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Writing this cultural passport portfolio was a truly gratifying experience. I got to document my personal growth from the beginning to the end of my first semester of college. In the beginning, I felt like I was being dragged kicking and screaming, and it was reflected in my writing. Towards the end of the semester, I began to realize the significance of the cultural passport and of art as a whole, and that too was reflected in my writing.
In the past four months, I have seen and experienced more art as well as varieties of art than I have seen in my past eighteen years. There is a little bit of wordplay in that statement. I have attended more art displays in my past eighteen years, but I have SEEN more in the past four months.
In the past, I would go somewhere and take in the art at face value if at all. It just didn’t interest me past the physical realm of what it was and how it looked. If I disagreed or disliked something, it had no chance, and now, that has all changed.
I can now go to any show, exhibit, or presentation with an open mind and an appreciation. If I enjoy something, that’s great. If I do not, I now have the capacity to appreciate it anyway, for the effort put into it and its message. I can now see the good in something I do not like. “Why do other people like this form of art?”
I have changed my writing style and my capacity as a writer. I can speak with a voice worth listening to because I look at something on several levels instead of just one. I can write more eloquently and passionately because I appreciate everything I see whether I enjoy it or not. Once again, I started out kicking and screaming, but it was all for the best and a great start to college and my love of life as a whole. In other words, I am “in touch,” now. Thank you, Professor Tenneriello.
“Why didn’t I think of that,” I had the urge to ask myself. It was the beginning of October 2008 and my cultural passport assignment was due. I was drawing a blank as to where I should go to complete it. My professor recommended that I take a look at the tree houses at Madison Square Park and that was that. The park was only a couple of blocks away, and I couple get a one thousand calorie Chipotle burrito along the way. I could kill two birds with one stone!
Speaking with full honesty and humility, in high school, I had rarely if ever put real thought into any school work that was assigned. They were just assignments, busy work that had to get done so I could get to what I really liked to do, train. I wasn’t a dumb jock by any means. It’s just that I coasted through high school, relatively unchallenged and unabsorbed in the work.
Revelation: When you are absorbed and enjoy your work, it’s not really work.
I showed up at Madison Square Park without any significant expectations. Art was art, which was assigned work, which was a pain. Oh, how my opinions changed. The park was smaller than a city block, so the exhibit should have been easy to find, but it wasn’t. It frustrated me at first and I eventually gave up looking around. Defeated, I sat down on a bench and closed my eyes. It was a park after all so why not relax and take a few deep breaths?
I opened my eyes again as I was looking at the sky and saw them, the tree houses that is. Even though my professor clearly called the exhibit here “The Tree Houses,” it had never crossed my mind to look up and find them. I guess I hadn’t been much of a person for scenery. It used to be all business, “Get this done.”
Pleasantly surprised, I began taking photos of the Tree Houses. Oh, how simple and unique they were. “Why didn’t I think of that?” I felt like quite the intellectual college student, standing there with illuminated eyes, taking in the details of Tadashi Kawamata’s public art. I felt giddy inside and was wondering what people were thinking of this so-called “intellectual,” photographing the trees.
The beautiful thing was that before I noticed, it didn’t look like anyone else noticed. When I began taking photos, people must have been wondering what I was doing and looked up. That was the point of Kawamata’s showcase. It is there for you to discover. It is up to the individual whether or not to go out searching. Never before was that so apparent.
That day helped change my attitudes towards art and even the way I think. It was apparent during my second cultural passport voyage.
“I wonder what he has to say,” I was asking myself before the beginning of a group conversation with David Holbrooke. It was only a few days after the Tree Houses epiphany and I was ready to listen and learn. I was not there to “just get it done,” like before.
Holbrooke was an imposing figure. Standing at over six foot four, he commanded the group’s collective attention. Not knowing much about what goes into the production of film, other than it was surely not easy, I was eager to learn about it for the sake of intellectual curiosity, even if I was never going to get into the business of film making.
Mr. Holbrooke provided commentary on several films, but the one that stood out to me was Hard As Nails. It presented a unique challenge for the director.
Holbrooke noted that Hard As Nails was the most difficult project he ever did because he did not agree with anything the person he was documenting did or believed in. He just let his subject “do his thing,” and the result was a fantastic look into extreme Christianity. In doing so, Holbrooke taught me a fundamental lesson of art. I will not like or agree with everything I see or hear, and that is okay. It does not hinder the value of that art or opinion.
I could see that not everyone in the room picked up on this insight. A lot of people were openly appalled by the documentary’s display of the extremes of Christianity. Some were angry and some were giggling, and they were missing the point. The point it that it’s okay to experience new things and disagree. Differing viewpoints are what drive intellect forward. They are another means of leaving one’s comfort zone to experience a spot of personal growth.
Revelation: The take home message of this is that to experience growth, a person needs to leave his comfort zone and see the world. The goal should be to expand one’s comfort zone as far as possible, and that is what I learned from my Cultural Passport project.
I began my Cultural Passport journey at the Daryl Roth Theater in Union Square. Honestly, I really didn’t want to be there. I could have thought of at least ten other places that I’d have rather been that night. I mean, “Fuerzabruta” didn’t really strike me as the name of something that a guy like me would enjoy. Why should I care about some no-name director’s piece when even to this day I have yet to see “The Dark Knight?” It’s safe to say that I walked into the performance a bit skeptical. I had never experienced theater before that point, so I didn’t exactly know what to expect.
The smell of cheap fog greeted me as soon as I stepped into the room where the performance was being held; it was the kind of fog that people use at Halloween parties, so I was a bit put off towards the quality of special effects that the director chose to use in this piece. The first segment of the piece was confusing, and I began to get confused about what the director was aiming at in creating this piece. The actors really didn’t communicate with one another, and the scenes were in no way placed in any particular order.
