Independent Projects

This is the first of many posts about my independent project! 

I have resolved that I'm going to prepare a list of songs (probably around 4 or 5) and either record them or perform them live.... Maybe even both!  As of this moment the songs i'm throwing around are

1. Nature Boy- Caetano Veloso

2. Meu Fado Meu- Mariza

3. O Leaozinho - Caetano Veloso

4. My Way- Frank Sinatra

 I want one more... I'm thinking something fast paced  but not too silly. Something serious but not something that drags along like a lead weight. 

Now my side salad is the tricky part. 

Luke proposed the idea of learning IPA (international phonetic alphabet) and its interesting but i was thinking of doing something related to fashion. I've never really taken a look at that but its always been something I've been interested in.

I'm open to/begging for suggestions on either! 

Musical Influx- care to add to it??

As of late I've begun to listen to LOTS of  really really good music. Mumford and Sons, Fun., Al Jarreau, Jeff Buckley,  Florence and the Machine, Ben Folds, AWOLNATION, and  Regina Spektor. The funny thing is that aside from AWOLNATION, Ben Folds and Al Jarreau, they're all similar somehow. I found them by clicking on the related artists tab in Spotify. I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing!! if anyone has any musical suggestions please dont hesitate to share them

Famous Actor Peoples

Stanislavsky- Russian director/actor/theatre theorist
He took a very serious and analytic approach to acting. He was a founder of the Moscow Art Theatre, and he was part of the Meiningen Ensemble and an important figure for Russian formalism.
Michael Chekhov- Russian actor/Theorist
Chekhov, though at first a student of Stanislavsky,  went about acting as finding the internal creative self through indirect, non analytic means. Stanislavsky thought of him as his brightest student.
Lee Strasberg- American actor/director/acting teacher
Strasberg is considered the father of method acting. Completely revolutionized the practice of acting. Worked with  actors such as Harvey Keitel, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro and Marilyn Monroe.
Sanford Meisner- American actor/ Acting teacher
Meisner developed a form of method acting, based on the Stanislavsky system,  known as The Meisner Technique.
Stella Adler- American Actress/ Teacher
Adler founded the Stella Adler studio of  Acting(NYC) and the Stella Adler Academy of Acting. She was the only American Actor to study with Stanislavsky and after that worked with Lee Strasberg but the differences between the Stanislavsky System and Method Acting were too much for her.
Bobby Lewis- American Actor/ Director/ Teacher/ Author
Founded the Actors Studio. HUGE Advocate for the Stanislavsky System of acting. Disliked method acting because "it discouraged actors from doing the great works of classic writers because of the way they are spoken".

Expressionism

So looking around I found the "real" definition to expressionism. "Expressionism- a manner of painting, drawing,sculpting, etc., in which forms derived from nature are distorted or exaggerated and colors are intensified foremotive or expressive purposes." This definition is taken from Dictionary.com which, for the most part, tends to be pretty reliable. I think that this is much too vague an answer. I think that Expressionism is a form of art that creates a beautiful connection with life (not even just living but things that are alive ex. animal, plants, organic shapes, etc) and death or oblivion. Things tend be on the heavier or more depression side of the emotional spectrum but the products of this movement have been some of the most highly regarded pieces of art of all time.  Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Murnau's Nosferatu,  and many many more have all come from expressionism. 

oh wait.. we're supposed to be the mature ones..

I honestly feel like the issue isn’t being handled in the way that it should be. It’s clear that there are some problems present within our group and the fact that no one aside from me and Ashley are addressing is stupid. My group obviously feels like we are being pushed aside and ignored, whether or not that was the intention doesn’t matter because the fact remains that we are not happy. Yes our idea was undeveloped and yes we didn’t exactly know how to explain it and given some time we would've gladly come up with something to show but our ideas were shot down and it can be said that they weren't shot down a thousand times over but that still wont make it true. I would've been fine just listening to everything but as I looked around I watched some of the others completely disregarded and disrespect the conversation we were having, they were talking, they were on the computer looking at dresses, they were texting.....aren’t we supposed to set an example for the other grades?  Aren’t we supposed to be the mature ones? I'm not trying to make the other groups bad or wrong they are just as entitled to their opinion as anyone else is and it's just as much their project as it is mine.... but you know its a problem when someone as strong as Ashley to start crying. After I left I called her to make sure she was okay, I listened to the pain in her voice and I was awestruck by the fact that she had been pushed this far. She also explained how one of the other seniors  came up to her later on and said that her ideas were of no benefit to the group. I'm all for trying to make this project  something  amazing... but there are some major obstacles we're gonna need to get over first.

Life is.... strange

I've begun to notice that the world works in very mysterious ways.  Like I've shared several times in class what I want to do as a career is become a chorus teacher my family happens to have a different view. they want me to become a scientist. Why a scientist? i have absolutely no idea but their hearts are set on it.  I lik the sciences but not enough to spend the rest of my life with them. I love music so much and it's gotten to the point where I've been pushed to tears by the screaming my father and I have done, I'm surprised Caitlin hasn't heard it from down the block. I love my father very very much but its really difficult to remain calm when your dreams are being shattered like sugar glass in a Michael Bay film. he says that he doesnt want me to get out of college and not be able to find a job and i understand that... but isnt that something i should face on my own. One of the parts of the STAC code is Bold Optimism... how can someone have bold optimism without risks?

Long time no post..

So I havent posted in a while and I have no excuse, but i'm  going to change that.
Since my last post  alot of different things have happened in STAC. We went to the city, we've been working on dada projects in art and in our own chosen discipline, and in general we've been having fun.
The trip: The trip was so much fun! It was wet and rainy but aside from that I enjoyed it. I think that my favorite parts of the trip were sculpture center and the show. Sculpture center(mainly the first floor) was so interesting, I happen to really like the work that Sanford Biggers put up. The concept of the whole project is really cool too, following slave trade in its reverse order from Portugal to Brasil to Western Africa, I really want to see the other videos that go along with the "Cosmic Voodoo Circus"  the first one is being shown at the Brooklyn Museum of art so maybe i'll go see it  when I get a chance. That show was also really good! It was so funny and the fact that we were so close to the actors themselves made me feel like I was a part of the show. I went to the libaray and took out a book of plays by Eugene O'Neil and i started laughing when I saw all the stage directions in it.
DADA: I'm really excited for the dada expostion, I'm a little nervous though because to me what we're doing doesnt make much sense. I guess I have to wait until it's all put together and then it'll make more sense but for now its just a whole bunch of sounds that dont really go together, but i'm sure it'll be better when its all together.