https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlTxDhwhm64

Hey guys! Here’s our final project video.

Of all the Macaulay events that I have gone to, this one was by far my favorite. Professor Ugoretz was right when he said that we would definitely be surprised. The plot twist was perfect and everything that led up to it in the beginning helped connect the beginning to the end.

I especially liked the way the creators of the production made it have an actual message. Most of the plays and performances that I have watched never really had such an apparent theme. The play was meant to “expose some of the most pressing issues facing members of the LGBT community today.” I would not have to read the various handouts I was given upon entering the theater to figure that out. Just by watching the first half of the play it was easy to see just how the plot related to today’s issues in the LGBT community. I think that having a message that clearly intertwines itself into a story is important. That way, whoever is watching would know what the writers are trying to tell them. If there was social commentary involved in Carmen, I most certainly did not get it. However, I understood what the writers were targeting in this production. This is a major plus for the play.

Another thing I enjoyed about this play was the set and the entire environment. The way they were able to perform an entire play with just the same set was remarkable. I also liked how the theater was small. It made the performance feel like it was more “in your face” than anything I have ever seen before. It definitely makes the writers’ purpose much easier to convey. It also makes you invest more into the actual performance. The small area makes you stop thinking about whatever it is that you were thinking about and focus exclusively on the performance. Even the simplicity of the set helps you concentrate. Everything about the performance was critical and meshed well with everything else. I enjoyed this performance immensely.

I may not be an expert in the field of classical music, but I know I heard brilliance at Carnegie Hall. It was truly amazing, watching some of the world’s greatest instrumentalists come together to perform compositions of Vivaldi. Since I’m not familiar with classical music at all, it was difficult for me to know when the pieces were finished. It was also difficult to determine what season corresponded to each part in the third performance. However, the use of chords and chordal progressions helped me to figure out the emotions that were trying to be evoked by each instrumentalist.

I didn’t really enjoy the harpsichord solos. To me they seemed to be misplaced, or just unnecessary. It reminded me of how a child sometimes enters an intense scene of adults. The adults are extremely tense and something serious is about to happen. But then, a child somehow manages to come in between the adults and just causes some more problems. I thought the harpsichord could have been done away with. It wasn’t absolutely necessary. It broke the bond that was created by the virtuosi during the performance.

What was truly amazing was the movements that came with the people playing the stringed instruments. Each person had a distinct movement, but each distinct movement was similar to everyone’s around that person. This made it seem like a performance as well. It contributed to the mood and tempo of the pieces. When things got tense, fast, sharp movements were done. When things got playful, bouncy movements were done. And when things were soothing, large strokes by the bow were used, soothing the audience. I truly enjoyed this trip mainly for the way the violinists were able to create such a different atmosphere in the hall. They essentially created an illusion, bringing us into the worlds of some of the greatest composers of all time.

If there is any type of cuisine I am familiar with, I am certain that it is not Jewish cuisine.

Walking into Symphony Space, I became extremely excited. The building seemed small, but it helped create an intimate environment. The mood is set as soon as you walk through the doors. It was not a place that sold out crowds to thousands of people, it was meant to convey important information to the select few that found Jewish food interesting. Sadly, I was not one of those people. As soon as the food talk began, I was able to follow along with what the historian was saying. She was analyzing a photograph taken years ago. That specific part was easy to understand. However, everything after that confused me. I was lost less than halfway through the program. I think this is because Symphony Space expects only well-educated groups to come and sit through their events. I’m sure that if I were Jewish, or at least ate Jewish food sparingly, I would have understood what was going on more.

1. Where does art begin? Since the emotions that are present before you view an artwork heavily influence what you think about that artwork, does the art experience begin with the journey you take to see the artwork?

2. Can something that doesn’t evoke an emotion be art? If it doesn’t change the way you act, think or feel, can it be considered art? Does blank emotion count as type of emotion?

Like the ballet, this seemed to be a place for the high class who had time to relax. But as soon as Carmen started, I knew I was wrong. It was a place for everyone, a place for people to enjoy the operas of the world. It was a place where the cultures of multiple countries came together and became a part of American culture.

The story of Carmen was quite spectacular. As was the character development. Each person had a specific type of clothing that was chosen the show aspects of their role that wouldn’t be seen if they were wearing something else. The contrast of Carmen’s dress with the dresses of the cigarette girls was chosen to show that Carmen wasn’t just a pretty cigarette girl. She was the cigarette girl. She was the one that everyone wanted and the one that all the guys fell for. Even Don José, who was at first was in love with Michaela, fell for Carmen as soon as she met him. This made me slightly angry. How at first Don José proclaimed that he loved Michaela, he wouldn’t do anything against his mother’s wishes. But then as soon as Carmen comes, all those values go down the drain. I was told later that the red crevice that was present in the curtain was also present in the dress of Carmen. I don’t know if it carried a meaning but to me it felt as if Carmen was still there when the act was over and the curtain was closed. When the dancers came out of the curtain, it was like they came out of Carmen. It was as if they were what was inside of Carmen and they were waiting to come out. The dancers could have been the inner emotions of Carmen and they could have foretold what was going to happen in the life of Carmen.

