NATURALISM-
They don't think it's the individual's place to change the world, and whatever moral struggle s/he goes through may very well add up to little or nothing.
IMP!!!-- Naturalism's central belief, in fact, is that individual human beings are at the mercy of uncontrollable larger forces that originate both inside and outside them. These forces might include some of our more "animal" drives, such as the need for food, sex, shelter, social dominance, etc. Or, in a more "external" vein, these forces might include the natural environment, the man-made environment, or finance, industry, and the economy.
-Something, though, is always beating down and controlling the lives of lowly individual humans in naturalist works.
-The whole point of this literary movement, in fact, is that this is inevitable. And yes, it�s often pretty grim.
REALISM AND NATURALISM--
One last thing: realist works are generally plot driven, even if only subtly. This means they pivot around conflicts we as readers wait to see resolved. A realist work, then, will typically have at least one protagonist (a main character -- not necessarily a likeable person or a "hero") and one antagonist (another character or a force that will try to prevent the protagonist from getting what s/he wants), and readers will wait to see, as they watch a sequence of increasingly dramatic events, which of them prevails. This is how any standard story works, but it's important to note that realism does these things, too, because the modernist stuff we'll look at later often refuses plot, going in for a more fragmented or "stream of consciousness" style instead.
NOTES:
If you read the previous post, you will see that Opera in the past had first been used to try and instill values into the people in China, teaching them about compassion, kindness, etc. However, at the same time when looking at the types of plays they produced, they did have values incorporated into them, and were not too out of the world, but the purpose of Chinese Opera changed to one of entertainment, not as method to propogate values. Thus, it was realism in the fcat that it has the structure and form. But it is also naturalistc because it has a bleak future ahead of it and presents life as it is. Sometimes societyy wons, while at other times self can win.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Research
BOUND FEET-
No one knows were the tradition of binding feet originated but ppl say that it might have been during the Tang dynasty.
-It started with royalty. Its origins may be perceived as a means of enforcing the imperial male's exclusive sexual access to his female consorts, ensuring their chastity and fidelity. Since the emperor's life was thought to have moral and political significance, information was protected and the physical freedom of the imperial and palace women was restricted. The court's custom of keeping women hidden was echoed in urban society at large, setting standards of behavior that reduced women to a state of near-total domestic seclusion. In those urban centers, such standards were widely observed by women who aspired to elite status.
- This trend set buy the royal family was followed by people from the upper classes as they strived to be considered 'high class'. It is like what a fashion trend is today. IMPORTANT FOR THE PLAY
- Within the areas and classes in which footbinding was widely accepted, a girl of marriageable age with natural feet had only limited prospects for making a "good" marriage, one which reflected well on her family's ability to raise her properly.[18] Having a daughter with bound feet conferred many potential benefits both on the girl and her family, transforming the biological disadvantage of being born female into a distinct social advantage by increasing her opportunities for making a lucrative marriage. Mothers impressed upon their daughters that the mark of a woman's attraction resided more in her character as revealed in the bind of her feet than in the face or body which nature had given her. Her selection in marriage was the responsibility of her prospective mother-in-law, whose criterion for a good daughter-in-law was the discipline that the bound foot represented, thus a daughter learned that she carried the reputations of both her natal family and the family into which she married in the bind of her feet.[19]
The stepmother could want to emphasize this point in her speech, that she had raised her daughter all her life, bound her feet and taught her what must be done and what is needed to marry well. In comparison, perhaps Cinderella's feet were bound before her father died, but after his passing, when she worked as a maid, her feet were left to grow. Thus, this might be one of the factors that forced the prince to not be able to marry her and the reason the stepsisters feet could not fit the shoe. It was too SMALL.Reason Cinderella was forced to not bind her feet- Even without the promise of hope for upward mobility which a good marriage provided, women bound their feet to signify their claim on the dignity accorded those who embodied refinement and a "sense of class".
DV has been chnaged from nature vs nurture to Self vs society.
- STEPSISTER- The stepsister is NOT evil. She has been influenced by her mother who has also been infkluenced by society so basically in both their cases SOCIETY WINS! So what does society proclaim that the stepsis follows. Its the fantasy of marrying a Prince and that being the goal in life of the women in society in those days. She does not hate or despise Cinbderella and so does not treat her cruely. But at the same time she does envy her. She is an overall likable character, kind and demure. However, the audience may percieve her as shallow.
- STEPMOTHER- for the step mum, she is driven by societies high opinion of royalty and the rich. She believes that if one wants to be great, or something in life, one has to aim towards being rich, famous and respected. And thus she years to be the to be empress mother.
-CINDERELLA- As for Cinderella, she is still the bubbly, vivacious character, but in a way she knows her place. She requests her stepmum iof she can wear the shoe, not just demand that she wants to and continues to do so. She is someone who unline the stepsis and thus unlike society belivees and longs for true love, whatever form it may come in. In the end, society and her share the prize, as she does get married to her true love, the prince even though its just as a concubine. Society still wins though, as She cannot become the Empress because of her bound feet and queer status.
-PRINCE- In the end, like cinderella, he shares the prize with society. He does find true love and then proceeds to get married to her, but only as a concubine because of societies customs and rules.
-FAIRYGODFATHER- He is not funny or bubbly. An easly irritable man, who is impatient BUT at the same time has a soft spot for people in trouble, the oppressed and the weak. However, even to these vistims, he does not show his kind side.
BEIJING OPERA
- Beijing opera was born when the "Four Great Anhui Troupes" came to Beijing in 1790. Beijing opera was originally staged for the court and came into the public later.
- It was not a new art form in itself, but because it evolved so late, it was actually a combination of various historical art and Opera forms.
- But new elements were also added. It wasn’t as singing based, there was more acrobatics introduced and the roles of characters was also changed, makeup was different for the sake of the audience, high pitch singing was stopped and the plays were kept shorter.
- It is mainly based on stories told of China's history and has become increasingly contemporary dealing with issues in society.
- Due to a decrease in audience numbers as well as restraints from the government, the art form has been revised continually. These reforms, which include improving performance quality, adapting new performance elements, and performing new and original plays.
- They usually have three kinds of speech
i) Monologues, Duologues and short prose usually added in for humour.
ii) Quotations of famous Chinese proverbs and teachings.
iii) conventionalized stage speech- introductory speeches given by characters.
-The oldest and most generally used system is to sort plays into civil and martial types. Civil plays focus on the relationships between characters, and feature personal, domestic, and romantic situations. The element of singing is frequently used to express emotion in this type of play. Martial plays feature a greater emphasis on action and combat skill. The two types of play also feature different arrays of performers.
- Nowadays to attract more crowds, Beijing Opera has been adapting Shakespeare scripts and plays into its traditional forms.
Justification of use of Opera.
We changed our idea once again and decided to use Chinese Opera as a mode to tell our fairytale story. We decided that we would keep to the same classic story, but just change the mode of presentation to Chinese Opera. But this in itself was a crazy hard task!
Chinese customs easiest to see conventions between society and self.
1) We decided to keep the structure of Opera as far as costume and makeup were concerned. Also, we tried to base the characters in Cinderella as close to the Chinese stereotypes as possible, thus making it easier to match the costume and make up.
2) Chinese Opera in itself is a HUGE genre, so we decided to narrow it down to something that was more recent and famous so that our audience might be able to make some connection to the characters, be it through costume or makeup. Beijing or Peking Opera was decided on as it is one of the latest tradition of Opera and is recognized world wide. We felt that this modern version of Opera would be better to use as it does incorporate certain elements that have come about with modernization. The makeup for example is now thicker than it was before as now the indoor performance theatres have stage lights, and do not depend on natural lighting.
3) After talking to people in the Opera industry and also reading up, we found out that the singing in Opera was what made it so special. However, we decided that we would have to let go of the singing as it was a second barrier or double alienation for the audience, something that we did not want. They would not be used to seeing youths on stage dressed in Opera costumes and singing in English. This would only cause them to laugh, and thus hinder their ability and concentration on the play as a whole. Also, we felt that if singing were to be added, it would seem like a satire and a mockery of Chinese Opera, something that we are definitely not trying or want to do. Furthermore, after doing some research we found a play which was a Chinese adaptation of Shakespeare’s 'Taming of the shrew'. In this Opera performance, there was more dialogue than sound, and the whole play was at a much faster pace in order to accommodate the modern audience in 2001. Thus, using this as our example, we decided to incorporate faster dialogue in our production.
4) The story line in Chinese Opera is very straight forward. However, in order to appeal and to capture the audiences attention as well as enable them to be able to connect with the piece, we have decided to modernize it. The aspects that we are changing is the characters themselves. We have decided to make the step sister a person who has been greatly influenced by the American culture, and thus tries to be 'ang moh'. The Godfather in contrast is a Chinese man, with the typical accent, trying his best to fit in and move with the time, but failing to do so.
5) As far as movement is concerned, we will be trying to stay as close to Chinese Opera as possible. We have done research on it, watched videos on it and are going to attend a workshop soon to work out what movement differentiates each character from one another and how one must go about acting Opera.
6) The reason we are using the story of Cinderella is because it has a very fairy tale, unrealistic element to it, something dreamy. That is what we are trying to achieve here. Opera is not something that you see in everyday life, the actions are exaggerated to a certain extent for emphasis and many of the movements are not seen in real life today either. Why Cinderella one might ask, aren’t Operas about politics and state affairs? Well yes, they did have a certain amount of politics in it, but as China began to be influenced by modernization, the joint family unit broke down, leading to may smaller family units and in some cases just the couples. Thus, this change brought about a change in the Opera culture as well, after all the Opera was catered to the people's tastes and preferences and also changed with the times. Thus in the 20th and 21st century, Opera began to show plays that revolved around love and how it overcomes all things in the end.
