When I first began watching Carmen, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it because I’ve never seen an opera before. However, once I was five minutes into it I realized that I was actually really enjoying it. I really admired how effortless and casual the cast made everything look, even though every stage movement is planned and choreographed. I think the reason why I really enjoyed seeing all the stage movements was because it reminded me of when I used to dance. My dance teacher always told us that our transitions had to be smooth and look effortless, but we actually spent days rehearsing them. I was also hesitant how I would feel about many people singing the same thing at once, especially when they lyrics are about everyday things. The first time I saw this was when a group of kids sang about the soldiers coming into town. I got really happy seeing the kids sing and dance because they showed so much talent at such a young age. I ended up not really pay attention to the fact that it’s not normal to sing and dance in unison. I also enjoyed seeing and hearing the factory girls come out and sing in unison. The reason why I enjoyed it was because, once again, they made it seem so effortless and casual that it just seemed normal. Eventually, the singing did get harder to follow because the actors were stretching out words that really didn’t have any special meaning to the sentence. Despite the singing getting a little boring, I did enjoy Carmen overall and I really respect the actors for making their work so effortless.
The two images I chose show two of Singh’s elements: human presence and capacious content. The first image show both of these elements. The wide picture shows the spacious relationship between the two characters. The characters in the background also show the element of human presence. Singh liked to take pictures that showed everyday moments that are not necessarily especial. The men in the background having casual talk shows this type of moment as well. The second image shows human presence. This picture was taken after the factory girls got out of work. While the men were singing to them, the girls proceeded to do things that one normally does after getting out of work, like yawn.
