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Julio Torres, Intern

Paul Woodruff is a professor of philosophy and classics at the University of Texas at Austin.  In his latest book,  The Necessity of Theater, Woodruff articulates why we created theater, why we practice it, and above all, why we need it. Throughout book, poignant examples of our day to day need for watching and being watched are weaved in with cornerstones of our traditional definition of theater—football is compared to Hamlet, family weddings with Waiting for Godot.  In the following excerpt, Woodruff picks apart the role of spatial definition in both traditional and day to day theater.

Why does theater need a measured space? In order to practice the art of theater successfully, some people must be watching the actions of others. Whether your job tonight is to watch or be watched, you need to know which job is yours; the watcher-watched distinction is essential to theater. We shall see that even this can break down at the end of a theater piece, with marvelous consequences. But one of those consequences is that the event is no longer theatrical. When no one is watching, it’s not theater; it has grown into something else. Marking off space in theater is a device for meeting the need to distinguish the watcher from the watched. In most traditions there is a circle or a stage or sanctuary or a playing field.

Plot measures time better than a clock does, but what could measure space? This is a hard question, because theater space seems to be much more elastic than theater time, and nothing serves the function of plot to give space a structure that is comparable to the beginning, middle and end of the time in theater.

Back to the green lawn in front of the tower, the lying plastic disks, and the leaping, twirling young men. Suppose that, after our meeting concludes, we return past the same green and see the students still playing. Our meeting ended early, and we have time to watch again. The throes are longer now: one student leaps the hedge to catch a long throw; his friend dashes down the steps to retrieve another. In the pause for retrieval, the third player recognizes one of us, and, as a challenge, throws her an extra disk that had been kept in reserve on top of his backpack. Wordlessly, one of us moves into the green and we commence to play, a separate game, fully clothed and far less skillful. But on the same ground. The student players shift slightly to make room for us.

The student game never had boundaries, although perhaps the green looked as if it gave the players a spatial boundary. But no. They violated nothing when they leaped over the hedge and we violated nothing when we stepped through a gap in the hedge and began our own game.

But imagine the outcry if the nest football game between Texas and Oklahoma went the same way. In this stadium, there is a line drawn on the grass, and it marks the space for the game. If a player crosses the line, he must pay a price for that. The game will stop if he does not stay sitting in the front row at this game, grow bored with the poor quality of play, we might decide to start our own game of catch on the same field during the game. But to do so would be to risk being disarmed by the crowd. We would be straying into sacred space. Certainly, this space is sacred to this crowd of football fans. (I almost said “worshipers, but football mania is not worship. It merely resembles worship.) And for an audience member who intrudes on that space the price is much higher than for a player to stray outside it.

“Sacred” is a word we have almost l

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The Junior Jazz Festival continues this weekend with loads of kid-friendly, interactive jazz performances! Read on for more details from Francis Coates, Music Coordinator at Please Touch Museum.

Pinky: Who is performing this weekend and what's their background?
Francis: This weekend's performer is no stranger to Please Touch Museum. Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble has been entertaining and educating the children of Philadelphia on Jazz for many years now. Warren Oree, the band leader, is a very accomplished musician. The group performs all over the country and all over the world. You can hear the influence of the different cultures and regions they have visited in the music they perform.

Pinky: How is the band adapting their music so it is kid-friendly and fun for the whole family?
Francis: The wonderful thing about Arpeggio is that they don't perform jazz standards. Most of the music performed is original music and is very positive and uplifting. A few featured selections from Arpeggio's Man Bites Dog album are "Joy Song" and "Better Than B-4," which are all super positive and kid-friendly, making them highly enjoyable for the entire family.

Pinky: How will kids be able to engage in the performances?
Francis: It all starts with movement. One of the things we all like to do when we hear good music whether it is Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, or Country is to clap our hands, tap our feet, or just get up and dance! Children and parents are encouraged to enjoy themselves during the performance by dancing in their seat, or in the designated dance areas in the theater. Music is for everyone to enjoy and Jazz is no exception. Also, Arpeggio really likes picking volunteers from the audience to come on stage and play different instruments so be prepared to have a short solo.

