If you ask me about my plans, I’m going to give you a confused look and probably say something like “umm….”. Then I’ll just blurt out something like “Professional Ballet Company! or DIrector!”. But honestly I”m not all that sure at all. There are so many things that I can do with the training and am getting and will receive in the next for years. It honestly doesn’t stress me out.

I normally do plan stuff out if I find it to be of great importance. For example take last year when I was looking for colleges. I planned so much in order to take all the right steps to getting in the program. It’s actually the biggest things i’ve done in my life. But honestly I had no clue I was going to be a dance major during my first semester Junior year in high school. I just happened to stumble upon it. It is exactly the same with film. I started actually putting more interest in film during my senior year in high school. I made my decisions based on what gave me the most joy and satisfaction. I worked my ass off for both and now i’m here, learning material that I never really looked into during my highschool. Its funny how most of the arts students here seem to have had a plan to be majoring in their art form. They must have known a long time ago because It takes a long ass time to gain the amount of skill that they all have obtained. My story is much different, in a way I kinda just got lucky. Either way here I am and I’m doing what I love and now i’m just exploring the differnt worlds that can be opened through my studies.

Ultimately as of now I REALLY REALLY REALLY LIKE BALLET and I’ve decided that I would be interested in joining a professional company. I have no idea which one or where in the world it would be (yes I’m going to go ahead and dream big), but i’ll have to do some research and planning and definitely continue working on my technique and I’ll be thinking auditioning for summer intensives and stuff like that. Although I’m still really interested in film and the idea of being a cinematographer sounds REALLY REALLY FUN! So I’m also thinking about that, and I need to take Production 2 because that’s where I’ll be able to learn more about that. So now comes the question…which one do I want to do? I have no clue. There are also TONS of other stuff I’d like to do such as work on a television series. Idk how i’ll be able to get in on that but internships are always great. There is a huge Cannes internship next spring that I plan to apply to and hopefully I’ll be able to go and make great connections that could jumpstart my career in that field. Hoorah!!

Marth and Sandy article

It really sucks that many of old costumes were damaged. That’s history right there. History getting wet and damaged. At least all the dancers are still ok. I’m going to make connections to the weather and its power. The same power that a dancer has can be related to wind. In my head I picture a dancer in lets say a tilt and the performer is sending so much energy from his limbs and the opposition is so much that wind starts to blow out from his limbs. That would be pretty cool. That would make him a air bender like the nickelodeon tv show Avatar the last air bender. I’m so tired and I have an audition today. But i’m gonna build a bridge and get over it yay!!!!!

Patronio Article

I didn’t really like this show. It’s the first Dance Company I’ve every seen in real life and I fell asleep during the first half. Then when I woke up five minutes before intermission and it was the exact same as the beginning. I just wasn’t diggin the abstract music with what I felt like were really random movements. I’m sure they weren’t random at all and had great meaning to them, butttt I just wasn’t amused. I’m also not a huge fan of movement without music. When the show started that way, I was like, “damn it”  -__-

The second half at least managed to keep me awake. It was really interesting, that’s for sure. It consisted of curse words, little clothing, exposed backstage, and a song that kept repeating “death is not the end”. At that point I was just confused and hungry. I’m hungry right now.

Apple Owns the Page Flip

I think it’s really dumb to have ownership rights to the “page flip”. We might as well just give our souls to apple because if they keep on patenting everything, It won’t allow any new  entrepreneurs to be inspired by any apple products. No new products will be able to survive once apple takes over the world. It’s funny how they have patented all sort of stuff like the music icon or their “unique” stairs that they have in their stores. It just ridiculous. They might as well find something that separates all of their apple products from other electronics to use as an excuse to call themselves “unique” and patent every single feature that their products of capable of. It’s just greedy and selfish. It’s as if they are playing a really fun game and they won’t let anyone else play.

It sucks because I’m typing this post on my Mac computer.

1.             What did I learn about Minnie’s and the community it serves?

I learned that Minnie’s is very well known and recognized for its generous and energetic services. It’s a great environment that makes everyone feel important and good about themselves.

2.             What is unique about Minnie’s Food Pantry?

The red carpet seems very unique to me because they really make it a point to make their customers feel good. They also included a lot of luxurious food products such as deserts, which in my opinion, I do not consider it a necessity. Although, I do understand that desert can ultimately lift somebody’s spirit during difficult situations.

3.             What type of awareness would I like to raise in regard to Minnie’s Food Pantry?

I would like to raise the awareness about making judgments towards people and assuming situations before knowing exactly. It is an organization that is always open for help and requires a lot of work. Volunteers are an incredibly important part of Minnie’s.

4.             What have I learned about poverty and hunger in North Dallas?

It is definitely present even when it really may seem that it’s not. It can happen to anybody at any time which is why we must show  compassion and understanding, as well as helping those who suffer from poverty.

5.             Why was this engagement important?

This engagement was important because it gave me a look into how a food pantry works and its importance. Also, because of SMU’s engagment in this community, it may motivate other’s who like or have some sort of affiliation with the university to help out in some way.

