This week's blog has two parts:
1. Write about your reaction to the ballet. Give specific details and avoid sweeping generalities.
2. Write about several things you learned from Jonathan or Seneca that were new and interesting to you. Be specific.
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64 comments:
Kenna Campbell
Period 6
1. The ballet was a good experience for us to have because it was really different. I thought the ballet in between the two intermissions was good but it was a little bit cheesy with the lovers chasing each other and stuff. Although I did really enjoy some of the moves they did and it was really impressive how in sync they were together. Also I didn't like the singing on the last one.
2. One interesting thing I learned is that the moon was always involved and was an important part of Midsummer nights dream. I didn't ever catch that so that was cool to notice. Another thing I realized from him is how interchangeable the characters really are. How there really is no given description for any of them except the height of the girls. The last thing is I never thought about this being mainly about marriages. I always just thought it was about love and romance but it was funny when he said it might have been made for wedding parties.
Megan Housekeeper
Period 6
1. I really enjoyed the ballet. Not being a dancer or knowing much about ballet the pieces I liked the best were Slaughter on Tenth Avenue and West Side Story probably because they had a lot more of a dramatic quality, with the sets and following more of a story line. All of the pieces seemed very modern and wasn't what I normally expected out of ballet, especially in Take 5 I thought all the movements were very sensual and not as stifled as I would normally expect. I think it will be interesting to compare this ballet to Swan Lake which will most likely be much more traditional.
2. Something that really caught my attention today was the vast interpretations of A Midsummer Night's Dream, between all of the films and opera productions, I really only had one idea of the play and that was more of the whimsical nature that I think was originally intended by Shakespeare. Another interesting thing was how Jonathan posed the question of how generic the four lovers could be seen, and that they were possibly inter-changeable. This was weird to me because even from the brief knowledge and build-up I feel like Helena and Hermia are very different characters that have more depth then that.
Mackenzie Engel
Period 6
1. I generally enjoyed the ballet performances. My favorite of the four was probably the first because of its comedic undertones. The carousel dance was interesting as well when the female dancers were perched like horses and carrying the poles. One thing that bothered me about it was that I felt like the dancers were either out of sync or not staggered enough when they were dancing. I dont want to be too critical of the performance, because i understand how difficult performing in unison is from my years of gymnastics, but it seemed like they should have been more in sync for the nights performance.
2. Although I was absent for Jonathan's presentation, I discussed it with Shae and she told me what was discussed in class. An interesting thing i learned from Jonathan was that plays and operas can be interpreted in many different ways by the directors and the way in which acts are performed are arbitrary.
Kyle Glaser
Period 2
1. The ballet was definately much different than all the other things we had seen this year. I really like the ballet and I was super excited for the West Side Story ballet but was dissapointed when the singers singing was not up to par. The singing really distracted to the overall performance. I did like the Mamba piece and did like the dancing in that piece when I was not distracted. I really enjoyed all the other pieces in the ballet.
2. One interesting thing that I learned was that Benjamin Britten made Opera popular in England. Although I had not heard about British opera I thought that there had been Opera there for a long time like most of England while instead it did not start until about 50 years ago. I also learned that Midsummer Night's dream uses unusual voice types which makes it hard for places to put on this production. It uses Counter tenors and super high soperanos while it also usues bass and altos. Britten did this to make the unusal and magical affect of the opera come alive.
Megan Lowry per 2
1. The first part of the ballet, Murder on 10th Avenue, i though was really well done naratively, but didn't have a complex dancing. I didn't like carosel as much, moslty because it seemed so much more abstract and didn't connect very much with the audience. I thought that I would not like take five, but the impressive dancing made it interesting. Lastly, I liked watching West Side Story because I had never seen it performed before, but I thought that it was really confusing plot wise, and that the end was quite corny.
2. Something that was new an interesting to me about Jonathan's lecture was the proces by which they did the casting for Midsummer. I had no idea that so many people had ambitions in Opera, and how complicated it was to get the right voices to put on a show. I was also suprised by some of the voicing choices that Britten made when he wrote it. I thought it was interesting that the four lovers made a quartet as well.
Michelle Le
period 2
1. My favorite part of the ballet was "Take 5." The dancing and choreography was definitely the best in that one. It was probably the most challenging for the dancers too. Take 5 was my favorite because it was the most impressive when it comes to actual dance. However, I know that most people's favorite was probably Slaughter on 10th Avenue just because if you don't really know too much about dance, than that one was by far the most entertaining because it was comedic and fun. As for Carousel, I thought it was interesting but it wasn't my favorite, even if the famous choreographer Christopher Wheeldon created it. I just feel like it didn't connect with the audience very well. I definitely did NOT enjoy West Side Story. The dancing was lame, the choreography wasn't very good, and I wish the dancers hadn't sung. Plus the ending was super cheesy. They should have cut that one out and kept the first three.
2. I thought what Jonathan had to say about the composer for A Midsummer Night's Dream was interesting. I'm glad he gave us some background on Britton, and how he was the first major opera composer from England. I also liked how he showed us how the story can be interpreted differently, like how the one we are going to see will be set in a modern day bording school, rather than in ancient times. It's nice to know that even old pieces like A Midsummer Night's Dream can change to fit more modern times.
Kristina Thorson
per 2
1. I really enjoyed the ballet. I thought all four acts were interesting and fun to watch. My favorite was of course the West Side Story suite, except for the dancers singing because they became out of breath quickly. I thought that they were all good but some i didnt know the story behind, like carosel, i understand the plot but not some of the choices the director made in it because i didnt know the whole story to make a connection.
2. When Jonathon came to our class i learned about how they choose their singers. I thought they chose the opera before they chose singers. He told us they listened to all the singers and with those voices they chose the opera. I also thought the part about different directors interpreting each scene differently was cool. I never would have though to watch different scenes of the same movie directed by someone different each time.
