Romeo and Juliet the ballet was first presented on Russia, with music written by Tchaikovsky. The Ballet Municipal de Lima hired a Russian dancer and choreographer to create a new version for the Ballet Municipal. He was hired almost a decade ago, and since then, his choreography has been modified slightly depending on the theater used and the dancers on stage. The play was performed throughout all October for the first time in three years. After watching it, I can say that it is definitely not one of my favorites.
I want to start of by saying that the stage looked amazing. I loved the balcony, and I think the lack of so many structures on stage, like you would see in a major company like the NYC ballet, made it simple, yet beautiful. There were two balconies on stage, facing each other, where each family lived. Inside Juliet’s house, the only thing on stage was a bed, and in her grave, the only thing on stage was the stone where she would lie. Though some could argue that more structures make it look more realistic, I find it very distracting. I think each scene had exactly what it needed to make it work.
Another think I liked were the costumes. I think they were very appropriate. For example, Juliet’s pink dress was attractive but not over the top. I think all the costumes were carefully designed to make it look like 1800’s to mid 1900’s designs. I loved how each family was represented by a color; Capulet red, whereas Montague blue. Though Lady Capulet’s dress looked very ladylike and Juliet’s dress looked more infantile, they both were different shades of red and both were very elegant. Same with the Montague: all costumes were different shades of blue, but each had their subtle differences. For Romeo’s costume was a lot more elegant than Mercutio’s lighthearted light blue costume.
Though the staging and the costumes were great, this wasn’t enough to make the play flow properly.
First of all, the lights were horrible. The lights should help the dancers send out the message, give a certain atmosphere. In this play, part of the reason why I didn’t feel anything was because the lights were completely off. For example, the scene where Romeo finds Juliet “dead” and has to kill Paris to get to her. That is supposed to be a very dramatic scene, but if the lights are bright yellow, as if it were midday, it just doesn’t work. Romeo is in a cave, in a grave, about to find his loved one dead. The lights should not have been yellow in first place even if it was supposed to be a sunny day outside. Then, once he gets rid of Paris and runs to Juliet, the lights cannot stay the same bright color because as he realizes that she’s actually gone, it’s a dark moment. Not only for Romeo but for everyone watching, because that’s the feeling they want to transmit. The audience should be stimulated to grieve with Romeo, to feel his pain. It’s like waking up and having a sunny day. One will automatically feel happy even if it’s just for a second. They can’t put a bright light when it’s a sad moment. Same with the scene in which Tybalt dies or the one where Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time.
Second, the music was pretty boring. It was slow throughout the entire play, and too monotonous. It’s not even as if it had a theme tune, but it was just so slow it seemed repetitive. It just wasn’t inspiring. For example, the Nutcracker music is very repetitive, but it’s full of accents, and at times it goes loud, and then soft, and then it’s fast and slow, and crispy. This was just slow throughout. It lacked that something that makes it interesting. It didn’t help me feel the suspense coming up, or the love between the characters. And maybe that is why the choreography was so boring too.
Though the lighting was awful, and the music was pretty bad what truly made this show so bad, was the choreography. The dancers didn’t have a chance to shine. Especially the guys. For a man in ballet to look good, the choreography has to be very active. They have to include jumps, and spins, and use of space. An adagio, which is a slow (still active) dance, is usually for the Pas de Deux, or the part in which the guy dances with the girl. Because in this part it’s usually where the characters fall in love, the dance is slow, but it has to include a variety of lifts and spins which will help the girl’s beauty and grace shine, whereas the guy has to show off his strength. The choreography didn’t help the dancers show any grace or strength. Though as a dancer I do know that usually choreographies look simpler than they really are, this one looked just too boring. The guys barely jumped, the girls barely lifted their legs. And really, that is the beauty of ballet. That’s what makes it an art and not a sport: the actors on stage are feeling like they’re about to die, with no breath, sweating the last drop of water in their body, but the audience has no idea of this because they are being mesmerized with the dance. This dance didn’t mesmerize me. There were no jumps that made me think they are about to kill themselves, no spins that made me wish I could spin like that, no dance that made me wonder how they could move their feet and arms like that. Really the best part was the second scene, the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt and then Romeo and Tybalt, and the reason why scene was fun to watch was because they were fighting with swords. There was barely any dancing involved. They moved around the entire stage, going up and down the buildings, moving between the people while fighting with the sword, and though it looked graceful, it wasn’t dancing. Frankly the whole choreography was so boring to me that I was grateful to see something that wasn’t ballet at that moment.
This ballet was probably one of the worst ones I’ve seen performed here up ‘till now, and not because of the dancers, who each of them have a great technique. It’s just they didn’t have a chance to look good on stage. I think if the music had been different, if the choreography had been better they would have looked great. Better lighting is a technical mistake that when it’s done correctly it makes a show look spectacular. The lighting wasn’t good this time, which made everything look even worse than it was. I’ve had a chance to see the Ballet Municipal on better occasions so I know that this show wasn’t the dancer’s mistake. I know they are great quality, so I am really excited to get a chance for the next play.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Nutcracker Performance
The nutcracker performances have been very stressful, but as always they are an experience.
