Look Ahead: PORTFOLIO CHECK-IN COMING UP

A reminder that there are just two weeks of class before we meet for mid-term conferences.

At your conference, you will need to bring your portfolio to date, including all of the following:

- your research journal, containing all of your research materials to date
- "Developing a Topic" (the in-class exercise that we did on January 18)
- "The Burning Question" (the in-class exercise that we did on February 11)
- Response papers #1-7
- Hot Sheets #1-2
- First Thursday #1
- all of your informal notes, observations, and reflections from field trips and class activities

Also, please be ready to talk about the progress you've made on your research project, and bring any questions you may have.

FREE Gamelan Concert!

Cornish Music Series presents

Crossing Boundaries with Gamelan Pacifica

Featuring performances of Javanese and Sundanese style gamelan music and the northwest premiere of Lou Harrison's Concerto for Piano and Gamelan, featuring young Seattle pianist and Cornish alumna, Adrienne Varner; with special guests Sutrisno Hartana and Undang Sumarna.

Friday, Feb. 15th & Saturday, Feb. 16th
8:00pm
PONCHO Concert Hall
Kerry Hall, 710 E. Roy St.
Seattle
Free parking available on E. Boylston Ave. behind Kerry Hall.
Free admission to Cornish students, faculty and staff; general admission: $15, $7.50 for students, seniors & Cornish alumni

Persuasion Pictures and Then Some

After the show Kassie and I were hungry, as you can see. So we got dinner...

...and the waitress was really happy and her name was Jessica Lynn...

...and after that we got ice cream!

And to end the day went and petted kitties at Twice Told Tales.

The End

R. Crumb

Hannah and I went to the Frye to see the R. Crumb's "Underground" exhibit. Before visiting the Frye on Thursday, I was oblivious to R. Crumb and his artwork. I was pleasantly surprised. His goofy, adult-themed comics are the stuff of which Mad magazine fans love... most of which are ten times more graphic. Many of his comics incorporate a self-portrait of sorts, alluding that most of their scenarios are somewhat autobiographical.

I loved the way he depicts stereotypes and intertwines a social commentary to his art. Seeing his drawings up close, seeing the faint marks of erased lead hiding underneath ink, brings you into his artistic process and gives you a look at what he might have been thinking when he first began to sketch a subject. Crumb's use of white-out was also very intriguing; the man uses white-out not only to correct (what he feels are) mistakes, but to highlight over ink as well.

My favorite piece of Crumb's at the Frye is the record cover for Big Brother & the Holding Company's "Cheap Thrills" and Crumb's sketch of Janis Joplin.

First Thursday #1

So I have to admit that I didn't get a chance to go out Thursday, which is rather lame, BUT I did see a play this Sunday at Book-It Repertory Theatre in the Center House Theatre. The production that I saw was Persuasion, which is a book written by Jane Austin that was adapted for the stage. I was so excited that I got a chance to see it because it was sold out when I arrived with my friend Kassie. We were put on the waiting list and ended up with really good seats which is always exciting. When I looked at the program I realized that there was three Cornish seniors that were in the show. It was so cool to unexpectedly see people from my school in a professional production.

Persuasion was the first play I had ever seen at Book-It, and Cider House Rules was the first play that I had seen in Book-It form. It was a little hard at first to follow along but soon I got use to the strange dialogue of the characters. It was really interesting to see the ease at which the actors gave the narrative parts of the play life and color. Having read the book version of Persuasion, I believe that the play was well adapted for the stage. It amused me greatly, and tugged at my heart strings in all the right places. My friend Kassie and I are huge romantics, so during the scene where Captain Wentworth professes his love to Anne we both audibly sighed at the same time! It was a highly enjoyable performance from all of the cast, including the three Cornish seniors Jamie Rush, Joseph Luckhurst, and Janessa Cummings.

It was also fun to take Kassie, an art major, to a play. She told me she hadn't been to one in a long time, and she told me she really enjoyed it. It was also very refreshing to see a production done well...it reminded me of what I want to strive for as an actor...what kind of quality I wish to reach in my craft.

By the way, I can't seem to upload any pictures, so I'll show you them later if it lets me post them. 

Romeo and Juliet

Seeing as Im a dance major, it is to be assumed that out of all the people in the class, I would attend the ballet....and I did. :) My experience of the ballet was alittle more raw than others whom may have attended the same show, because I saw the dress rehearsal instead of the real show. This was a great and new experience for me, because it was my first time sitting in on a professional companies rehearsal, and get to see what all goes into putting on a ballet. The dancers were in full costume and ran through the show from beginning to end, stopping every once in awhile to fix spacings that were wrong and re-due openings that werent quite on que. As a whole the show ran very smoothly and the dancers were well prepared to open the following night. Noelani Pantastico danced the role of Juliet while Lucien Postwaite played her Romeo. Both of them did a magnificent job filling the characters, although I found Romeo's role to be a bit too over dramamtic for my liking. His love didnt seem as authentic and real as Juliets. Te show also had a strong comedic sense to it as Jonathan Poretta tricked his oponents in duels and hit on every lady to walk to stage; a perfectly portrayed Mercutio who is the main comic relief of the play. The set was very interesting to me becuse it was much more bare than I expected. There was a ramp that could lower and rise for the dancers, in the back right corner of the stage, and a sort of half moon sphere on wheels that created the allusion of a wall, seperate room, or Juliets bed. I liked the simplicity of the set design because it allowed you to focus mainly on the dancing and kept the scene changes to a simple level. I enjoyed this ballet very much and would highly recommend it to people of all ages.