Art & Authenticy

It seemed like all the dances were telling a story. However, I didn’t quite understand any of them other than the second one because of the title of the dance. To me, the other three dances were hard to understand and hard to follow the story behind the dancing. However, the second one just seemed like they were animals and what they were doing in a usual day. There was no need to follow anything because it was more like activities rather than a story. Other than the hard to understand part, the dancing was amazing. What they were best at was how precise the dancing was and how together they all were. It was a fun show to watch but I wished they explained to us the meaning behind each dance beforehand.

I never would have guessed that music from the 1970’s would seem so similar to music that is played on the radio today. Listening to the songs in the MOMA made me feel as though I was back at home, listening to my little sister blasting music from her room.

One of the artists that sound just like those of today are the Ramones. When I first saw their album photo, I was skeptical. They were four guys with long hair and it kind of looked a little too punk rock for me. But I still decided to give them a chance. There were only two songs listed for them, “Blitzkrieg Pop” and “Beat on the Brat.” Out of the two, my favorite one was Blitzkrieg Pop. It was really upbeat and lively and woke me up. I like it when the music I listen to has an effect on me. The rhythm was also really catchy.

Joseph O’Connor’s reading and enthusiasm came as a surprise. When I first found out that it would be a poetry reading, I must admit, I was not excited. Poetry has always been a writing form that made almost no sense to me. The only poems I understood were the simple ones with vivid descriptions. I don’t understand those about hidden meanings that require the reader to search their own lives to make a connection. Hearing that O’Connor is an acclaimed poet, that was the first thing that came to mind. Surprisingly, he was not confusing or boring at all.

I really enjoyed his poem about the World Trade Center. His feelings about that day were clearly conveyed and didn’t require the audience to search and search. Later on he even created a rap and presented it. O’Connor was a complete opposite of what I expected when I first walked into that huge room. He was definitely a success and I can’t wait to hear more poems written by him.

The Barber of Seville was actually funny.

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There Are No Happy Endings

“THERE”, “ARE”, “NO”, “HAPPY”, “ENDINGS.” These words are shown repetitively in one of the videos in the Brooklyn Museum’s current exhibition, “Reflections on the Electric Mirror: New Feminist Video.” As a representation of feminism, the sentence made little sense to me when I saw it ( and doesn’t make any more sense now), but managed to stay in my mind and be the first images to pop up in my head whenever I hear or think about feminism. Maybe it’s because of the absolute and strong message contained in the short, curt sentence. Maybe on some levels, I do agree with what is said. The feminist movements did bring more freedom to woman in some fields but also created new dilemmas for them in other areas. Women may have become more involved in the workplace, but glass ceilings still exist in many industries. Society have accepted the idea of women going to school and pursuing a career, but they are still often expected to spend the majority of their married life taking care of the house and the children.

In a sense, none of the feminist movements had a happy ending. But I do not believe that there are no happy ending, because I’d rather see the various feminist movements as parts of one continuing process that will gradually make the world a fairer place for woman even though the perfect world with total equality between the sexes do not exist.

Danzy Senna is an interesting lady to say the least. Hearing her read about her family was certainly unique. When she talked about her family, I started thinking about mine. Granted there aren’t as many overt issues as with hers, I can still appreciate and accept the idea that no family is perfect.

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This exhibit actually reminded me of our trip to the ICP. When you look at each piece individually it seems to have little coherence, but together it is an exhibition of freedom and equality. While some of the films made no impression, the overall significance was deep. I believe having many different videos playing was an effective tool because it showed the many sides and viewpoints of real life feminists. I was surprised that this exhibit came into existence. Many are still debating whether or not there is a third wave of feminism, if there is, this is a welcome addition and tool in the fight.

I had never seen ballet before and so I was extremely excited over the prospect of witnessing it for the first time. Unfortunately it was a dampener over my high hopes. Although I got a basic idea about what ballet is, I could not understand the meaning behind the dances that were performed that day. I Liked the harmony and the colors of the costumes of the first dance Les Biches but other than that it was really hard to understand the purpose behind the dance until i read the information booklet. As for the second one Afternoon of a Faun, there was no way I could have imagines them to be a pair of animals. I enjoyed the third one Four Bagatelles as it showed Ballet in it’s true form – simple and uncomplicated – I did not have to force myself to look for a story behind the dance. I liked the beauty of simple and pure dance form. A for the last one Grand duo it left me speechless. The energy and the costumes were admirable, but it was simply too long and again it left me wondering over the meaning behind the dance.

Cheap tickets and ballet shoes: two things I was never a fan of (that’s a joke, guys). Ballet is pretty intimidating though, probably because I can’t walk in ballet shoes, nevermind dance in them. The Fall for Dance began with a ballet number and was soon followed by some African-jazz dancing. The animals, as I correctly perceived them to be, danced so “animal-like” that it was easily noticeable that they were in the jungle. The costumes didn’t help one bit, it was the way the dancers interacted with one another, the way they interacted on one another. Too bad I couldn’t get up and jump and down like them; instead, I had to sit down and watch the rest of the performances. The rest of the performance was a fail for me. It really needed a translator on stage telling the audience what they wanted us to believe, was going on.

As I watched through the short film, I was intrigued because this film felt very knew to me as the mother starts the film with a fight with another to protect her children. Even though she did not have much, was a single mother, she supported her children no matter what happened. It was interesting how the priority of her children was always first no matter what happened and no matter how harsh she would seem to treat them. The wasp seemed to be more beneficial than harmful as it reminded the family of how close they were. It makes me think about the extent to which parents would protect their children and watch out for them. Through watching these short films, I realized that they all showed a message in such a short time.