Before each performance there is a one hour long class that is used for warm up, and then one hour for hair, make-up and costumes and then the actual performance. What makes it stressful is juggling school and ballet at the same time. Still, the performance is actually relaxing.
Truth is, right before coming on stage there is one full hour in which I have to pain the slippers so they don’t look dirty, I have to put make up on, make my hair, and get the costume I should wear for that day (each day it’s a different role). Though there is a lot of running around involved, getting to be on stage is always rewarding. When we get the first call, fifteen minutes before the show, there’s a change in atmosphere. Everything becomes more urgent. Sometimes it has to do with a piece of costume that is missing or has ripped; sometimes an actor isn’t ready to go on stage just yet. Still all this little mistakes have a way of resolving themselves right on the third call.
One of the best parts about it is that while you’re on stage, nobody can say a word about anything, no matter if you mess up, everything is silent and you get to dance without criticism. Also, the days I get to play lead role, and I have to express various different emotions each time, I it is also a way of letting everything out. It’s my own interpretation of the events, so when I act as mad, I put my own personality into it, same when I act as scared, or sad. The mixture of the acting and the dancing is always something relaxing even though I know that there are people out there judging every step I take, whether they are teachers, or friends. Part of submerging into a role and becoming who you want to interpret, is realizing that while you’re playing the part of someone, you’re living their life. In Clara for example, I tend to forget about the audience, and while the walls are disappearing, and I’m left with nothing, I forget about the fact that there’s people watching me at the moment.
Also, part of the fun of performing, is that nobody knows what is really going to happened once you step on stage. We can practice all we want but in the end there is always that component of luck. As a dancer, if I mess up on stage I do blame myself for it, yet we all know that it can happen anytime to anyone. For example, little things like the elastic holding up my hair the day I was playing Clara broke in middle of the performance, and since it’s a very simple hair style for this particular role, everything came down. I had to dance with all the hair in my face. Learning how to improvise when things like this happened is actually very fun, and it has a lot to do with the attitude of the performer. There are times when somebody falls on stage and though some performers laugh and go on, others get upset and they are not afraid of showing it to the public. What makes ballet an art instead of a sport, is that the public doesn’t know what’s really going on. They don’t know which actor was crying seconds before the music started, or which actor is completely improvising as they go. It’s fun for everyone on stage to almost laugh at the public because though they have no idea what’s really going on, everybody performing knows what wasn’t supposed to happen. Though I love watching plays, it’s ten times better to be part of the play.
I still have twelve performances left and I’m already feeling the physical pain. Still I love the feeling of simply being at the theater and knowing the show is about to begin.
Before each performance there is a one hour long class that is used for warm up, and then one hour for hair, make-up and costumes and then the actual performance. What makes it stressful is juggling school and ballet at the same time. Still, the performance is actually relaxing.
Truth is, right before coming on stage there is one full hour in which I have to pain the slippers so they don’t look dirty, I have to put make up on, make my hair, and get the costume I should wear for that day (each day it’s a different role). Though there is a lot of running around involved, getting to be on stage is always rewarding. When we get the first call, fifteen minutes before the show, there’s a change in atmosphere. Everything becomes more urgent. Sometimes it has to do with a piece of costume that is missing or has ripped; sometimes an actor isn’t ready to go on stage just yet. Still all this little mistakes have a way of resolving themselves right on the third call.
One of the best parts about it is that while you’re on stage, nobody can say a word about anything, no matter if you mess up, everything is silent and you get to dance without criticism. Also, the days I get to play lead role, and I have to express various different emotions each time, I it is also a way of letting everything out. It’s my own interpretation of the events, so when I act as mad, I put my own personality into it, same when I act as scared, or sad. The mixture of the acting and the dancing is always something relaxing even though I know that there are people out there judging every step I take, whether they are teachers, or friends. Part of submerging into a role and becoming who you want to interpret, is realizing that while you’re playing the part of someone, you’re living their life. In Clara for example, I tend to forget about the audience, and while the walls are disappearing, and I’m left with nothing, I forget about the fact that there’s people watching me at the moment.
Also, part of the fun of performing, is that nobody knows what is really going to happened once you step on stage. We can practice all we want but in the end there is always that component of luck. As a dancer, if I mess up on stage I do blame myself for it, yet we all know that it can happen anytime to anyone. For example, little things like the elastic holding up my hair the day I was playing Clara broke in middle of the performance, and since it’s a very simple hair style for this particular role, everything came down. I had to dance with all the hair in my face. Learning how to improvise when things like this happened is actually very fun, and it has a lot to do with the attitude of the performer. There are times when somebody falls on stage and though some performers laugh and go on, others get upset and they are not afraid of showing it to the public. What makes ballet an art instead of a sport, is that the public doesn’t know what’s really going on. They don’t know which actor was crying seconds before the music started, or which actor is completely improvising as they go. It’s fun for everyone on stage to almost laugh at the public because though they have no idea what’s really going on, everybody performing knows what wasn’t supposed to happen. Though I love watching plays, it’s ten times better to be part of the play.