Origin of Opera
-Chinese Opera has a history that dates back 4,000 years ago.
-It is believed that the Chinese people were involved in ritual dancing and singing to please or entertain spirits during their religious rites.
-During the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD 220), story-telling was blended with dance to produce an elementary form of musical drama. Thus, the lessons on friendship, love, hatred, treachery and loyalty in folktales were played out on the Chinese Opera stage, where performers share these traditional folktales through speech, songs, dance, elaborate costume and colourful make-up.
-These stories were performed on stage as part of the ceremonies and celebrations in the imperial courts. Opera singing and acting further developed during the Zhou Dynasty. Religious festivals were held where priests and soothsayers chanted and performed mimes to convey their beliefs to worshippers.
-During the Tang Dynasty (618 ? 907), the Emperor Taizong established an opera school with the poetic name Liyuan (Pear Garden). From that time on, performers of Chinese opera were referred to as 'disciples of the pear garden'.
-Since the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368) Chinese opera has been encouraged by court officials and emperors and has become a traditional art form.
-During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), Chinese opera became fashionable among ordinary people. Performances were watched in tearooms, restaurants, and even around makeshift stages.
Origins of Peking Opera
-In 1790, theater companies from all over China arrived in Beijing, to perform for the Qing Emperor Qianlong's birthday. Here begins the history of the various opera forms as we know them today in China...
Four theater companies from Anhui arrived in Beijing, and their fresh styles of music and theater electrified the capital and eventually came to replace the Kunqu Opera style that had been pre-eminent in the capital for the past two hundred years. Characteristics from other forms of opera, such as Hopeh, Wuhan, and Shansi, were incorporated into the Anhui style. After a while this form of opera became known as Ching Hsi, or 'Capital Play.' Ching Hsi is what we know today as Peking Opera. Because of its long history, Peking Opera encompasses a wide variety of drama, and a wide variety of styles of acting. It emphasizes historical and military plays and can be quite patriotic, and so quite popular.
No one knows were the tradition of binding feet originated but ppl say that it might have been during the Tang dynasty.
-It started with royalty. Its origins may be perceived as a means of enforcing the imperial male's exclusive sexual access to his female consorts, ensuring their chastity and fidelity. Since the emperor's life was thought to have moral and political significance, information was protected and the physical freedom of the imperial and palace women was restricted. The court's custom of keeping women hidden was echoed in urban society at large, setting standards of behavior that reduced women to a state of near-total domestic seclusion. In those urban centers, such standards were widely observed by women who aspired to elite status.
- This trend set buy the royal family was followed by people from the upper classes as they strived to be considered 'high class'. It is like what a fashion trend is today. IMPORTANT FOR THE PLAY
- Within the areas and classes in which footbinding was widely accepted, a girl of marriageable age with natural feet had only limited prospects for making a "good" marriage, one which reflected well on her family's ability to raise her properly.[18] Having a daughter with bound feet conferred many potential benefits both on the girl and her family, transforming the biological disadvantage of being born female into a distinct social advantage by increasing her opportunities for making a lucrative marriage. Mothers impressed upon their daughters that the mark of a woman's attraction resided more in her character as revealed in the bind of her feet than in the face or body which nature had given her. Her selection in marriage was the responsibility of her prospective mother-in-law, whose criterion for a good daughter-in-law was the discipline that the bound foot represented, thus a daughter learned that she carried the reputations of both her natal family and the family into which she married in the bind of her feet.[19]
The stepmother could want to emphasize this point in her speech, that she had raised her daughter all her life, bound her feet and taught her what must be done and what is needed to marry well. In comparison, perhaps Cinderella's feet were bound before her father died, but after his passing, when she worked as a maid, her feet were left to grow. Thus, this might be one of the factors that forced the prince to not be able to marry her and the reason the stepsisters feet could not fit the shoe. It was too SMALL.Reason Cinderella was forced to not bind her feet- Even without the promise of hope for upward mobility which a good marriage provided, women bound their feet to signify their claim on the dignity accorded those who embodied refinement and a "sense of class".
DV has been chnaged from nature vs nurture to Self vs society.
- STEPSISTER- The stepsister is NOT evil. She has been influenced by her mother who has also been infkluenced by society so basically in both their cases SOCIETY WINS! So what does society proclaim that the stepsis follows. Its the fantasy of marrying a Prince and that being the goal in life of the women in society in those days. She does not hate or despise Cinbderella and so does not treat her cruely. But at the same time she does envy her. She is an overall likable character, kind and demure. However, the audience may percieve her as shallow.
- STEPMOTHER- for the step mum, she is driven by societies high opinion of royalty and the rich. She believes that if one wants to be great, or something in life, one has to aim towards being rich, famous and respected. And thus she years to be the to be empress mother.
-CINDERELLA- As for Cinderella, she is still the bubbly, vivacious character, but in a way she knows her place. She requests her stepmum iof she can wear the shoe, not just demand that she wants to and continues to do so. She is someone who unline the stepsis and thus unlike society belivees and longs for true love, whatever form it may come in. In the end, society and her share the prize, as she does get married to her true love, the prince even though its just as a concubine. Society still wins though, as She cannot become the Empress because of her bound feet and queer status.
-PRINCE- In the end, like cinderella, he shares the prize with society. He does find true love and then proceeds to get married to her, but only as a concubine because of societies customs and rules.
-FAIRYGODFATHER- He is not funny or bubbly. An easly irritable man, who is impatient BUT at the same time has a soft spot for people in trouble, the oppressed and the weak. However, even to these vistims, he does not show his kind side.
BEIJING OPERA
- Beijing opera was born when the "Four Great Anhui Troupes" came to Beijing in 1790. Beijing opera was originally staged for the court and came into the public later.
- It was not a new art form in itself, but because it evolved so late, it was actually a combination of various historical art and Opera forms.
- But new elements were also added. It wasn’t as singing based, there was more acrobatics introduced and the roles of characters was also changed, makeup was different for the sake of the audience, high pitch singing was stopped and the plays were kept shorter.
- It is mainly based on stories told of China's history and has become increasingly contemporary dealing with issues in society.
- Due to a decrease in audience numbers as well as restraints from the government, the art form has been revised continually. These reforms, which include improving performance quality, adapting new performance elements, and performing new and original plays.
- They usually have three kinds of speech
i) Monologues, Duologues and short prose usually added in for humour.
ii) Quotations of famous Chinese proverbs and teachings.
iii) conventionalized stage speech- introductory speeches given by characters.
-The oldest and most generally used system is to sort plays into civil and martial types. Civil plays focus on the relationships between characters, and feature personal, domestic, and romantic situations. The element of singing is frequently used to express emotion in this type of play. Martial plays feature a greater emphasis on action and combat skill. The two types of play also feature different arrays of performers.
- Nowadays to attract more crowds, Beijing Opera has been adapting Shakespeare scripts and plays into its traditional forms.
Justification of use of Opera.
We changed our idea once again and decided to use Chinese Opera as a mode to tell our fairytale story. We decided that we would keep to the same classic story, but just change the mode of presentation to Chinese Opera. But this in itself was a crazy hard task!
Chinese customs easiest to see conventions between society and self.
1) We decided to keep the structure of Opera as far as costume and makeup were concerned. Also, we tried to base the characters in Cinderella as close to the Chinese stereotypes as possible, thus making it easier to match the costume and make up.
2) Chinese Opera in itself is a HUGE genre, so we decided to narrow it down to something that was more recent and famous so that our audience might be able to make some connection to the characters, be it through costume or makeup. Beijing or Peking Opera was decided on as it is one of the latest tradition of Opera and is recognized world wide. We felt that this modern version of Opera would be better to use as it does incorporate certain elements that have come about with modernization. The makeup for example is now thicker than it was before as now the indoor performance theatres have stage lights, and do not depend on natural lighting.
3) After talking to people in the Opera industry and also reading up, we found out that the singing in Opera was what made it so special. However, we decided that we would have to let go of the singing as it was a second barrier or double alienation for the audience, something that we did not want. They would not be used to seeing youths on stage dressed in Opera costumes and singing in English. This would only cause them to laugh, and thus hinder their ability and concentration on the play as a whole. Also, we felt that if singing were to be added, it would seem like a satire and a mockery of Chinese Opera, something that we are definitely not trying or want to do. Furthermore, after doing some research we found a play which was a Chinese adaptation of Shakespeare’s 'Taming of the shrew'. In this Opera performance, there was more dialogue than sound, and the whole play was at a much faster pace in order to accommodate the modern audience in 2001. Thus, using this as our example, we decided to incorporate faster dialogue in our production.
4) The story line in Chinese Opera is very straight forward. However, in order to appeal and to capture the audiences attention as well as enable them to be able to connect with the piece, we have decided to modernize it. The aspects that we are changing is the characters themselves. We have decided to make the step sister a person who has been greatly influenced by the American culture, and thus tries to be 'ang moh'. The Godfather in contrast is a Chinese man, with the typical accent, trying his best to fit in and move with the time, but failing to do so.
5) As far as movement is concerned, we will be trying to stay as close to Chinese Opera as possible. We have done research on it, watched videos on it and are going to attend a workshop soon to work out what movement differentiates each character from one another and how one must go about acting Opera.