Shae Hurst
Period 6
1.I found the ballet to be very interesting because I had never seen anything like it. My favorite part of it was Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. I really liked how this dance in the Broadway Festival had a story to it. The story made it more interesting to watch than the other parts. I also really enjoyed the fact that Slaughter on Tenth Avenue had some movement that I wouldn’t have normally associated with ballet or dance. The scene when the bar tenders are removing the body of the first guy who gets killed in the bar is a good example. The dead guy is being swept out of the way and I thought it was really cool how he moved. The dancer who was pretending to be dead was rolling along the floor, but it didn’t look as though he was trying to. The way that the dancers can move was the most impressive part to me.
2.One thing that I learned when Jonathan came in to talk to us on Thursday was that plays can be interpreted many different ways. I have read a few of Shakespeare’s plays and seen the movie versions, but I have never seen one that took the play in a completely different direction than normal. Jonathan showed us the lovers’ quarrel scene from three different versions of a Midsummer Night’s Dream. I was really confused by the opera version because not only was it set on a very weird stage, but it also made me see the play in a very different way. What I learned then I guess is just that a Midsummer Night’s Dream and other Shakespeare play’s can be done in many different ways and still portray the theme that Shakespeare was aiming for.
Chris Hong Period 6
1) The ballet i thought was really great. It was really exciting and energetic. I liked the music the most becuase it was a lot of jazz music involved and i personally really like jazz music. Dancers were great on the stage. I was surprised how they could move so lightly and softly.
2) One interesting thing i learned from Jonathan in our class was that there are many different settings of the play. I thought every single play was performed with the same feeling. However, different setting gave different feeling to the audience. I thought Jonathan taught us a lot of things from his lecture.
1. I have not yet seen the ballet although I am planning on going this weekend.
2. From Jonathans visit, we learned a great deal about Benjamin Britten and the impact his work had on England. Before his time, England was known primarily for plays and had little impact in the world of opera. Brittens first work, Peter Grimes, would become the first successful opera to come from England and he would follow it up with several other well known works.
Leticia Lopez Period 4
1.I really dug the ballet. like my two favorites was the first one "Slaughter House on 10th" and the "Take 5" one. i loved the dancing and all that in Take 5. just that it was a like blank stage and then the people all danced in and out. & how when that one dancer came out how the musci changed & all the dudes was lookin at her, it was cute. I really liked the music too which made it easier to watch. the music was vibrant and it jus showed through with the dancing. & i liked the first one too because it had like a set and stage and there was more of like a story line with that whole thing part not jus dancing. So yeah. it was crazy, but i was late to the first one the "Slaughter House on 10th", because traffic was hella bad and yeah, thats basically it.
2.
What i learned on Wensday was that the moon was like a really big motif in MidSummers Night Dream. And that Britten made it into an opera because of the new remodleing of the opera house in his hometown.
Tess Opincarne
Period 6
1. I really enjoyed the ballet. I enjoyed the first part the most because of the incorporation of the story. I particularly liked the three policemen and the people who worked at the club. My least favorite was Westside Story, I thought the singing was poor and that it didn't do a very good job at the musical interpretation. The first part of Westside story, where the gangs went up against each other, was good, though.
2. I don't know what exactly I can say I 'learned,' but I did find some things interesting and think about a few things differently. I thought the comparison of the three productions of the same scene was very interesting, and a great idea. However, I hope that the opera we see will be better than the one we watched, because I really couldn't stand the singing in the video. I also thought the analysis of what every Midsummer Night's Dream production needs, and what they mean and how they can be interpreted.
rebecca taicz
Period 6
1. I loved the first three parts of the ballet. I thought that the choreography, and the dancing, were both excellent. The lighting when combined with the dancer's outfits in Take 5...More or Less was very well done, and i loved the up and down circular feeling of carousel. However, I was very disapointed with the West Side Story portion. I thought that to start with, the songs chosen to be performed were for the most part a poor choice, and the singing was a bad addition. I thought that the dancers actually did a good job with what they had, but the directing could have used some more work.
2. I really like the idea of comparing the three versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I was really surprised to see Benjamin Britton's version of the play: I actually didn't like it that much. The references to sleep were a bit obvious, but the green goo that covered everything did not invoke a sense of dreamlike surrealism but more of a "what?" feeling. I would have enjoyed seeing more of the old disney version, that one looked good considering how long ago it was made, and how recent sound to movies was.
Jordan Adam Per. 4
1)The ballet was very enjoyable. What made it especially enjoyable was how the music that was performed was the most contemporary we’ve heard all year. I’m especially partial to the first part of the performance, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. I’d never seen such a clear plot integrated into a dance performance. I found it fascinating. Having a storyline to think about made the performance interesting all the way through. Usually I lose interest in dance performances after a short while, but the plot gave it an extra oomph. I was hooked the whole way through.
2) Jonathan’s presentation on Benjamin Britten was very interesting. Watching his breakdown of what singing parts were given to which character in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream helped to give a better understanding of each character in the show. The comparison of three film productions of the play was also nice. It helped to show how different one director’s interpretation can be from another’s with the precise same script.
Andrew Kemis Period 6
I tend to be the person of the group who is very critical of the shows we go see however while a few of the shows have dissapointed me in some way the ballet was much better than I first expected. My favorite piece was the first numbers which started the show off with a bang. I felt the ballet was funny, in the way personalities were display ( the bartenders and police) and still true to ballet. The music was engaging and quick paced. I was surprised by the incorporation of sets. By far even though it seems less of true ballet, the police and the bartenders were the most enjoyable. I did have a few questions and things I did not care for. There was a note passed by the woman after she had died. Why?