I still have twelve performances left and I’m already feeling the physical pain. Still I love the feeling of simply being at the theater and knowing the show is about to begin.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Comedia performance
Today we performed our Comedia acts. Because we weren’t prepared to do a full skit we cut it and instead of coming up with something last minute, we decided to show the public a preview of what we would take to Argentina.
I think the performance went ok. It wasn’t great because none of the actors had full physicality and I think the main reason for that is, people rely more on words than actions. we think too much of what to say and forget that it’s Comedia. If you want to be funny, your body is the key to that, not what you say. There were times when the audience was laughing, but they didn’t laugh as much as we expected and it was because we weren’t physical enough.
Another thing that in my opinion went bad was the ending. We know it was a preview to what we will take to Argentina, and we know that there is an ending to the story. The audience didn’t get that message. Because we didn’t end the act properly, and nobody mentioned that there is actually half the story left, the audience didn’t understand that so they weren’t sure if we were done with the performance or we were doing some dramatic pause or something. I think that was the biggest mistake because the ending is always one of the most important aspects in a performance, because it’s what the audience remembers the most.
Still, after some groupthink during class we came to the conclusion that we have bonded a lot as a group through this activity because we all had to cooperate and listen to each other in order to move forward. I still think we have a lot of bonding left to do, but we took the first step and that’s something good.
I think the performance went ok. It wasn’t great because none of the actors had full physicality and I think the main reason for that is, people rely more on words than actions. we think too much of what to say and forget that it’s Comedia. If you want to be funny, your body is the key to that, not what you say. There were times when the audience was laughing, but they didn’t laugh as much as we expected and it was because we weren’t physical enough.
Another thing that in my opinion went bad was the ending. We know it was a preview to what we will take to Argentina, and we know that there is an ending to the story. The audience didn’t get that message. Because we didn’t end the act properly, and nobody mentioned that there is actually half the story left, the audience didn’t understand that so they weren’t sure if we were done with the performance or we were doing some dramatic pause or something. I think that was the biggest mistake because the ending is always one of the most important aspects in a performance, because it’s what the audience remembers the most.
Still, after some groupthink during class we came to the conclusion that we have bonded a lot as a group through this activity because we all had to cooperate and listen to each other in order to move forward. I still think we have a lot of bonding left to do, but we took the first step and that’s something good.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Lovers
I did some research on Comedia’s character the Lovers. The following are the most important things I found:
1. In love with being in love
2. Pretty and Very vain
3. Always have a mirror somewhere.
4. Usually have something in hand (like a handkerchief or a fan)
5. Stands in a fourth or fifth position (ballet)
6. Speaks in romantic, poetic phrases
7. Gets message across through Zanni, colombina or some other servant character Very shy when speaking directly to other lover
8. The smallest mistake equals chaos
9. Does not wear mask but wears makeup
10. Usually high society. Wears the latest fashion
11. Female lover usually changes clothes various times to show off
12. High status that usually comes down because of other lover
13. They NEVER touched, no matter how passionate the moment. They come very close, but they never touch
14. Their hands are free, floating around, just like their whole body does. They “lack contact with the ground”
15. Are aware of the audience
1. In love with being in love
2. Pretty and Very vain
3. Always have a mirror somewhere.
4. Usually have something in hand (like a handkerchief or a fan)
5. Stands in a fourth or fifth position (ballet)
6. Speaks in romantic, poetic phrases
7. Gets message across through Zanni, colombina or some other servant character Very shy when speaking directly to other lover
8. The smallest mistake equals chaos
9. Does not wear mask but wears makeup
10. Usually high society. Wears the latest fashion
11. Female lover usually changes clothes various times to show off
12. High status that usually comes down because of other lover
13. They NEVER touched, no matter how passionate the moment. They come very close, but they never touch
14. Their hands are free, floating around, just like their whole body does. They “lack contact with the ground”
15. Are aware of the audience
Monday, November 7, 2011
Fools
Fools
I went to watch Fools on Saturday night. The comedy by Neil Simon turned out to have a whole lot of dirty jokes, something that surprised me because it’s a school play. Still, to make a comedy effective, some sexual jokes are required.
I loved the stage. It looked very simple, just three houses there. The contrast between the inside of the house and the outside was also very well done. Though in class we talked about how there was a problem with the lights, I don’t think it was that notorious. The spotlight has broken, and that I could tell from the audience, but other than that I think it was pretty good.
The sound effects were also very well done. They were all on cue, so they all made sense with what was going on onstage. What I mean is, sometimes a sound, like a gunshot, comes before the actor actually “shoots” the gun onstage, so that messes everything up. I didn’t see that happened in this play.
The actors on stage were really good too. I was sitting at the back of the auditorium, and I was able to listen with no difficulty. At times it was hard to understand what they were saying because they were talking too fast, or because they started speaking before the audience started laughing. Still, all of them were very into their character, and they did a very good job portraying them. There was only one character I could not get what his purpose was, and that was Luchito’s character. Not because he wasn’t good at illustrating him, but because I couldn’t see where he fit in the play.
