Saturday, August 8, 2009
Use of Cinema in Museums
BYU Dancesport
I have never attended BYU's Dance Sport competition before, but I really enjoyed watching it. I took my fiance to watch it and we both had a lot of fun watching all the couples spin around on the floor. I really enjoy watching ballroom dancing! It is so interesting that each dance has a specific style and set of moves that are important. I felt like I did not know enough about the different types of dances to be able to be a very informed judge, however we were able to pick out favorites in each group. It was really neat to see how popular the sport of ballroom dancing is. There were so many competitors there! I would never imagine that so many guys were involved in ballroom dancing, but there were tons of guys there and they would all get so into the dance! I tend to watch the guys because I feel like I can tell how they are doing a lot easier than I can tell how the girl is doing. The man in a ballroom dance is supposed to be masculine, he is expected to the support the woman and always lead her in the right direction. I feel like their job is to make the girls look good and support them whenever it is necessary. There were definitely some guys who were better than others. I could tell that some of them were really trying hard to play that masculine role, however, some of them could just not pull it off. And others were so believable and strong out on the dance floor. The best part was watching the guys faces, like I said before, some of the guys were so believable and others just looked kind of funny. But the girls are always so beautiful! They are all in pretty outfits and have their hair done up with pretty make up on. It is impressive to watch a really good couple interact with each other. They know their steps so well and know how to move with each other to make their dance look beautiful.
Week 7 in Class
Friday, July 31, 2009
My brain is hooked on music
Modern Drama
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Reading of Dance
Pioneer Day Fair
Friday, July 24, 2009
Theater
I loved talking about theater this week in class. To me, theater is such an amazing way to tell stories about human emotions and life! I personally have been raised on theater, specifically musicals. I have probably seen over 30 different musicals in my lifetime, and I've probably been to live performances of plays and musicals around 40 times. I love love love theater!
There are so many other examples of amazing plays or musicals that have symbolic meanings in the props and sets. And I love how theater can take you away from your everyday life. You can go back to Oklahoma in the eighteen-hundreds, or to France during a revolution. It is amazing that directors and writers can come up with so many stories, songs, and characters. I love theater and I feel like I have learned many important lessons through the morals and messages they focus on.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Musical Event
Friday, July 17, 2009
Art Can Express More Than Words
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Library Film Screenin
For this week's cultural experience I went to the Orem Library and watched their movie screening. The movie they were playing this week was A League of Their Own. I LOVED this movie! This movie tells the true story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The AAGPBL was formed during WWII as a way to fill the gap in baseball parks while the men of the Major Leauge Baseball association were away in Europe fighting.
This movie was amazing because it helped me understand how women were treated during the times of WWII. In the begining of the movie the Recruiter travels around recruiting girls for the league. However, he only takes the beautiful ones, the ones that will be nice for men to look at as they play baseball. The recruiter, and the owners of the league, believe that the only way the league will be successful is if the girls are entertaining and nice to look at. They do not care if the girls in the league are truly talented. They make the girls play in mini skirts, which makes it almost impossible to slide into the bases without getting huge dirt burns! However in the end the people of the nation learn to see the girls of the league for their talent, and they love them! That is probably what I like the most, is that in the beginning the girls are only seen as pretty, or fun to watch and in the end people realize how truly talented and good at baseball they are!
The best character, in my opinion, was Tom Hanks who played the MLB washout Coach of the girls team. At first he doesn't take them seriously, he just drinks and sleeps through the games. He specifially says "GIRLS CAN'T PLAY BASEBALL!" haha! Over time the girls change his mind. By the end of the first season he changes as a person. At first he was a drunk who had no purpose in life and no respect for himself or others. But in the end he is happy, and has a purpose, and he is a better person! He respects the girls and admits to their talent on the field.
This movie came out in 1992, and has many talented actors including Tom Hanks, Madonna, Greena Davis and Rosie O'donell. It is funny and touching. The movie made me laugh out loud and it also made me cry a couple times! haha! My fiance laughed at me a lot because I just loved this movie! Others in the auditorium enjoyed it as well. There were kids and older people in the auditorium who were also laughing as well! I loved the characters and I loved watching their story as they worked their way to the top and triumphed over those who said they would fail.
Gianlorenzo Bernini
I have never visited the Vatican but when I look at pictures like these, it makes me want to hop on a plane right now and fly over to Rome! there are so many statues surrounding the Square, and beautiful fountains and statues inside as well.
I am just amazed by all that was able to accomplish during his life time. He work still affects the world today! Hundreds of thousands of people have traveled to Rome and walked in St. Peters Square. His other monuments can be seen all throughout Rome. My favorite that I saw was the Castle St. Angelo in Rome. Here is a picture of it!
How amazing it that! Its this big round castle and Bridge leading to it is lined with beautiful angel statues. Bernini designed this and he personally carved 2 of the angles and then his students carved the others based off of his directions. I just can't believe that one man could create this. I mean, I know that he had help but it is so impressive that all of this came out of his head!
Bernini lived to be 82. He was described as an extremely hard worker often working 7 or 8 hours a day on a sculpture without stopping. He was a religious man and his pieces of art were used by the Catholic church to draw people into the chapels and into Rome. When I look at his works of art I feel uplifted. I feel that a man could not do this without having some sort of inspiration from God. Bernini was not a perfect man by any sense but he was able to do so much with his talents. He and his works are an inspiration to me, and one day I will travel to Rome so I can view them in person!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
3rd week in class...
I spy makes me happy!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Modernism: in reading
I don't know why this picture makes me laugh! I think that maybe its because it reminds me of those multicolored pictures of Marilyn Monroe...
Marilyn Monroe was a star! She was a public icon, people loved her and people still love her! Maybe the fact that Le Cocorbusier has a picture like this indicates that he was an icon for Modernists!!! haha
Anyways! the thing that scares me about Le Corbusier is that he wanted the world to be like him... mass produced. Everyone looking the same no one standing out. The worker housing that was built during this time is similar in that. The architects who built it wanted every apartment to look the same... 4 white walls, uncomfortable furniture, they wanted everything Modern and "working class" and nothing Bourgeois. They wanted everyone to be equal, more so than in just possessions and wealth... they wanted everyone to be equal in looks and that is scary!! In this equality they saw beauty... this might be a harsh comparison but what I see in this is Hitler, and Stalin. These communist tyrants also strived for equality, they believed that if everyone were equal no one would want. Everyone would be happy because there were no poor (of course there would be not rich either, except for Hitler and his cronies) And these men went to extreme lengths in their quest for equality and Utopia, as can be seen in any history book or WWII museum. So this part of the book fascinated me because I saw so much of communism in it... even though there are many beautiful modernist buildings and paintings... I guess that the idea behind modernism in a sense makes it hard for me to purely just enjoy it for its aesthetic parts.
Just to close, when I was looking for a picture of Le Corbusier I found this funny thing on his owleyed glasses! haha how to be an instant architect! I think we should all wear these in class one day!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
I'm Singing in the Rain!
What is Art?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Cultural To Do List
Week 1: Farmers Market
Week 2: Monday the 29th Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
Week 3: BYU Museum of Art Dan Steinhilber exhibition
Week 4: children’s matinees in the park
Week 5: Deer Valley Music Festival
Week 6: Muse film screening
Week 7: August 8 Dance Sport at BYU WSC Ballroom
Week 8: Farmers market