Taking Time

I was very interested in the aspect of time and training we raised in class today.  Sarah raised the issue that it is a very American idea to learn or want to learn something in a very short and quick amount of time, with gaugeable, tangible results. 

Where I can see the human desire to conquer something and master it, I think some of the professional standards used in educational training (especially theatre) are adverse to an actor's process.  The theatre, especially when commercial, moves very fast so actors are expected to learn it just as fast.  I think this general attitude trickles into the universities and training facilities where it disrupts the exchange of ideas...how possible of a task does it seem to change your way of life when you don't think you can or should?

I also feel that the markets of film and television have influenced the speed at which theatre moves.  A movie is hopefully wrapped in 6 weeks, and rehearsals for theatre last about the same.  When I spent a semester in England, I learned very quickly that they (Europeans in general)  take 2-4 times longer than we do with rehearsals, and I specifically remember being amazed at a rehearsal for Shakespeare that was notched for a 6 month rehearsal and 2 week run.

So why do Americans move so quickly?  The only answer that comes to mind is capitalism -but I'm sure it delves much deeper than that.  I am reminded of reading that was required in Theatre Games class called Zen in the Art of Archery.  In this book a man describes the process of learning archery.  To keep it short, the man spends over a year learning how to draw the bow.  No shooting, not even nocking an arrow, just drawing the bowstring.  His reactions to the task are predictably frustrating and belligerent, but when he recalls the work he says it gave him a higher spiritual bond with the bow.

To me it seems like he was building from the ground up.  If you take the time, and I mean really take the time to learn something and then move on to a new skill, you won't have to go back and waste time relearning or spending the rest of your life with a deficiency that could've been solved in the past.

In anticipation of Japan

This is early, but Bert e-mailed this link to the 207 TA's and, if I can get it to work, I thought everyone would enjoy seeing it. It's Shintoku-Maru.
https://commcenter.insightbb.com/attach/Shintoku-Maru.mov?sid=&mbox=INBOX&charset=escaped_unicode&uid=3356&number=2&filename=Shintoku-Maru.mov

Is Nigeria independent?

The biggest story on the Nigerian Tribune website today is about Shell (the oil company) and some potential job cuts that would adversely effect the Nigerian economy.  The other two major headlines concern unrest within the PDP (peoples democratic party).

Amidst reading the stories, I kept thinking to myself how strange it was that the major news in the country concerns a foreign oil power, and a foreign governing system in crisis, and the question I asked myself was "Is Nigeria really decolonized?"  Just because it says on paper Nigeria is a free country, does it really mean that they are?

To me the bomb we dropped on Hiroshima is comparable with the bomb of politics the British dropped on Nigeria.  It is very clear to me now that in leaving Nigeria, the English never really left.  They ensured to set up a monetary system that would keep flowing after the exit of the militia...and I'm not so sure that the powers that be didn't postulate that a euro-centric government would fail - or at east keep Nigeria a 3rd world country (so prices stay cheap).

I'm not really sure that I'm trying to make some deep connection here, really I just wanted to see what other people thought.  The older I get the more I see that history will inevitably repeat itself.  The names and places change, but I fear now that Iraq will soon be 'America's Nigeria.'...maybe already is.  And then what's next? Cuba?  Haiti?  Iran?

My Nigeria Experience

Being able to participate in the group that presented on Nigeria was great. I learned so much about the country and Dr. Babatunde Oyinade who was my interviewee. The way they live is so different from the way I live. I knew this, but until I actually did some research and spoke with him about his life in Nigeria, reality finally hit. The way they abide by their customs and rituals is amazing. I enjoyed learning about how they get their names. He was apart of the Yoruba culture so they don't name their children until the 8th day. The family will come together and name this baby on the eighth day. The name is earned by what circumstances surround the baby at the time of birth. Dr. Oyinade earned his name "Babatunde," because his grandfather had just past and they believed the old man came back through his birth. I thought that was so amazing because their could be a million Babatundes' in that country. He also said if a child is born into a family that is wealthy, the child's name will be Ola (abundance of wealth), if their are warriors in the house, Akin will precede the child's name. Finally in another part of the country, if you worship the God of Ian, your name will be Ogun. This custom has been followed since the beginning of time and this tribe still follows this even if they are abroad or not.

The way they cook their food is even different. They use their resources to their advantage. They have to do this because they usually don't have the money to afford to get meat (only for special occasions) so most of them are vegetarians. It was fun trying to experience how they cook, but it'll never be the same as the way they use plants, fruits, and vegetables to produce the way they eat.

Just learning about all of this, made me appreciate my culture and theirs too even more. I feel like I'm so quick to look down on other cultures or say that's crazy the way they live, but it's not. It's their way of life and it's what makes them unique. I think performing Dr. Oyinade, was in some way me attempting to bridge the gap between my culture and his. It was GREAT! Thanks Dr. Oyinade for contributing to my experience.

inspiration from others

As we’ve been considering how to understand or perhaps process other cultures I was reminded of artists that I have come across that have worked on doing this in their own ways.

I started listening to the group Pink Martini and have been fascinated by their albums that have trotted around the globe tackling various cultural songs and languages and putting them all together on one album.

http://www.pinkmartini.com/about/pm_about.html
“Pink Martini is like a romantic Hollywood musical of the 1940s or 50s – but with a global perspective which is modern,” says founder and artistic director Thomas M. Lauderdale. “We bring melodies and rhythms from different parts of the world together to create something which is new and beautiful.”

Another artist I started listening to was Idan Raichel, a musician from Israel who dives into other cultures in his music, specifically Ethiopian.

http://www.idanraichelproject.com/en/index.php
“The Idan Raichel Project burst onto the Israeli music scene in 2002, changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering a message of love and tolerance that resonated strongly in a region of the world where the headlines are too often dominated by conflict. With an enchanting blend of Ethiopian and Middle Eastern flavors coupled with sophisticated production techniques and a spectacular live show, the Idan Raichel Project has become one of the most unexpected success stories in Israeli music today”

One of my favorite artists is a visual artist named Makoto Fujimura. “After 20 years as a successful artist in Japan and the U.S., Fujimura has become a voice of bi-cultural authority on the nature and cultural assessment of beauty, by both creating it and exploring its forms. His paintings address the creative process and explore what it means to see. The work moves the observer from cognitive categorization to visceral experience”
http://www.makotofujimura.com/

The work that he does melds two cultural views with a sense of depth and beauty that moves me deeply.

In listening to and looking at these artists and others it gives me a sense of hope that there can be beautiful things made from cultures sharing. As I have interacted with international students and lived with people from other countries I have realized that we can often see the world in very different ways – but that there is so much that I can learn from those who see the world in other ways.

Last year one of my students in 207 was from Saudi Arabia and I have been so blessed by our friendship that has emerged from last semester. We come from different sides of the world and yet there are so many basic things we can connect on and in and enjoy the ways in which we can learn from one another. The exciting concept of being an artist is to think how we can enrich our lives by studying not only the people around us but those who live very far from us as well. And in learning from others learn to appreciate the things that are good and wonderful about our own cultural environments as well. And in the sharing of experiences we can create new ways of seeing the world