Overall I think it was a good play. It was fun to watch and it was funny, and that’s usually something hard for actors to do onstage and they managed to do it most of the time.
I went to watch Fools on Saturday night. The comedy by Neil Simon turned out to have a whole lot of dirty jokes, something that surprised me because it’s a school play. Still, to make a comedy effective, some sexual jokes are required.
I loved the stage. It looked very simple, just three houses there. The contrast between the inside of the house and the outside was also very well done. Though in class we talked about how there was a problem with the lights, I don’t think it was that notorious. The spotlight has broken, and that I could tell from the audience, but other than that I think it was pretty good.
The sound effects were also very well done. They were all on cue, so they all made sense with what was going on onstage. What I mean is, sometimes a sound, like a gunshot, comes before the actor actually “shoots” the gun onstage, so that messes everything up. I didn’t see that happened in this play.
The actors on stage were really good too. I was sitting at the back of the auditorium, and I was able to listen with no difficulty. At times it was hard to understand what they were saying because they were talking too fast, or because they started speaking before the audience started laughing. Still, all of them were very into their character, and they did a very good job portraying them. There was only one character I could not get what his purpose was, and that was Luchito’s character. Not because he wasn’t good at illustrating him, but because I couldn’t see where he fit in the play.
Overall I think it was a good play. It was fun to watch and it was funny, and that’s usually something hard for actors to do onstage and they managed to do it most of the time.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Comedia Del arte
We started studying Comedia del arte, an art form that originated in Italy in the 16th century. It is completely improvised, but includes certain stalk characters, like the Zani or the Pantalone. This particular art from died down for many years and was picked up again after the 1950’s.
What surprised me the most is that at first I thought that since it was a very old theater it would be a little boring to study. Not necessarily to act it out but studying it would be extremely boring. Still, I was able to link Comedia to many of the T.V. shows from today, like for example SpongeBob Squarepants, or one of my personal favorites, Drake and Josh. The original form requires masks to help the audience identify each character onstage and to easily differentiate the Arlequin from the Pantalone from the aristocrats and so on. Now the masks aren’t required, but the characters are still very well portrayed. For example, in SpongeBob Squarepants, SpongeBob and Patrick Star would be the shows Zanni’s whereas Mr. Krab would be the aristocrat, and his daughter, Pearl, would be the young lover. Mr. Krab also plays a lover part in one episode with SpongeBob’s driving teacher, Mrs. Puff. Not only that one but many of the T.V. shows I watch today have a lot to do with Comedia Del Arte.
Up till now we’ve studied two characters; the Zanni and the lovers.
The Zanni is the typical stupid funny and dramatic character we watch all the time, whether it’s on a television show or a play. The Zanni is too stupid to think logically. He thinks about what he wants at the moment, and that is usually food or sleep. He guides himself according to what he smells and what he sees and doesn’t process information. Because the Zanni is unable to look ahead, he can’t fall in love, very much like the lovers.
The lovers aren’t really in love, but they love the idea of saying they are in love. They like the feeling of having someone to flirt with, and therefore it’s usually love at first sight, like Romeo and Juliet. In many of the Comedia visions, the lovers see each other, fall in love, and then there’s some problem in which either somebody tries to keep them away, or they get mad at each other, but it’s only a matter of time before they forgive each other and reunite.
Though the Zanni is the funniest character, I like the lovers better. The Zannis act stupid throughout, and they make the audience laugh, but the real story is on how the lovers are so into each other. The lovers are extremely dramatic, coming up with the biggest clichés in order to satisfy the other, and sending the message that they love each other.
We still have a lot of other characters to look at, so I’ll probably end up changing my mind about the lovers. Still Comedia del Arte is really interesting to study. Making links between that art and what I see today is fun, and there’s a lot to learn form Comedia.
What surprised me the most is that at first I thought that since it was a very old theater it would be a little boring to study. Not necessarily to act it out but studying it would be extremely boring. Still, I was able to link Comedia to many of the T.V. shows from today, like for example SpongeBob Squarepants, or one of my personal favorites, Drake and Josh. The original form requires masks to help the audience identify each character onstage and to easily differentiate the Arlequin from the Pantalone from the aristocrats and so on. Now the masks aren’t required, but the characters are still very well portrayed. For example, in SpongeBob Squarepants, SpongeBob and Patrick Star would be the shows Zanni’s whereas Mr. Krab would be the aristocrat, and his daughter, Pearl, would be the young lover. Mr. Krab also plays a lover part in one episode with SpongeBob’s driving teacher, Mrs. Puff. Not only that one but many of the T.V. shows I watch today have a lot to do with Comedia Del Arte.
Up till now we’ve studied two characters; the Zanni and the lovers.