2. When Jonathan came to talk with the class it made me realize just how versitile the play was written for both character roles and also even more interesting locations. The up coming production places the show in a school which is much different from the forest and other locations usually portrayed. The characters like the settings were never really cast to be distinguishable. Jonathan informed us of more than just the romance and love involved in the story. The play is also about marriage and always has certain things such as the moon
Heather Thomas
Period 2
1. The ballet was much different than any of the proformances we've been to. Although I missed the first act, which i did hear was the best, I did not like the ballet as much as i thought i would. I was really excited to see it but without any talking and just dancing going on i got quite bored. I enjoyed all the colors of the costumes and I really did like the lights on stage.
2.The most interesting this i learned was the different kind of ways you can interpret a play. Talking about midsummer nights dream I got to thinking of all the kind of sets you could have and ideas you could take of the characters and their situations. I thought the high school setting would be fun to play out. I'm really excited to see how they do it next weekend!
1. The ballet was a great experience because I have never been to one before, I was impressed with how in sync all the performers were, also I thought that te performers were very skilled and I could appeciate they effort, I wouldnt say im a fan of ballets but I didnt mind this one.
2. One interesting thing I learned in class was how many different settings people have set a midsummers night dream in and how they all seemed unique and actually very good.
Karin Ochsner
Period 4
1. I was really surprised at the ballet. I was expecting something completely different cause i figured all ballets are usually the traditional performances like the nutcracker or swan lake. I wasn't expecting to hear singing. It also had a story line that was easy to follow. I really enjoyed the different dances and humor used. My favorite part was when the guy in the suit shot one of the men watching the lady. It was really humorous when the bar tenders sweeped him away behind the counter and just left him there.
2. One thing i learned from jonathon was the difference between older and new versions of the film. Its crazy how much it has changed like the characters and the scenary. The newer version definitely seems easier to follow. Another thing i learned was the different ways you can show the play like performing it on a huge bed to symbolize a dream.
Sarah Jane Elliott
Period 2
1. The ballet was probably my favorite piece that we've seen so far this year. I particularly liked it because I think ballet is an extremely difficult art form in which you must have a lot of strength, balance, extention, control and you must be extremely centered. My favorite section of the ballet was Slaughter on 10th Avenue. This was really great because it was fun and it was more a broadway, jazz style of dance than the others which were on pointe most of the time. Another thing I really enjoyed about Slaughter on 10th Avenue was all of the tap dance, almost all of the dancers did it. Tap dancing is greatly difficult, especially pull-backs and wings which the cops did several times. I did not particularly enjoy Carousel or West Side Story. Carousel was much too confusing and though you told us about the plot, I really didn't understand. I saw no murder, no young girl because slapped and thinking it was a kiss, I just saw the husband and the wife being "in love". That was most of the whole piece too. One thing I did like about the piece was at the very beginning when the ensemble created an actually Carousel and danced around in it for a bit. The other piece that I did not particularly enjoy was West Side Story. The play and movie are both such famous pieces of work that it was a huge let down. I hated that the dancers began singing because it wasn't particularly good, especially with the song "Cool". The song "Cool" is supposed to be really jazz and have a sort of sway to it, but the dance just made it much to stacto, which I really did not enjoy.
2. It was really exciting to have Jonathan come in this past week because he gave us a lot of information to prepare us for what we would see. I very much enjoyed the video clip that he showed us, it was the director of A Midsummer Night's Dream talking about the piece. It was cool to see all of the opera singers in action and to see how much work and effort goes into these Operas we see. Another interesting thing he informed us of was how they picked Midsummer as an Opera. I thought it was interesting to hear how they picked 10 to 20 young individuals to do a piece, and how this year they had a very eclectic group. Though you've told us many times before, it was cool to hear from Jonathan's mouth (another Opera expert), how hard the counter tenor voice type is to come by. It was also cool to see the singer that Midsummer had playing Oberon in work, since putting the voice to a face was unusual.
Bergen Anderson per. 2
The ballet has been one of my favorite performances so far. I love watching the dancers because they make it look so easy and effortless. My favorite was the first act because it had the most plot and story line. I also loved the movement of the male dancers pulling their chests upward when they were shot. I also loved the jazz music in the take five part. I didn't enjoy the West Side Story as much because some of the singing seemed out of place and the dancers weren't singing all of the parts so it didn't flow to me.
When Johnathan came it was interesting to learn what voice types were chosen for each character and also to hear other classmates opinions regarding the voice types. Personally I don't like the voice for Oberon, the high pitched male voice really bothers me but it was interesting to learn the decision making process behind their choice.
1. I didn't realize that the ballet was going to be like it was. I didn't know there was going to be so many different acts so i was a little confused at first. I really liked the first act with the drama in the bar scene. I liked how they mixed ballet with other forms of dance like jazz kind of. Another reason why i liked that one so much was because of the small little things they did to make it funny like the bar tenders who cleaned up after the dead bodies and did little funny things. I also thought that the carrousel one was cool because you could completely tell they were trying to make a carrousel and it looked really good. The other acts were okay but i didn't like them as much. Especially the one from West Side Story. I've seen the entire play before and i just didn't enjoy this one as much.
2. There were a lot of little things brought up that i hadn't thought of and i learned. I didn't really know that much about how Gods of a lot of things play a role in this. Another thing i never really connected was the battle of the sexes thing he brought up but no that it was brought up i definitely notice it a lot more. I also really liked how he showed us all the different sets that people have had for the opera like the one that is just a white box. i found that interesting. I also like how we watched the same scenes from different movies and saw how different you can make the scene just depending on how the director wants to present the situation. He also brought up how the two fairies who were married had always cheated on each other and said it was mentioned a little in the beginning but i had never caught that so overall he just cleared up a lot of little things i didn't really think about or notice and i think it will help a lot when we go see the opera which will be exciting.