Watching people perform in the ballet made me question a force that has been present in all our lives since birth- and before birth, gravity. I found it amazing how they were able to create the illusion of levitation when I’m sure that they were all human. When I entered the auditorium, everything seemed extremely high-class. It felt as if whatever went on in the theatre would be something that only the rich and wealthy of America would watch. Even the slightest movements from a person that looked as if they earned less money than one of the upperclass would warrant an apparent gesture to stop breathing. The first act was what I was expecting for the whole ballet performance. I believed that it would be a set of performers who danced to soothing music and forced the people to forge a story of what was going on. But then the music helped immensely with the first act. The use of different chords and different structural composition assisted the emotions that were supposed to be experienced with each act. Everything fell into place.

The second act was completely different. The costumes weren’t the stereotypical ballet costumes that I was aware of. And the stage was most certainly not a blank wall that had nothing to do with the story. This time, the performers were dressed in garb that accurately depicted the type of people they were in the performance. It assisted with character development. By wearing certain types of clothing, it made it easier to figure out what each person was and how that helped determine what they were doing in the story. The set also helped. It gave a sense of eeriness that something has gone awry. And since it was set in the night, it was made easy to tell that something bad was happening.

The third act was something I wouldn’t have expected if the person to my right hadn’t told me that I would like the last act the best. Like the second act, the third one had a set and clothing that helped it immensely. The sailor outfits created a sense of playfulness that helped the story. It made it more enjoyable. The bar made it seem like everything was playful. There was nothing serious going on. And ANYTHING could happen. But no matter what happened, the story was supposed to be funny and enjoyable. I liked this act the best.

As soon as I got onto the streets of New York City, I saw one thing everywhere. It was the Freedom Tower and it could be seen in the sky wherever I was that day. It basically followed me as I went towards the memorial and as I left the memorial. It was like a memory that could never be forgotten, a memory that was always just there. The 9/11 memorial was the largest memorial site that I have ever been to. The majority of memorial sites that I have visited ended up being no larger than an average sized living room, and objects were randomly scattered about. The 9/11 memorial was well organized and executed. Everything that was in it had a meaning that could be understood by anyone who ever heard of 9/11. When I walked into the memorial site, from the city streets, I noticed that all the noise of the city just vanished. As soon as you enter the premises of the memorial, the only sound you really hear is the sound of the water flowing into the earth. It created an environment that promoted concentration and serenity. Wherever you looked, you see massive skyscrapers that would only permit you to see the different landmarks in the memorial. Once you got inside the memorial, there was no getting out- unless you physically left the memorial.

You can’t compare the 9/11 memorial to the Vietnam War Memorial. The each provide two completely different atmospheres that cannot work together. The Vietnam memorial promotes a sense of struggle. No sound is lost from the outside world. The lighting was extremely dim due to the two buildings that surround the memorial. The letters on the blocks were extremely tiny. Whoever designed the memorial wanted to make sure that whoever read the memorial would struggle and feel extremely uncomfortable just as the soldiers did during the war.

“If you didn’t take the picture, you weren’t there.”

Garry took photographs like he was in the moment he captured. He didn’t take it as if he wanted to keep it with him for the rest of his life; he took the picture as if he wanted to remember the emotions he experienced. The majority of Garry’s pictures showed this. They weren’t just pictures of random events, they were pictures of everything. All his photos had elements of suspense, clarity, impending doom, serenity and  dishevelment. All of these emotions came together to create each and every photo that he took. The black and white he used also helped. The black and white kept everything simple, You look at one point of the picture, and it is the focal point. That helped his photographs immensely. Had they been color photos, he wouldn’t be able to convey the same emotions.

The exhibit was a good experience. The way Winograd was able to recreate his experiences made you feel like you were there with him. This was probably why he said the quote from the beginning, to reassure us that we weren’t actually there. Some of his images weren’t as emotional as others. I thought that some of the images were stuck in the exhibit just to fill up space, but the photographs that had emotion were truly breathtaking. One of the photographs that I personally enjoyed was the one photo he had of a city. He most likely took the photo from a helicopter, but it was amazing. The black and white of that photo helped bring out the contrast between the ocean and the companies situated along the oceanside. Other than that photo, there were a couple of other ones that I like just as much.

Blending in with the crowd isn’t always good– especially if you want to be known, or in this case, let your master be known. Lecrae is a hip-hop artist that, in this song, raps about the necessity of having someone with you. The true beauty of this song comes with its dual nature. Since Lecrae is a rapper who happens to rap about his faith, each verse is tied to his spiritual life. Anomaly is the name of the album that this song is from and I encourage all of you to go and listen.