6) The reason we are using the story of Cinderella is because it has a very fairy tale, unrealistic element to it, something dreamy. That is what we are trying to achieve here. Opera is not something that you see in everyday life, the actions are exaggerated to a certain extent for emphasis and many of the movements are not seen in real life today either. Why Cinderella one might ask, aren’t Operas about politics and state affairs? Well yes, they did have a certain amount of politics in it, but as China began to be influenced by modernization, the joint family unit broke down, leading to may smaller family units and in some cases just the couples. Thus, this change brought about a change in the Opera culture as well, after all the Opera was catered to the people's tastes and preferences and also changed with the times. Thus in the 20th and 21st century, Opera began to show plays that revolved around love and how it overcomes all things in the end.
Origin of Opera
-Chinese Opera has a history that dates back 4,000 years ago.
-It is believed that the Chinese people were involved in ritual dancing and singing to please or entertain spirits during their religious rites.
-During the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD 220), story-telling was blended with dance to produce an elementary form of musical drama. Thus, the lessons on friendship, love, hatred, treachery and loyalty in folktales were played out on the Chinese Opera stage, where performers share these traditional folktales through speech, songs, dance, elaborate costume and colourful make-up.
-These stories were performed on stage as part of the ceremonies and celebrations in the imperial courts. Opera singing and acting further developed during the Zhou Dynasty. Religious festivals were held where priests and soothsayers chanted and performed mimes to convey their beliefs to worshippers.
-During the Tang Dynasty (618 ? 907), the Emperor Taizong established an opera school with the poetic name Liyuan (Pear Garden). From that time on, performers of Chinese opera were referred to as 'disciples of the pear garden'.
-Since the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368) Chinese opera has been encouraged by court officials and emperors and has become a traditional art form.
-During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), Chinese opera became fashionable among ordinary people. Performances were watched in tearooms, restaurants, and even around makeshift stages.
Origins of Peking Opera
-In 1790, theater companies from all over China arrived in Beijing, to perform for the Qing Emperor Qianlong's birthday. Here begins the history of the various opera forms as we know them today in China...
Four theater companies from Anhui arrived in Beijing, and their fresh styles of music and theater electrified the capital and eventually came to replace the Kunqu Opera style that had been pre-eminent in the capital for the past two hundred years. Characteristics from other forms of opera, such as Hopeh, Wuhan, and Shansi, were incorporated into the Anhui style. After a while this form of opera became known as Ching Hsi, or 'Capital Play.' Ching Hsi is what we know today as Peking Opera. Because of its long history, Peking Opera encompasses a wide variety of drama, and a wide variety of styles of acting. It emphasizes historical and military plays and can be quite patriotic, and so quite popular.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Cinderella.. Isnt life beautifull?
Name- Cinderella
Fav Fantasy and )unrealistic) lifetime objective- To marry a Prince, nthe love of my life! Oh how happy i will be!
Cinderella= Hua dan of Chinese Opera
Characteristics
-happy
-flirtatious personality
-usually a young girl
- bubbly
-vivacious
-lively
-talkative
-carefree (to a certain extent)
-optimistic
-excitable
-implusive?
Movements
-quicker than other characters
-more movemnet as compared to the other chracaters
-alot of expression through the hands
-alot of facial expression changes
-Alot of 'mischievous' eye movements
-tons of hand movements
Costume-brighter and more colourful-usually has a handkerchief since she doesnt usually have watersleeves.
Voice
-happier tone
-depper and stronger than the Qing Yi
Power Status
-No power over anyone.
-Stepmother and Step sister have agreed, Abuse, reward and Connection power over her.
-She has information power over them as far as info about the house is concerned.
My Father was a general in the army and when I was younger, I used to follow him aorund and watch the younger officers get trained. It was there that i fell in love with martial arts and fighting. I wanted to join in but father and mother never allowed me to pursue it. A lady of my status was suppose to be gracefull, kind, and gentle, not rough; was what they al;ways said. So although i could not pursue it, i did try my best to learn what i ould from watching. I was never able to do the kicks or anythiong to do wiuth my legs because they were bound. I had begged my parents not to make me bind them but they said that it was tradition and culture, and belongign to a family of such great prestige, it was compulsary. So well, i had to fdo it.
But then my mother died, and not long after, father passed away too. And i was stuck with that woman fatrher brought home a couple of years ago. She was ok i guess, i never really bothered about her. But when father died she suddenly took over everuything.. including my life! All the social parties stopped, even my personal tutor stopped coming over, but the biggest change was that she ordered that my feet were not to be bound anymore! Well i was really happy cause they were really uncomfortable, but with that came all the house chores,... and the work load.. the washing, sweeping... cooking... everything was left to me! I really did want to continue studying.. and not have to do so much of work.. but well i guess everything does come with its disadvantages...
Well never mind about my boring past.. ill just have to work towars my future.. :D
the household stuff isnt all that bad anyway.. its just a bit tiring.. but its fine.. i have ppl always there to cheer me up.. everyday i look forward to the end of the day when i can get some rest and just daydream! Yes, i am a bit of a daydreamer i admit.. but hey! there is nothing wrong with that! :P... oh well.. i might as well tell you what i daydream about then.. well.. what all gals dream about of course! My prince charming! Well he doesnt have to be a prince of course.. but well anyone who is good to me, treats me well and of course... the most important... someone who loves me and who i love back... well that day will come eventually i think..:D So well, untill then... ill just dream about that beautifull day!!!:D oops.. stepmums calling.,, winder what she wants now.. ta!
Fav Fantasy and )unrealistic) lifetime objective- To marry a Prince, nthe love of my life! Oh how happy i will be!
Cinderella= Hua dan of Chinese Opera
Characteristics
-happy
-flirtatious personality
-usually a young girl
- bubbly
-vivacious
-lively
-talkative
-carefree (to a certain extent)
-optimistic
-excitable
-implusive?
Movements
-quicker than other characters
-more movemnet as compared to the other chracaters
-alot of expression through the hands
-alot of facial expression changes
-Alot of 'mischievous' eye movements
-tons of hand movements
Costume-brighter and more colourful-usually has a handkerchief since she doesnt usually have watersleeves.
Voice
-happier tone
-depper and stronger than the Qing Yi
Power Status
-No power over anyone.
-Stepmother and Step sister have agreed, Abuse, reward and Connection power over her.
-She has information power over them as far as info about the house is concerned.
My Father was a general in the army and when I was younger, I used to follow him aorund and watch the younger officers get trained. It was there that i fell in love with martial arts and fighting. I wanted to join in but father and mother never allowed me to pursue it. A lady of my status was suppose to be gracefull, kind, and gentle, not rough; was what they al;ways said. So although i could not pursue it, i did try my best to learn what i ould from watching. I was never able to do the kicks or anythiong to do wiuth my legs because they were bound. I had begged my parents not to make me bind them but they said that it was tradition and culture, and belongign to a family of such great prestige, it was compulsary. So well, i had to fdo it.
But then my mother died, and not long after, father passed away too. And i was stuck with that woman fatrher brought home a couple of years ago. She was ok i guess, i never really bothered about her. But when father died she suddenly took over everuything.. including my life! All the social parties stopped, even my personal tutor stopped coming over, but the biggest change was that she ordered that my feet were not to be bound anymore! Well i was really happy cause they were really uncomfortable, but with that came all the house chores,... and the work load.. the washing, sweeping... cooking... everything was left to me! I really did want to continue studying.. and not have to do so much of work.. but well i guess everything does come with its disadvantages...
Well never mind about my boring past.. ill just have to work towars my future.. :D
the household stuff isnt all that bad anyway.. its just a bit tiring.. but its fine.. i have ppl always there to cheer me up.. everyday i look forward to the end of the day when i can get some rest and just daydream! Yes, i am a bit of a daydreamer i admit.. but hey! there is nothing wrong with that! :P... oh well.. i might as well tell you what i daydream about then.. well.. what all gals dream about of course! My prince charming! Well he doesnt have to be a prince of course.. but well anyone who is good to me, treats me well and of course... the most important... someone who loves me and who i love back... well that day will come eventually i think..:D So well, untill then... ill just dream about that beautifull day!!!:D oops.. stepmums calling.,, winder what she wants now.. ta!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
NEW DV
DV- Nature versus Nurture
Where do you see it?
- The step sister- Nurture destroyed her nature.
- The step mother- She fought against nurture to what she though was her nature (high status in society)
- Cinderella- She did nit allow nurture to destroy her nature.
- Prince- The traditions that he wass forced to follw (nurture)told him that he could not take Cinderella for a wife, but his nature did not allow him to lose the one he loved and so he worked around it and took her as a concubine.
Thus, there is no clear cut solution to whether nature or nurtur wins in the end. It depends on the persons determination and the circumstanbces they are put in. Sometimes, none of them win, instead they are forced to co exist like in the case of the Prince. Neiter ones nature or the way one is nurturted can fully define and form what one becomes.
Where do you see it?
- The step sister- Nurture destroyed her nature.
- The step mother- She fought against nurture to what she though was her nature (high status in society)
- Cinderella- She did nit allow nurture to destroy her nature.
- Prince- The traditions that he wass forced to follw (nurture)told him that he could not take Cinderella for a wife, but his nature did not allow him to lose the one he loved and so he worked around it and took her as a concubine.
Thus, there is no clear cut solution to whether nature or nurtur wins in the end. It depends on the persons determination and the circumstanbces they are put in. Sometimes, none of them win, instead they are forced to co exist like in the case of the Prince. Neiter ones nature or the way one is nurturted can fully define and form what one becomes.
New storyline..!!!
Please ignore the music notations added in.
Note: Major changes
- All characters have a monologue which sticks to Chinese Opera tradition and also helps the audience understand the storyline better.
- Bound feet is one of the main issues brought up here.