Jessica Karr, p.4
1. The ballet was really surprising for me, because when you think of a ballet, you don't tend to think of comedy and singing. This ballet seemed to break out of the typical mold of a ballet and went with the themes matching the music chosen for each number. The scene in carousel with the man and the woman in the yellow dress was my favorite because it did seem to hold true to a typical ballet, and the emotion you felt from the way they moved was overwhelming. However, I thought the singing in West Side Story should have been left out.
2. Some new things I learned from Jonathon were that A Midsummer Night's Dream was written for Queen Elizabeth, who was never married, as the play makes many references to. I also learned that Benjamin Britten wrote extremely complicated musical pieces and enjoyed employing children to take part in his plays. I was surprised at how complicated the music still remained for the children, even though the children were able to perform it beautifully.
Clayton Butler
Period 2
1. My reaction to the ballet was a a lot of things. First, I missed the first act, which i heard was the best. And when I came in, I saw the certains drawn and a movie being projected onto a screen, which completely threw me off. Once I figured out what was going on, I enjoyed the ballet because the small movie clip before hand helped me get an idea of what the dancers were dancing about.
2. Jonathon helped me learn a lot about how this performance of a Midsummers Nights Dream. If I saw the opera without hearing Jonathon, I would have had an odd reaction, since it is just going to be set in a school house. Also, I liked how he showed us that this opera is just one version, done by the director, and there are many other ones out there. I was thinking that opera had a set performance, and voice categories for each character, but they are all determined by the director.
Mandi DeLaVergne
Period 6
1. I actually really enjoyed the ballet. My favorite section was the first because it was more comedic than the others. I have not watch ballet but it just amazes me how flexible the dancers are. This ballet was a lot more modern than i thought it would be, probably because most of the performances we have seen arent on the modern side. Overall I really enjoyed the ballet and am really looking forward to seeing Swan Lake.
2. During Jonathans visit, the part I enjoyed the most was physically being able to see the differences of a certain scene from A Midsummer Nights Dream. In our class we watch the three differences in the "fighting" scene between the two women. My favorite one was the version we watch in class with the mud fight. It was comedic and kept my interest.
Sam Bellefeuille
Period 6
1. The ballet was really fun. I loved all the action going on and the dancing was amazing! I was kind of confused right off the bat becasue there seemed to be so many different little acts it was hard to follow. But it was also funny and you really never got bored watching it.
2. One of the main things that i got out of the talk was that romance, and the moon were the most important aspects in Midsummers night dream. After he showed us serveral different versions of the play, you got to see how different directors interperted it. that was really interesting. but in every version there was some sort of romance being portrayed and the moon was alwayssss out!
Kenny Exelby
Period 4
Part 1:
I thought the ballet was very cool because it was very different from everything we've seen so far. The way it was split up into three parts was very interesting as well because every act was very different, however they seemed to flow together nicely. I don't remember which specific part it was but there was one that had a bunch of fight scenes in it and people running all over the stage in gangs and I thought the choreography of those pieces was intense.
Part 2:
Something that I learned from Johnathan was the different voice types of all of the characters in midsummer nights dream. Every voice group was covered by one or more characters and there was 2 types of "voice categories" I had never heard of before, one was a counter tenor (Oberon), and the other was an actor (Puck). I don't know what a counter tenor does but I found out that Puck never actually songs in the opera so hes kind of just an important character that just acts which I thought was very unusual for an opera.
Bryttany Enge, Period 6
1.) I tend to enjoy ballets so therefore it is not unusual for me to say that I enjoyed the Broadway Suite. My favorite act was the first. I enjoyed the dancing, the colors, and the characters the dancers portrayed in this act best. This was the most interesting, and humorous of the five acts. I also enjoyed the Take Five act. The Take Five act was very colorful and the dance was very exciting as well. My favorite part and dancer in this act was the piano solo with the blue dancer. Piano is one of my favorite sounding instruments so naturally I liked this particular solo best.
2.) A few things I learned from Jonathan is that first, the opera Midsummer Nights Dream was written by Benjamin Britten; second, Britten was one of the most openly gay men in Britain at the times (which I thought was interesting because while being a fairly well-recognized figure, Britten freely expressed his sexuality during times that such a sexual preference was more commonly frowned upon- 1940’s to 1950’s until of course around the 1960’s, when homosexuality was better excepted; of course views on sexual preference could have been different in Britain.); thirdly I leaned about the three social classes in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Nights Dream. These three classes consisted of the Comics (the lowest level) also called the mechanics because they are good with their hands (engineers. The comics are characters such as Bottom and Flute. The Second class consists of the Aristocrats, which included Lysander or Hippolyta or Theseus. The last and the highest class are the Fairies, the magical beings. The fairy characters included Titania and Oberan.
Kaiti Staup / Period 4
1. I loved the ballet partially because I wasn't expecting the strong plots that went along with each separate portion of the ballet. I was very surprised at how pointed each of the dances seemed to be, in terms of the accompanying stories. As always, when I left the ballet I couldn't stop being so amazed at how effortlessly the dances can control every fiber of their bodies. My favorite part had to be the Carousel dance, the combination of the music and the theatrical choreography kept me interested in the entire piece.
2. From the in class lecture that we had with Jonathan, I learned a lot about the planning of the opera, and why certain voices were paired with specific characters. I also really enjoyed comparing the same scene from all of the different movie/play portrayals of A Midsummer Nights Dream. It was interesting to compare the different re-enactments of the same scene. I am much more excited to see the performance next saturday now that I have some background knowledge and a better sense of respect for how much time and consideration goes into each performance.
Preston Longoni Period 4
Part 1
I had never seen a ballet before, (but then again, I had never seen an opera either). I actually thought it was pretty interesting and I appreciated the dancers. The men have to be so strong in order to hold up the women for long periods of time without shaking, and at the same time they need to be flexible, swift, and easy-moving. My favorite part of the ballet was Take 5 because of the music. I was late and came in during first intermission so I missed the first part.