The Zanni is the typical stupid funny and dramatic character we watch all the time, whether it’s on a television show or a play. The Zanni is too stupid to think logically. He thinks about what he wants at the moment, and that is usually food or sleep. He guides himself according to what he smells and what he sees and doesn’t process information. Because the Zanni is unable to look ahead, he can’t fall in love, very much like the lovers.
The lovers aren’t really in love, but they love the idea of saying they are in love. They like the feeling of having someone to flirt with, and therefore it’s usually love at first sight, like Romeo and Juliet. In many of the Comedia visions, the lovers see each other, fall in love, and then there’s some problem in which either somebody tries to keep them away, or they get mad at each other, but it’s only a matter of time before they forgive each other and reunite.
Though the Zanni is the funniest character, I like the lovers better. The Zannis act stupid throughout, and they make the audience laugh, but the real story is on how the lovers are so into each other. The lovers are extremely dramatic, coming up with the biggest clichés in order to satisfy the other, and sending the message that they love each other.
We still have a lot of other characters to look at, so I’ll probably end up changing my mind about the lovers. Still Comedia del Arte is really interesting to study. Making links between that art and what I see today is fun, and there’s a lot to learn form Comedia.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Performance
We performed our monologues for the GIN conference. I didn’t get to perform mine, but I was still able to watch others perform.
Though it was last minute planned because of lack of rehearsal, every single monologue went amazing. Some people didn’t even have to present a monologue, but they just had to say one line. That was extremely effective because all the quotes were chosen for a specific reason, in other words, none of the quotes were random.
The people presenting their monologues all had a great performance. Not only because of the artistic part, they all acted amazing and represented their characters very accurately, but also the monologues themselves. The audience could tell they had put a lot of time into the writing, and it truly paid off. The acting was dramatic, but not over the top. They projected the voice and spoke clearly, which is a big issue every time I go to a play; there’s always an actor that’s barely audible to the audience.
I also had some friends from my old school in Bolivia come for GIN, and they also thought the performance was amazing. Not only that but I could also hear comments from the people sitting right behind me give their opinions. This was a very effective performance, and though I wasn’t really part of it, I did learn a lot by watching my peers.
Though it was last minute planned because of lack of rehearsal, every single monologue went amazing. Some people didn’t even have to present a monologue, but they just had to say one line. That was extremely effective because all the quotes were chosen for a specific reason, in other words, none of the quotes were random.
The people presenting their monologues all had a great performance. Not only because of the artistic part, they all acted amazing and represented their characters very accurately, but also the monologues themselves. The audience could tell they had put a lot of time into the writing, and it truly paid off. The acting was dramatic, but not over the top. They projected the voice and spoke clearly, which is a big issue every time I go to a play; there’s always an actor that’s barely audible to the audience.
I also had some friends from my old school in Bolivia come for GIN, and they also thought the performance was amazing. Not only that but I could also hear comments from the people sitting right behind me give their opinions. This was a very effective performance, and though I wasn’t really part of it, I did learn a lot by watching my peers.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Rough Draft Presentation
My monologue rough draft performance went horrible. Not because
I didn’t know how to perform it, because it’s a matter of knowing my character
to know what she feels and be able to portray her. Since I wrote my character, I
know how she feels. The reason why it didn’t work out is because I got nervous.
Speaking in front of people has always been one of my weaknesses, and since I’m
in drama, it’s one I’ll have to fix soon. During the presentation I decided
that sitting on the floor would portray the character’s weakness and would make
the begging more powerful and real. I also decided that putting my hair down
would make her look messy, adding to the visual part of the presentation. Up to
that everything was good. When it came to actually talking the monologue, I don’t
know what to do with my hands, or what my voice should sound like. I don’t know
how I’m supposed to stare at the public. All this is because I get nervous when
speaking, as I said before; stage fright. And as I said, it’s something I have
to overcome specially through practice.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Edited monologue
People judge me, every day, every moment, whenever they see me. Something about my hair… maybe that it hasn’t been washed in….. Something about my face, my eyes, my mouth. Something about how I smell… I haven’t been in water since days, weeks, months? People are afraid of me. They stare at me, sometimes they glare but I don’t blame them. When mothers see me, they take their child’s hand and cross the street. Get as far away from me as they can. But they don’t know I won’t hurt them. There is no point anymore. I lost everything when I lost my husband. I lost everyone. I had a husband. I had a child, a family, and I’ll never see any of that again. My husband left, my son’s been taken from me. I have no one. I have a home that’s not really a home. There’s nothing in there. I had a car but I had to give it away. I’m alone now. I don’t hurt anyone. I can’t hurt anyone because I can barely walk. So then why are they so mean to me? Why won’t they give me my medicine? I can’t hurt anyone! They hate me. I hate me! I don’t want to see myself and the only way to prevent from seeing myself is with my medicine. But they don’t want me to have it! They say it’s bad. They say I’m killing myself. I know I am, I know I’m dying! But what do I want to live for?! I live to drink. If I don’t drink, why do I live? I need a drink.
Research on monologues, my monologe and GIN
What it is: Monologues are speeches made by a character on stage alone. They can be part of a play or they can be a monologue about a certain theme (GIN).