Pinky: How fun! I'd love to jam with Arpeggio! So how else are the performances interactive and educational?
Francis: Arpeggio does a great job of explaining basic concepts of jazz during the performance in ways that both children and adults can understand and retain. One of the ways Arpeggio starts their performances is by creating a new song right on stage. The audience is included in this process by either

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As you know, the 18th Annual Junior Jazz Festival is in full swing here at Please Touch Museum!

Now through February 26, kids will also learn a bit of jazz history by taking in a Please Touch Playhouse performance of "Scat Cat's Junior Jazz Jamboree." Performances are Mondays- Fridays at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in the Playhouse and are FREE with museum admission. I sat down with Alice Gonglewski, Creative Dramatics Manager at Please Touch, who told me all about this hip interactive show.

Pinky: What's this show about, Alice?
Alice: Scat Cat's Junior Jazz Jamboree is about an ordinary alley cat who meets a new friend, a roach named Max. Max Roach is a drummer and he teaches the cat all about a special kind of music: Jazz!

Pinky: How does this show tie into our Junior Jazz Festival and programming?
Alice: The Junior Jazz Festival strives to celebrate this expressive musical form by making it accessible to young children. Jazz nurtures experimentation and creativity, which is what learning through play is all about! The Scat Cat show explains in simple terms what Jazz is and where it came from. It also introduces children to many famous Jazz personalities in a kid-friendly way. For example, the Jazz club scene features Bunny Goodman and Piggy Lee among others. Several programs throughout the museum from Storyyimes to Art Activities to Music Playtimes will explore Jazz from a variety of angles and allow for a rich and multifaceted experience for children.

Pinky: What themes or 'lessons' can children (and adults, too!) take away from this performance?
Alice: We hope our visitors will experience delight in and pride for the unique American invention that is Jazz music. The show plants the seeds for recognition of some historical figures that helped make Jazz great, and it lets kids and families know that this music belongs to them-- everyone is welcome to play along!

Pinky: After kids see the show, how can they create a music-related “show” at home with/for their family?
Alice: The interactive segments in the show encourage kids to sing and play through call and response segments, scat singing, and instrument pantomime.

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Tomorrow, Saturday, January 9 at Noon, Please Touch Museum will unveil its newest feature. . . .

We are over the moon about the opening of this very special, intimate programming space located in the museum's Kids Store. You can expect to see a variety of programming happening there seven days a week: story times, story telling, puppet pals, and special visits from our favorite storybook characters!

The Story Castle will provide kids with a smaller and quieter space to enjoy PTM’s interactive, dramatic, and storytime programming. While it is easily accessible from the gallery floor, it is tucked away in our Kids Store so that you and your child can enjoy a story and other programming in a calm, relaxed atmosphere.

Literacy skills are an important educational benchmark in young children, and the Story Castle will offer kids a chance to participate in PTM’s interactive literacy programming in an environment conducive to enhanced focus and concentration. It is never too early to read with your child and introduce them to books and reading, and engaging activities help to create the cognitive foundation that is necessary for a lifetime of learning.

I hope you can join me tomorrow at Noon for the grand opening celebration, which will feature storytimes every hour on the hour, plus special appearances by Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts, along with your favorite PTM puppet pals!

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I’m always interested in how illustration can be moved off the page and into multimedia, and this group is doing just that. French illustrator Reuno (Renaud Forestie) is a member of the UK-based self-described folktronica and Illustrated Indie Folk band Uniform Motion Pictures. He illustrates live while the musicians play – kind of a contemporary take on the chalktalks of yore.

