June 28th - Phantom of the Opera - Assignment #16

Today we watched Phantom of the Opera in class. I have never seen the whole movie so it was good to finally see the whole thing. I liked the movie a lot actually. I thought the scenery and costumes in the movie were really elaborate and pretty. I also liked how the how the present and the past were easy to follow with the black and white and the color scenes. I think my favorite part was the masquerade ball scene. I really liked the costumes and the dancing in that scene. Even though the movie had a predictable plot, I enjoyed the story line and the effects and dramatics that were put into the movie. I liked all of the songs in the movie and thought the actors voices were really strong and were casted very well for their parts.

June 23rd - Hair - Assignment #15

Tonight I went to see Hair at Trustus Theater. I really liked the atmosphere of the theater and how it was set up. I thought it was really cute to have popcorn at my seat when I got there and liked that everyone was really welcoming and friendly. I liked how the stage was small and was really close to the audience, which I think we learned was called a thrust stage. I liked how the actors included the audience and brought them into the show. I thought the show was entertaining but there were many parts during the performance where I was confused on what was going on. I think the director and actors did a really great job of bringing the audience back to the 1960's. I also liked how I wasn't just focusing on the stage at all times, sometimes the actors were singing in the audience and sometimes there were people standing to the sides of the stage. My favorite part of the performance was probably the ending number of "let the sunshine in". I thought the whole group sounded really great together, and did a great job of creating a solemn and depressing scene. I took a picture of the outside of the theater and of the stage during intermission.

June 23rd - Theater Crawl - Assignment #14

Because it was so hot outside we were not able to take part in the theater crawl around Columbia, but it was still very interesting to learn all about theaters and operas. I felt like I was behind the scenes as a crew member when learning about all of the terminology used for onstage and off stage equipment and positions. It was also interesting to learn about the different types of stages because I never realized how many types there were. After we went through the facts and learned the terminology, were were able to finish up our butterflies that we started from the previous class. This is how my final butterfly came out. I had a lot of studying to do for an anatomy class, so it was fun to leave my butterfly on the coffee table and have my roommates and I work on it any chance we got. They were really excited to see the final product as well.

June 21st - Columbia Marionette Theater - Assignment #13

We met at the Columbia Marionette Theater to watch the play Puss in Boots. I thought the theater itself was adorable. I felt as if I was in a storybook when I walked into the building. It was really fun to just watch all of the children around me watch the show. Most kids that were behaving were really intrigued and drawn into the performance. I thought some of the characters were hard to understand, but for the most part I think it takes a lot of work to be a puppeteer. When we went behind the stage it was really cool to see all of the puppets that are used in the shows and also learn how they are made. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted the pictures I took from the performance when I was putting them on my computer so I can't post any of them :-( However, some of the pictures I took were of the building, the marionettes used in the show, marionettes that were behind the stage and a picture of the rubber model the puppeteer used to form the marionettes. I found this picture online which was similar to one of the pictures I took of the outside of the building.






I think the marionette theater should definitely put on more shows for families to go and see. It was obvious that the children there really enjoyed the show as well as getting a chance to play with the puppets once the show was over.

June 18th - Piano Competition - Assignment #12

I went to the Arthur Fraser Piano Competition a couple of weekends ago to watch the first three contestants of the competition. I couldn't believe the talent that the students had. It was unbelievable to listen to them play. When I went online the next day I was reading about the contestants and I could not believe that they were all in high school or middle school. I thought they were extremely talented for their ages and thought they were a lot older when watching them perform. Looking at the results of the competition online I saw that Brook Zhang, the second performer I saw, ended up winning the discretionary award and the young jury award. He was really phenomenal to listen to. I played piano for a couple of years as a child so it was it was a lot of fun to see younger kids play. Being in the educational field I do enjoy watching children succeed as well as watching them do something they love. Those performers were all passionate about their performances and it made it that more entertaining to watch.

June 10th - Dance Assignment #8

Going through my blog posts I realized that I was missing some posts. On June 10th in class we spoke about different types of dances around the world as well as the different styles of dance. It was interesting to see the photographs of the dances as well as watch some videos. As a physical education major I have taken a folk and square dance class so most of the dances were familiar to me. After class we went upstairs to learn the shag. It was interesting to learn that the shag can be taught in two different ways, which was something I did not know. Being from New Jersey, I did like taking part in learning the Shag because it was a way to learn more about South Carolina's culture. Even though I learned the shag once before, it was helpful to learn the steps over again to re-fresh my memory.




I came across the carolina shag club when I was looking up information about the Shag. I liked the image and decided to include it in my blog.