A dramatic monologue has to express feelings through acting as wells as through words. It should include a climax, and therefore there has to be some building up of tension.
Must haves of dramatic monologues:
1. A very well defined character= for the audience to follow, they must be able to identify with the character. To do this, the author has to know everything about the character, even if the author isn’t going to include all these attributes in the monologue.
2. Build up of tension= the monologue must have a climax, so it has to build up to it.
3. Risk taking= dramatic monologues should have some degree of controversy to make it more interesting for the audience.
4. Negative aspect of character= this adds to the tension and the risk taking factor.
5. First person= as I said before, the audience must be able to relate to the character, therefore by using first person, the monologue is a lot more personal.
My monologue
People judge me, every day, every moment, whenever they see me. Something about my hair… maybe that it hasn’t been washed in…..something about my face, my eyes, my mouth. Something about how I smell… I haven’t been in water since days, weeks, moths? But that’s not the worse smell. People are afraid of me. They stare at me funny, but I don’t blame them. When mothers see me, they take their child’s hand and cross the street. Get as far away from me as they can. But they don’t know I won’t hurt them. There is really no point. I’ve lost everything. I’ve lost everyone. I had a husband. I had a child. I’ll never see any of them again. My husband left, my son’s been taken from me. I have no one. I have a home that’s not really a home. There’s nothing in there. I had a car but I had to give it away. I’m alone now. I don’t hurt anyone. I can’t hurt anyone because I can barely walk. So then why are they so mean to me? Why won’t they give me my medicine? I can’t hurt anyone! They hate me. I hate myself! I can’t see myself and the only way to prevent from seeing myself is with my medicine. But they don’t want me to have it! They say it’s bad. They say I’m killing myself. I know I am, I know I’m dying! But what do I want to live for?! I live to drink. If I don’t drink, what is my reason for living? I need a drink.
GIN:
My monologue is based on global issue #16, illegal drugs. The character in my monologue is an addict who has lost everything due to her addiction. The audience gets a hint that the reason why she got hooked was because she lost her husband. The monologue has a lot to do with prejudice. The character says that people judge her every day because of what she looks, because of what she’s become, not taking on count what made her become that. There is not much about the character herself because throughout the monologue she just talks about her feelings, and how her primary reason for survival is the drugs they’re trying to take away from her. This was deliberately done because the audience isn’t supposed to know that much from her. This reinforces the idea that they don’t know her, but she’s still being judged. There’s a lot more to her than her addictions. My monologue still needs a lot of editing, but the main idea is there, and therefore I decided to not re-write a monologue for gin, but instead edit the one I have.
A dramatic monologue has to express feelings through acting as wells as through words. It should include a climax, and therefore there has to be some building up of tension.
Must haves of dramatic monologues:
1. A very well defined character= for the audience to follow, they must be able to identify with the character. To do this, the author has to know everything about the character, even if the author isn’t going to include all these attributes in the monologue.
2. Build up of tension= the monologue must have a climax, so it has to build up to it.
3. Risk taking= dramatic monologues should have some degree of controversy to make it more interesting for the audience.
4. Negative aspect of character= this adds to the tension and the risk taking factor.
5. First person= as I said before, the audience must be able to relate to the character, therefore by using first person, the monologue is a lot more personal.
My monologue
People judge me, every day, every moment, whenever they see me. Something about my hair… maybe that it hasn’t been washed in…..something about my face, my eyes, my mouth. Something about how I smell… I haven’t been in water since days, weeks, moths? But that’s not the worse smell. People are afraid of me. They stare at me funny, but I don’t blame them. When mothers see me, they take their child’s hand and cross the street. Get as far away from me as they can. But they don’t know I won’t hurt them. There is really no point. I’ve lost everything. I’ve lost everyone. I had a husband. I had a child. I’ll never see any of them again. My husband left, my son’s been taken from me. I have no one. I have a home that’s not really a home. There’s nothing in there. I had a car but I had to give it away. I’m alone now. I don’t hurt anyone. I can’t hurt anyone because I can barely walk. So then why are they so mean to me? Why won’t they give me my medicine? I can’t hurt anyone! They hate me. I hate myself! I can’t see myself and the only way to prevent from seeing myself is with my medicine. But they don’t want me to have it! They say it’s bad. They say I’m killing myself. I know I am, I know I’m dying! But what do I want to live for?! I live to drink. If I don’t drink, what is my reason for living? I need a drink.