I don’t exactly know how, but at some point during the performance, something seemed to click for me, and I began to get into the actors, and what they were doing. I closed my eyes and let the music take me away. One second, my foot started tapping, and the next second my entire body was moving to the music. My body became relaxed, and I let myself become part of the performance. I was expressing myself through my movements, which is what I believe the director had in mind. He wanted his audience to be able to rid themselves of the troubles they faced outside the doors of the Daryl Roth Theater. He wanted them to become part of his creation; a living, breathing, moving, swaying entity, his masterpiece. After that experience, I became quite turned on to all forms of performance. I tried to be as open minded as possible. I even took some time to watch some of the performers around my neighborhood take to the streets and do their thing.
What brought me to Union Square again in December, was a theatrical performance called “Break Out,” which played at the Union Square Theater, conveniently located right next to the Daryl Roth Theater, where “Fuerzabruta” was playing. This time, it wasn’t really the effects that put me off; it was the size of the theater. “Fuerzabruta” took place in a very large standing area, where there was enough room for a decent sized stage, and an audience to surround the performers. “Break Out” took place on a stage with a very small audience watching the performers. Again, I had let my senses create negative preconceptions about a piece of art before I had actually gotten the chance to fully experience it.
I actually enjoyed the piece very much. Break-dancing was always something that I wished I could do, and I would always enjoy watching b-boys break-dance at competitions around my area. I particularly enjoyed how the director made this piece a comedy, and was able to incorporate break-dancing, and beat-boxing throughout the plot. Yet again, I found that my senses misled me in thinking that I would dislike a play based on such minute details. In actuality, the small theater space created a much more intimate setting, which made interaction between the cast and the audience much more enjoyable.
My Cultural Passport Journey this semester has truly been a mind-blowing experience. I have never in my life willingly exposed myself to new forms of thought or expression because it was never necessary for me to do so. I saw the world through one perspective, and there was no reason for me to try and understand things any other way. My journey has helped me to change my ignorant views about people, and their reasons for doing things. I have become much more open-minded, and have found a new passion in modern theater and expression.
Not only have I become a more culturally enriched individual, I have taken part in the evolution of art in the modern world. Things have come very far since classical opera, or Shakespearian dramas at the Globe Theater. Today, one doesn’t even need to utter a single word to portray a powerful message to an audience. I have learned that through actions alone, one can change the views of an individual entirely. My Cultural Passport Journey has helped me acquire a new level of respect for theater, and on a larger scale, art altogether. I am now able to look at a piece and ask: “Why?” But more importantly, I am able to look new challenges dead in the face and simply say: “Yes.”
Broadway: Legally Blonde Musical
The dazzling glittered pink Delta Nu necklace stitched onto the opening curtain foreshadows the tone of Jerry Mitchells’ musical version of the 2001 hit movie and novel by Heather Hach. The story originated as a fictional account of a girl driven to success by love, but transitioned into a “chick flick” on Broadway. From the perspective of a college male, I felt emasculated by the intro song of the show.
The show started by a cheerful song elucidating the fact that Elle Woods, played by Becky Gulsvig, is getting engaged. Directly quoted, the lyrics of the song satire the typical wealthy high school girl, “Omigod You Guys!, Omigod!, Elle is getting engaged!!!!!” In the restaurant, with potential fiancé, Warner, she gets horrifically heart-broken as he breaks up with her instead of proposing.
The following scenes were not as profoundly feminine and followed the outline of the novel. Several parts that made me reminisce scenes from the movie made the show more enjoyable than the singing and dancing of the actors could.
After hearing the musical number, “Delta Nu Nu Nu,” my vision of a sorority has drastically detracted. Elle, and her sorority sisters, Serena, Margot, and Pilar illustrate a vivid image of “overjoyed girliness.” Although I see this as a negative contribution to the show, it adds fun and energy, while complementing the fact that she is a blonde fun girl in Harvard Law.
Compared to more serious, philosophical plays, Legally Blonde allowed me to just view an entertaining play without much pondering or looking for deeper meanings. Even though I fully believe in my criticism, I enjoyed the show.
After a 1.5 year run in the heart of Broadway, Times Square, the show will host its final performance on October 19, 2008.
Rhythmic Virtuosity and Glamorous Comedy Come Together in Harmony
Walking down the aisle to the very first row of the theatre felt as if I was walking towards a DJ since the stage was set up to resemble a club. There were blacklights suspended from the ceiling and house music playing with a good amount of bass in the background.
The Asian performers sprinted onto the stage with unlimited energy. This introductory display gave us a taste of how skilled each performer was. There were 11 males and 3 females.
The next scene began developing the story line. The background scenery consisted of pages of a book. The backdrop flipped as the story progressed. It begins with 5 convicts and 1 drill sergeant. As he makes them do yard work, the comedy kicks in. They satire him in a slick way that fits the show, but the degree of hilarity increases drastically when each character develops a personality. The funniest of the bunch, is Joker, the clumsy yet witty one. He repeatedly does something outrageous. The fact that he has extreme talent in comedy does not undermine his skills as a “break dancer.” The show continues with this medley of dance and comedy.
An interactive component was mixed into the production. The performers chose people from the audience to act as props or be the “laughing stock” of the theatre. A colleague that I saw the show with, Jasper Cunneen, was chosen as the “frog.” In the duration of one scene, they pointed out Jasper at least 3 times.
The finale, after the performers take their bow, consists of two men from the show breaking out with their own blend of talent. It was a beat box masterpiece that would make any show worth seeing, and complemented a fantastic show such as this one.
Break-Out runs through November 30, 2008 in the Union Square Theatre on Park Avenue and E. 17th Street, NYC.
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