June 17th

I went to see the movie Greenberg last night at the Nickelodeon. I have never been to the theater before so it was a lot of fun to go to it. I thought the theater was really cool. I liked how the atmosphere of the theater was very friendly and laid back. There was a large group at the movie and it was interesting to listen to everyone's reactions and opinions of the movie both during the movie and when it was over. I thought the movie was okay. I think Ben Stiller did a great job of portraying an egocentric mental case. I enjoyed watching how he interacted with people and also listening to his views of society and the people around him. It was interesting to watch Florence and Greenberg go through their lives. They were both at two very different points of their lives going through different life crises. I was just interested in watching how both characters handled the situations they were in. Even though they saw things differently they did both seem to have a strong connection with caring for the family dog. I also liked how at the end both characters seem to have a hold for things, especially Greenberg who was realizing what was most important in his life.

June 15th

Today I was brought back to my elementary art class days. We were able to take one of our photographs of the butterflies we took on Monday and make it into a piece of artwork. I consider myself to be creative but I do not have much artistic ability so breaking the image into boxes and then sketching each individual box made the process easier for me. Something that was challenging was how I decided to divide the boxes. I made my boxes pretty large so when I transferred them onto the bigger piece of paper it took up the full sheet. This made it harder to make the details of the butterfly I chose to draw. If my boxes were smaller I think my butterfly would have looked more detailed and neater. I chose to draw this photograph I took.

June 14th

Today in class we went to Edventure to see the blooming butterflies. It was a very cool experience to look at and take pictures of all of the butterflies. I felt like a photographer trying to capture the perfect shot of the butterflies resting on the flowers. There were many different kinds of butterflies there so I was trying to take a picture of all of the different ones I saw. These are some of the pictures I took.

June 9th

One of my favorite poems is "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

June 9th - Poem

My autobiographical poem:

I am from South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Italy.

I am from spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, chicken parmesan, egglant rollatini, linguini and clams, struffoli, pepperoni bread, and italian cookies.

I am from "Salute!" "I get better looking everyday" "I love you" "Time for Ninano" "What's for dinner?" "Fungia face" "Time for R and R" "Thats what I was thinking" "Just like your mother."

I am from Steven and Rozanne, Eugene and Anne, Dominick and Anna, Paul, Tommy and Michelle, Thomas, Michael, Maritta and Bobby, Paula and Eddy, Melody, Drew.

June 8th - State Museum

I really enjoyed looking through all of the portraits mostly because they were everyday people in everyday situations. It was just natural photography focusing on the average individual which was refreshing and interesting to look at. The photographers seemed to capture the person exactly how they are portrayed on a daily basis.
I think my favorite portrait in the room was the little boy wearing the over-sized cowboy hat and holding the baseball glove. What I liked most about this picture was that it was obvious the child was in the middle of laughing. Laughter is the best thing out there, and as soon as I saw the portrait I couldn't help but smile, which really made me like that portrait the most. Being a physical education major, I truly enjoy and appreciate watching kids grow and explore their imaginations through sports and being active. Because this boy in the photograph had an over-sized cowboy hat on and was holding a baseball glove it was obvious he has a strong imagination as well as a love for sports. Two important messages that I hope I can pass onto my students when I am a teacher.
I also liked how the picture was in black and white. Sometimes I think that a black and white portrait can provide more meaning and emotion. Even though there isn't color it in, it seems to leave a greater impression on me. I think the picture just meant to portray children having so many different personalities. One day they might want to be a cowboy and the next day they may want to be a baseball player. I think that the photographer did a great job of conveying that message.

Monday June 7th - Kandinsky

Kandinsky's artwork is definitely abstract. As an observer I think you really need to look for his hidden messages and common themes. Through his work it is obvious he felt very strongly toward painting the village on the hill, the two saints, the angel and the horn, and the horse and the rider. I feel like most of his work symbolizes destruction, however I think he includes the saints and angel for prayer and hope. I like how he used so much color in his work. Because there is so much going on in the paintings, the color is spread across the entire painting. Even though most of his paintings represent a destruction and are hard to look at and find the hidden figures, I do enjoy looking at his paintings to find the common figures he puts into his work.

Tapestries

First Tapestry

Fourth Tapestry

I took two pictures because the exhibit was pretty crowed with a tour group when I got there. I was not allowed to use a flash so they might be a little dark. These are pictures of the first tapestry of the story and the forth one.

Museum Tapestries - Assignment #4

I have been to a couple museums before as a child on school trips but have not been to one in a while. There was some sort of gathering going on at the museum when I walked in, so there were people, and food and live music. I thought the museum itself was very clean and modern looking. Everything had their special rooms which seemed very organized to walk through.

