Final Paper

Final Exam: Self-Assessment Paper

Dear Banjar,

This semester has truly been a positive irreplaceable experience that I never would have undergone if not for William & Mary’s liberal arts education structure. My journey in this class began when I decided taking a dance class would be the easiest, most interesting way to fulfill my creative or performing arts credit. Also, I know I’ve mentioned a couple times that when in Tanzania I was taught some Maasai dancing by some locals; although reluctant at first, I really like learning new forms of dancing, and I sought to replicate this initial experience. The first day of the class, however, completely changed my expectations. I had no idea we were going to be performing a scene from The Ramayana or that oral communication and building a community was so important to the foundations of the class. This made for an unexpected pleasant surprise.
I’ve always been extremely self-conscious about my ability to dance. Even when in a casual dancing situation I’ve never felt comfortable moving in front of other people. The journey of ICAPS was not only about using my body as a mode of expression, but as a means of gaining self-confidence. The setup of the banjar with its emphasis on community building has made it a really secure environment for trying new things. I never felt ashamed having to align myself behind someone who could dance, and I’d like to thank everyone in the banjar that put up with that. Throughout the semester, it became apparent that our dancing was not just for the purpose of performing a set of memorized movements for others’ enjoyment, but was really about the inner enjoyment one gains from using one’s body as a mode of expression. I’ve grown in my ability to think creatively and compose my own movements as an art form. The best example of this came when we passed around the ball of energy and had to compose a scene that represented Sita’s inner energy. My expanding mind was able to take movements from the schema that I had developed from our lessons in Bharatanatyam and develop my own interpretation of Sita’s inner power. We did similar things on several occasions including the epic monkey battle day and the pauper, servant, noblemen day; I liked those days the best.
The composition of our final scene was, most decidedly, a lesson in compromise and teamwork. We had to work together to pick a scene that was both entertaining and dynamic for our audience while at the same time playing upon the talents of people in our group. I felt we really needed to have a scene in it with Ravana, because Ellie did such a great job getting into the mind of Ravana with her movements and facial expressions. We also had Kalyani’s directive genius to help us with choreographing our scene. I felt that she successfully integrated our acting with the Bharatanatyam dancing. For example, in the final minutes of our scene we used the taka dimi steps to allow the beggars to move around Sita’s protective circle. Another case of successful integration and creativity was our work to make the sounds of our scene fit in with the mood and tempo of the movements. For me, the day where we worked out all the sounds in our scene was one of the most productive. I had the hardest time understanding the placement of the sound “gong” in the beat keeping of the chants, and it took us forever to get the sounds correct.
There were times this semester where I was really frustrated with the happenings of the class. In the final weeks of the semester, we were working extremely hard to put the final touches on our final scene. I felt a true sense of loss and disappointment when many members of our group were absent multiple times. Sometimes, I felt like people weren’t as driven or enthusiastic about our scene, but not only did it hurt that individual, but it hurt the entire group. It was really frustrating trying to plan a scene when not all the characters were there and catch people up on the things that they had missed. I was also a bit aggravated when the non-international dance showcase banjar did not produce their scene for our final performance at Berkley Middle School. I know time constraints played a large role in their decision not to perform that scene, but I feel like half our class was robbed of the opportunity to perform a scene of their creation. I would have liked to have presented a longer presentation to the middle school kids, so they could have gotten a larger taste of the Chuck Chuck circle and the story of The Ramayana.
I’m really proud of our performances this semester. I approached each performance as an opportunity to not only showcase our banjar’s talent, but as a way to have fun. Particularly at the International Dance Showcase, I felt nervous and unprepared. Once we got on stage, however, it all flowed, and I was able to move with grace and poise. I felt our performance at Berkley Middle School was even better than our first performance. Our International Dance Showcase banjar did a great job of quickly integrating the other banjar into our scene quickly and effectively. I felt that the middle kids were really enthusiastic and open the banjar lessons that we had to teach them. We displayed a real sense of group cohesion at that last performance, and the artwork we created was truly magnificent.
From taking this class, I feel that I’ve really grown in my ability to understand how the interconnected movements of my body are an art form. Sound, the angles and one’s appendages, and rhythm of movement are all important in making each performance a unique piece of art. My self-confidence and self-consciousness of dancing have improved, making me more likely to pursue future opportunities in performances. Without the lessons we learned in our banjar, I never would have had the courage or the skills to play the harem leader in one of our classes or volunteer to play one of the beggars in our final scene’s performance. Taking these roles were huge steps for me, and I’m really glad this class gave me the opportunity to pursue them. I’ve learned of the difficulty of choreographing; interconnecting the right movements with the right sounds takes time, creativity, and practice. Once you have accomplished this, which I think I have, you can say that you’ve developed your own unique sense of style in dance.
In conclusion, I’d like to thank the banjar for giving me a non-judgmental body to learn and experiment. I’ve never had a class where all the students were so friendly and receptive inside and outside the classroom, and I’m so happy that we were all able to learn something in our engaging shared experience. You all have given me the ability to appreciate the smallest of movements as thought-provoking, and I will truly miss our time together. This experience can never be repeated and I appreciate that.

Peace and Love,

Amanda

Absences

-9/24/08: Severe back pain and a trip to the doctor’s office to get a muscle relaxer
-10/8/08: Left Early for Fall Break
-11/17/08: Took my cousin, a prospective W&M student, back to the airport.

