Alright... wow, end of the semester. Damn. It was lovely to meet you all and hear about your artistic interests this semester. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's presentations, and it actually was fun to do our own research and create a blog, etc. Awesome way to bring creativity back to the classroom!
Thank you and have a lovely Christmas break!
-Emma
Friday, December 9, 2011
Art in Public Education
My presentation explored the past, present, and future roles of art in modern education. It focused on the current tragedy that art is disappearing from public schools and propose a solution through reintroducing creative thinking in the classroom. I was drawn to this subject initially because I am taking Dan Faulk's Political Science class, which pretty much says it all. His whole class is modeled on the fact that our education system is broken and needs to be fixed. In the T.A. session, we watched a number of TED talks and videos that discussed the role of art in public education and I decided to start looking into the matter further. It was really interesting to see how arts education started and how it got to where it is now, not to mention this all tied in with what we were reading in Ellen D. about a "new aestheticism." All the cards were kind of pointing in the same direction and I didn't feel like I wanted to do a presentation about an art form, but rather something relevant to our everyday lives as students and human beings in the modern world.
Like I said, I began with these videos and the book the Element, recommended to me by a friend of mine. The Element, written by Sir Ken Robinson, is all about arts education and finding your element in which you excel. I found it extremely inspiring and began to look into journal articles about federal policy, creativity, imagination, art, and public schools. I had originally intended to interview artists and a couple of school teachers, as well as one of my peers, but I had difficulty getting ahold of people and confirming an interview time. I ended up being able to conduct an interview with one teacher, an HSU alum, through email for which I have great gratitude. My research didn't contradict my thesis that schools are killing creativity and arts education is disappearing, but it did surprise me that there are a number of people trying to bring the arts back. At this point, I found a lot of evidence for after school programs and supplemental activities, which is all great. But art still isn't integrated fully into the classroom yet at the level it should be.
If I were going to do a follow up research question, I would be interested in looking at specifically what people are doing to bring the arts back into schools. While I did come across a few great examples, I think this would be a nice way to follow up the problem with solutions. Another interesting thing would be to look at how the "new aestheticism" has affected the global culture rather than just that within the United Stated. What is the role globally of arts education? Or are there certain countries who have an education model that we can emulate? Maybe this would propose yet another group of solutions for fixing this broken education system.
Like I said, I began with these videos and the book the Element, recommended to me by a friend of mine. The Element, written by Sir Ken Robinson, is all about arts education and finding your element in which you excel. I found it extremely inspiring and began to look into journal articles about federal policy, creativity, imagination, art, and public schools. I had originally intended to interview artists and a couple of school teachers, as well as one of my peers, but I had difficulty getting ahold of people and confirming an interview time. I ended up being able to conduct an interview with one teacher, an HSU alum, through email for which I have great gratitude. My research didn't contradict my thesis that schools are killing creativity and arts education is disappearing, but it did surprise me that there are a number of people trying to bring the arts back. At this point, I found a lot of evidence for after school programs and supplemental activities, which is all great. But art still isn't integrated fully into the classroom yet at the level it should be.
If I were going to do a follow up research question, I would be interested in looking at specifically what people are doing to bring the arts back into schools. While I did come across a few great examples, I think this would be a nice way to follow up the problem with solutions. Another interesting thing would be to look at how the "new aestheticism" has affected the global culture rather than just that within the United Stated. What is the role globally of arts education? Or are there certain countries who have an education model that we can emulate? Maybe this would propose yet another group of solutions for fixing this broken education system.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Pilobolus Performance
I saw Pilobolus when they came to HSU in October. They performed in the evening at Van Duzer which is a small intimate theatre. We got the last two seats on the floor and I was expecting the view to be crappy since we were in the very last row. Quite to my surprise, these are great seats and I had a perfect view unobstructed by heads! It used to surprise me that I rarely saw young people at dance performances, but I'm used to it by now. The audience consisted of a majority of middle-aged to older folks although a few students were present.
