I did a fabulous job this morning with my final for acting-two contrasting monologues, which I will use again this Wednesday to audition for the Acting program at BYU. Also, I got a 100 on my last test for Performance Studies which has been one of the most interesting and multifaceted discussion classes I have ever taken. The amount of thought I had to put into writing and arguing for that class has expanded and stretched me in ways I didn't know possible. For your enjoyment and personal mind-expanding experience, I shall write one of the essays I wrote for my Performance Studies exam here. In order to understand the essay, let me tell you what I was answering. It asked me to outline a performance art piece treating the performativity of sex and gender or passing and whether it exemplified or contradicted the idea that the personal is political and how. I chose to outline a performance art piece dealing with the performativity of sex and gender and how it exemplified that the personal is political. Just to be clear, performativity refers to the performance based qualities of anything that is not performance but could be viewed as a performance, and "personal is political" refers to how a person acts and responds is making a statement on what they believe. Here then is my essay (unrevised)
Fe/Male
Sex and gender are two different things. We are born either male or female, and that is our sex. But gender is the constructed identity of our masculinity or femininity. I think the performativity of sex and gender exemplifies that the personal is political because it not only shows we are who we make ourselves but also makes freedom of performing our own gender a subject of discussion and our right to freedom of speech.
My performing art piece would be a TV with a recording of myself saying I am a guy and the masculine things I like and then being made up with makeup to look like a woman, saying I am a girl, and the feminine things I like, then having the screen split in half, with one half my man face, the other half my woman face, and then stating why we are and need to be masculine and feminine regardless of sex, and that performing a gender outside of your sex does not make one weaker but stronger. And then the cycle would repeat itself.
This art piece shows that I perform and construct my gender regardless of my sex, and also that I am not limited to performing only one gender. It is my own face that constructs both genders to make a point about how gender is sometimes viewed as an all or nothing identification of our sex, but since it is a construct it can be an amalgam of different traits, both male and female. This exemplifies that the personal is political because not only am I using myself in my art, but I am making a statement about how others view gender and construct their own identity. How we view ourselves and others is heavily influenced by the male or female gender identity. I try to break people out of that all or nothing attitude.
Gender is the greatest construct of our identity because it is the most broad and all-encompassing aspect of how we perform ourselves. I believe understanding the construction of gender helps us understand how we view people and encourages equality and acceptance of the fact that we do not all perform our gender the same way.
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I know a couple of those sentences could use trimming and revision, but for a test writing all of this straight through, I am pleased with how well it turned out. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Monday, April 15, 2013
Rented Christmas
This past December, I participated in helping backstage for a performance of Rented Christmas. At BYU, in order to give the largest number of students in the theater program a chance to practice their craft, they have Mask Club, where every Thursday a student directed 50 minute one act is performed. This one in particular needed people to help with costume changes, so I came on to help with all the quick costume changes that had to happen between scenes at light speed!
It was not my first time being backstage, but it was my first experience working backstage and not acting. I gained new appreciation for the numerous people who have been there to support me and help me look good on stage. Helping organize all the costume pieces by character and scene, being able to help unzip and zip up stubborn dresses, and quietly directing people to their own costumes and helping them put it on, all made the play fun and inspirational for the many people who came and saw it. No one applauded me for making sure the costumes were organized and the actors put them on, but the fact that no one noticed delays or mistakes was satisfaction enough.
It clearly isn't the amount of applause we get that determines our success, it is the consistency we apply to ourselves and our job. There are no small parts on the stage of life, only small actors. I enjoyed the experience of helping in my own small way to this production, and learned how much goes into a performance that goes unnoticed. There is always available jobs doing small but important tasks, and I learned that I don't always have to be center stage in order to participate and enjoy performance. There is so much more that I can do to participate besides acting, and the more I know how to do the more employable I become. I hope I never forget that night, and now with the wonders of digital recording, I never will!
It was not my first time being backstage, but it was my first experience working backstage and not acting. I gained new appreciation for the numerous people who have been there to support me and help me look good on stage. Helping organize all the costume pieces by character and scene, being able to help unzip and zip up stubborn dresses, and quietly directing people to their own costumes and helping them put it on, all made the play fun and inspirational for the many people who came and saw it. No one applauded me for making sure the costumes were organized and the actors put them on, but the fact that no one noticed delays or mistakes was satisfaction enough.
It clearly isn't the amount of applause we get that determines our success, it is the consistency we apply to ourselves and our job. There are no small parts on the stage of life, only small actors. I enjoyed the experience of helping in my own small way to this production, and learned how much goes into a performance that goes unnoticed. There is always available jobs doing small but important tasks, and I learned that I don't always have to be center stage in order to participate and enjoy performance. There is so much more that I can do to participate besides acting, and the more I know how to do the more employable I become. I hope I never forget that night, and now with the wonders of digital recording, I never will!
Friday, April 12, 2013
The Hook
The Hook: The Legend is True!
I participated in this student film project with Clayton Cranford, Maryam Aurich, Elizabeth Elieson, and our incredible, professional director Bryce Bolick. This is the trailer, and has some of my best work, and will be a great short film once Bryce finishes editing it.
I participated in this student film project with Clayton Cranford, Maryam Aurich, Elizabeth Elieson, and our incredible, professional director Bryce Bolick. This is the trailer, and has some of my best work, and will be a great short film once Bryce finishes editing it.
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