Part 2
I though Benjamin Britten was interesting. It's cool how he is considered one of the greatest composers of the 20th century and how he made opera popular in England. I also thought it was neat how he showed us three different ways A Midnight Summers Dream was interpreted. Personally I thought the one where they are acting on a giant bed was very creative.
andy wolfe period 2
i enjoyed the ballet, but i enjoyed the first two more than the second two. i think that westside story and the one before that weren't really my style. i liked though in one of the ballets where they brought in the gold rod and they used it as a prop, i think that was really creative and it added a little something more to the ballet.
something that i thought that was interesting with the Midsummer Nights Dream presentation was i had no idea that the play was represented in so many differnt ways. i thought that in all of the plays it had to do with people going into the forest and kings and queens and stuff, but i was surprised to find out that there were many differnt ways that people have interperted it and they are all very differnt. i thought that it was cool how he showed us an old movie of mid summer nights dream so we can see how different they all have become.
Ryan De La Riva
P-2
1. Ok the ballet I don’t know how I can describe how I felt alter watching it. It’s not that I hated it or even that I loved it I just didn’t have a reaction to it my mind seemed to not have an emotion to place with what I was seeing. In a logical part of my mind was impressed with the dancers because I realize it’s not easy to do those things. From what I understood of it I thought it was well done but in an artsy or emotional level I didn’t get it at all.
2. From the visit on Thursday I learned a lot about which types of voices goes with which character. Also some of the Midsummer themes made since to me in the ways of which they had been done. And it was interesting to see how they have been done by different people.
Matt MacDougall
Per 4
1. I generally enjoyed the ballet performances. My favorite of the four was probably the first because of its comedic undertones. The carousel dance was interesting as well when the female dancers were perched like horses and carrying the poles. One thing that bothered me about it was that I felt like the dancers were either out of sync or not staggered enough when they were dancing. I dont want to be too critical of the performance, because i understand how difficult performing in unison is from my years of gymnastics, but it seemed like they should have been more in sync for the nights performance.
2. Although I was absent for Jonathan's presentation, I discussed it with Shae and she told me what was discussed in class. An interesting thing i learned from Jonathan was that plays and operas can be interpreted in many different ways by the directors and the way in which acts are performed are arbitrary.
Jessica Taylor per 2
1. The ballet wasn't really what I was expecting. My family goes to see the Nutcracker every year so I was expecting something more traditional I guess. Murder on 10th ave was really good; I liked the story line and was able to follow it better than the rest of the performances. I also really like Take 5. The dancing was amazing. I know how hard it is for dancers to hit moves exactly right because I have been doing cheer for 5 years and sharpness is the key to a good performance. I would have to say that West Side story wasn't as good as I was expecting. I really liked the movie when I saw it but didn't care too much for the performance.
2. I thought it was interesting that Jonathan talked a lot about Benjamin Britten. I was expecting him to talk more about the performance but I guess that we already knew a lot about that so it was cool to learn about the guy who wrote midsummer nights dream in opera form. I thought it was cool that he started a festival in his home town to honor opera. I think it would be really cool to go to the festival sometime in my life.
I think thats its kinda weird that the performance is going to be set in a boarding school but I'm not going to judge that decision until I see the performance.
Trisha Hancock
Period 2
1. the ballet was different then i excepted. At first i was a little confused on what was going on. i enjoyed the nicing in all the pieces and i give the dancers props because it looks hard. West side story was just ok for me, i had high hopes for it because i enjoy the movie, but i feel like the singing didnt fit in, it looked a little chessy.
2. i thing i learned is that benjamin made opera popular in england. another thing that i had learned from the visit on thursday was all the voice categories for each of the actors.
Andrew Pilgrim Period 4
The ballet was very interesting in the way that they did each piece of music very differently. The first piece was very much a narrative as was the West Side Story piece. The middle dances were more just dance numbers without as much of a story. I found that the way they did the first piece was my favorite because it encorporated the dancing and athleticism of the ballet with the story as well without it getting to be too much. The West Side Story was cool but the singing seemed odd and a bit out of place with the dancing at times. Carosel was really well done because they mixed a little narrative story with what was mainly just a dance piece. Overall, I found that the humor combined with the great skill in the first piece was my favorite. The way they were able to showcase the ballet and some tap dancing and really cool jumping moves was very interesting and looked very difficult to do. The ballet was interesting.
I learned a lot about Benjamin Britten that I did not know before, especially about the traditions of doing A Midsummer Night's Dream in small towns. The small fishing town that he wrote his opera for seemed like the opposite of what I would think would be an opera venue. I thought that it was interesting about the background knowledge about the moon motif in the actual play, as well and how it ties into Queen Elizabeth I and glorifies single women. There were a lot of facts that I learned from Jonathan in his trip and found the presentation very intriguing.
Alex Garcia Period 6
1. I enjoyed the broadway festival ballet very much. I liked the incorporation of the videos and they helped to give an idea of what the plot of each act was. The first act was my favorite I liked the gangster/stripper theme and the variety within the piece including the more gymnast type policemen and the cigarette storekeepers. I also took fancy to the woman in purple from the "Take Five" Act. The singing in the west side story piece was sort of a disappointment and could have been left out but it didn't bother me or distract me from the dancing that was also going on simultaneously.
2. I felt like Jonathon really helped to show the variation in the different productions of a midsummer nights dream. It was enlightening to see how different directors would put their own spin on the same scenes. For example the scene when Helena and Hermia fight I was able to see the scene from the movie we watched in class, the original midsummer, and the opera where the entire show takes place on a large mattress. I was also unaware of the underlying moon theme commonly brought up within the play and his discussion about artemis and her warriors.