I was not familiar with the dance company outside the colorful fliers of men and women doing incredible weight-sharing acrobatics that I'd seen around campus. Their show consisted of five very different pieces. The first was a story piece about a traveller: a man carrying a suitcase and his journey. There were props in this piece, mainly chairs, which the company manipulated throughout to create different geometric shapes and patterns on the stage. My favorite part was when the man fell asleep and two of the dancers held up a white sheet with their toes where we watched the man dream. I found this piece very moving, especially at the end where the man was being carried.
(You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PilobolusDance&annotation_id=annotation_427660&feature=iv&src_vid=Trvj984a2ds#p/a/u/2/gOO5FT35Ubs)
Their second piece was a solo performance for a young man in a red unitard. Throughout he demonstrated a mastery of muscle control and fluidity almost unbelievable. It seemed like he was gliding across the stage at times. He had mastered his body to be able to move between levels seamlessly.
(You can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PilobolusDance&annotation_id=annotation_427660&feature=iv&src_vid=Trvj984a2ds#p/u/7/eO8GK0DE6ZM)
The third piece is my favorite work of dance I've seen to this day (and I'm a dancer so I've seen a lot of dance performances)! It was a black man and a white woman, wearing nude costuming, telling the story of, what I perceived to be, humanity. They appeared to grow out of the floor...I actually had to blink a few times to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Neither of them stood up until about 1/2 way through the piece, and we didn't see the woman's face (which she kept covered by her hair) until almost the end. This use of space was really phenomenal. Eventually they came together in an extremely sensual manner, even sexual, I thought. Everyone in the audience was totally enrapt. No one was even blinking. What made this piece even more moving was the live flutist which I didn't notice until I heard her take a breath over the speakers. It was raw and organic and absolutely beautiful.
There was an intermission after this piece and I saw people looking around at each other with wide eyes, "Wow" written on their faces.
The fourth piece after the intermission was radically different from the first two. They had built a big metal box with a glass sheet on top which they would dance on. A camera underneath the contraption would project their bodies onto a huge screen. I have never seen anything like this! The program told us that this piece had been choreographed in collaboration with band OK Go. (Here is an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-y7oOto14). The dancers created geometric shapes and patterns with their bodies which we saw on the screen. It was a fun piece and very innovative.
I must precede my description of the last piece by saying that I really disliked it. It was performed to Radiohead and Primus. The costuming was garish and the movement was the antithesis of the second and third pieces. It was spastic and choppy. Don't get me wrong it showed incredible muscle control and strength, but I did not find it aesthetically pleasing. I'm not sure it was meant to be as aesthetically pleasing as disturbing anyway.
(You can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PilobolusDance&annotation_id=annotation_427660&feature=iv&src_vid=Trvj984a2ds#p/u/4/hBPafUYYJe4).
The venue itself is great. It's small enough to make you feel close to the stage even when you're in the last row and the acoustics are wonderful. One dramatic difference is the style of choreography in the pieces choreographed in the 70s (the second and third pieces) compared to the pieces choreographed in 2011 (the final two). I personally am more engaged by the more fluid style of choreography that was popular during the 70s as opposed to the very choppy and disconnected movements often found in contemporary pieces. The music also played a large part in my experience because I have a hard time listening to Primus and Radiohead: it's obnoxious noise. Considering the first half of the show, the ending left me feeling jarred as I walked out of Van Duzer. This was definitely an example of making special to the point that I've never seen anything like it before in the one sense. It was also a reminder that even dance culture changes over time as evidenced by the change of choreographic styles while still maintaing that thing which we recognize as "dance".
The show wasn't what I expected at all. I had seen brightly colored costumes on all the fliers and expected levity. We got none of that. Instead we got a show with serious undertones. Although I am primarily a ballet dancer, I occasionally dapple in modern dance. When I see such talented dancers performing pieces like they did in the first half, it makes me want to take modern class. But then I inevitably see where modern choreography is today and I am so happy I'm sticking with ballet.