Scene 1
- Cinderella on set working happily
- Stepmum and stepsis calls
- Ask Cinderella to do her chores… (same as in the old script) –track 8 guangdong music
- Announcement from the royal palace
- Step mum tells step sis about her expectations from her and all the preperations that she had already dine for her daughter. The binding of her feet, etc. Tells her a bit of her past as well.
- Cinderella ask if she could go. Step mum says haven’t you been listening to what I have been saying? Stepsis tell Cindi that without bound feet she cannot go.
- Cindi and step mum exit.
- Step sis monologue about what she had to become because of her step mum and the expectations she has to meet + her jealousy of cindi. Exit.
- Cinderella monologue- about how she cannot make it to the ball, that all she wanted was to attend the ball, not event o marry the prince and that her dreams ruined. Track 3 guangdong music
- Fairy Godfather enters and introduces himself and then says that he will help her. –track 11 guagdong
- Helps her.
Scene 2
- Step mum and sis enter the ball… -track 13 guagdong
- Prince and cindi dance-track 1 guangdong music
- All the rest the same.
Scene 3
- Prince finds the shoe realizes that he cannot marry her because her feet are not bound but still wants to find her. (monologue) –track 1- everlasting – 1 min ++
- Fairy Godfather and Cindi enter trying to find shoe.
Scene 4
- Step mum shows her disappointment in step sis for not getting the prince. Track 2- masterpieces
- Prince enters with shoe, step mum forces step sis to try again and again.
- Step sis apologizes for mothers behavious. Prince likes the step sis but not in THAT way.
- Cinderella enters (how?), tries on shoe and fits.
- Step mum objects states what culture dictates (bound feet).
- Prince says that he will take her as a concubine
- Step mum says that he will need a queen 1st so why not take the step sis cause only THEN will she allow Cindi to get married to him. Prince agrees, everyone happy and exits.
- Step sis ends with monologue about how she may have fulfilled her step mum's dream, and cindi’s dreams were fulfilled but hers weren’t. She doesn’t have a man to love her. She knows that she will always be second to cindi as far as matters of the Princes heart go. Wonders if she was herself things would have been diff. track 8 everlasting.
Note: Major changes
- All characters have a monologue which sticks to Chinese Opera tradition and also helps the audience understand the storyline better.
- Bound feet is one of the main issues brought up here.
Scene 1
- Cinderella on set working happily
- Stepmum and stepsis calls
- Ask Cinderella to do her chores… (same as in the old script) –track 8 guangdong music
- Announcement from the royal palace
- Step mum tells step sis about her expectations from her and all the preperations that she had already dine for her daughter. The binding of her feet, etc. Tells her a bit of her past as well.
- Cinderella ask if she could go. Step mum says haven’t you been listening to what I have been saying? Stepsis tell Cindi that without bound feet she cannot go.
- Cindi and step mum exit.
- Step sis monologue about what she had to become because of her step mum and the expectations she has to meet + her jealousy of cindi. Exit.
- Cinderella monologue- about how she cannot make it to the ball, that all she wanted was to attend the ball, not event o marry the prince and that her dreams ruined. Track 3 guangdong music
- Fairy Godfather enters and introduces himself and then says that he will help her. –track 11 guagdong
- Helps her.
Scene 2
- Step mum and sis enter the ball… -track 13 guagdong
- Prince and cindi dance-track 1 guangdong music
- All the rest the same.
Scene 3
- Prince finds the shoe realizes that he cannot marry her because her feet are not bound but still wants to find her. (monologue) –track 1- everlasting – 1 min ++
- Fairy Godfather and Cindi enter trying to find shoe.
Scene 4
- Step mum shows her disappointment in step sis for not getting the prince. Track 2- masterpieces
- Prince enters with shoe, step mum forces step sis to try again and again.
- Step sis apologizes for mothers behavious. Prince likes the step sis but not in THAT way.
- Cinderella enters (how?), tries on shoe and fits.
- Step mum objects states what culture dictates (bound feet).
- Prince says that he will take her as a concubine
- Step mum says that he will need a queen 1st so why not take the step sis cause only THEN will she allow Cindi to get married to him. Prince agrees, everyone happy and exits.
- Step sis ends with monologue about how she may have fulfilled her step mum's dream, and cindi’s dreams were fulfilled but hers weren’t. She doesn’t have a man to love her. She knows that she will always be second to cindi as far as matters of the Princes heart go. Wonders if she was herself things would have been diff. track 8 everlasting.
Chinese women traditions
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/studpages/vento.html
This is the website whe i got info about the state and treatment of women in China.
Basically a summary of the article and what idea i thought could be used...(possibility)
-No one knows were the tradition of binding feet originated but ppl say that it might have been during the Tang dynasty.
-It started with royalty. Its origins may be perceived as a means of enforcing the imperial male's exclusive sexual access to his female consorts, ensuring their chastity and fidelity.Since the emperor's life was thought to have moral and political significance, information was protected and the physical freedom of the imperial and palace women was restricted. The court's custom of keeping women hidden was echoed in urban society at large, setting standards of behavior that reduced women to a state of near-total domestic seclusion. In those urban centers, such standards were widely observed by women who aspired to elite status.
- This trend set buy the royal family was followed by people from the upper classes as they strived to be considered 'high class'. It is like what a fashion trend is today.
IMPORTANT FOR THE PLAY
- Within the areas and classes in which footbinding was widely accepted, a girl of marriageable age with natural feet had only limited prospects for making a "good" marriage, one which reflected well on her family's ability to raise her properly.[18] Having a daughter with bound feet conferred many potential benefits both on the girl and her family, transforming the biological disadvantage of being born female into a distinct social advantage by increasing her opportunities for making a lucrative marriage. Mothers impressed upon their daughters that the mark of a woman's attraction resided more in her character as revealed in the bind of her feet than in the face or body which nature had given her. Her selection in marriage was the responsibility of her prospective mother-in-law, whose criterion for a good daughter-in-law was the discipline that the bound foot represented, thus a daughter learned that she carried the reputations of both her natal family and the family into which she married in the bind of her feet.[19]
The stepmother could want to emphasize this poinyt in her speech, that she had raised her dautghter allher life, bounded her feet and taught her what must be done and what is needed to marry well. In comparison, perhaps Cinderella's feet were bound before her father died, but after his passing, when she workjed as a maid, her feet were left to grow. Thus, this might be one of the factors that forced the prince to not be able to marry her and the reason the stepsisters feet could not fit the shoe. It was too SMALL.
Reason Cinderella was forced to not bind her feet- Even without the promise of hope for upward mobility which a good marriage provided, women bound their feet to signify their claim on the dignity accorded those who embodied refinement and a "sense of class".
This is the website whe i got info about the state and treatment of women in China.
Basically a summary of the article and what idea i thought could be used...(possibility)
-No one knows were the tradition of binding feet originated but ppl say that it might have been during the Tang dynasty.
-It started with royalty. Its origins may be perceived as a means of enforcing the imperial male's exclusive sexual access to his female consorts, ensuring their chastity and fidelity.Since the emperor's life was thought to have moral and political significance, information was protected and the physical freedom of the imperial and palace women was restricted. The court's custom of keeping women hidden was echoed in urban society at large, setting standards of behavior that reduced women to a state of near-total domestic seclusion. In those urban centers, such standards were widely observed by women who aspired to elite status.
- This trend set buy the royal family was followed by people from the upper classes as they strived to be considered 'high class'. It is like what a fashion trend is today.
IMPORTANT FOR THE PLAY
- Within the areas and classes in which footbinding was widely accepted, a girl of marriageable age with natural feet had only limited prospects for making a "good" marriage, one which reflected well on her family's ability to raise her properly.[18] Having a daughter with bound feet conferred many potential benefits both on the girl and her family, transforming the biological disadvantage of being born female into a distinct social advantage by increasing her opportunities for making a lucrative marriage. Mothers impressed upon their daughters that the mark of a woman's attraction resided more in her character as revealed in the bind of her feet than in the face or body which nature had given her. Her selection in marriage was the responsibility of her prospective mother-in-law, whose criterion for a good daughter-in-law was the discipline that the bound foot represented, thus a daughter learned that she carried the reputations of both her natal family and the family into which she married in the bind of her feet.[19]
The stepmother could want to emphasize this poinyt in her speech, that she had raised her dautghter allher life, bounded her feet and taught her what must be done and what is needed to marry well. In comparison, perhaps Cinderella's feet were bound before her father died, but after his passing, when she workjed as a maid, her feet were left to grow. Thus, this might be one of the factors that forced the prince to not be able to marry her and the reason the stepsisters feet could not fit the shoe. It was too SMALL.
Reason Cinderella was forced to not bind her feet- Even without the promise of hope for upward mobility which a good marriage provided, women bound their feet to signify their claim on the dignity accorded those who embodied refinement and a "sense of class".
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Character Analysis for Step Mother
Name- Mrs Chan
Age- 48
Family- One daughter who is not worthy to be called my own.
- A step daughter who serves as a worthy maid
- A deceased husband who left this world 8 years ago.
Social position- When my husband was alive, we enjoyed a good position in society and were very wealthy. But ever since he passed away, there has been no source of income and thus this has forced us to be classified as the upper middle class.
Main Objective- To be rich and be a part of the royal family.
Personality- Calm, Thoughtful, controlled, rigid, reserved.
Power-
Agreed- Over Cinderella and step sister since i am older than them and i control their lives and ration.
Abuse- Cinderella. Not like she is goign to rebel anytime soon.
Reward- Cinderela and Step sister.
I do not hate Cinderella, nor do i think that she is useless. But i dont trat her as my own daughter because she really isnt. I was never good to her, i could not bring myslef to be. I blame my husbands death on that little girl, and it was becuase of her that i never spent enough time with him. My daughter is no better, she has no grace or the style that i have. If she wasnt my flesh and blood i would not care a hoot for her. All i want of life now is to live it well, comfortably and to be looked up to and be known by all. What better way than becoming royalty?