11/27/08

Our final performance went a lot better than I thought it was going to. Getting ready Monday afternoon, I felt like our banjar was so confused and disorganized. Although our group had done a really great job at the International Dance Showcase, I had no idea how we were going to incorporate the entire group into our one petty scene. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed that the other group couldn't get their scene together ontime, but we all have each other's backs. I think if only the semester was a couple weeks longer we would have been able to put the final polishing steps on our final performance. The students at Berkley Middle School seemed to get really into our performance. Many of the boys were chanting along with us, and seemed generally interested in the storyline of our scene. My favorite part of the day was having a chant off between the different sections of students. My group had the Chuke, Chuke Chuke Chuke Sec Chuke, and our kids were by far the loudest and most enthusiastic. My personal performance was pretty decent as well. Although I messed up a couple of the Taka Timi's, I felt like the group rhythmn was a lot better than it was at the first group performance. I can't wait to write my final paper. :)

11/12/08

I can't believe we're having our last class before our big performance at the Kimball. Tomorrow we'll be perfecting our scene, practicing our chants, and gaining a last confidence boost from the members of our banjar. I'm feeling a bit under-prepared, but I have to trust the other members of the banjar to grasp all that we have learned in the past several weeks and concentrate our energy on a successful performance. I watched the video from YouTube that Kalyani sent to us, and I now have a greater appreciation for the talent of the Bharatanatyum dancers. Their ability to keep beat, while still portraying a story with their bodies is incredible. I can't wait to see more of their performances during the International Dance showcase.

11/03/08

I haven’t really written in awhile. It’s not from lack of material to write about, sadly, it’s because I’ve been super busy doing Sharpe and Sorority things. We’ve had a big development since I’ve last written. Our banjar is scheduled to perform at the Kimball at the international dance show next Friday. That’s coming up really soon. At first I was really hesitant to do it because I don’t like dancing in front of a large group of people, especially at a performance where people have to pay, but the banjar and Francis have reassured me that all is well and that there is nothing to be ashamed. We’ve also set up our final performance at Berkley Middle School, which should be really cool. I feel like the middle schoolers will be really receptive to learning the dance moves, and maybe one day one of them will be inspired to take ICAPS at William and Mary. We’ve started developing our scene for our performance last week. It was really difficult to get the blocking and the chanting down (particularly the transitions), but today we got most of that taken care of. Here’s a breakdown of the scene: Ravana asks his uncle to turn into a golden deer to lure Sita into his clutches. Sita chases the deer, and eventually sends Rama out to find it. Rama chases the deer and kills it, and it makes a scream and Sita hears it. She’s worried about Rama so she sends Lakshamana out to look for Rama. Lakshamana draws a protective circle around Sita and goes to look for Rama. In the meantime, Ravana comes to Sita dressed as a beggar and lures her out of the circle. He scoops her up and takes her away to Lanka. My role consists of being a tree for the deer to run around, making the sounds in the circle, and being one of the beggars that tries to lure Sita out of her protective circle.

9/27/08

Monday's class was absolutely amazing. I think it has to be my favorite class that I've ever had at W&M actually. It started off wonderful because we all got to dance outside on a warm sunny afternoon. There's nothing like dancing a sacred dance where it was intended to be danced. I felt surprisingly confident dancing, and felt that I was really starting to understand/remember the dance moves. What was particularly great about Monday was that we talked together in our large circle about "the fish we wanted to bring to the circle" and are really starting to develop a community. None of us are afraid to share what is really bothering us, and everyone has an equal and relevant thing to say in our discussion. To add the cherry on top of this super amazing class, we had this amazing chant off between the different parts of the circle. It was like Step Up chanting style. I feel like when we do stuff like that, show insane amounts of enthusiasm, we really start to understand what this class is about. Our chanting will only get better from here. Sadly, I was not able to go to class on Wednesday because I tore a muscle in my lower back. It was odd after Geology not to prance off to dance, and it actually sort of threw off my day. I missed the dancing and the extra energy I get from going to that class on Wednesday, and it only makes me anticipate great things from our next class on Monday. :)

9/18/08

Yesterday's class was so much fun!!!


We began with more Indian dance lessons with two expert gurus Kaliani and a guest teacher. We learned two new dance steps and 3 new hand motions. Each step is getting progressively more difficult. I never considered myself someone who had a lot of rhythm. I always had to practice quite a lot to get the show choir dance moves perfect, and learning the Masaai dance in Africa was incredibly difficult. Bharatanatyam dancing yesterday definitely reaffirmed this conclusion. I know that I am going to have to practice really hard to get the switches and stomping rhythms down correctly. We did this really fun exercise with plastic cups too, to practice keeping our upper body's posture correct while we did our lower body. I think I did pretty well. I only lost the cup 4 times. I definitely think that my posture is improving with this class. We're also beginning to learn the chanting for our end of the semester performance. Learning a chant in a different language is quite difficult, and I definitely have more respect now for all my friends who are in drama or vocalists and have to learn hundreds of lines in different languages. I'm not sure what "Seer Tit Poon Tit," but I definitely plan on asking Guru Francis what it means.

9/11/08

We watched the school's production of the Ramayana yesterday during class. The dancing and costumes were absolutely amazing. You could really tell that these students put a lot of work into their performance. It seemed that the rest of the class really enjoyed the play as well. I was confused, however, by the storyline. It's probably because I haven't read the entire book, but I think it would have been easier to understand if I had know what was going on. What baffles me is how the audience understand the production without having read the story. I'm not sure if the audience had a narration going or a booklet with a summary of the scenes written out for them, but some of the costumes made it a little difficult to tell what kinds of animals they were and who each character was in the story. The use of multiple languages I think also played well to the fact that The Ramayana is such a classic/culture-wide phenomenon. I thought the actors that played Rama, Sita, and Ravana were absolutely exceptional, and I only wish that I had been there if person to watch it. I definitely give props to Francis for all his hard work directing and writing the screenplay. I'm sure it was almost impossible to pick which scenes to cut or shorten from such a long epic.