Summer Vacation!!

This summer vacation was probably the best ever. I came back to New York a week early to explore the city at night as working on the cruise liner I leave at 4pm so never get to see this fabulous city at night. 

There is something very magical about New York at night the Broadway district is very exciting! I went to see four very different shows 

The first being Pippin who is the son of a King who is trying to find his own way in life which he expresses in the solo 'Corner of the Sky'. 

He is followed by the ensemble in which I thought symbolised an entourage in the physical or it could be argued they are voices in his head. It made me think that everyone in life is on a journey and the many different roles until we are happy both professionally and personally we all undertake are all part of a chain of events leading to something that we want much like our MA experience. 

The shows choreography some how brought Bob Fosse into the room eerily and It was as if his soul was lingering, all his hard work on the show, it was very emotional for me watching his work by high level broadway artists and as you would expect it was eye lash perfect in sync! 

His choreography I felt didn't distract from the plot or from the lead performers. Neither was it cliche 'Jazz Hands' that people usually associate Fosse with. 

It was probably the first show I've seen that I noticed levels after reading The Choreographers Handbook by Jonathan Burrows the week before.

On another choreography standpoint, simplicity is a hard virtue to grasp and implement. How the smallest thing in movement has to be taught; a look, a pose, a gesture with purpose. 

Sometimes these factors which are of the most importance in performers stage presence are not focused on as much in class as audition type 'tricks'. Dancers after all are an extension of the leading artist and have to be actors as well, especially in this setting. 

Hopefully I will address performative pedagogy in my own jazz dance syllabi as my project is about finding an authentic way of teaching jazz in HE. 

Hedwig And The Angry Inch was EPIC! It was very hard for me to go in with fresh eyes as I received the DVD as a birthday present when I was 21, and the four Tony awards awarded the week before I was very excited and it didn't disappoint. 

Neil Patrick Harris starred as the German transexual rock star and was a star. Practically a one 'man' show it was a very different show from Pippin. Harris is charismatic and powerful and some how fills the stage as much as much as the cast of 20 in Pippin.

Hedwig made me reflect on issues of oppression and how the character is treated unjustly by his ex partner who steals her ideas and rock songs and commits plagrisim on a global scale to acquire fame. The world and press doesn't believe Hedwig. I feel because of his lifestyle is not 'hetro-normative' (Queering term), they favour and believe his ex-partner Tommy Gnosis because of his youth and looks. 

Once Gnosis runs out of material and he starts to fail professionally the truth to the world is outed of his past with Hedwig catapulting her to fame, as talent always will come out. 

This oppression data strikes a cord within my research of Jazz Dance and how racism altered it's evolvement. 

Following on from this if we compare Hedwig's and Pipin's journey or the chain of events that unfolded in the end would it had been different without the unjust obstacles/oppression they faced? How different would life and art be if we lived in a perfect world? Would people who are boxed in 'minority groups' express themselves to an extent they do when conquering their own inner demons if oppression wasn't a factor?

Guirano and Oliver present that Jazz Dancers who are successful performance wise, has a lot to do with who and what they are and stand for. 

So, their prior experiences and the 'type' of person they are holistically intertwine with how they present themselves whilst performing. 

Although I'm still reading literature I have really enjoyed having the summer break to take time off from the main project. 

I've loved how much I noticed from the world around me which I will be using as data in my research. Especially TV and the media, the shows on Broadway and the people I am around all of which challenge my perspectives and introduce me to new knowledge and how it all fits together with me, what I know, what I think I know and what I don't know. And also how much I've changed in Module 1 & 2 and what's ahead!