography to be consistent with most characters. Another example is when Lysander and Demetrius are fighting over the love of Helena. They’re movements were very fierce and aggressive and indicated their passionate love for Helena as well as their anger towards each other for wanting to pursue the same woman.

The choreography really helped me to understand the play better mainly because I had never read the play before. I also really enjoyed how the children and their choreography was utilized. There were many points throughout the performance where the children were used as a part of the scenery because of how they were moving. For instance, when Demtrius and Helena are running through the forest, the kids were rolling on the floor beneath them. This was supposed to be seen as logs that Lysander and Helena were running after.

The choreography was very important to understand different scenes as well. One scene that may have been interpreted different had it not been for the choreography was when the Lord of Shadows and Puck are on the stage but are supposed to be viewed as “invisible.” Lysander is professing his love for Helena while Puck and the lord of Shadows are making sly, discrete movements behind the bamboo sticks that represent the forest scenery. Had the lord of shadows and Puck been moving normally then the audience may receive the impression that they are just as visible as Lysander and Helena. Choreography played a very important role in the play being viewed as a fluid yet refined work of art. I thought the director did an amazing job in every minute detail of the characters’ movements.

Grey Gallery at NYU

I was very disappointed to have to view these pieces of artwork online as oppose to having viewed them firsthand. The further I looked into these vibrant pieces, the more upset I became that I could not actually attend the tour and witness them in person. Both Modern Iranian Art and Radical Presence had pieces that were very exquisite as well as eye opening. I especially enjoyed looking through the different pieces in Radical Presence because they were all commenting on the larger social issue of racism. One of the most raw and interesting pieces I thought was Pretending to be Rock by Sherman Fleming. When I watched the video portraying Fleming and the woman hanging in front of him, I was in awe. Questions like “how could this be art?” started swirling around in my head but our in class conversation later that day helped me to realize just how profound this piece of work was.

Fleming was trying to convey the torture and agony of slaves that found themselves going through this type of torture on a daily basis. Fleming’s female collaborator was used to represent the superiority of whites during the time of racism. Although this display of self harm may seem very grotesque at first glance, it has so much meaning that it evolved into one of my favorite works in Radical Presence.

In the Modern Iranian Art exhibit, one of my favorite pieces was that of Sohrab Sepehri. A noted printmaker, poet and artist, Sepehri depicts a scene from his hometown in his piece labeled Trees with Figure. This piece automatically captured my attention. The juxtaposition between the colorful fruits and leaves located at the top of the tree with the somber and arid looking atmosphere was very perplexing to me. I stared at longer and longer and I began to come to a conclusion about what Sepehri was trying to show. He was trying to indicate to viewers that something, in and of itself, may seem very ravaged but every person finds beauty in a unique way. Sepehri finds beauty in his hometown in a way that no one else might and that symbolizes the animated fruit and leaves at the top of the tree. This painting really supports the cliché “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Someone may not even find a moment of beauty in that which you find absolutely mesmerizing. Sepehri’s painting was one of my favorites in the Modern Iranian Art exhibit because it fused elements of Iranian art with modern art that many viewers would find relatable. I wish I had been able to see many of these pieces in person because viewing them electronically does not do justice to the meticulous attention to every detail and every brushstroke.

Der Rosenkavalier

This was my first time watching an opera and I really was grateful to have seen such an involved work. The interaction between the different characters and singers definitely played an important role in how the audience viewed certain scenes as well as the emotions that were being conveyed. In the first scene, when the curtain rises on Octavian and Princess von Werdenberg, you can see their intimate yet secretive relationship because of how they are on the bed and very very close to each other. The secretness of their relationship is also portrayed when he is told to hide behind the bed and then he forgets his sword and then goes back to the bad and you can see worry in her face. Although, at the angle I was sitting, it was a bit difficult to view every move that was made by the characters, it was clear the conscious choices made by the singers played a role in conveying a particular mood or feeling to the audience.

Another scene where the interaction of the characters was important was when the Notary first entered along with a multitude of different characters. I thought that because of the many characters all having their own individual role in that scene in the context of the whole stage showed just how prestigious this family was. So many people in one room indicated that they were socialites and had many people attending to their tasks. This scene was almost an example of a lack of interaction between the characters that helped  the audience to see the elite privileged life of the family we will be viewing for the remainder of the play.

I enjoyed watching the opera although we had very high seats. I think my first exposure to the opera was a very good one and the subtitles that were provided to the audience greatly helped me to understand the opera scene by scene.

Romeo and Juliet Scene

I chose to examine Act 3, Scene 3 specifically where Friar Lawrence is reprimanding Romeo for all of his foolishness up until this point in the play. When I first read the scene, I imagined Friar Lawrence to be playing the fatherly figure that Romeo really lacked throughout the entire play. I also imagined the Friar’s tone to be stern and instructive. While watching the play, this was exactly how the lines were interpreted. Romeo began preaching to Friar Lawrence his love for Juliet and that without her, his life was not worth living. Immediately, Friar Lawrence tries to show Romeo how foolish he is being.

One line in particular from my section that I was really intrigued to see interpreted was when Friar Lawrence says “Fie, fie, thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit // Which, like a usurer, abound’st in all // And usest none in that true use indeed.” Watching these lines were very different than just reading them. When these lines were played out, Friar Lawrence began to shift his tone a little from reprimanding to caring and comforting. This made sense to me because Friar Lawrence doesn’t want to just insult Romeo. He genuinely wants Romeo to understand that this is his first love and potentially his first heartbreak. His life will go on and that he should not waste the potential that he has in life. I enjoyed watching the play very much and it helped me to understand the lines that I chose so much more.

Assassination of Robert Kennedy

The assassination of Robert Kennedy was a momentous event in the history of our country. 5 years after the death of our beloved President JFK, Senator Robert Kennedy was also murdered. Robert Kennedy was a Senator from our very own New York and was elected to the Senate after retiring as the Attorney General of the United States. Right before his death, Robert Kennedy had won the democratic presidential primary and was now a contender for the presidency just like his brother John Frank Kennedy.

Prior to Robert Kennedy’s death, Secret Service protection was not mandated to protect Senators and even presidential candidates. Robert Kennedy’s death set the precedent for all major political figures to be protected by the professional security team that is the Secret Service. Although many conspiracy theories arise over the true killer of Robert Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian/Jordanian immigrant is serving a life sentence for being convicted in the murder of Robert Kennedy.

A brief summary of the event as well as consequences of his death are retold in the documentary below. Important parts to note are from 0:00 to 0:31 and 1:05 – 1:33.

Art is a Story

Deciding to continue my theme of “Art is a Story,” I took two pictures at the highline depicting this description of art. My first picture shows the main sitting area of the highline and shows families and friends sitting and discussing their lives, eating lunch or even just lounging. It made me realize the uncountable number of stories that each person sitting there had. All the conversations and all the laughs were witnessed by this bench showing why this piece of artwork has so many stories behind it. On the contrary, the second picture was a part of the park that was closed off to all visitors. The enclosed shrubbery lacks any sort of story behind it because it was closed off to the general public and not a single person was given the oppurtunity to give this area of the park any sort of story.