I am a cool and reserved woman, some say too cool, but i could not care less about other people and their hardships ij life. Even when i was married, my husband was the one who organized all the oarties at the mansion, i never bothered much about them since i didnt think that was my job.
Tit for tat is wht i play all the time. Since Cinderella stole my husband from me, she will now be my servant. And since my husband doted on her so much i turned a cold shoulder to him for most of our married life.
I had a difficult time growing up, we were poor, but i worked my way up and now im rich. But i want more than that. I dont want to runa household. I want to be pampered and be taken care of. I want to spend whtever time i have left living life to the fullest.
Age- 48
Family- One daughter who is not worthy to be called my own.
- A step daughter who serves as a worthy maid
- A deceased husband who left this world 8 years ago.
Social position- When my husband was alive, we enjoyed a good position in society and were very wealthy. But ever since he passed away, there has been no source of income and thus this has forced us to be classified as the upper middle class.
Main Objective- To be rich and be a part of the royal family.
Personality- Calm, Thoughtful, controlled, rigid, reserved.
Power-
Agreed- Over Cinderella and step sister since i am older than them and i control their lives and ration.
Abuse- Cinderella. Not like she is goign to rebel anytime soon.
Reward- Cinderela and Step sister.
I do not hate Cinderella, nor do i think that she is useless. But i dont trat her as my own daughter because she really isnt. I was never good to her, i could not bring myslef to be. I blame my husbands death on that little girl, and it was becuase of her that i never spent enough time with him. My daughter is no better, she has no grace or the style that i have. If she wasnt my flesh and blood i would not care a hoot for her. All i want of life now is to live it well, comfortably and to be looked up to and be known by all. What better way than becoming royalty?
I am a cool and reserved woman, some say too cool, but i could not care less about other people and their hardships ij life. Even when i was married, my husband was the one who organized all the oarties at the mansion, i never bothered much about them since i didnt think that was my job.
Tit for tat is wht i play all the time. Since Cinderella stole my husband from me, she will now be my servant. And since my husband doted on her so much i turned a cold shoulder to him for most of our married life.
I had a difficult time growing up, we were poor, but i worked my way up and now im rich. But i want more than that. I dont want to runa household. I want to be pampered and be taken care of. I want to spend whtever time i have left living life to the fullest.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Updates on wht is going on the group.
DEADLINES MISSED-
Isaac- Script (reasons understood, but still considered overdue)
Wen Zhen- Missed 4 deadlines for costume sketches.
- Missed 2 dealines for costume stitching (Because of this your work has been spilt and given to other members. Please note this will have a direct effect on your marks)
Rachel- Missed one deadline for sketching. (I understand that you want to do them well but please try to keep to deadlines. Thankz.)
ALL members- missed deadlines for characterization Including me.
NEW DEADLINES-
Isaac- Sound- all music to be cut and placed in order of use. MONDAY 3rd August.
Saad- Movement- Complete choreo by 8th August Saturday
Priscilla- Costume boards- Monday 3rd Aug
Priscilla- Prince and diety costume velcro and collar stitching-Monday 3rd Aug
Wen Zhen- Step mum, daughter and cinderella (Rachel)skirts- Monday 3rd Aug
Wen Zhen,Rachel and Priscilla- Headdresses for all characters- Wednsday 5th Aug
All actors- Script memorization- Saturday 8th August
-Characterization- Friday 31st July
Isaac- Script (reasons understood, but still considered overdue)
Wen Zhen- Missed 4 deadlines for costume sketches.
- Missed 2 dealines for costume stitching (Because of this your work has been spilt and given to other members. Please note this will have a direct effect on your marks)
Rachel- Missed one deadline for sketching. (I understand that you want to do them well but please try to keep to deadlines. Thankz.)
ALL members- missed deadlines for characterization Including me.
NEW DEADLINES-
Isaac- Sound- all music to be cut and placed in order of use. MONDAY 3rd August.
Saad- Movement- Complete choreo by 8th August Saturday
Priscilla- Costume boards- Monday 3rd Aug
Priscilla- Prince and diety costume velcro and collar stitching-Monday 3rd Aug
Wen Zhen- Step mum, daughter and cinderella (Rachel)skirts- Monday 3rd Aug
Wen Zhen,Rachel and Priscilla- Headdresses for all characters- Wednsday 5th Aug
All actors- Script memorization- Saturday 8th August
-Characterization- Friday 31st July
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Research...
FAIRYTALES-
- They were originally classified under the category of fantasy before the word Fairy tale was coined by Madame D'Aulnoy who translated it from french.
- There is no definate history or date to indicate when fairy tales began to be told. It is a subclass of folklore which can go as far back as the Indian Panchatantra, which was told and pass on by mouth from generations to generations until they were finally recorded.
- It is not necessary for there to be fairies in the story for it to be classified a fairy tale. However, there has to be a fantasy and unrealistic element to it like talking animals, a location as well as a time that is imaginary (Hence most fairy tales start with - Once upon a time in a land far far away).
- Each literary fairy tale draws on folk traditions, if only in parody. This makes it impossible to trace forms of transmission of a fairy tale. Oral story-tellers have been known to read literary fairy tales to increase their own stock of stories and treatments.
- The first collectors to attempt to preserve not only the plot and characters of the tale, but also the style in which they were preserved, were the Brothers Grimm, collecting German fairy tales; ironically enough, this meant although their first edition remains a treasure for folklorists, they rewrote the tales in later editions to make them more acceptable, which ensured their sales and the later popularity of their work.
- Fairy tales with very similar plots, characters, and motifs are found spread across many different cultures. In the case of the fairytale Cinderella, the characters are clearly divided into the good and the bad. The Abuser and the abused. There is a happy ending. The persecuted rises above the persicutor eventually.
- Originally, fairytales were meant for the young and the old. But in the 19th and the 20th century, it began to evolve into something that was meant for children. Older versions of fairytales were changed to meet the needs of this new young audience and even the Brothers Grimm wrote new, happier, cleaner versions of old tales. This was done because they were always based on the fcat that good triumphs over evil in the end, a value that parents wanted to tecah children., The best way to do so was proven through be through story telling. And so it was done.
- Now a days, the classic fairy tale is being twisted around and made to spread the messgae on issues thgat the world is facing today. One of the main problems that have arisen is the 'damsel in distress' situations that always occur, that had feminist fuming.
- There are many ways to interpret a fairy tale and many messages that can be extracted. Perrault concluded his versions with one, although not always completely moral: Cinderella concludes with the observation that her beauty and character would have been useless without her godmother, reflecting the importance of social connections, but could symbolize a spiritual meaning. OTHERS say that the main message was the fact that one has to be at the right place at the right time. SOME say that it shows that truth and kindness will triumph over evil.
MOST information was taken from this website-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale
THe dark tale(original) can be found on -
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/grimm/bl-grimm-cinderella.htm
BEIJING OPERA-
(Justification for this type of Opera stated in last post)
- Beijing opera was born when the "Four Great Anhui Troupes" came to Beijing in 1790. Beijing opera was originally staged for the court and came into the public later.
- It was not a new art form in itself, but because it evolved so late, it was actually a combination of various historical art and Opera forms.
- But new elements were also added. It wasnt as singing based, there was more acrobatics intorduced and the roles of charcaters was also changed, makeup was different fro the sake of the audience, high pitch singing was stopped and the plays were kept shorter.
- It is mainly based on stories told of China's history and has become increasingly contemporary dealing with issues in society.
- Due to a decrease in audience numbers as well as restraints from the government, the art form has been revised continually. These reforms, which include improving performance quality, adapting new performance elements, and performing new and original plays.
- They usually have three kinds of speech
i) Monologues, Duologues and short prose usually added in for humour.
ii) Quotations of famous Chinese proverbs and tecahings.
iii) conventionalized stage speech- introductory speeches given by characters.
-The oldest and most generally used system is to sort plays into civil and martial types. Civil plays focus on the relationships between characters, and feature personal, domestic, and romantic situations. The element of singing is frequently used to express emotion in this type of play. Martial plays feature a greater emphasis on action and combat skill. The two types of play also feature different arrays of performers.
- Now a days to attract more crowds, Beijing Opera has been adapting Shakespear scripts and plays into its traditional forms.
- They were originally classified under the category of fantasy before the word Fairy tale was coined by Madame D'Aulnoy who translated it from french.
- There is no definate history or date to indicate when fairy tales began to be told. It is a subclass of folklore which can go as far back as the Indian Panchatantra, which was told and pass on by mouth from generations to generations until they were finally recorded.
- It is not necessary for there to be fairies in the story for it to be classified a fairy tale. However, there has to be a fantasy and unrealistic element to it like talking animals, a location as well as a time that is imaginary (Hence most fairy tales start with - Once upon a time in a land far far away).
- Each literary fairy tale draws on folk traditions, if only in parody. This makes it impossible to trace forms of transmission of a fairy tale. Oral story-tellers have been known to read literary fairy tales to increase their own stock of stories and treatments.
- The first collectors to attempt to preserve not only the plot and characters of the tale, but also the style in which they were preserved, were the Brothers Grimm, collecting German fairy tales; ironically enough, this meant although their first edition remains a treasure for folklorists, they rewrote the tales in later editions to make them more acceptable, which ensured their sales and the later popularity of their work.
- Fairy tales with very similar plots, characters, and motifs are found spread across many different cultures. In the case of the fairytale Cinderella, the characters are clearly divided into the good and the bad. The Abuser and the abused. There is a happy ending. The persecuted rises above the persicutor eventually.