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Posted by Jaleen Grove on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Illustration, Music, performance, reuno, uniform motion

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Gerald Klickstein is Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a renowned classical guitarist. His book, The Musician’s Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance, and Wellness, is a roadmap to artistic excellence which provides an inclusive system for all instrumentalists and vocalists to advance their musical abilities and succeed as performing artists.

When I play, I make love – it is the same thing.
-Arthur Rubinstein, pianist

If you’ve read much about performing, then you’ve probably run into the terms “peak performance,” “flow,” and “being in the zone.” Those synonymous labels refer to a zone of optimal functioning, an ideal inner state in which a performer achieves maximum fluency with minimum effort. When you’re having a peak experience with your music, your creativity seems boundless, and, technically speaking, you feel as though you can’t miss.

Discussions of peak performance now appear widely, and all of the talk has spawned a problematic myth. The premise of the myth is that all high-level performances are peak performances and that, therefore, unless a musician attains a peak inner state on stage, the performance falls short. Nothing could be further from reality.

Musicians deliver inspired performances when they’re in all sorts of inner states. Sometimes things flow easily, sometimes they don’t, and a performer works harder to execute with artistry and precision. Being in the zone is pleasant, but it’s beside the point. Art is the point, emotion-laden, penetrating art, irrespective of whether the musician is in the zone.

To put it another way, when you perform, the music and the audience are what count. Whether you’re cruising effortlessly or working through every phrase isn’t relevant to the music’s impact or the audience’s experience. An analogous example would be the athlete who scores a winning goal. The team is victorious, and no one cares whether the scorer was in the zone or whether she wrestled with a throbbing headache and a loosely tied shoe. Correspondingly, when an audience is transported by beautifully presented music, it’s unimportant whether the musician performed with ease or had to content with distracting thoughts and a stubborn itch. Of course, every performer wants to be as free as possible on stage. But if you can’t perform well unless you’re in a peak state, then you can’t function as a professional musician.

To reach professional standards in your music making, you have to be able to prepare such that you don’t require ideal circumstances to play or sing expertly. You need the flexibility to adapt to varied internal and external situations and then perform without a fuss. The musicians who lack preparatory skills fall apart when things aren’t just so. After going bust on stage, they often claim that in an earlier practice session they were in the zone and performed flawlessly. Actually, their fragile learning creates only an illusion of control. Because of their belief in the peak-performance myth, however, rather than improving their preparation skills, such musicians look for extraneous ways to induce a zone-like sate in which their flimsy foundations might somehow hold up.

To counter the peak-performance myth, I propose the thorough-preparation principle: When you prepare thoroughly, you don’t need to be in the zone to excel in performance, yet your security provides you with the most direct route into the zone (not that being in the zone matters). For example, if you’re a thoroughly prepared string player performing in a cold church and your fingers feels tiff, you don’t despair. You breathe and lead yourself through the music. Your fingers may by icy, but your spirit catches fire, and the music soars. Were you in the zone? Nobody cares, including you.

The peak-performance myth infects countless budding artists with a self-defeating attitude toward public performance. First, musicians may wrongly believe that getting into the zone is essential to performing. Second, instead of celebrating concerts as unique events, they rate them as peak or not peak, and by default, as either acceptable or unacceptable. It’s perfectionism by another name.

To make the most of a performance, the key is to be open to your experience and to discover new things in both the music and yourself. Author Jack Kornfield wrote, “This capacity to be open to the new in each moment without seeking a false sense of security is the true source of strength and freedom in life.” It’s also the true source of artistry on stage.

That brings me back to the quotation that begins this section. For Arthur Rubinstein, performing and lovemaking were of the same stuff. What did he mean by that? For one thing, I think he was conveying the sense of immersion that an artistic performer enjoys on stage. That is, when you hold someone closely, you don’t judge; you hug and let your emotions take over. As you perform, adopt an equally accepting attitude. Prepare thoroughly, and then embrace the music, audience, and performance situation, whatever they bring. Your listeners will thank you for it.

