Going to see the Crucible

I recently went to go see the Crucible on Broadway with AES. I really enjoyed the (really long) show. It was interesting to watch because after reading the script you could relate to what you thought when you read the play to when you were sitting there watching it. The story of the Crucible was set during the late 1600s however, as the play was also written to be compared to more recent events in American history such as McCarthyism, the actors in the show wore timeless outfits; black and gray button down shirts and slacks and dresses. This made me think about how much the costumes in a show affect the way an audience watches the show. Because of the costumes in the Crucible I often thought about how one situation during the 1690s would play out if it was taking place during the 1950s (when McCarthyism took place). This made me think about the costumes that we wore for the Summer Arts Festival. The Wade in the Water dance outfit was white, loose and flowing. This made the outfits similar to water which connects to the song that goes along to this piece of choreography. The Hawaiian dance outfits were covered in tropical colors and designs which brings you back to where the choreography that we performed is from. The Crucible was a very interesting show to see and it could be related to many experiences, including the Summer Arts Festival.

The Summer Arts Festival

It was really exciting to show off all of the hard work that we had done at the Summer Arts Festival. It took a lot more preparation and practice to be ready for this performance than it took for the Winter Arts Festival because we were doing three dances instead of one which meant that there were more costumes that we had to change into in a very short amount of time and we had to remember more choreography and where to be at certain points during the performance. Even though the performance was complicated, I still had a lot of fun doing it. I most enjoyed performing the jazz dance because I liked the choreography the best and in general, I like the genre of jazz. I also really loved my small group's performance (which was within the jazz dance) because I loved that we got to show off our own choreography. It was great participating in the Summer Arts Festival because we got to show off a lot of what we have learned this year, I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did!

I started playing guitar when I was four or five and I continued getting lessons up until the end of last year. At the end of last year my guitar teacher, who I had been taught by since I was four or five, was taking a break from teaching because his wife was going to have a baby and he knew that he wasn't going to have very much time for lessons. Since I wasn't constantly learning something new and I have recently been busy with moving, I didn't have very much time to pick up my guitar, up until last week. Last weekend my guitar teacher and his wife came over to our house to see us (because we haven't been able to see each other in several months) and we got to meet his son. My guitar teacher said that he would be able to resume lessons again, now that he and his wife had their schedules figured out. This week I have started to learn a blue grass song. It's really fun to play because it's a fast song and it has a funny rhythm. It reminded m of how much I love playing the guitar. Over the years I have played all kinds of songs, gypsy jazz, blues, blue grass, and rock music. When I play different genres, they all make me feel a different emotion. Some of the songs I just want to tap my foot to. Other songs are the kind of songs I would dance to.  I have learned so much, playing the guitar, and I have loved almost every bit of it.



   

March Madness

Natalie Achonwa

Now that March Madness is starting up I've been thinking a lot about women's college basketball, especially who will win the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. Probably my favorite team; the UConn Huskies. UConn is most likely to win the Finals because they have won it the past five out of seven championships. However, UConn did lose their best three-point shooter Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis last year and one of their strong and tall shooters and rebounders Kiah Stokes. However this year the Huskies have stayed strong even without their now professional stars. UConn has won 29 straight games which makes them undefeated this year. However, even though they have been doing so well there is still the chance that they will have trouble beating Notre Dame's team who has always been the one team that has come the closest to beating UConn. Just a couple of years ago, the NCAA women's basketball finals were suppose to be one of the best match ups the two teams ever had, until Notre Dame's tallest and arguably best player Natalie Achonwa tore her ACL right before the Finals. Because of this, Notre Dame didn't have their best player while playing UConn and lost by a wide margin. Natalie Achonwa had to wait a full year before getting back on the court. In dance as well as basketball people's career's can be ruined because of one injury. This is a terrible thing but dancers (even though it might not be as desirable as dancing) can pursue different careers in the field of dance, therefore continuing to be connected to what they love.