Brendan Cox
Period 2
1. The ballet was a good experience because it showed how evenly dancing and music could collide. The pieces we saw seemed very modern and it was kind of edgy to watch them one after another. I thought that the last one, Westside Story, was kind of a joke. I havent seen the movie so I didnt know what to expect but that definatly wasnt my kind of ballet.
2. Some interesting things I learned from Jonathan were that Ben Britten was gay and had a very strange outlook on marriage. Also I thought the voices he showed us sounded strange when all used together and I wasnt such a big fan of the higher mens voices being used.
Phillip Foshee
period 6
1. I thought that the ballet was very moving. The way that the dancers moved just brought me into the performance and made me very interested. I really liked how the dancers put so much emotion into there movements too, it made it very unique. Although the dancing was super good the singing was a bit vial.
2. I learned a lot from Johnathon this week. one of the unique things that i learned from him was that they always included the moon in the scenes, which makes a midsummer night dream a very unique performance. Another interesting thing about the opera is that the process that they use to pick people. It makes it really seem like allot of people are interested in performing in it.
Brendan Connor
Per.4
1. I was severely disappointed with West Side Story. It was the act that I was the most excited to see, and it just didn't do it for me. The dance numbers were pretty good, but when the ballet dancer started singing, it just ruined it for me. There is a reason they became dancers and not singers. Take 5, on the other hand, was the best thing there. It's jazzy tempo was just what that ballet needed.
2. I learned that the play was made for Elizabeth the first. Most of the female characters make their own decisions, and are rather strong women. This is meant to mirror Elizabeth I.
Cristina Rice
Period 2
1. I liked the ballet. My favorite part was the first act, murder on 47th street (or something like that). I liked it because it had a plot, instead of just dancing. Also you could see or understand everything that was happening in that act. My favorite part of that act was when the police men came out and danced together. I was pretty cool. Also when the man kept doing the same part over and over again to try and entertain the guy but in the balcony, so he wouldn't get shot. It was funny.
2. Some things I learned from Jonathan was that Benjamin Britten was England's greatest Opera singing, who did the opera we're going to see of Midsummer Nights Dream. Also the opera is going to be set in a boarding school, so it is kind of modernized. Shakespeare wrote this play around 1590. I also learned all the voice types of the characters in Midsummer Nights Dream. Also it took Jonathan a long time to be able to put on this production because his boss doesn't particularly like this opera. When figuring out what opera they're going to put on they first do an audition to find the singers and based on what type of singers they are they choose the opera. Which I think is interesting because I would think they would pick the opera first and then try and find the singers.
Regan McComb p. 6
1. I really liked the ballet more than I thought I would. I like how they incorporated humor in with the dancing and singing. However I didn't really enjoy the singing. The dancers were very talented and the story line was easier than most to follow. I specifically really liked take 5.
2. I learned from Jonathan the voice categories of puck, titania, oberon, hermia, helena, demitrius and lysander. Also that there isn't just one version of A Midsummer Night's Dream but many. It all just depends on the director. Also I learned the specific components that are usually incorporated into each version of the play.
Selena Swaim, per. 2
1. Unfortunately I missed the first ballet performance, but I was there for the other three. I heard that it was most people's favorite. When I came into carousel, I didn't actually know the title of the piece. I noticed that the music resembled a carnival and then the dancers took form of the carousel. I thought it was great and obviously well put together if I could go into that performance and not know a thing about it, not even the name until i looked in the program, and still understand exactly what it was about. I enjoyed the choreography in Take 5. There were some distinguishing jazz-like moves that went well to the music, but still stayed true to the ballet form. The spot light guy did a great job. He was almost dead on with where the dancers were and where they were going at all times. In West Side Story, like pretty much everyone else said, the singing was poor. There was one singer that was pretty decent, I believe it was either the first or second. Of course, it is almost impossible to use that kind of body strength in dancing and still maintain a good singing voice, but it may have been a better choice for the director to use off-stage singers instead. I was glad they gave a small showing of the actual West Side Story movie beforehand, mostly because I knew nothing about the plot. It helped me understand what I would be seeing in their ballet. Using different colors of costumes for the different gangs helped me understand the rivalry, also how the two lovers weren't supposed to be together.
2. When Jonathan came in, I learned a lot about the history of British opera. Like how they felt suspicious of opera because it was more of an Italian performance art. Opera is more boisterous and passionate like the Italians are, whereas the British are more poised and quiet. The British never considered doing opera until Benjamin Britten broke through in 1945 and made it popular. He also told us about the voice types of the characters. I liked how you can almost predict what each characters' voice type will be, because of their role in the story as well as their personality. I also had no idea that a counter tenor pretty much sounds like a woman's voice. Specifically in Midsummer Night's Dream, until Jonathan mentioned it I had never realized how Lysander and Demetrius are practically the same character. They could be switched and the story would be exactly the same.
Stuart Dransfield
1.The ballet was more interisting than I thought it would be. The music was pretty good in terms of ballet music, and i was really impressed by how syncronzed they were to the music. They must have practiced for a long time to get that in sync with the music.
2. I was only there for the second half of the Jonothan Seneca presentation. i learned about how the diferent voice tones are used because I didnt really understand that earlier. Also i thougtht it was cool how he showed us the different directors views on how they interpreted the shakesphere movies.
Talia Cowan per 6
1) The ballet was pretty cool. My only issue/dislike was when in the last quarter. The latino girls were singing about going back or staying where they lived. It was very difficult to understand what was being sung, and just over production of that west side story section was choppy.
2)It was interesting when Jonathan visited our class, because he put a lot of focus on the different ways of interpreting acts or characters of a play. like how different recordings of the same scene can offer different varieties of emotion, look and even the lines used.