GIN:
My monologue is based on global issue #16, illegal drugs. The character in my monologue is an addict who has lost everything due to her addiction. The audience gets a hint that the reason why she got hooked was because she lost her husband. The monologue has a lot to do with prejudice. The character says that people judge her every day because of what she looks, because of what she’s become, not taking on count what made her become that. There is not much about the character herself because throughout the monologue she just talks about her feelings, and how her primary reason for survival is the drugs they’re trying to take away from her. This was deliberately done because the audience isn’t supposed to know that much from her. This reinforces the idea that they don’t know her, but she’s still being judged. There’s a lot more to her than her addictions. My monologue still needs a lot of editing, but the main idea is there, and therefore I decided to not re-write a monologue for gin, but instead edit the one I have.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Improve
We did some improvisation exercises in class which turned out to be even harder that what I expected. It’s easy to say “listen to each other” “accept, accept, accept,” “respond” “build on each other’s ideas” but to do it is a whole different thing. I think the main problem with us is that there’s no trust between us. What I mean is, there’s times in which I do have ideas, I do have something in mind that I can say, but I’m just too nervous to share them with the class, because I don’t know how they’ll respond to that. Also, I’ve noticed it’s way harder to come up with something when it’s you doing the improvisation. For example, when I see other groups improvising, and they get to a point they don’t know what to do, and their group members can’t come up with something, it’s easy for a member from the audience to think of something, but not for the group members, who have to come up with something. This is probably because of the pressure on them because not only are they trying to make it work, but they’re also trying to come up with something new that others have not done, and they’re also trying to come up with something funny to do. A class member said something last time which I think it makes a lot of sense: if you’re trying to make your audience laugh, you’ll bore them, if your intentions are to keep the dialogue going, they’ll crack up. The reason for this is that if you’re trying to make the audience laugh, you take too much time thinking about what to do or what to say, and eventually they get bored, but if you just keep the dialogue going on, eventually it starts being funny because the audience can see the actors successfully building up on each other’s ideas. Still as I said, I can analyze the whole exercise and see what I’m doing wrong, but doing it right is easier said than done.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Temporada Primaveral 2011
I went to watch Temporada Primaveral 2011, a collection of dances choreographed by Jimmy Gammonet. Jimmy was born in Peru, and started dancing here, but then moved to the US. He not only became first dancer in the Teatro Municipal de Lima, but he also became first dancer in the American Ballet Theater. He managed to create his own dance company in Miami called the Gammonet Ballet, and due to economic issues it broke. He came to Peru earlier this year, and a few friends and I took some classes with him over the summer. I know his work, and in my opinion he’s an amazing teacher, so I was really interested in watching his show because after all, it’s the work of one of my teachers. Still, I didn’t enjoy it so much. I knew that since the choreographies were being performed with the National Ballet, they wouldn’t be a hundred percent classical, but though there were some dances that caught my attention, there were others that just lacked something: because ballet is an artistic form of expression in which the dancer can not rely on words, they have to use their face and their body gestures, making it clear to the audience what they’re expressing, but at the same time not making it too exaggerates.
First of all, the way some of the people on stage reacted to what was happening around them, didn’t connect with how the rest of the dances reacted to the same thing. Not only did they not connect with each other, but they also didn’t connect with what the pamphlet said about the piece. For example, there was a holocaust piece, in which there were eight women on stage, the dance was about how one of them lost her son in the camp, and is desperate trying to find the body. Though at times I (as the audience) could feel the anxiety because she was reaching out while the other women were holding her back, other times, it just seemed boring. Every woman on stage was static. Most of the dance they were in the same place, just changing to a different pose. Going back to what I said about not connecting with the theme, if this choreography is about the holocaust, it shouldn’t be so slow, unless they are portraying grief, which is not the case here. And even if they were portraying grief or death, they should be more united in the sense that the dance should have been more of a group dance. Everything seemed like each one of the characters was in her own little world in her own bubble of grief, when they should be suffering together.
Another element that didn’t fit in with some of the dances, were the costumes. The one that seemed the most out of place was the dance about the statues. I get that each of the two girls were representing statues, so the lack of facial expression did help make a point in this dance, but then, why were there cloths transparent? The audience could see everything. If the dance was expressing sexuality for instance, then yes it would be understandable, though it would be very controversial because they were two girls dancing instead of a girl and a guy. Still, the theme of this was statues. The slow movements and the body language fit right in, but the lack of real cloths didn’t. In fact, at times due to the movements and the tremendous elasticity of the dancers, it even made it inappropriate, like the wardrobe choice was being forced to try to make some point. Though the dance was beautiful, the dancers had an excellent technique; sadly the wardrobe choice ruined everything for me.
Though there were things like lack of chemistry between the dancers, lack of attitude, wrong costumes, there were also some good elements to the choreographies. The first thing that I loved was the dancers. The two main dancers each had an excellent technique, and though one of them was able to lift the leg higher, or jump higher, they both looked amazing dancing together because it almost looked like the competition made each of them work harder. Not only the technique was excellent, but on the last dance specifically, the tangos, which they were dancing some tangos that were suppose to reflect the Latin culture, the couples were well chosen. There was one couple that looked like they had some trouble performing certain parts, but in general they were all very well chosen. Finally, the lights were amazing! Something that is not always well done, here they were perfect! They helped set the atmosphere and the mood. For example, the color of the holocaust lights really did help make a more depressing mood, whereas the tango lights really helped illustrated a happier mood.
Though some dances were really hard to interpret, and this is not one of my favorite ballet shows, there are some really good things I saw here, including the dancers, some of the choreographies (more specifically only the first one and the last one) some good chemistry (or acting?) between the dancers, and a fun lights show.