- Originally, fairytales were meant for the young and the old. But in the 19th and the 20th century, it began to evolve into something that was meant for children. Older versions of fairytales were changed to meet the needs of this new young audience and even the Brothers Grimm wrote new, happier, cleaner versions of old tales. This was done because they were always based on the fcat that good triumphs over evil in the end, a value that parents wanted to tecah children., The best way to do so was proven through be through story telling. And so it was done.
- Now a days, the classic fairy tale is being twisted around and made to spread the messgae on issues thgat the world is facing today. One of the main problems that have arisen is the 'damsel in distress' situations that always occur, that had feminist fuming.
- There are many ways to interpret a fairy tale and many messages that can be extracted. Perrault concluded his versions with one, although not always completely moral: Cinderella concludes with the observation that her beauty and character would have been useless without her godmother, reflecting the importance of social connections, but could symbolize a spiritual meaning. OTHERS say that the main message was the fact that one has to be at the right place at the right time. SOME say that it shows that truth and kindness will triumph over evil.
MOST information was taken from this website-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_tale
THe dark tale(original) can be found on -
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/grimm/bl-grimm-cinderella.htm
BEIJING OPERA-
(Justification for this type of Opera stated in last post)
- Beijing opera was born when the "Four Great Anhui Troupes" came to Beijing in 1790. Beijing opera was originally staged for the court and came into the public later.
- It was not a new art form in itself, but because it evolved so late, it was actually a combination of various historical art and Opera forms.
- But new elements were also added. It wasnt as singing based, there was more acrobatics intorduced and the roles of charcaters was also changed, makeup was different fro the sake of the audience, high pitch singing was stopped and the plays were kept shorter.
- It is mainly based on stories told of China's history and has become increasingly contemporary dealing with issues in society.
- Due to a decrease in audience numbers as well as restraints from the government, the art form has been revised continually. These reforms, which include improving performance quality, adapting new performance elements, and performing new and original plays.
- They usually have three kinds of speech
i) Monologues, Duologues and short prose usually added in for humour.
ii) Quotations of famous Chinese proverbs and tecahings.
iii) conventionalized stage speech- introductory speeches given by characters.
-The oldest and most generally used system is to sort plays into civil and martial types. Civil plays focus on the relationships between characters, and feature personal, domestic, and romantic situations. The element of singing is frequently used to express emotion in this type of play. Martial plays feature a greater emphasis on action and combat skill. The two types of play also feature different arrays of performers.
- Now a days to attract more crowds, Beijing Opera has been adapting Shakespear scripts and plays into its traditional forms.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Reasons for the way we did what we did
We changed our idea once again and decided to use Chinese Opera as a mode to tell our fairytale story. We decided that we wouls keep to the same classic story,but just chnage the mode of presentation to chinese Opera. But this in itself was a crazy hard task!
1) We decided to keep the structure of Opera as far as costume and makeup were concerned. Also, we tried to base the characters in Cinderella as close to the Chinese stereotypes as possible, thus making it easier to match the costume and make up.
2) Chinese Opera in itself is a HUGE genre, so we decidede to narrow it down to something that was more recent and famous so that our audience might be able to make some connection to the chracters, be it through costume or makeup. Beijing or Peking Opera was decided on as it is one of the latest tradition of Opera and is recognized world wide. We felt that this modern version oif Opera would be better to use as it does incorporate certain elements that have come about with modernization. The makeup for example is now thicker than it was before as now the indoor performance theatres have stage lights, and do not depend on natural lighting.
3) After talking to people in the Opera industry and also reading up, we found out that the singing in Opera was what made it so special. However, we decided that we would have to let go of the singing as it was a second barrier or double alienation for the audience, something that we did not want. They would not be used to seeing youths on stage dresed in Opera costumes and singing in english. This would only cause them to laugh, and thus hinder their ability and concentration on the play as a whole. Also, we felt that if singing were to be added, it would seem like a satire and a mockery of Chinese Opera, something that we are definately not trying or want to do. Furthurmore, after doing some research we found a play which was a chinese adaptation of Shakespears 'Taming of the shrew'. In this Opera performnace, there was more dialogue than sound, and the whole play was at a much faster pace inorder to accomidate the modern audience in 2001. Thus, using this as our example, we decided to incorporate faster dialogue in our production.
4) The story line in Chinese Opera is very straight forward. However, inorder to appeal and to capture the audiences attention as well as enable them to be able to connect with the piece, we have decided to modernize it. The aspects that we are changing is the chracters themselves. We have decided to make the step sister a person who has been greatly influenced by the American culture, and thus tries to be 'ang moh'. The Godfather in contrast is a chinese man, woth the typical accent, trying his best to fit in and move with the time, but failing to do so.
5) As far as movement in concerned, we wil be trying to stay as close to Chinese Opera as possible. We have done research on it, watched videos on it and are going to attend a workshop soon to work out what movement differentiates each character from one another and how one must go about acting Opera.
6) The reason we are using the story of Cinderella is because it has a very fariy tale, unrealistic element to it, something dreamy. That is what we are trying to achieve here. Opera is not something that you see in everyday life, the actions are exaggerated to a certain extent for emphasis and many of the movemnets are not seen in real life today either. Why Cinderela one might ask, arent Operas about politics and state affairs? Well yes, they did have a certain amount of politics in it, but as China began to be influenced by modernization, the joint family unit broke down, leading to may smaller family units and in some cases just the couples. Thus, this chnage broiught about a chnage in the Opera culture as well, after all the Opera was catered to the people's tastes and preferences and also chnaged with the times. Thus in the 20th and 21st century, Opera began to show plays that revolved around love and how it overcomes all things in the end.
1) We decided to keep the structure of Opera as far as costume and makeup were concerned. Also, we tried to base the characters in Cinderella as close to the Chinese stereotypes as possible, thus making it easier to match the costume and make up.
2) Chinese Opera in itself is a HUGE genre, so we decidede to narrow it down to something that was more recent and famous so that our audience might be able to make some connection to the chracters, be it through costume or makeup. Beijing or Peking Opera was decided on as it is one of the latest tradition of Opera and is recognized world wide. We felt that this modern version oif Opera would be better to use as it does incorporate certain elements that have come about with modernization. The makeup for example is now thicker than it was before as now the indoor performance theatres have stage lights, and do not depend on natural lighting.
3) After talking to people in the Opera industry and also reading up, we found out that the singing in Opera was what made it so special. However, we decided that we would have to let go of the singing as it was a second barrier or double alienation for the audience, something that we did not want. They would not be used to seeing youths on stage dresed in Opera costumes and singing in english. This would only cause them to laugh, and thus hinder their ability and concentration on the play as a whole. Also, we felt that if singing were to be added, it would seem like a satire and a mockery of Chinese Opera, something that we are definately not trying or want to do. Furthurmore, after doing some research we found a play which was a chinese adaptation of Shakespears 'Taming of the shrew'. In this Opera performnace, there was more dialogue than sound, and the whole play was at a much faster pace inorder to accomidate the modern audience in 2001. Thus, using this as our example, we decided to incorporate faster dialogue in our production.
4) The story line in Chinese Opera is very straight forward. However, inorder to appeal and to capture the audiences attention as well as enable them to be able to connect with the piece, we have decided to modernize it. The aspects that we are changing is the chracters themselves. We have decided to make the step sister a person who has been greatly influenced by the American culture, and thus tries to be 'ang moh'. The Godfather in contrast is a chinese man, woth the typical accent, trying his best to fit in and move with the time, but failing to do so.
5) As far as movement in concerned, we wil be trying to stay as close to Chinese Opera as possible. We have done research on it, watched videos on it and are going to attend a workshop soon to work out what movement differentiates each character from one another and how one must go about acting Opera.
6) The reason we are using the story of Cinderella is because it has a very fariy tale, unrealistic element to it, something dreamy. That is what we are trying to achieve here. Opera is not something that you see in everyday life, the actions are exaggerated to a certain extent for emphasis and many of the movemnets are not seen in real life today either. Why Cinderela one might ask, arent Operas about politics and state affairs? Well yes, they did have a certain amount of politics in it, but as China began to be influenced by modernization, the joint family unit broke down, leading to may smaller family units and in some cases just the couples. Thus, this chnage broiught about a chnage in the Opera culture as well, after all the Opera was catered to the people's tastes and preferences and also chnaged with the times. Thus in the 20th and 21st century, Opera began to show plays that revolved around love and how it overcomes all things in the end.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Roles
Issac- Scriptwriter- using the base story of Cinderella and gathering inspiration and information about fairytales, he is to come up with a script about Cinderella to be performed in Chinese Opera style. He has to ensure that the fairy tale magiucal factor still remains, and that the script does not restrict the chinese Opera style from displaying itself.
- Sound- Since Isaac wrote the script, he knows what kind of mood, or feel he wants the audience to have at particular moments. Thus, we thought that it was best that he was put incharge of sound editing.
Wen Zhen- Costume Designer- Research on costumes of those periods and what they told the audience of the character. She will have to improvise with materials taht we have to make costumes for the actors. Sketches will also have to be provided. Due to buget as well as time and manpower restrictions, the cotume will follow the basic shape nad cut of the real costumes in those days however the details and in some cases colours as well may not be followed.
Rachel- Makeup and headdresses- She will research on the makeup of the various characters and what certain colours, shapes, angels etc of the makeup give the characters their special characteristics. She will then resource for the make up needed and purchase them. She will also have to practise and train the other actors to put on their makeup. As for the headdresses, she will design the headdresses of the prince, the fairy Godfather and Cinderella.