Christin Thrane
Period 4
1. I surprisingly really enjoyed the ballet. I’ve always been interested in dance, but haven’t been particularly familiar with ballet. I liked the way they mixed up the classical dancing with more modern dance in the first act, which I thought was the most entertaining part of the performance. I really liked how they used the music, like when the one man got shot. On the other hand, I think the second part was the most esthetically beautiful one and nicest to look at. I feel like the third part of the ballet was kind of unnecessary and the whole act felt somewhat awkward. I definitely didn’t like the singing. It was weird and out of place, and it decreased the affect of the dancing.
2. From Jonathan Dean’s presentation, I learned about Benjamin Britten, the writer of the opera version of a midsummer nights dream. He talked about his background and how he created the midsummer opera and that he liked to have kids in his performances. He was the first world important British man for opera. Jonathan also helped me understand the relations between the characters in a midsummer nights dream better. He also explained the roles of all the characters in terms of singing, for example that Lysander is the tenor and that Hermia is the mezzo soprano.
Lacey helmuth per. 4
I really liked the ballet, especially the part during the Carousel where they actually made a merry go round. It was cool cause they had the bar things, but the girls were being held up by the guys and going in circles to look like they really were on a merry go round. All the dancers were so flexible and moved around like they were on ice.
When Johnathon came to talk to us I learned a lot about voice categories, more so how to figure out which two are lovers.
Tia Bailey, period 4
1. The ballet was very good in my opinion. I really liked how in one of the shows they showed the video in the intro which definately helped to set the mood for the ballet. And the red carpet.
2. When Jonathan came I learned about the different characters, and their voice ranges and how for a few of the voice ranges there were several in same ranges; And how different characters and voice ranges intertwined with each other to make such a great works.
Also, I thought that the video was very insightful for "A Midsummer Nights Dream" and learning more insights about it.
Chanelle Herrera
4th period-
1. I arrived late to the ballet and so I unfortunately didnt get to see most of the first one, however, I really enjoyed the other ones. The second one was definately my favorite out of them.
I liked how in one of them (I think it was in the ending of the first) there was the ballet guys in tap shoes on the stage and there was the two guys that looksed the same and how they danced together.. it definately amused me. I also liked how as an intro to another one of them, they did the video clip. I thought that was pretty cool because I have never heard of that being done in a ballet.
2. When Jonathan came to our classroom, what I learned was about the voice categories of the different characters. And I thought that was pretty cool. I also learned about how interchangeable the characters from "A Midsummer Nights Dream" really are. I never really thought of them as being intercheangeable.
Kayla Aldridge
Period 6
1) The ballet was unlike the other performances we have been to. I liked how they split it up in smaller acts it made it much easier for me to follow. I was very impressed by the costumes and complex dancing. The first act, Murder on 10th Avenue, was by far my favorite act in the play.
2) One thing I learned from Jonathan that I found interesting is that there are so many different settings for Mid Summer Nights Dream and there all very unique in their own way. I was also surprised about the casting process of mid summer nights dream and how difficult it is to choose the right singers.
Jamae Coonts
p6
I wasnt able to attend the ballet, but it was very interesting to hear everyones views of it. Sincei am a dancer myself, ithelped me understand the audiences point of view of performances.
SOme thingsi learned from jonathan were how the voices were selcted very specific for each character. I also learned that each production of the opera/play/movie determines on the director and there interpretation of it.
Mike Smolkowski
Per 4
I thought that the ballet was actually pretty interesting because it was a new experience for me and I have never seen anything like that before. Also I thought that it was pretty freakin amazing how the dancers can control every part of their body, well mainly their legs, and put them in crazy positions that I would for sure hurt myself trying to do. Also, the first part was my favorite act because of the comedic theme to it. I wasn't expecting there to be humor in it, but I was mistaken.
And from Jonathan, I learned a couple interesting things such as how the moon was a very big motif in A midsummers night dram. Also I learned why Britten chose the voices for the characters that he did. Like why a tenor or why a bass. One more thing is that the play is going to be modernized. Nothing like the movie that we saw in class with Christian Bale.
Erika Hodges
per. 2
1. The ballet was a very interesting experience. People involved in ballet are amazing atheletes and the proffessionals such as we saw were absolutely amazing. Murder on 12th Ave. was my favorite, the characters were corny but it was very fun to watch. I was very unimpressed by West Side Story, i have not seen the movie but the singing was horrible or the lack of singing was horrible. In Carousel the human carousel was fantastic, the gold poles and the lights were very entertaining. Take 5 didnt really impress me so i dont have much to say about it.
2. I learned a lot about Benjamin Britten and MND from Jonathan. I learned that the show we are going to see is based in an English boarding school but it has the same lines as MND. I also learned that Britten liked children to be hs actors because how odd their voices are. I also learned that Helena and Hermia are interchangeable characters and they are basically the same character. I also learned that Britten grew up in a small fishing town.
1. I did not get to see the ballet yet, I am planning on seeing it though. I heard from a lot of people that they did not like the last dance number, but that the first one was really cool. I also heard that a girl fell on stage.
2. I learned a lot from Jonathan's presentation. His love and passion for theatre and Shakespeare really made Midsummer come alive for me in a new way. I thought it was interesting that Benjamin Britten wrote his show for his friends at a festival and used children in it. He used children because he liked working with them and the tones of their voices. I loved how Jonathan explained the relationship between the four lovers, that they are all young kids who have changing bodies and they are all mixed together and fall in love with each other because it doesn't make a difference to them. Maybe it's not the flower juice that changes them maybe it is just their hormones. It was also interesting to see the different versions and different perspectives of Midsummer.
Joel Maltos
Period 4
1. I felt that the ballet was a great experience and adds on to the variety of new experiences I have gone through this year. I missed the first act, which I heard was one of the better parts of ballet, so I was kind of bummed about that. The rest of the ballet was not as exciting as I predicted it would be, except for the last act, which of course was the best part of the entire ballet. I love all the music to West Side Story, so just hearing the music and watching the dancing from West Side Story brought back memories. I didn't particully like that the dancers sang during the ballet, but i guess they were trying to spice things up a little bit.
