Dance Afrika

In the Chicago Tribute there was an article of dance Afrika. Dance Afrika came to Chicago last weekend and performed Friday and Saturday. In the article the Williams, who started Dance Afrika in the early 1990's talked about the form of stepping. He explained how stepping has been around for a long time. It started in colleges when blacks decided to make their won fraternities and sororities. It starts as back as the 1950's. Was kind of whatever. People didn't really get into the stepping until movies came out showcasing this art form. But it had already been around. The author in the article wanted was the readers to understand stepping didn't come out of no where but is deeply rooted in the African heritage and culture. Comparing how steeping is looked at in a new way than before. Now stepping is a mainstream thing when before it was just for fraternities and sororities performing this sometimes complicated foot movement. I also think the author wanted us the reader to understand that stepping like any other dance form has history and was performed by others before, and later the movement was borrowed ad changed and was given a new meaning and name.

jim

jim hall a musician who in his years has played with many artists in his time. He is old and decrepit but still doing it what he loves. The author of the story makes a comparison between pat methane and Jim not so nice but as to give the reader a since of how good he is. In the story the author seems to have a sort of soft spot for Jim explaining how Jim spent most of his time fidgeting in the positions of his chair because he had just gotten back surgery. Throughout the article the author seems to have a soft spot for jim because of his age and gives him praise for doing so. Also the author stress on the music even though I did not start out on top it ended up great

Ashes of American Flags

I ended up finding a review on one of my favorite Bands (Wilco). The review is for their Documentary Ashes of American Flags, where numerous shows were recorded in Washington D.C, New Orleans and Nashville. The reviewer admits that he never thought much of Wilco, but once he saw the documentary his whole perception changed on the band. He says,” The consistently solid performances, which feel easygoing no matter how high the energy level, are all shot through with a wild improvisational streak that runs way hotter onstage than in the studio. In concert the songs become sprawling, massive things—the six main members are frequently assisted by a horn section—and wander far from their familiar arrangements.” I notice that throughout the review his usage of words are so creative the way they are combined and used in every sentence when he talks about the band and his thoughts on them. In all honesty I think it is awesome how he describes the documentary, because it is not in your normal manner. Here are some more thoughts by the reviewer,” The movie doesn't seem to be trying to enshrine Wilco, but rather to portray them as modest rock heroes, unburdened by mythology. The bulk of the footage shows the band onstage, and the DV camera work is appropriately unfussy: Green and Canty don't rely on quick cuts, swooping crane shots, or dramatic pans across an ecstatic crowd, and as it turns out Wilco doesn't need that kind of flash. The film can linger for a remarkably long time on Cline taking an insane solo, because even if all he's doing is playing he's such a physical performer that all by himself he's completely transfixing.” If I were to describe how this reviewer wrote this, I would have to say he had to go in it with an open mind, because he admits at the beginning he never thought much of Wilco and also his usage of words to describe the band are so out there and strong with vibrant feeling and emotion in them. Towards the end he compares this film to another documentary Wilco has done in past, “Everybody in the current incarnation seems to be getting along—unlike in the 2002 Wilco doc I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, which was captivating like a train wreck,” Just in those few words you can see how different reviews are for artistic things and it truly is amazing how words can be combined like that to form your thoughts in such a strong manner.

"American Idiot" The MUSICAL!!!!!

Ok so I hope I am doing this response correctly....here we go!

I read a bunch of articles in the arts section of the L.A. Times and out of everything I saw, there was one article that really caught my attention and actually made me quite happy. I read that coming to Broadway this winter is a musical called "American Idiot." Which is going to be based of of the works of the band Green Day. My initial reaction was "OMG they are making a Green Day musical!?" I really used to like Green Day a lot. They actually were one of my first favorite bands. However in my opinion when they came out with "American Idiot", they for me became a sell out band. The article talks about the plans for the new musical. They compared it to the musical "Spring Awakening" and told how some of the same producers that produced "Spring Awakening" are gonna to be producing "American Idiot." Needless to say, it sounds like it has potential to be an absolutley amazing Broadway musical.

This article appeals to readers such as me who are very much interested in the art of musical theater. In this article the only camparison that I see is that they compare this musical to "Spring Awakening." Actually they have a picture posted of their set and when I saw it, I immediatly thought of "Spring Awakening." So to answer the question, I think that this compares to older work because "Spring Awakening" was an older musical. It seems to have that same look and feel to it. It was great to be able to see and hear about this new up and coming show. It looks to be a great piece of musical theater.

I hope that this is what you were looking for in this post. I think that musical theater is a huge part of my life when it comes to art. It is the art that makes me the most happy.

Art Review Review

Here are some newspapers and links to their Art sections. I want you to find a review of a gallery or piece of art in one of these papers. Then I would like for you to analyze the article looking once for clues to voice and audience. I would also like for you to look at methods the author uses in analyzing the work. Do they compare the work with older work by the artist or work by his or her peers? How much detail do they give of the work, of the venue? What kind of research did they need to do? 250 words.

NY Times
Chicago Tribune
Seattle Times
Slate.com
Times Online

Trip to the Art Insititue

What will help me in writing this essay is taking an actually trip to the museum and viewing the art. When I'm there up close and personal I can get better detail. Being able to see it personally is better than viewing from the Internet. It's something about seeing for yourself. I think seeing personally i can really get alot of detail and feel connected to the painting. I also get a brief description of the painting. Viewing it personally I can look at it from different angles and analyze it. I look at from far and near. I can point out small details that aren't obvious unless you look close or look at for several minutes. Going to the museum with this in mind really helped me analyze the painting with good notes and being able to write about what I observed.

my source from the library website.

I found an article that gives me some info on the artist that painted american gothic. I found this article from the columbia library website. If you go online to the website. On the top row of all the links. on the right should be in the library link. if you click on it they have a search engine on all of the libraries articles. But you have to have your oasis id and pasword. I found a couple of articles on the artist Grant Wood. The articles are mostly about the authors life and I feel like its going to bring some light into writing this essay. I feel like if i get to know the author better maybe I might be able to figure out why he painted that picture. why his style is so unique from other artists. to me it just makes sense. I i have been finding out different sorts of facts about this painting like the the farmer in and the lady are actually father and daughter. I think it's amazing to find that out. I thought they were husband and wife. so by being able to research i found out some interesting facts about the painting.

Picasso vs. The Performing Arts

In my essay, I am comparing the works of Pablo Picasso, whose work I saw in the Art Institute to the art that I am most passionate about, theater. When I was at the Art Institute I saw many pieces of work by Picasso. The one which caught my attention the most was called dancer. I have looked throughout the internet and I have not been able to find anything that relates to that piece of work. So then I thought that I would keep looking and I was actually able to find some information that was able to help me in showing Picasso's passion for the arts. I was able to find out some of the things that were inspirations on his work and what he was possibly thinking about when he was creating the pieces of art. I think that I will probably use what I found there to help me in writing my paper. I also plan on comparing the performing arts to work that could have been done by Picasso. There are many websites out there that can help me into finding out possibly some more about this man and see what his possible inspirations could have been. I will then be able to tie the information that I already have into what I will find and hopefully produce a great essay!

Research! Blog Post #8

For this post I want you to find one resource that you believe will help you in writing essay #3. Then write at least 250 words on what it is and how it will help. Be specific!