Saad- Movement, Music and Script- He will have to watch as well as read about the Opera movements. How certain characters move about, what certain gestures mean and what the audince is to take away from that gesture. He will have to work alongside the costume designer so as to know what movemnets are aloowed in the costumes. He will then choreograph along with the actors to tecah them what to do. In addition to this, he wil have to work with the scriptwriter and sound incharge to make sure that these two elements can work with the movement that he had in mind.
Priscilla- Research,Costume, set and Techincal Aspects- She will research on fairytales as well as the Chinese opera and explain why the group used thses two elemets together and what their aim was. What and how these two factors work for each other, Also, she wil deal with the lights, as chinese Opers has diff lights that make adjustments to the makeup required. She also knows what is going on in each department and gives them deadlines and updates as well as plans meetings. In the area of costumes, she is doing the sketches and headdress as well as the final product stitching of her own character, the step mother. She will also help to stitch the God father and the Princes costume since the costume designer does not seem to be able to keep up with the increasing workload. In addition to that, she takes the skecthes drawn by Rachel and Wen Zhen, adds in explainations for designs used and then makes a final product or boards which will be displayed for the audience. As for the set, she designs it and the proceeds to execute the work needed to be done inorder for the set to be prepared.
- Sound- Since Isaac wrote the script, he knows what kind of mood, or feel he wants the audience to have at particular moments. Thus, we thought that it was best that he was put incharge of sound editing.
Wen Zhen- Costume Designer- Research on costumes of those periods and what they told the audience of the character. She will have to improvise with materials taht we have to make costumes for the actors. Sketches will also have to be provided. Due to buget as well as time and manpower restrictions, the cotume will follow the basic shape nad cut of the real costumes in those days however the details and in some cases colours as well may not be followed.
Rachel- Makeup and headdresses- She will research on the makeup of the various characters and what certain colours, shapes, angels etc of the makeup give the characters their special characteristics. She will then resource for the make up needed and purchase them. She will also have to practise and train the other actors to put on their makeup. As for the headdresses, she will design the headdresses of the prince, the fairy Godfather and Cinderella.
Saad- Movement, Music and Script- He will have to watch as well as read about the Opera movements. How certain characters move about, what certain gestures mean and what the audince is to take away from that gesture. He will have to work alongside the costume designer so as to know what movemnets are aloowed in the costumes. He will then choreograph along with the actors to tecah them what to do. In addition to this, he wil have to work with the scriptwriter and sound incharge to make sure that these two elements can work with the movement that he had in mind.
Priscilla- Research,Costume, set and Techincal Aspects- She will research on fairytales as well as the Chinese opera and explain why the group used thses two elemets together and what their aim was. What and how these two factors work for each other, Also, she wil deal with the lights, as chinese Opers has diff lights that make adjustments to the makeup required. She also knows what is going on in each department and gives them deadlines and updates as well as plans meetings. In the area of costumes, she is doing the sketches and headdress as well as the final product stitching of her own character, the step mother. She will also help to stitch the God father and the Princes costume since the costume designer does not seem to be able to keep up with the increasing workload. In addition to that, she takes the skecthes drawn by Rachel and Wen Zhen, adds in explainations for designs used and then makes a final product or boards which will be displayed for the audience. As for the set, she designs it and the proceeds to execute the work needed to be done inorder for the set to be prepared.
Entry 1
Sorry i put this up late... It was sitting on my computer..:D
Well during the holiday we did try to gather 'creative inspiration' Read the books and wrote reviews about it on our group blog. The plays were so different, yet when we searched for the topic of politics of identity, it was always there. We realized that it was the one topic that a playt could not avoid, no matter how hard it tried.
Here are the reviews and the reasearch i did on the books that i read---
Hey hey.. these were some of the themes that i managed to extract from the book.. it was really interesting.. and kinda freaky as well.. loved it!!!
THEMES FROM ‘WHEN WE DEAD AWAKEN’
What it means to be happy. It’s different for all of us, and it changes as we mature.
How ones perspective of life changes. It can never stay the same, there are always things added, subtracted and moved down the ladder of importance.
The missed opportunities and how some people have the chance to get it back, while others don’t.
The impulsive decisions that we regret but at the same time cherish.
The sacrifices that we make, only to realize that it was to the wrong person or that the person did not appreciate it enough.
The different ways that one ‘lives’.
WE DON’T SEE WHAT WE HAVE UNTILL IT’S GONE.
We get carried away by things in life, only to realize that the promises made were empty ones.
Sometimes we do good deeds, but they go unnoticed, or even worse, misunderstood. They change us into people that we did not want to be, they change us for the worse. They break us.
Second chances exist. Although they might not be as promising as the 1st.
People don’t always get together because they love each other, sometimes it is because each is willing to be what the other wants and needs them to be. Sometimes they just need them to fill in that hole that has been made by others.
Sometimes things appear good in front of us only because we have seen worse
SECOND PLAY-------THE SHAGAROUND.. .
.yeah.. the name says it all... it was a 'I hate guys, they suck' kind of play.. but i actually came to sympathize with the opposite gender!!!!:O This may seem like a very personal review btw..:D:D:D so get urself prepared..:P
Misunderstandings
They don’t tell each other what they want because they think the other will take it in the wrong way. If only they would talk!
If someone does it to you, it’s wrong. But if you do it to someone, its not.
People who share the same experiences tend to bond really well, and back each other up.
Being in love is now considered impossible.
Love is seen as a fashion, not an emotion.
It’s just not cool to fall in love and be open and confess it.
Now a days people say that love makes you weak, a ‘hopeless’ romantic is what they call it.
Women usually are scared that they will loose their freedom and then it will be really hard to get it back. They are scared that they will depend on men so much that they will just be lost when they don’t have a man. They are scared that that will make them look like the inferior, the weaker sex.
WOMEN DO NOT APPRECIATE EACH OTHER. Whether we like it or not, men will always be the 1st priority in a woman’s life, they crave for their love, affection and support. The only difference is that some women aren’t ashamed of admitting to it, while others don’t want to appear vulnerable. Girls say they have ‘girl power’. Yeah right. Well screw that! They say that they can do anything together, they will remain true to each other no matter what. When they are young they say that even when they find their ‘princes’, they will keep in touch. Well good luck with that cause that’s not how the real world works! We say that we have a special bond, something that only girls can understand. We bitch about the guys that have dumped us and the other people that we classify as sluts, we go shopping together, complain about how fat we get, call each other honey and darling cause its cool, it’s the trend. But when the ‘Prince’ enters our lives, what do we do? We say Asta Lavista girlfriends and hello boyfriend! Yeah, that’s the sad truth. We will SO NOT realize it when it happens, but it does. They slowly take second place in our lives. And then THE day comes, when we get dumped, or get to know he’s cheating on us, or we break up with him (rare). Now THAT is the day that we run back to our long lost friends, cry and bitching about the assholes that have dumped us, and how life is just so unfair and how you will never find a man, and just be independent! The 1st week we feel all bad, we regret the stuff that we have done wrong in the relationship, and we cry and brood over what has happened. And then the second week we realize that it was the assholes fault. So we bitch about him, we say we will be independent, we say we done need a man. We threaten and stab at him. And if a man comes along then, someone that you feel safe around, who listens to you bitch about your past relationship and who you think will always be there for the future, you date him then. I WONDER what happened to the ‘I will be independent, all men are jerks” pledge. And so then the whole cycle goes on again and again. But while that is going on, that annoying cycle, there are some that will always remain true to the pledge of independanthood, or maybe they just cant find a guy. Well the poor souls are left alone by themselves, no friend in sight who cares; they need someone to listen to them, to be beside them. One thing leads to another and a guy takes advantage of them. This is the ‘sad’ and unfortunate story of women. My my, don’t you pity them!
We are afraid and ashamed to be who we are sometimes because we are scared of what people will think of us as. We tend to bend towards the rules of society and what it says are the norms because we want to be cool, or normal. This leads to misunderstandings, fights and eventually heartbreaks. Those who do not abide by the rules of society get misunderstood, put down, looked down on and despised. WOW! What a world we live in!
And that was all for the reviews of the plays that i read.
---------------
Our first idea was to create individuals who acted a certain personality, but deep down inside, they wefre different from what they showed others on teh surface. It was an ok idea, and we went to work on it, sometimes ev en creating severly differenyt stereotypes in one person. But tehre was always something missing, it was difficult to piece together and we felt like the production was going no where.
But here was what i had put together for my character-
Hi, I'm Natasha.I come from a relatively well of family. Dad is always out on business and mum too. So i don't really get much attention from anyone at all. I have always tried to please my dad because i didn't really like my mum that much. I thought that she was suppose to take care of me when i was a kid, but she never did. I tried everything to get attention from my dad. To get him to say well done, good job, smile and say thats why your my daughter. But her never did, it was all just half hearted. He was too busy.I keep trying to get his attention. I still do. thats why i work at his office. Even though what i do isn't really all that impressive, i try to get his attention that way. I work in what people call the 'geeks section', we basically deal with electronic stuff, try to invent new stuff as well as repair the old. I guess i got the passion and the skill from my dad. He founded this company, and its ALL about the gadgets. And i love what i do too. Its great because when your sitting there, all alone, its just you and technology. You don't need to talk, open up, be someone else. Nothing. You can just do what you want and give life to something else. Yeah, so thats what my work life is.But at college. Well, its a different story. When i first started out there, it was OK. I got along and had fun but kept a low profile like what i always used to do back in sec school. Then all of a sudden i found that i had captured everyones interest, i was the center of attraction, and i loved it! Surprisingly i did. Whenever i was all alone at school, i got scared. I wondered if I had been abandon3ed, whether i was an outcast, wondering if they didn't like me anymore. To protect myself i grabbed at their attention. I found out that the best and easiest way was to act cute, likable, dumb and playful.... well yeah, like a bimbo.. i guess... but there is nothing wrong with it!!.. right?But... I'm smart, i can... i can.... i know stuff... i know more than anyone in whole school, about gadgets that is. Then why do i act dumb? Why do i put up this fake front! But if take it down.... no, i can't! I depended on it so much... is it a protective wall? What am i hiding from? My intelligence? Who am I? Mum says that I'm such a waste of time, pampered and spoilt she says. Dad doesn't even care to look! What am i? Why am i what i am? A geek? Intelligent? dumb? stupid? Bimbo? Tech freak! WHAT THE HECK AM I!!!!?
