April 22, 2011

We are One

Lion King 2: We are One.

KIARA:
"If there's so much I must be
Can I still just be me
The way I am?

Can I trust in my own heart
Or am I just one part
Of some big plan?"

Enough said.

Knowledge = Happiness?

Some people say knowledge will make you happy. But is that really true? Searching for knowledge you can't find can be depressing. Also, if you begin to believe what you think you know, then it turns out to be all wrong, how devastating would that be? People who don't search for knowledge too hard walk around happy and content with what they know. Aristotle said the happy life is the good life. Einstein said that he never viewed happiness as an ends in itself.  From this, the question what is the meaning of life arises. This, I still have no answer to. So, is dismissing the questions such as where do thoughts come from and what is the meaning of life, good for you, or bad for you?

-Tessa Parkinson and James McCaskey

April 21, 2011

"A riddle is nothing more than a trap for small minds, baited with the promise of understanding."

A dream is nothing more than a trap for the curious, baited with the promise of knowledge.

A life is nothing more than a trap for the born, baited with the promise of happiness.

A god is nothing more than a trap for the hopeful, baited with the promise of protection.

A fairytale is nothing more than a trap for the dreamer, baited with the promise of happily ever after.

A hope is nothing more than a trap for the lost, baited with the promise of guidance.

A love is nothing more than a trap for the romantic, baited with the promise of hope.

A prayer is nothing more than a trap for the needy, baited with the promise of help.

A religion is nothing more than a trap for the gullible, baited with the promise of comfort.

A theory is nothing more than a trap for the brilliant, baited with the promise of understanding.

A belief is nothing more than a trap for the trusting, baited with the promise of explanation.

April 15, 2011

Friday night

7:00 and we are racing to put our nudies, makeup on, get our hair up and set up our props. It's been an exhausting week but the excitement from the prospect of showing off our talent on a stage in front of a live audience energizes us. Sitting in the dressing rooms, we giggle and laugh as we put on our make-up.
7:15 and the intercom echoes with a 15 minute warning. Almost time! We fix each others wispies, do up costumes, and a bit slap happy, we fall over ourselves as we race down three flights of stairs, a curse to anyone who has been dancing for a couple hours and has sore feet. Waiting anxiously for the announcer to announce, the curtain to go up, and the orchestra to pick up their instruments.
7:30 and we are on stage, still waiting for the curtain to go up. People are taking their time buying their tickets. We talk about whose family is holding us up, and whose bought their tickets ahead of time like smart people. A little bantering, fake pouting, and laughter floats around. We are shushed, the audience might hear us. So we giggle quieter, then shush the little girls for their screaming laughter, like we just were hushed ourselves.
7:37 and finally the music begins and the curtain goes up. A little disappointment of how many people are in the audience, a lot of excitement that those few people are going to be treated by us. Some of us watch quietly, hiding in the wings until our friends come off stage and we help them change costumes to go on again. When it's our turn to go on, we are ready at least two scenes early, anxious to show our own talent instead of watching others dance.
9:00 and it's just about finale time. Everyone gathers on stage in the way choreographed by our director, and we line up and dance the biggest and happiest we have all night. Almost crying because of the emotional story line, we grin big and leave an impression the audience will never forget. We line up to bow and the audience goes wild, we get a standing ovation. The curtain goes down and we all race to unhook our costumes and take our pointe shoes off our sore feet. We stand and listen to our director praise us, criticize us, advise us.
9:30 and we are out of our dance clothes, stage make up off and regular make up perfected, and we put on our dresses, help each other do hair, and head down to greet our friends and family who came to support us.
10:00 and we are heading home, exhausted but the most content we have been in a long time. Time to go to sleep to do the same tomorrow.

April 4, 2011

Black Swan

I watched Black Swan last night, and it meant more to me than the average person. Even the average dancer. Swan Lake has always been my dream. I've always wanted to be Odette, the innocent girl who was cursed to be a swan.

In the movie The Black Swan, Nina Sayers has a lot of issues. She hasn't moved out, hasn't grown up, she struggles with abusing herself because she wants to be better. She is bulimic because dancers have to have a certain body type to make their way to the top easier. (Dancers like Jenifer Ringer are to be honored because she fought her way out of that and is amazing in ballet fans eyes even though she has a thicker body type)

Her multiple personality disorder that seemed to be created by the stress of trying to be someone she wasn't, was what made her a success. She was able to be who she naturally was, when that was asked, and be the black swan when that was asked of her. That kind of thing comes naturally to people who are good with acting, but ballerinas generally have one genre of people. Most ballets the principals play characters that are sweet, beautiful, and innocent. It takes a lot to get emotion out there in the form of evil.

Men seem to be better at that because the men's principal parts in ballets are evil more often then the women's principal parts.

If one can create their own multiple personality in their own mind, because they don't have the natural talent, maybe they can do more. The possibilities are endless...