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Interaction and exploration are central to Please Touch Museum's mission of creating learning opportunities through play. Today, I spoke to Alice Gonglewski, Creative Dramatics Manager at Please Touch, about our Creative Dramatics playtimes, which run every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m. throughout September.

Pinky: What are Creative Dramatics playtimes?
Alice: These fun playtimes create an opportunity for kids and their grown-ups to participate in facilitated dramatic and imaginary play activities. The playtimes are designed to offer special in-depth dramatic explorations of a topic or subject. The interactions are always adjusted to complement the child's interest in and reaction to the props and games.

Pinky: What can kids (and adults!) learn during the programming?
Alice: That you don't have to be a trained actor to enjoy drama! The same way that anyone can benefit from making art, anyone can benefit from drama games and exploration. Everyone is invited to participate in playtimes for as long (or short) a time as they wish! The activities incorporate many different elements of drama such as movement, pretending, improvisation, role playing, sensory exploration, and emotional awareness. We use props, costumes, books, stories, and pictures to explore the subjects or themes of the playtime. We pretend to do or be different things using our bodies and imaginations.

Pinky: That sounds like loads of fun! After taking part in a Creative Dramatics playtime, what can parents take home and do with their kids outside of the museum?
Alice: Encourage movement and pretending with your child! Young children love to "be" animals, machines, or people doing different jobs. Kids also benefit from dramatic exploration that develops emotional awareness. Acting out familiar stories can help a child understand human behavior and develop communication skills. Above all, cultivate your child’s imagination. Allow plenty of time for open-ended play. Challenge your child occasionally to look at things from a different perspective: What do you think it would be like to live inside a pumpkin? Or encourage them to dream big: What will cars be able to do when you are a grown-up? Thinking outside the box is often what solves the world’s problems, so it’s our job as adults to nurture the next generation of creative thinkers!

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Today, I talked to Francis Coates, one of the two Music Coordinators at Please Touch Museum, who shared insights about the importance of performing and musical arts for children.




Pinky: So why are music and the performing arts so important for kids?
Francis: Music, dance, and theater teach us to be creative and think out of the box. Please Touch Museum is very dedicated to this, and my job as Music Coordinator is to provide an atmosphere in the museum where children can express themselves creatively through music.

Pinky: I love music! What new music programs are going on this month?
Francis: We just started a Drum Circle in Hamilton Hall! About 3 times a week, we meet in front of the torch and play different drums. Kids get to experiment with all kinds of cool instruments from around the world! Some of these include hand drums like the Djembe ,Congo, and Bongo from Africa. The drum circle provides children and adults an opportunity to play together as an ensemble, and everyone gets a solo! This means that we start with one person in the circle and everyone gets an opportunity to be a "featured performer" in the ensemble. Not only does this allow children to learn about drums and creating different rhythms, but it also supports the museum's mission of creating learning opportunities through play by letting kids explore their imagination, creative thinking skills and interpersonal relationships in an interactive, fun environment!

Pinky: Wow, I can't wait to check out a Drum Circle! How can visitors see what's going on the day they visit?
Francis: The easiest way is to check the "Today's Fun" signs located throughout the museum floor to see the time and location of different musical events. Music programming is at 3 p.m. in various locations throughout the gallery floor. You can also check our online events calendar.

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New faces, new places-- I get the shivers just thinking about starting Kindergarten! So I sat down with Beth Schnapp, Community Programs Specialist at Please Touch Museum who fortunately eased my nerves and told me all about the Children's Museum's awesome Kindergarten Mixer, held this coming Saturday, Aug. 8 at Please Touch Museum!

Pinky: Beth, tell me about the Kindergarten Mixer and how it helps with the "big step" jitters?