--------------
We did want to do something about one having to be and show the world that you are someone your not. That was the aspect of politics of identity that we were sure we wanted to incorporate in our production. But how, was the huge problem that we faced.
We looked at the other groups and saw that their pieces were serious ones, with intense and very dancy stuff. One group at least. So we decided to take a light hearted route, and since there were three girls ion the group as compared to the two guys, we suddenly came up with the idea of princesses. Yes, princesses. they were a stereotype in themselves, being known for their kind, gentle and graceful ways, so we decided to challenge that. Our New DV was Nature over Nurture. Very GP, but that was a good thing, cause it would tickle the audience. Or so we hope :D
Drawing inspiration from our culture as well as animated movies like mulan and well mulan mostly, we decided on our story line and now we are working on it to see how we can incorporate it into the movemnets that we are using as a DS skill. Since were doing an expressionistic theatre style, we will have to work around and find some weird out of the world props :D
-----------
Well during the holiday we did try to gather 'creative inspiration' Read the books and wrote reviews about it on our group blog. The plays were so different, yet when we searched for the topic of politics of identity, it was always there. We realized that it was the one topic that a playt could not avoid, no matter how hard it tried.
Here are the reviews and the reasearch i did on the books that i read---
Hey hey.. these were some of the themes that i managed to extract from the book.. it was really interesting.. and kinda freaky as well.. loved it!!!
THEMES FROM ‘WHEN WE DEAD AWAKEN’
What it means to be happy. It’s different for all of us, and it changes as we mature.
How ones perspective of life changes. It can never stay the same, there are always things added, subtracted and moved down the ladder of importance.
The missed opportunities and how some people have the chance to get it back, while others don’t.
The impulsive decisions that we regret but at the same time cherish.
The sacrifices that we make, only to realize that it was to the wrong person or that the person did not appreciate it enough.
The different ways that one ‘lives’.
WE DON’T SEE WHAT WE HAVE UNTILL IT’S GONE.
We get carried away by things in life, only to realize that the promises made were empty ones.
Sometimes we do good deeds, but they go unnoticed, or even worse, misunderstood. They change us into people that we did not want to be, they change us for the worse. They break us.
Second chances exist. Although they might not be as promising as the 1st.
People don’t always get together because they love each other, sometimes it is because each is willing to be what the other wants and needs them to be. Sometimes they just need them to fill in that hole that has been made by others.
Sometimes things appear good in front of us only because we have seen worse
SECOND PLAY-------THE SHAGAROUND.. .
.yeah.. the name says it all... it was a 'I hate guys, they suck' kind of play.. but i actually came to sympathize with the opposite gender!!!!:O This may seem like a very personal review btw..:D:D:D so get urself prepared..:P
Misunderstandings
They don’t tell each other what they want because they think the other will take it in the wrong way. If only they would talk!
If someone does it to you, it’s wrong. But if you do it to someone, its not.
People who share the same experiences tend to bond really well, and back each other up.
Being in love is now considered impossible.
Love is seen as a fashion, not an emotion.
It’s just not cool to fall in love and be open and confess it.
Now a days people say that love makes you weak, a ‘hopeless’ romantic is what they call it.
Women usually are scared that they will loose their freedom and then it will be really hard to get it back. They are scared that they will depend on men so much that they will just be lost when they don’t have a man. They are scared that that will make them look like the inferior, the weaker sex.
WOMEN DO NOT APPRECIATE EACH OTHER. Whether we like it or not, men will always be the 1st priority in a woman’s life, they crave for their love, affection and support. The only difference is that some women aren’t ashamed of admitting to it, while others don’t want to appear vulnerable. Girls say they have ‘girl power’. Yeah right. Well screw that! They say that they can do anything together, they will remain true to each other no matter what. When they are young they say that even when they find their ‘princes’, they will keep in touch. Well good luck with that cause that’s not how the real world works! We say that we have a special bond, something that only girls can understand. We bitch about the guys that have dumped us and the other people that we classify as sluts, we go shopping together, complain about how fat we get, call each other honey and darling cause its cool, it’s the trend. But when the ‘Prince’ enters our lives, what do we do? We say Asta Lavista girlfriends and hello boyfriend! Yeah, that’s the sad truth. We will SO NOT realize it when it happens, but it does. They slowly take second place in our lives. And then THE day comes, when we get dumped, or get to know he’s cheating on us, or we break up with him (rare). Now THAT is the day that we run back to our long lost friends, cry and bitching about the assholes that have dumped us, and how life is just so unfair and how you will never find a man, and just be independent! The 1st week we feel all bad, we regret the stuff that we have done wrong in the relationship, and we cry and brood over what has happened. And then the second week we realize that it was the assholes fault. So we bitch about him, we say we will be independent, we say we done need a man. We threaten and stab at him. And if a man comes along then, someone that you feel safe around, who listens to you bitch about your past relationship and who you think will always be there for the future, you date him then. I WONDER what happened to the ‘I will be independent, all men are jerks” pledge. And so then the whole cycle goes on again and again. But while that is going on, that annoying cycle, there are some that will always remain true to the pledge of independanthood, or maybe they just cant find a guy. Well the poor souls are left alone by themselves, no friend in sight who cares; they need someone to listen to them, to be beside them. One thing leads to another and a guy takes advantage of them. This is the ‘sad’ and unfortunate story of women. My my, don’t you pity them!
We are afraid and ashamed to be who we are sometimes because we are scared of what people will think of us as. We tend to bend towards the rules of society and what it says are the norms because we want to be cool, or normal. This leads to misunderstandings, fights and eventually heartbreaks. Those who do not abide by the rules of society get misunderstood, put down, looked down on and despised. WOW! What a world we live in!
And that was all for the reviews of the plays that i read.
---------------
Our first idea was to create individuals who acted a certain personality, but deep down inside, they wefre different from what they showed others on teh surface. It was an ok idea, and we went to work on it, sometimes ev en creating severly differenyt stereotypes in one person. But tehre was always something missing, it was difficult to piece together and we felt like the production was going no where.
But here was what i had put together for my character-
Hi, I'm Natasha.I come from a relatively well of family. Dad is always out on business and mum too. So i don't really get much attention from anyone at all. I have always tried to please my dad because i didn't really like my mum that much. I thought that she was suppose to take care of me when i was a kid, but she never did. I tried everything to get attention from my dad. To get him to say well done, good job, smile and say thats why your my daughter. But her never did, it was all just half hearted. He was too busy.I keep trying to get his attention. I still do. thats why i work at his office. Even though what i do isn't really all that impressive, i try to get his attention that way. I work in what people call the 'geeks section', we basically deal with electronic stuff, try to invent new stuff as well as repair the old. I guess i got the passion and the skill from my dad. He founded this company, and its ALL about the gadgets. And i love what i do too. Its great because when your sitting there, all alone, its just you and technology. You don't need to talk, open up, be someone else. Nothing. You can just do what you want and give life to something else. Yeah, so thats what my work life is.But at college. Well, its a different story. When i first started out there, it was OK. I got along and had fun but kept a low profile like what i always used to do back in sec school. Then all of a sudden i found that i had captured everyones interest, i was the center of attraction, and i loved it! Surprisingly i did. Whenever i was all alone at school, i got scared. I wondered if I had been abandon3ed, whether i was an outcast, wondering if they didn't like me anymore. To protect myself i grabbed at their attention. I found out that the best and easiest way was to act cute, likable, dumb and playful.... well yeah, like a bimbo.. i guess... but there is nothing wrong with it!!.. right?But... I'm smart, i can... i can.... i know stuff... i know more than anyone in whole school, about gadgets that is. Then why do i act dumb? Why do i put up this fake front! But if take it down.... no, i can't! I depended on it so much... is it a protective wall? What am i hiding from? My intelligence? Who am I? Mum says that I'm such a waste of time, pampered and spoilt she says. Dad doesn't even care to look! What am i? Why am i what i am? A geek? Intelligent? dumb? stupid? Bimbo? Tech freak! WHAT THE HECK AM I!!!!?
--------------
We did want to do something about one having to be and show the world that you are someone your not. That was the aspect of politics of identity that we were sure we wanted to incorporate in our production. But how, was the huge problem that we faced.
We looked at the other groups and saw that their pieces were serious ones, with intense and very dancy stuff. One group at least. So we decided to take a light hearted route, and since there were three girls ion the group as compared to the two guys, we suddenly came up with the idea of princesses. Yes, princesses. they were a stereotype in themselves, being known for their kind, gentle and graceful ways, so we decided to challenge that. Our New DV was Nature over Nurture. Very GP, but that was a good thing, cause it would tickle the audience. Or so we hope :D
Drawing inspiration from our culture as well as animated movies like mulan and well mulan mostly, we decided on our story line and now we are working on it to see how we can incorporate it into the movemnets that we are using as a DS skill. Since were doing an expressionistic theatre style, we will have to work around and find some weird out of the world props :D
-----------
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