First of all, the way some of the people on stage reacted to what was happening around them, didn’t connect with how the rest of the dances reacted to the same thing. Not only did they not connect with each other, but they also didn’t connect with what the pamphlet said about the piece. For example, there was a holocaust piece, in which there were eight women on stage, the dance was about how one of them lost her son in the camp, and is desperate trying to find the body. Though at times I (as the audience) could feel the anxiety because she was reaching out while the other women were holding her back, other times, it just seemed boring. Every woman on stage was static. Most of the dance they were in the same place, just changing to a different pose. Going back to what I said about not connecting with the theme, if this choreography is about the holocaust, it shouldn’t be so slow, unless they are portraying grief, which is not the case here. And even if they were portraying grief or death, they should be more united in the sense that the dance should have been more of a group dance. Everything seemed like each one of the characters was in her own little world in her own bubble of grief, when they should be suffering together.
Another element that didn’t fit in with some of the dances, were the costumes. The one that seemed the most out of place was the dance about the statues. I get that each of the two girls were representing statues, so the lack of facial expression did help make a point in this dance, but then, why were there cloths transparent? The audience could see everything. If the dance was expressing sexuality for instance, then yes it would be understandable, though it would be very controversial because they were two girls dancing instead of a girl and a guy. Still, the theme of this was statues. The slow movements and the body language fit right in, but the lack of real cloths didn’t. In fact, at times due to the movements and the tremendous elasticity of the dancers, it even made it inappropriate, like the wardrobe choice was being forced to try to make some point. Though the dance was beautiful, the dancers had an excellent technique; sadly the wardrobe choice ruined everything for me.
Though there were things like lack of chemistry between the dancers, lack of attitude, wrong costumes, there were also some good elements to the choreographies. The first thing that I loved was the dancers. The two main dancers each had an excellent technique, and though one of them was able to lift the leg higher, or jump higher, they both looked amazing dancing together because it almost looked like the competition made each of them work harder. Not only the technique was excellent, but on the last dance specifically, the tangos, which they were dancing some tangos that were suppose to reflect the Latin culture, the couples were well chosen. There was one couple that looked like they had some trouble performing certain parts, but in general they were all very well chosen. Finally, the lights were amazing! Something that is not always well done, here they were perfect! They helped set the atmosphere and the mood. For example, the color of the holocaust lights really did help make a more depressing mood, whereas the tango lights really helped illustrated a happier mood.
Though some dances were really hard to interpret, and this is not one of my favorite ballet shows, there are some really good things I saw here, including the dancers, some of the choreographies (more specifically only the first one and the last one) some good chemistry (or acting?) between the dancers, and a fun lights show.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Kevin Hart- Ostrich
Comedy acts are long monologues. The reason why they are so funny is not only because of what the comedian is saying (which is a huge part) but also the way he moves, the way he acts what he's saying. Kevin Hart is an amazing comedian and the reason why I chose this part of his act is because it shows how he acts out the ostrich (and it was the most school-appropriate one I could find)
Lysistrata Act Out
I have to act out the fourth part of the play with Fernanda and Vincenzo. Basically we are dramaturges, so we can change anything we want. We can cut parts, add characters, delete character, re-write the script, as long as it works out with the main idea. The first part is to learn exactly what the fourth part is about. Basically the most important parts of the “Wool Metaphor—Myrrhine’s Seduction” is when the women are escaping from the acropolis to go have sex, and when Myrrhine seduces her husband, Kinesias, preparing him for sex, delaying it, and then leaving him. Now we want to choose which of this two parts to act out, keeping in mind that since we are three people, there can be no more than three characters on stage at the same time.
Monologue
People judge me, every day, every moment, whenever they see me. Something about my hair… maybe that it hasn’t been washed in…..something about my face, my eyes, my mouth. Something about how I smell… I haven’t been in water since days, weeks, moths? But that’s not the worse smell. People are afraid of me. they stare at me funny, but I don’t blame them. When mothers see me, they take their child’s hand and cross the street. Get as far away from me as they can. But they don’t know I won’t hurt them. There is really no point. I’ve lost everything. I’ve lost everyone. I had a husband. I had a child. I’ll never see any of them again. My husband left, my son’s been taken from me. I have no one. I have a home that’s not really a home. There’s nothing in there. I had a car but I had to give it away. I’m alone now. I don’t hurt anyone. I can’t hurt anyone because I can barely walk. So then why are they so mean to me? Why won’t they give me my medicine? I can’t hurt anyone! They hate me. I hate myself! I can’t see myself and the only way to prevent from seeing myself is with my medicine. But they don’t want me to have it! They say it’s bad. They say I’m killing myself. I know I am, I know I’m dying! But what do I want to live for?! I live to drink. If I don’t drink, what is my reason for living? I need a drink.
(I know it might be a little hard to link this to human rights but it has something to do with discrimination)
(I know it might be a little hard to link this to human rights but it has something to do with discrimination)
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