Fireside Chat

My performance for the fireside chat was both a visual experience for the spectators and one that was interactive.  I wanted to give the audience the feeling that they were watching and experiencing the exercises with me. For this reason, I did not just stand up and explain them.  Instead I performed some of them whist an explanation of the reasons behind them were being played with the music.  This blend of performance art showed what I very passionately believe to be true: that the connection of body, mind, and spirit is so strong that releasing physical tension can help improve aspects of emotional and spiritual well being.  As we discussed in class, what we believe can have a heavy influence on the art that we produce.  Believing in the physical work that performers do has made me more aware of the complicated nature of human behavior, helping me to understand how to mold my craft into a realistic acting performance that audiences can connect with and relate to.  This belief absolutely affects the art that I create because I attempt to convey the same feelings that one may experience through emotions that can be captured in the creative process.  In my fireside chat performance, I felt nervous, but was able to get more relaxed as Marcelle helped me work out some of my tension during my monologue. It requires a great deal of being in tune with the spirit in order to connect with others when doing this performance work, and this connection with the spirit helps mold the art and the artist as he or she tries to convey messages to the audience.  I felt this in my performance as I really tried to become vulnerable during my monologue.  Most of the time an artist has to become vulnerable in some way in order to really create art that expresses themselves.  Some become vulnerable by telling a lyrical story about something personal.  Some become vulnerable by painting something that may look dark or disturbing to others but that shows a part of their past.  As actors, we show our vulnerability through our bodies, our voices, and our very countenances.  The audience could see through my vocal and body work in the performance, such as "breathing machine" that aspects of my posture and vocal quality was changing, and the media was being played expressed the relaxation sensation that I wanted to create.

Concerned Citizen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o5727bW7ts&feature=youtu.be

We wanted to present a concerned citizen that was making an effort to reach out to the community by serving the individuals that need assistance locally.  Megan is a mentor that spends time with special needs kids in order to help them have more opportunities in their community and to learn to better develop social skills.  She takes them hiking, to soccer games, movies, and other activities to help them discover new interests and hobbies.  It was touching to us that Megan takes time out of her schedule to mentor these kids, especially Nick, whom she talks about in the video.  Her attitude of changing the community in this simple way reminds one of what Goldbard states in Human Rights and Culture: From Datastan to Storyland.  It is discussed in this article that anyone who wants to be influential in a certain issue or problem must engaged with the feelings of others about this certain subject.  As we engaged with Megan, we felt that our perspective was changed on the way in which she interacts with kids such as Nick that she works with.  We feel that the things that she expressed in the interview can open the eyes of the viewers in the community to the opportunities available to them right in Provo.  They discover here that they can be a friend to kids with special needs and, like Megan, connect with these kids that they otherwise would not have a chance to interact with. It appealed to us personally because of the moving influence that she’s had with these kids.  She and others like her encourage and inspire us to get outside of ourselves, get into the community, and be a loving representative of Christ by doing as he would.