I thought the tapestries were really incredible to look at. The images almost looked as if they were painted on. There happened to be a tour going on when I walked into the room so I was able to listen to the story of Romulus and Remus and also find out a little bit more about the tapestries. The guide explained that if there were 30 people working on the tapestry at once that it would take around 2 months to complete, which really puts into perspective of how much detail went into all of the tapestries in the exhibit. The eight tapestries went through the story of Romulus and Remus which I have never heard in that much detail. The story actually started with the story of the brothers, Numitor and Amulius, and how Amulius made Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, a priestess so she was unable to marry and have children to take over in Amulius position. Rhea Silvia however met the god Mars and conceived the twin boys, Romulus and Remus. Servants were ordered by Amulius to kill the twins, but they couldn't and sent them down the Tiger River to be found by a she-wolf. The she-wolf nursed the two boys until they were found by a Shepard and his wife. The story continues that both boys were very heroic and protective of their parents. One day Remus was arrested for fighting and was brought to Numitor where he figured out that the two boys were in fact royalty. The two boys fought about who should rule the new city and went on top of two separate mountains waiting for a sign from the gods. Remus received the first sign by the gods of one vulture, and when Remus went to tell Romulus he saw the Romulus received the second sign of 12 vultures. A war broke out between the followers of Romulus and Remus and it ended with Romulus killing Remus and creating the city of Rome. The story ends with Romulus stealing women from the Sebines in order to start up his civilization.

I never heard the full story of Romulus and Remus so it was very interesting to listen to the full story of the brothers. The tapestries were said to be made in the 1500's making them 400-500 years old. The guide explained that they were hung inside of castle walls and that the tapestries were made in Brussels. Two of the tapestries that were hung were copies of the originals.

Architecture - Assignment #3

Wednesday's class was very interesting. It was really cool to discuss the architect vocabulary words in class and then be able to see them while walking around Columbia. I think the Trinity Cathedral is going to be beautiful once it is finished. I love how the builders are trying to restore the church to make it look nicer but keeping its old gothic style. Inside the church there were really dark beams forming the vaults. I thought the round stained glass windows on both sides of the church were really beautiful. I think once the apse and choir sections are finished and the pews are put in, the different sections of the church will be very welcoming and extraordinary to look at.
The African American Monument was extremely interesting to walk around and look at all the details. What I liked most about the monument was how much detail was in the one monument. It went through all the history with just enough detail to really leave an impact. I also liked how it wasn't a flat monument and that the images stuck out to really show the emotion that was put into the design.

Music - Assignment #2

The boomwackers in today's class were a lot of fun to play with. I think they are definitely something someone at any age would enjoy making music with. Since I will be a physical education teacher I don't think I really would use the boomwackers in my class, but they are something I could pass on to the music teacher because I know the students would really have fun using them.
I spoke a little bit about music in my first post, but music is always around me. I only played the piano for four years when I was younger, but listening to music is like a hobby to me. I listen to all types of music constantly throughout the day. I love how music can put you in different moods and also help enhance an emotion. I listen to a lot of different artists, but some of my favorites include Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews Band. It is really hard to say who I would pay a lot of money for to see in concert because there are so many musicians I would love to see.

first class opera drawing

We were asked to listen to the opera song, "Nessun dorma" and draw what we felt the song was saying. My drawing represented a very serene longing with love and sadness.

May 31, 2010 - Assignment #1

As a child, I remember really enjoying drawing and sculpting with play-dough, but since then I stick with coloring books whenever I'm bored with my roommates or entertaining my younger cousins. In elementary school, my art teacher would have us create portfolios to put all of our work in that we created throughout the year. It was always fun to look back at everything I created and see how I may have progressed. During those years we focused on drawing portraits and landscapes. I always enjoyed art but I don't know much about many artists or paintings and I don't consider myself to be very artistic. I've been to many dance performances because my sister was a dancer, and I also took a three credit dance course my freshman year which required us to go to many performances. Listening to music and watching dances is definitely more interesting and entertaining for me. I seem to understand and get more from that type of art, compared to looking at a still drawing, sculpture or painting.

I think art is anything that affects one's emotions. Whether it be a play, painting, song, or movie, if it shows emotion and leaves an impression on a person it can be considered a type of art. I think the best thing about art is that there are so many different types of expressions, and there can be so many types of opinions and outlooks about how is it presented.

When it comes to movies and music, I watch and listen to just about anything. Comedies and romantic movies are probably my favorite to watch, but I love being taken to a different world in movies with special effects and creative story lines. I love listening to music because of how there is always a song that fits every mood. When I'm working on homework, I usually have something soft and relaxing playing in the background, but while when I'm working out or hanging with friends, I tend to listen to something more upbeat. While writing this blog I am playing some Dave Matthews Band which helps me stay focused. I believe music is one of the biggest components of art that helps bring people together.