The Mysterious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

               I recently went to see the Mysterious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The show is about a boy named Christopher who is accused of killing his neighbors dog with a pitch fork. Christopher is immediately blamed for the murder because he is the first person to find the dead dog and when the police arrive at the scene he hits one of the officers because the man tried to touch him, and Christopher didn't like it when people tried to touch him. However, the audience immediately know that Christopher is innocent despite what the police say and because of this Christopher decides that he will try and find out who killed the dog. During this mystery Christopher learns a lot about his neighborhood, family and who he is as a person. I can relate this show to dance because even though there were not actually any dance scenes, the people in the show held themselves in a way that really helped portray their character. Like an actor, a dancer has to hold themselves in a certain way to portray a certain feeling in a dance. For example, if a dancer is performing a sad dance it would be strange for them to walk on stage smiling whereas it would make sense if they walked on stage with a serious expression. In this show, the characters really helped show who they were through the way they held themselves. For example, Christopher's father worked long hours and was a single father taking care of his son all on his own. Because of this, Christopher's father often had slumped shoulders and walked in a very slow tired way which really gave you an idea of how tough his life was. Another character who showed who they were through their body language was Christopher's neighbor who's dog was killed. Christopher's neighbor was a very tightly wound angry women and even when she wasn't talking, you could see these things about her because she moved in a very swift and uptight fashion. The actors all held themselves in a way that really portrayed their character and because of this "The Mysterious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" was a really good show.

My Halloween

For the past six years instead of spending Halloween night trick or treating, I have been in a big Halloween show that happens across the street from my house. This year because "Alice in Wonderland" (the book) has been published for 150 years, the guy writing the Halloween show decided to name it "Malice in Underland". The show did not stick with the original story of "Alice in Wonderland" in a very direct way. The show was about a girl named Alice in the 1800's who was very sick and after trying all kinds of medicines, Alice's doctor inferred that the little girl wasn't going to live for much longer. The only thing the doctor could do was give her something to keep all her pain away and go to sleep. Alice falls asleep and has a very strange dream that she is in her cat Chesire's body. Alice is there along with her stuffed teddy bear and her rag doll, both of which can talk, she learns from them that she is in "Underland" (Chesire's guts) and Chesire is ill, he has a parasite eating his brain. Alice's rag doll explains to her that she can help defeat the parasite so that Chesire can be happy and healthy again. On Alice's journey to Chesire's brain Alice gets captured by the Queen of Hearts which appears in the form of one of her dolls, and she is freed by a General who disagreed with things that the Queen of Hearts was doing.  The General appeared in the form of one of Alice's other dolls. The General accompanied Alice's rag doll friend and Alice to Chesire's brain. When the trio gets to the brain they find the parasite. The parasite takes the form of Alice's evil neighbor. After a fight between Alice's trio and the parasite and the final destruction of the parasite by Chesire's body's white blood cells, Alice is badly wounded. However at the fights end Alice is offered the chance to drink a potion that will take her back to reality. Alice drinks the potion and when she wakes up she finds that she no longer is sick, her cat Chesire is fine and that all her dolls are back to their normal size.  The End.  The show didn't have any prepared choreography but the man who played the rag doll held his body in a limp way and the General held her body in a very stiff and upright way, when she walked on stage all of her movements were very stiff and sharp. I bring this last part up because it reminded me of how a dancer holds their body when they are dancing, depending on the choreography they might hold their body stiff and straight, or they might be loose and flexible.

     When I was in pre-k and kindergarten I did this dance program at Mark Morris. At first I really liked it, it was modern dance and I remember really loving the recital that we did at the end of the program. Mikala (my sister) and I loved it so much that our mom signed us up for another set of classes. However, after a couple of classes I started to not enjoy the class as much as I had before. I don't even remember why exactly I stopped enjoying it, maybe it was because it was after school and I was tired or maybe I just didn't enjoy what I was learning but I ended up hating the class and when it was over my mom didn't sign me up for more. Slowly I started to enjoy dancing again. I loved dancing at people's weddings and just dancing around with my sister. In my elementary school we did have a dance program but it wasn't that big so not up until middle school did I really do dance again. Last year and this year I have really enjoyed all the dances that we have done and I'm excited to learn more.                                      

                                                   
Mikala and I on the 
roof of Mark Morris