I was not familiar with the dance company outside the colorful fliers of men and women doing incredible weight-sharing acrobatics that I'd seen around campus. Their show consisted of five very different pieces. The first was a story piece about a traveller: a man carrying a suitcase and his journey. There were props in this piece, mainly chairs, which the company manipulated throughout to create different geometric shapes and patterns on the stage. My favorite part was when the man fell asleep and two of the dancers held up a white sheet with their toes where we watched the man dream. I found this piece very moving, especially at the end where the man was being carried.
(You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PilobolusDance&annotation_id=annotation_427660&feature=iv&src_vid=Trvj984a2ds#p/a/u/2/gOO5FT35Ubs)
Their second piece was a solo performance for a young man in a red unitard. Throughout he demonstrated a mastery of muscle control and fluidity almost unbelievable. It seemed like he was gliding across the stage at times. He had mastered his body to be able to move between levels seamlessly.
(You can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PilobolusDance&annotation_id=annotation_427660&feature=iv&src_vid=Trvj984a2ds#p/u/7/eO8GK0DE6ZM)
The third piece is my favorite work of dance I've seen to this day (and I'm a dancer so I've seen a lot of dance performances)! It was a black man and a white woman, wearing nude costuming, telling the story of, what I perceived to be, humanity. They appeared to grow out of the floor...I actually had to blink a few times to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Neither of them stood up until about 1/2 way through the piece, and we didn't see the woman's face (which she kept covered by her hair) until almost the end. This use of space was really phenomenal. Eventually they came together in an extremely sensual manner, even sexual, I thought. Everyone in the audience was totally enrapt. No one was even blinking. What made this piece even more moving was the live flutist which I didn't notice until I heard her take a breath over the speakers. It was raw and organic and absolutely beautiful.
There was an intermission after this piece and I saw people looking around at each other with wide eyes, "Wow" written on their faces.
The fourth piece after the intermission was radically different from the first two. They had built a big metal box with a glass sheet on top which they would dance on. A camera underneath the contraption would project their bodies onto a huge screen. I have never seen anything like this! The program told us that this piece had been choreographed in collaboration with band OK Go. (Here is an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-y7oOto14). The dancers created geometric shapes and patterns with their bodies which we saw on the screen. It was a fun piece and very innovative.
I must precede my description of the last piece by saying that I really disliked it. It was performed to Radiohead and Primus. The costuming was garish and the movement was the antithesis of the second and third pieces. It was spastic and choppy. Don't get me wrong it showed incredible muscle control and strength, but I did not find it aesthetically pleasing. I'm not sure it was meant to be as aesthetically pleasing as disturbing anyway.
(You can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=PilobolusDance&annotation_id=annotation_427660&feature=iv&src_vid=Trvj984a2ds#p/u/4/hBPafUYYJe4).
The venue itself is great. It's small enough to make you feel close to the stage even when you're in the last row and the acoustics are wonderful. One dramatic difference is the style of choreography in the pieces choreographed in the 70s (the second and third pieces) compared to the pieces choreographed in 2011 (the final two). I personally am more engaged by the more fluid style of choreography that was popular during the 70s as opposed to the very choppy and disconnected movements often found in contemporary pieces. The music also played a large part in my experience because I have a hard time listening to Primus and Radiohead: it's obnoxious noise. Considering the first half of the show, the ending left me feeling jarred as I walked out of Van Duzer. This was definitely an example of making special to the point that I've never seen anything like it before in the one sense. It was also a reminder that even dance culture changes over time as evidenced by the change of choreographic styles while still maintaing that thing which we recognize as "dance".
The show wasn't what I expected at all. I had seen brightly colored costumes on all the fliers and expected levity. We got none of that. Instead we got a show with serious undertones. Although I am primarily a ballet dancer, I occasionally dapple in modern dance. When I see such talented dancers performing pieces like they did in the first half, it makes me want to take modern class. But then I inevitably see where modern choreography is today and I am so happy I'm sticking with ballet.
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