Tag Archives: theatre

musings

I’ve been a Bad Poster

Not posting for several months: bad!

Baking rhubarb meringue cake and banana bread and not taking a picture to post it: bad!

Reading Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman and not having anything to say about it: not so good.

Going to see Porgy and Bess on Broadway, liking it (a lot) but not writing anything about it: also not good.

Going to see Being Shakespeare at BAM, enjoying it immensely but not telling anybody about it: pathetic.

Visiting the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden and not even mentioning it in a facebook post: sad.

So what have I been wasting my time on now? Well, I’ve been planning a garden I don’t yet have and going through garden catalogs dreaming of an impossible garden with all kinds of climate zones; I’ve been hanging out with friends and family; I’ve been moving from Darmstadt to Mainz to back home, only to go traveling for 3 weeks; I’ve been reading about the health care debate in the US and I’m not quite sure I understand it; I’ve been following the movement of academics boycotting certain publishers with great interest and have encouraged my sister to publish her doctoral thesis in an open access journal.

Books I’ve read since my last post:

  • Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett (re-read to get into the Christmas spirit)
  • Pigeon English, by Stephen Kelman (good for a train-ride to Berlin)
  • The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (while fighting jet-lag)
  • Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman (re-read when I had to ride the subway a lot)
  • Utopia, by Thomas More (as an e-book on an iPad)

In conclusion: I am a bad poster for actually doing, seeing, and thinking about stuff but not posting about it.

reviews

Beijing Dance Theatre’s “Haze”

A week ago I went to see the Beijing Dance Theatre perform Wang Yuanyuan’s Haze.
My first reaction after the final curtain was “Wow! They just danced for 70 minutes straight!”
But of course it’s way more than just that. The choreography is engaging and (this probably sounds weird) well-paced. I liked the choice of music, the minimalist backdrop, and the lighting.
The surprise for me (and it took me a while to realize it) was that the dancers were not extremely good at bouncing off the floor, but were actually dancing on a mat.

I know modern dance can sometimes be strange or leave you feeling like you’ve missed something, but this choreography is not like that. It was aesthetically pleasing and impressive in an endurance-sport kind of way. It also did a good job of visualizing the multiple meanings of the title. The title Haze alludes to air-pollution, but also to the hazy circumstances that cause financial crises, and finally to the confusion that the multiple layers of social interactions (with veiled intentions and unclear goals) can cause.

Haze on YouTube

musings

Getting Started and Writing a To-Do-List

I’ve been playing around with WordPress and uploaded, deleted, and re-uploaded stuff. I’m sorting through my things to see what else I want to share in this space and jotting down ideas for posts on bits of paper.

Also, I added flattr-buttons to some of the stuff I’m sharing. (To find out what flattr is watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwvExIWf_Uc) I feel kinda silly doing so, but I figure since it’s all voluntary, I’ll let others decide whether they think my content is worth flattr-ing.

What else?
Oh! I get to write out a concept for a competition with a barbecue theme! That should be fun.
It looks like May will be busy. I spent the first week of the month in Berlin, I set up this site two days ago, I need to finish up a project this week, start a new one, write bills, update my mother’s website (tcm-nuernberg.de), and take a friend to the ballet at the end of the month.

I want to finish up some socks I’m knitting for my sister. She has also requested a shawl.
I really want to sit down and finish reading Edward Said’s Orientalism so I can have an opinion on it.

So, I think I’ll just get right on all of that.

papers

Das Maedchen und der Tod

Hier ist eine Proseminararbeit von mir mit dem Titel “Bewegung und Position der Figuren als Ausdruck von Macht und Konflikt in Ariel Dorfmans La muerte y la doncella“.

Sie ist nicht sehr lang, aber vielleicht gefällt sie ja.

Hier ein Ausschnitt aus der Einleitung:
“Zwei der großen Themen in diesem Stück sind Konflikt und Macht. Die Machtverhältnisse und die Konflikte der Figuren untereinander werden durch das, was gesagt wird, und durch Requisiten – in diesem Fall eine Pistole – zum Ausdruck gebracht. La muerte y la doncella ist ein Theaterstück. Das heißt, dass in der Aufführung des Stücks der Machtkonflikt betont werden kann, beispielsweise durch die Lautstärke, in der die Figuren miteinander sprechen, durch ihre Körpersprache und durch ihre Mimik. Die Aufführung wird aber erheblich vom Regisseur beeinflusst. Im Folgenden soll untersucht werden, inwiefern die Bewegungen und Positionen, die schon im Text enthalten sind, den Machtkonflikt nonverbal betonen.”

MädchenTod.pdf