Surrealism is a movement that developed out of the dada movement. So you can only imagine what it is about. They played off an element of surprise and that is what made their art work so different. In a lot of the reading I did I found that they actually practiced writing whatever came to their minds and didn’t sensor it at all. So you could imagine every thought going onto a sheet of paper or into the public. That is kind of surprising and shocking. The group aimed to revolutionize the human experience by freeing people from what they saw as false rationality. They were all for socialism and supported communism and anarchism. Sounds like a great bunch to hang out with doesn’t it? I can’t imagine some of the things that have been said in behalf of this movement. I guess we still have supporters today. They practice a different form and are a little less dramatic but there are still some activist today I am sure. i couldn't get a link to work but go to youtube and look up Ben Goossens, Surrealistic Photography.

Today I went to the MOA to check out the art exhibit about America. I went to the Walter Wick one before but that was before we had are talk on art and how to evaluate it. So there was so much that I absolutely loved. There was a lot of realism. Artist trying to depict Americans in their normal setting. The one that kind of through me off guard was the one with the man sitting on the sidewalk by himself. I saw it and had a completely different experience with it since we had talked about it. I felt sad for the man sitting there and wanted to sit in that empty space next to him even though it was just a painting. I understand now why Sister Stokes has been telling us to go see all these paintings in person. They are so much cooler that way! The detail and actual size totally changes the experience. So my favorite piece today involved my favorite animal actually. The painting was of an eagle. The painting was done by N.C. Wyeth. I saw it and loved from the second I saw it just for that fact then I started looking at it more. My favorite part is actually the sky in the background. The red is so deep and rich and then it goes to white and then to blue with stars in it. It represents the flag and those colors that we know and love but I thought it was very appropriate as the sky too. It reminds me of a setting sun with the night coming on. I just loved it and I spent a while just standing there in awe. I can’t really put it into words but it is a great feeling that just made me happy and proud to be in this country.

Class on Music

Class today was amazing! I really enjoyed all the different music we got to listen too. I learned many different things about music history too. I like how she Chopin the first rock star. It is so different today though. I can’t imagine girls going crazy of some romantic style music but I guess it would be the same then as it is today. I can’t understand why some girls do that today either. Well I thought that was pretty funny though. Music is so great! I love music and I love learning about it. The different styles and genres just add so much variety that there is some sort of music for everyone. Like we talked about today we all have some beat or rhythm that’s gets us going inside. I personally love most music, sorry professor Stokes I just can’t say I like opera. It was good to learn about it and I do enjoy some songs within the opera but overall I can’t sit there and listen to a whole opera. I think Greek theater was much more entertaining than we think. I don’t think that the opera does it justice at all. Ok so back to music. I really liked the technical music we listened to today. I think that technical music is easy for everyone to listen to because we can tell there is some sort of order to it. When it is more mantic and emotional it is harder to understand and therefore turns us off. I hope next Monday we have a great talk about music too and I think film will be fun as well.

Singin' in the Rain

Last night I went to the Hail Center Theater in Orem and I can honestly say that was the sweetest play I have been to. It had everything from romance to comedy. The setup at this theater was great. I sat two rows back on the east side of the stage. The stage was surrounded by the audience on three sides and the audience was a part of the play. There was lots of tap dancing and some other styles as well. My favorite seen was called the Voice Coach Office. This is a scene was great because it started with the lead female role taking voice lessons because sound in a movie was just invented. That was great because this character can’t talk very well so she was having a hard time. Then the scene turns over to the male side. He is doing wonderfully and is kind of bored when his best friend walks in. they start making fun of the vocal coach and start to dance with him. By the end of the scene the voice coach has no idea what is going on and the two male leading roles, Don and Cosmos, are laughing their way off stage. Cosmos was by far my favorite actor of the night. He was the funny guy of the show. He knew it too but did a great job. I did get a little wet too being only two rows back from the stage. I give this play a ten. It made you laugh and was just flat out entertaining. There was a great climax but I won’t mess it up for those who are going to see it. I would definitely recommend going and seeing Singing in the Rain. I am not sure how much it cost because a friend took me. Maybe that’s why I gave it a ten but I am sure it is a reasonable price and worth every penny.

The classes this week have been great! I have really enjoyed learning about dance and part of theater. Well for Monday my favorite part was watching Thriller obviously. I really enjoyed learning about all the different aspects of dance and then we got to apply them right then. No wonder people like modern dance better then ballet. No offense to anyone who does love ballet but you can’t beat Michael Jackson. He did such a great job in that music video and caught the eye of the whole nation. I do think ballet will be a little bit more enjoyable now that I have learned about the different moves and how difficult it is to stay that focused and controlled. I was astonished to find out that physically it was harder than hockey but after talking to some dancers they said while they were dancing that was the best physical shape they have been in. I also enjoyed the dances that we saw today. The dance with the balloons was great and I think we gave a lot of really valid descriptions of what the dancers were trying to say to us. Dance has been my favorite topic so far and I am sad that we are already past it and moving to theater. The introduction to theater was great today too. I never really thought about the stage and how it can affect the play and the audience. Some of the ancient theaters completely amazed me as well. Since entertainment was so limited, theater was probably one type that people loved and that’s why the amphitheaters were so huge. I look forward to continuing this conversation Monday and moving into music.

Reading on Dance

The reading for this Monday was long but I really enjoyed it. I remembered some of the names and terms such as Martha Graham’s name and some of the ballet terms. I found it interesting that dance went through little reformations just like the fine arts did. I guess everything if life goes through a change at some point though. It is in are nature to want something better or just to rebel and create something new. Ballet is still a hard dance style for me to watch but this chapter helped me a lot with naming the simple dance moves that are involved in ballet. I do find it interesting because it is so orderly and such a disciplined dance style. I am still amazed when the dancer gets up on their toes for a good five seconds. You can just see all the little muscles in their leg flexing to stay perfectly still to create the long beautiful lines that are represented so well in ballet. I also enjoyed reading about the other styles that soon followed. The way I look at these other styles are that they are just another way to express yourself. Some people may be able to do that with ballet but others can’t and so they decided to create their own style and way of expression. I love the part when Isadora Duncan is with her teacher and he asks her to stand on her toes she asks why and he says, “Because it is beautiful.” Isadora said it was ugly and against nature and decided to leave the class. This is a great example of how someone just disagrees with one form of expression and creates their own. There is so much more in this chapter but these are a few of my favorite parts.

Reading - Dadaism

ok so i picked this topic just based on the fact that it sounds different and would be an interesting read. Dadaism is a post world war one movement. Dadaism began in Zurich and moved west. It was a movement against barbaric warfare and the artist were completely irrational and madde you think with their art. In a way it represented the negative side of war. All the veterans that came home disfigured and crippled were represented in some of their art. To me this kind of art or the movement was a slap in the face to any country and its soldiers. How unpatriotic can you get? To be ungrateful for those men and women who risked their lives for your freedom so you could have your little movement makes me a little mad. i know that everyone has the right to feel the way they feel and I am not saying war is a good thing but it is necessary at times. i also know that there is a downside to war with the bloodshed and horrible things that happen to the soldiers but why not support the heros. maybe dadaism is supposed to make you think about these kinds of things and therfore it is doing a great job making me think right now. i know i have a limited knowledge of the subject but from what i can tell i dont think it was the best movement myself. i can see how it made a lot of people mad. There only rule was dont follow the rules. they were anti art themselves and only when dadism was becoming more "accepted" did it die off. i would like to read more about dadaism and see how it influenced other movements as well.