Beth: The 8th Annual Kindergarten Mixer is done in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, Kindergarten is Key Initiative and United Way, so lots goes into the event. The purpose behind the mixer is to bring together families with soon-to-be kindergarten students for an afternoon filled with fun; and it's all free! There's both entertaining and informative activities available all afternoon. Kids will get to enjoy snacks and a great opening ceremony, along with the opportunity to make new friends. It's a great way to help kids feel comfortable in mixing with new people and getting excited about a new stage in their lives.

Pinky: How does the mixer benefit parents?

Beth: there's tons to do and learn for parents, too! Parents will have the opportunity to speak with School District representatives and learn about different educational resources available through the Franklin Institute, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Academy of Natural Science, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and many others. Parents will also get a feeling for what it will be like on the first day of school. It's never a dull moment at our mixers!

Pinky: Thanks Beth! I can't wait to see how many new friends I make at the mixer!

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Ya podemos ver las pruebas de tal hecho, Miguel Brenner artista - pintor nacido en Huaral-Lima nos deja ver el video de su comentado performance "La Gioconda a escobazo limpio" un acto que realizó por motivo de sus 30 años de labor artistica y que ejecuto previos momentos del dia de la inaguración de su exposición (21 de mayo)titulada "Espacios Siderales".

Actualmente puden ir a visitar esta muestra, Galería Sérvulo Gutierrez (Av Horacio Urteaga 535, altura de la Concha Acústica del Campo de Marte. Esta muestra estará abierta hasta el 13 de Junio, en horario de lunes a viernes de 9.00 AM. a 8.00 PM. y sabado de 9 a 1pm.

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A Tribute to Mexican Women Austin • Dallas • Fort Worth • Houston • San Antonio March – May 2009 The National Museum of Mexican Art, in collaboration with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Museo Alameda, Arte Público Press, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA), The Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), Talento Bilingüe de Houston (TBH) and various women’s organizations will host the 2009 Texas Sor Juana Festival, A Tribute to Mexican Women.

The Sor Juana Festival returns to Texas to celebrate its 3rd anniversary. This year, the NMMA is proud to announce the expansion of the Festival to include our new partners: Artes de la Rosa in Fort Worth, Children’s Museum of Houston, Discovery Green in Houston, Latino Cultural Center in Dallas and Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin. The Sor Juana Festival has become the largest Latino performing arts festival in the country.

Currently, the festival is divided into two seasons: March through May in Texas and April through June in Chicago/Milwaukee with plans of further expansion into other cities. The Sor Juana Festival is a multidisciplinary festival that honors one of Mexico’s greatest writers, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th-century Mexican nun who valued the education of women.

Sor Juana was a celebrated playwright, mathematician and poet in her own time and considered to be the first feminist of the Americas. Through this unique festival, we celebrate the legacy of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and pay tribute to the rich artistic accomplishments of Mexican women from Mexico and the United States.

The festival includes: culinary arts, dance, film, literature, music, theater, and visual arts and takes place at different venues throughout the Texas cities of Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, Texas.

This year’s Sor Juana Festival is going to be the largest and most diverse to date. NMMA is thrilled to be working with such dedicated and distinguished cultural institutions throughout Texas, that share our vision of recognizing the many contributions that Mexican/Mexican American women have made to the arts, our community and our lives.

Audiences will be amazed by the 2009 Texas Sor Juana Festival’s stellar line-up, which not only includes well established names such as: Vikki Carr, Girl in a Coma, Lila Downs, Eugenia León and Tania Libertad but also highlights local gems like: Gina Chavez, Graciela Limon, Norma Zenteno and Tammy Gomez while introducing artists from other parts of the country like Monica Palacios and Patti Vasquez.

"This festival is dedicated to the countless women in our lives and throughout history that were never able to live out their dream, a dream Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz fought for: a women’s right to education, to learn, to grow and live her dream. We hope this festival, in some ways, honors the dream they were never able to fulfill.” – Jorge Valdivia, Festival Director / Director of Performing Arts, NMMA.

