Broadway

The performance of Fifty Percent was by far my far by favorite performance to watch. The song was very emotional and it made you almost have sympathy for the mistress in the situation. Usually the mistress is always portrayed as the villain in tv shows and movies, but you can hear the love in the performers words ad it almost makes you feel bad for them. I think that the performance by Michael Feinstein was my favorite of all three of the renditions. He brought a different type of emotion and perspective to the song that really stood out from the other renditions. However, I did enjoy the music in the Barbra Streisand version. I think having all the instruments really added a new layer to the song. I especially like the detail that she brought to the song. She had her husband use his voice for the lovers voice on the phone and I thought that was a really awesome detail to add.

1920 Opera: Madama Butterfly

The Mise en scene of Madama Butterfly is crucial to your understanding of the Opera. The overall set design of the Opera is very minimal. There are very few props or sets included on stage. The lighting plays a very important role in this Opera. The lighting adds to the emotion and understanding of the story. Colors light up the entire background based on what is happening in the scene. I think the most noticeable way lighting was used occurred during the death scene. Everything was dark other than a spotlight that was on our main character. Costuming was used in a very similar way that the lighting was used. The costumes were very basic and plain. There were some colorful costumes during specific parts of the Opera. I think the most important use of costuming occurred after the wedding. Madama Butterfly was initially in a more colorful outfit, but when it came time for her to spend the night with her new husband she was wearing all white which signified her purity.

Watching this Opera I discovered that not all Operas about love have a happy ending. I think this piece was very important to the chronology of Opera because it shows that Opera has the ability to convey deeper messages and address harder topics. I’m not sure how audiences reacted when this Opera was initially presented. I personally was very surprised at the direction the story went in. I thought Madame Butterfly was going to be reunited with her love and there was going to be a happy ending. This was not at all the case, so I had a more negative reaction to the story due to it not being what I expected. The Opera was overall very good, so I hope it received positive reactions when it was originally presented. Technology is used in a very unique way in this Opera. There were some instances where the spotlight did some cool effects where it was slanted and moved around. There was also a huge video screen in the background where things were projected. I felt like this added to the overall emotion of the Opera.

I think this piece could easily be turned into a video game. There are several video games on the market that are designed to depict real life. This Opera is definitely something that could happen in real life. Video Games like The Sims follow characters that you create as they go to work, date, get married, have kids, and die. These are events that occurred throughout the opera. I think that the opera could reasonably be turned into a video game.  Madame Butterfly was an opera that I really enjoyed and as a result I would be willing to watch more Operas in the future. 

Madama Butterfly Animation

I personally thought the Madama Butterfly animation was really good. I felt like it was very well constructed and it even helped me to understand the live action version of the Opera a lot better. However, there were some major differences between the animation and the live action version. I think the animation made it more clear the relationship dynamic that was happening throughout the Opera. I was initially confused on where the baby came from when I watched the live action version, but the sex scene in the animation version cleared up my confusion. I think the animation version made the situation seem a lot harsher than the live action version did. The man in the live action version was clearly conflicted about the decisions he was making towards the end, but the man in the animation version showed no remorse for his actions. The ending where he comes and takes the child is different from the live action version as well. In the animation he has a car full of multicultural children which makes it appears as if he has a habit of going to foreign countries to father children and then take them from their mothers. My favorite part of the entire Opera was when she took herself apart. I think that was a very moving scene where you really felt the pain she was experiencing.  

The Birth and Death of Opera

Prior to this assignment, I never really understood what Operas were about or took the time to try and understand them. I have an entirely new opinion of Opera after watching this video explaining the origins of this art form. It was very interesting to learn that Opera was not immediately a hit with audiences and that it actually was pretty unsuccessful with its first two attempts. I think the biggest thing that I learned from this video is that Opera is extremely universal. It was very eye opening to see clips of Operas from countries around the world. The Operas were able to reflect the culture of the country it was presented. Each of the example clips from around the world had details included in the Opera that were unique to that country. I especially liked the very intricate costuming that was seen in the Chinese Operas. I think the important take away that I got from this video was that the lighting, costumes, and actors may not appear completely different but the viewer’s ability to identify the performance as an Opera remains the same no matter the country.

Cuero Interview

The Cuero interview offered a very interesting perspective on creativity that I had never thought about before. One of Cuero's main points during his interview was that understanding nature is what leads to more creativity. He believed that all of the technology that children today grow up with is limiting their scope of creativity. He also stated that creativity comes in small steps and is a long process. I disagree with those statements because technology has enabled people to be creative in ways that were not available to previous generations. I do not believe creativity is a long process. I think it is something that you are born with. The design vs. art article described design as a calculated and defined process. The article described art as something that conveys a message or can inspire an emotion. The definition he gave for creativity more aligns with the definition of design. The article about why some people are more creative than others explained that there are three main networks for creativity and creativity is a balance between controlled and spontaneous thinking. Technology has the ability to offer its users controlled and spontaneous thinking and therefore has the ability to aid one's creativity. The study in the article did conclude that more research needed to be done to determine if the ability to use the three creative networks in the brain were malleable or were they relatively fixed. I think that everyone has some level of creativity. However, some people are born with a higher ability to use their three creativity networks in their brain. The environments that people grow up in have the ability influence their creativity but it is not the determining factor. The determining factor in a person's level of creativity is their genetics.  

Introduction

My name is Chelsea Jones-Mullins, I am a senior at UT studying athletic training. I am from Peoria,IL.  I plan on going to grad school next year for physical therapy. I would like to eventually become a dance medicine/ performing arts ATC and DPT.  Last year I was the student athletic trainer for the women's and men's basketball teams here at UT. I attended every game and practice, and I also traveled with the Men's team. This year I am a student athletic trainer at Clearwater High School and I primarily work with the football team. In my free time I like to watch sports, go to the beach, go to the gym, and go out on the weekends. I also like to spend time with my 6 year old brother.  I took this class because I over slept my 8am Form and Idea class 2 times in one week, so I decided to drop that class and add this one. I think I am going to learn a lot of new and interesting things about the history of art in this class.