2. Jonathan taught our class a brief history behind a Midsummer's Night Dream, which I found to be very interesting. I enjoyed how he told us about why shakespeare wrote the play and who is was performed for years later. Also, learning all the different voice categories for all the characters can sometimes be fun. I thought Jonny boy did a good job feeding us as much information as he could with the time allouded to him.
Dathan Bauman
Per 2
Overall I liked the ballet because it was more interesting than ithought it would be. Out of them all I liked murder on 10th avenue the most because you had to watch carefully to fiqure out the story. What also made that part the best was because of the settings and some comedy in the dancing. I thought west side story was really acurate to the movie and was surprised that they did the whole story.
2. Something Jonathan showed us was how each main character had no real personality and be change anyway. When I Think about England creating plays it sounds boring because english people don't like showing emotion or acting out crazy. Benjamins choice in voice types allso seem weird so I'm gonna wonder if I like this opera.
Helen Wiltsey
Period 4
1. The ballet, because it was split into four, was kind of hard to stay interested in. The first performance with the saucy dancers and cops was excellent. There was witty action and romance and lots of well danced dancing. The other three were alright, and I found it hard to like the other ones as much as I think I could have, with such an excellent ballet preceeding all the rest. Althought Carousel had nice carousel mimicking dancing, and take five was just visually awesome.
2. When Jonathan came it was a good experience to have the different video interpretations presented for us of Midsummer Night's Dream. It makes me all the more excited to go see it live soon. I also learned that it may have been written for Queen Elizabeth I and her old maid tendencies.
Zoe Thiemann Period 6
1. The ballet was very different and not very traditional. One thing i noticed about this ballet was it looked easier than it was. I say this because it seemed like they were not only focused on the ballet and the moves but the acting out. It just wasn't as elegant as the traditional ballet. I did like it when they all danced together and focused on the really hard dance moves. I'm excited to compare this ballet to swan lake.
2. What i remember from when he came was how each version of Midsummer nights dream is performed differently because it is based on by different character focuses. I expected and knew there were many different interpretations of the production but i didn't know it was based off the focus of one character or theme. I also thought it was interesting when he showed us the old version on film and the new one. It has changed so much but still the same lines so it's weird.
I have not yet had a chance to see the ballet yet because of baseball, and other issues. on the other hand, in class when Seneca and Jonathan were there somethings i learned in class were that Benjamin Britten made Opera very popular throughout England. Also i had never heard about opera in Britin but i thought by instinct that it had been around for a long period of time. little did i know opera in britin didnt start until about 50 years ago. last but not least, Something else i learned that was new was all of the information on Benjamin Britten and how he was a huge impact on his country. Before Brittens time, England was known primarily for plays, not operas, but plays. that is until Peter Grimes became the first successful opera to come from England. That opera was known to be one of many great operas composed.
Katie Hodgson
Per2
That ballet was the second ballet i have ever been too. The other one i have been to is the nutcracker, i have been to that twice. But ballet doesn't really interest me not that i think it is bad or anything im just not that intrigued in it. But out of the ones we saw i think carousel would be the most interesting to go and see. And West side story (i think thats what it was called) didn't look that good to me.
Brian Penoyer
Period 2
1. First off the whole mini feature thing before each piece was kind of cool, and I actually liked it, especially since it gave a background to the pieces and made it easier to understand the story. My favorite part of the ballet was the Slaughter on 10th avenue. I thought it was pretty funny and the dancing itself was great, especially the female lead. I also liked the music itself, when the two were dancing together and the male leads solo at the end, which repeated itself over and over again so he could avoid getting shot. The rest of the show was just okay to me. I liked the part of carousel when they actually made a human carousel, and take five was alright. I didn't like the the west side story suite as much when they were actually singing because they tried mixing audio with vocals and it just sounded wierd.
2. Something I learned from Jonathan when he came was that I do NOT like the counter tenor for Oberon. At all. Oberon should be the imposing King of the Shadows, it says so in the script, but then he comes out with THAT voice and it's almost like a joke. And a bad one at that. The rest of the voice choices were alright I guess, although I think that Lysander and Hermia should both have the higher singing voices because they are the lofty lovers with their heads in the clouds, and Demitrius and Helena should have lower ranges because they are the envious, lamenting, woeful ones. That way the lover's voices match up better when they're together. Or I could understand Lysander and Demitrius having the same voices because their characters really are interchangable.
michael haines
period 4
this ballet was a very good one, it was great in the way that it held my attention throught the entire preformance. it had humor in that first segment and all of the segments had storylines that were easy to follow and didnt have to think a lot about what was going on and that really helped. my favorite part however was the costumes and the vibrant colors that went into them, the woman in red really grabbed your attention and you could just tell who the important person in the segment was just by looking at the costumes. the music was great and the dancing really impressed me with the athletisism of the dancers.
Nathan Zimmerman, Per. 6
1. The ballet was a very interesting performance and for the most part I enjoyed it thoroughly. I found that many points of the four sections were enjoyable with only a couple complaints over the course of the performance. In general The Slaughter on 10th Avenue was very good because of how clear the plot was. Many times in the performances we attend the plot can sometimes become muddled along with everything else going on but in the first part I enjoyed how clear it was. Secondly, I like how Carousel opened. The mock carousel made by the dancers looked fairly difficult and was cool to watch. The only thing I really hated about the performance was the singing. I just seemed fake and was detrimental to the performance as a whole.
2. Some new things that I learned from Jonathan when he came into our 6th period class were that there can be many different interpretations to a story and from those interpretations directors can place the plot in many different and interesting settings. Another interesting thing that I learned from Jonathan's lecture was how there are three essential classes in the story of A Midsummer Nights Dream, the Fairies, The Aristocrats, and the Rude Mechanicals.
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