For the schedule of events, please visit: www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org or download the online brochure at: http://www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/downloads/SorJuana_FNL.pdf

About the National Museum of Mexican Art:

On December 5th, 2006, the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum changed its name to the National Museum of Mexican Art in recognition of its 20th Anniversary and its status as the largest and leading Mexican cultural institution in the U.S. The Museum remains a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization.

The NMMA is the largest Latino Arts organization in the U.S. and the only Latino museum accredited by American Association of Museums. The NMMA presents Visual Arts Exhibitions, Performance Festivals, and Education Programs to more than 200,000 annually including 60,000 K-12 students. 90.5 FM Radio Arte is the Museum's youth-driven bilingual public radio station committed to advancing the voices of a multi-layered society through socially conscious journalism, media literacy, training and programming.

The Museum's hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Admission is free. For information call 312-738-1503 or visit the NMMA's web site www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org 1852 W. 19th Street Chicago, Illinois 60608

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On Sunday I went to see the traveling Cirque du Soleil show Kooza. It was stunning, scary, funny: all the things I expect from Cirque. (Go see it if you can!) The trapeze girl got me thinking about writing (yes, girl, she's only 17 and already flinging her amazing self over and under a bar that's 20 feet up in the air). I loved her act; she was ferocious in her red unitard, with long red hair (not that I'm prejudiced) and pumping her fist to the rock music when she wasn't doing her trapeze thing. But the audience's enthusiasm waned as the act progressed. She did this amazing loopy-de-loo thing and the first time, they erupted. But when she did it again, there was smattered applause. And the third time she did it--which had to be just as hard as the first, or maybe even harder since she must have been tired--no reaction at all. She may as well have been making her grocery list up there.

There are parallels to writing. The first time you do something wild, different, amazing, everyone loves it. But if you merely repeat it again? Not as amazing. Even if it was just as hard to write. Even if it's even better than the first. If it smacks of a rehash, people aren't impressed. They want something fresh.

On the other hand, there's the equally cool "flying man" act at the Orlando Cirque du Soleil. Same act every time: dude grabs long red sheets and soars around the stage. It's amazing. And it's half the reason I saw that show oh, five or six times. Gotta have the flying man. I know anyone who's seen that show would agree: he's the reason to come back.

So how do you figure it out, for your writing? What elements of your work are the trapeze girl: amazing, but best done just once? And what elements are the flying man: the "it" factor that makes your fans come back for more?

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A theatre company in Norfolk (England) is in desperate need of a thespian... Perhaps acting experience isn't even necessary for this role.

The Boo and Hiss Company (catchy name!) requires the services of a stripper - in the name of art of course - for its fall production of "Fur Coat and No Knickers."

Keith Gilbert, one of the 20-strong players, said: "It's not a difficult role. There are no words, just the stripping down to the underwear bit. "But we can't find a woman to take some of her kit off as part of a stag-night party scene.

"The company made the appeal after one of the group who was pencilled in for the role pulled out because the performance clashed with her 30th birthday party.

Mr Gilbert, who is also mayor of Watton Town Council, added: "There is nothing erotic about it. It's just very, very comical."

The play, written by Mike Harding, tells the story of Deirdre Ollerenshaw and Mark Greenhalgh's wedding and includes the disastrous drunken exploits of a stag night.

Fur Coat and No Knickers will be performed at the Queens Hall, Watton, between 18 and 20 September.

Anyone who is interested in the part should contact Boo and Hiss Company in Watton.

The Boo and Hiss Theatre Company previously staged comical productions including 'Allo! 'Allo! and Are you Being Served?”

“All the money we raised went to the Norfolk and Norwich Scope (NANSA) charity which helps people suffering with cerebral palsy and associated disabilities,” Mr Gilbert said. “Last year we managed to raise £500 for them and we hope to get even better results this year.”Fur Coat and No Knickers will be performed at Watton's Queen's Hall from September 18 to 20.

Think you fit the bill?

For more information contact Keith Gilbert on 07730375986.

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