6.             How can I use what I’ve learned through volunteering at the Food Bank to serve my art?

It will give my art more experience and knowledge of the world witch could help develop connections between emotions and my movement.

7.             What is the message I’d like to send out?

The message of appreciating the life you live and connecting with humanity.

8.How can dance be a vehicle to catalyze social-justice and social change?

Dance has the ability to stir and instill emotions in those who watch it. It is this kind of emotion that can be what motivates people to take action or become interested in subjects such as social justice.

TUTU MAKING COURSE LINK

It would be really cool to take this course because tutus look so perfectly put together that it makes me wonder how they are made exactly. I knew a lot of people that seemed like they were only in ballet because of the costumes. I have only recently realized that I have a pretty big interest in string and fabric. I have always fixed holes in a lot of my things with string and fabric and it made me feel good that I would still be able to use those things because I had “fixed” them (in my own opinion). Last month, I had finished making a bag to put all of my dance clothes inside of. I hand stitched the whole thing and it was made out of urban outfitters shopping bags. I also want to learn how to knit because I want to be able to make socks and I want to make some warm up pants. I’m not sure what I like about it, but I just like the idea of making my own things.

p.s. this is my dance article because dancer’s wear fabric while dancing, some pieces wear less but most dancers are clothed.

Biometric Data Gathering

Last year, the school system from my school district got hacked by someone and all of the social security numbers of the students were taken. At least thats what the roomers had said, but I’m wondering if its ever going to come back to haunt me and the rest of my classmates. Our tenth year highschool runion is going to be pretty interesting. Well in relation to the article, I feel like identity theft might get a lot more complicated because its getting more personal. They should just take a lock of hair from ever patient and everyone should carry a little device that would identify you’re DNA using that hair. We should all have one of those devices during our day and if we ever have any doubt that the person we are talking to is not the person we think they are then we could just take some of their hair to verify they’re identity.

http://artsblog.dallasnews.com/2012/11/smus-fall-dance-concert-comes-from-new-york-chicago-and-dallas.html/

As I continue in this program, I’m being exposed to so many new things. I’ve learned so much just this semester. I’ve learned about 3 different styles of jazz, went further into Martha Graham modern technique and have intensively continued my ballet training. It’s all  a lot of fun and amazing how much I have experienced since I’ve been here. Back in El Paso, all I did was ballet and some modern classes in my local studio. I tried to learn as much as I could about dance. I eagerly attended any sort of dance camp or workshop that presented itself just to continue experiencing and have fun dancing. However, there just wasn’t very much dance culture that I could sink my teeth into, just ballet folklorico. I’m very grateful to be in this program  and be part of such a rich learning environment. It sounds incredibly cheesy, but it’s the honest truth. Everything I’m learning other than most of the ballet technique is new to me and I feel like a sponge trying to absorb as much as I can; it was the same when I first started ballet. It’s all very exciting, including this fall concert.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/talking-elephant-parrot-human-speech-article-1.1195650

Just kidding, elephants can talk.

Koshik, a Korean elephant can speak up to 5 words in Korean.

I am currently up to my limit of how many articles I can view on the NY Times website, so i decided to get an article from NY Daily : D

It’s interesting how smart this elephant is. I mean, he figured out how to imitate human speech by putting his trunk inside his mouth. I used to play french horn and matching pitches was incredibly hard for me when tuning. I’m not sure if he’s in tune but its pretty damn impressive. In a way it is very similar to how musicians that play the French horn use their hands on the bell to manipulate the pitches just like Koshik uses his trunk inside his mouth. Scientists believe that he is doing this in order to get closer to his keeper because he had been lonely. Maybe elephants are going to be the new house pets to replace the loyal golden retriever. Haha probably not because elephants are SO DANGEROUS. If you piss one of those off you can get any part of your body easily broken. I mean imagine, coming home and having it run at you with excitement. It could probably throw you through the walls. I remember watching a National Geographics documentary years ago (not sure when exactly) about how elephants were going crazy and killing people because they were becoming pissier than usual….it was unsettling.

“Pissier”, apparently is not a word according to my text box because i guest one of those squiggly lines under it ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Swan Lake in Cinema!

Just a few days ago I watched Swan Lake for the first time. It wasn’t the one in the movie theaters, but the one by the Kirov Ballet on Youtube. It was SOO AWESOME!!!!!! I really really really liked it because the soloists were so good. I need to go back sometime and google the dancers because they were INCREDIBLE. I have to admit I would get sleepy while watching it, but that’s just because I was laying on my bed around 2:00 p.m. which is usually when the sun is at the right temperature and it’s kind of after lunch and you can’t help but feel full and sleepy. But, other than that I was wide awake for most of it. I’ll probably watch Don Quixote this week, because i’m not too sure what exactly its about. I remember my studio was performing it when I first joined but I didn’t really get to see much of it because they just threw me into some pas de deux combinations to show a technique portion of the show three weeks before the performance (therefore, I was backstage the whole time and wasn’t able to really see the ballet). Hopefully I can find a complete one on Youtube.

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Kirov Ballet