Transitioning?

In four days, DUCK & COVER will be performed (along with many other awesome pieces) in the Transition Projects concert at ASU. This all feels so surreal. I can't believe it's finally time for this to happen...I've watched the seniors before do it, and now it's my turn. It's been such a crazy experience--thrilling, frustrating, scary, amazing. And even though I will have a year left after this semester--the result of being on medical withdrawal for two semesters--I still feel like this concert marks the end of something. Next year, all my classmates will be gone. I can't even tell you how weird it will be without them around. I love them all so much; they are the reason I didn't just drop out of school when I got sick. I'm so happy to have gone on this ASU journey with them. Words can't describe how much I'll miss them! I'm glad Facebook is around so I can keep up with their future endeavors (I hope that doesn't sound creepy; I'm just genuinely interested in what everyone is up to!) And I'm glad that I was able to get back into school so I could experience Transition Projects with my class. It wouldn't have been the same with anyone else. (And luckily, the incoming senior class is a fun bunch so I'll still have some awesome people around.) If you are free this weekend, I highly recommend coming to see this fantastic show! It's February 10th at 5:30 PM, February 11th at 7:30 PM and February 12th at 2:00 PM.

Undesirables

We had a showing today in my Transition Project class, and I showed the material that I have thus far. Claudia, my professor, asked me where I was coming from with this piece--is it a spoof? Is it in earnest? Is it historical? These are some really important conceptual questions that I was happy to think about and answer.

I think that Duck & Cover is first and foremost a satire, with a touch of historical record. When we look back on the Red Scare and Cold War era, it seems so silly. So I want to satirize the silliness of that fear. But at the same time, there are frightening parallels between the fear-mongering then and the fear-mongering now, just with different contexts. There’s also a terrible precedent in history of hiding/getting rid of “undesirables”--Jews during the Holocaust, the Japanese in WWII, the Blacklisting of alleged Communists in the 50s, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge and other racial cleansing/genocide, the segregation during the Civil Rights era. And now we have that same animosity towards Arabs and Muslims. I’ve been thinking a LOT about that lately. I want to comment on that in the piece, in a way that’s both satirical AND profound, and make the audience realize that the fear-mongering wasn’t just a thing of the past. It is still happening now.

Any thoughts on this??

Truckin'

Not too much to report, I guess. I'm two weeks into the semester. It's been going okay, just SO. EXHAUSTING. I think it'll (hopefully) get better once the weather changes. Schlepping around campus in 110 degree weather is difficult to say the least! I can't waaaait for fall.

Almost everything that's happening this semester scares the shit out of me. For one thing, I'm starting to piece together my senior project. And there are about a million things to keep track of...casting, costumes, lighting design, music (choosing songs/audio samples, editing, getting copyright permissions), rehearsals, choreography, AHH. I'm freaking out. But I have to remember that there are a lot of people around me who can help. My fabulous professor who teaches our class, our new badass technical director who is--no joke--a female body builder and gives amazing perspective and gets shit done, our production manager, and so on and so forth. I just have to suck it up and ask for help when I need it. My first rehearsal with my dancers (a cast which has yet to be solidified) is next Saturday. AHH.

In other scary news, we're required to spend nine sessions with a community dance initiative for my Creative Practices class. I'm participating in a project with South Mountain High School. This scares me because for some reason, community dance practice really makes me uncomfortable. No idea why. I guess it's because I don't have a ton of experience with it and am therefore totally out of my element. I had my first session with the project today, and it went alright. Scary as fuck, but I got through it.

The only way I'm able to deal with all this scariness is by remembering that I DON'T HAVE A CHOICE but to do these things. If I don't get my senior project together, I won't be able to graduate. If I don't do the nine community dance sessions, I fail the class. There's no other option but to just DO IT. And there's really no safety net and no turning back. So...yeah. Terrifying.

In non-school news, I'm an auntie again! My sister had her baby the other day. Little Patrick (Paddy for short) is adorable and I can't wait to meet him. Yay!

And that's about it. Time to enjoy the bejesus out of my three day weekend after an incredibly long week! I leave you with a Red Scare inspiration board....remember to duck and cover!