The Current State Of The Ecological Environment Essay

The choreographic intention of “Emergence” was the exploration of merging diverse elements together to see what comes from it, like the emergence in relation to arrangements and structures made in nature. The choreographic intention expanded from the idea of concealment. This was clearly identified in the beginning trio where the female dancer is shown trying to escape from her hiding place. In appraisal, the choreographic intention of “Image” was a more simplistic interpretation, one that explored identity and how it is made up of personal experiences we endure and that along the way we are influenced and sometimes inveigled, which can make revealing who we really are at the core oppressive. In comparison to “Emergence”, the movement in “Image” was more vague and indefinite in relation to linking movement to the choreographic intention. Through manipulation of structural devices such as groupings, stillness, tempo and dynamics, the

"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" is significant as it establishes the issue of representation in ethnography. The purpose of the article is to raise the question of how can we study a different culture from the outside and how can we understand our own culture from within. Culture can be defined in many ways, Tylor (1871) stated that culture is; “…that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Therefore, the article presents the topic of cultural relativism, arguing that there is no impartial viewpoint from which to assess cultures, that every culture should be interpreted and understood from the

‘The sheer popularity’ of stimulating nature or using nature as ad space ‘demands that we acknowledge, even respect, their cultural importance,’ suggests Richtel. Culturally important, yes. But the logical extension of synthetic nature is the irrelevance of ‘true’ nature— the certainty that it’s not even worth looking at. (Louv lines 9-19)

Humans are born from and return to earth at death; human beings and nature are bound up each other. Yet, the technological modern world has shaped humans to be oblivious of nature and the ethnocentrism has positioned human beings above all other things. Nature has become resources for people and nothing more than that. David Abram, the author of the Ecology of magic, travels into the wild, traditional land in search of the relation between magic and nature; the meaning nature holds in the traditional cultures. Abram intends to communicate his realization of the magical awareness of the countless nonhuman entities and the necessity of the balance between the human communities and the nature to the readers, hoping the Western technologized

“Could it be that we are supposed to be talking to the plants and animals, interacting with them, accepting the gifts they offer, and using them in ways that further their growth?”(Starhawk, 162). I feel this quote from “Our Place in Nature” is a great way to start the topic of how artists uses plant life in their work. It shows how artists might try to interact with the environment for ideas on the works that they come up. I feel also that they are trying to be one with the environment. I feel if you spend enough time in nature, you will build a strong connection with everything around you. This comment is justified when Starhawk said, “I can walk into any forest where the trees are strange and understand something about the relationships

Martin’s (1996) continuum is a useful tool which can be used to position an individual’s perspective of nature on a scale from one, seeing nature as an object, to five, seeing nature as a subject. At the low end of the scale, Martin describes a human-nature relationship where nature purely acts as a playground or gym for humans (Martin, 1996). This relationship type can be associated with anything where humans have a vantage point (Dyer & Gunnell, 1993), and can be seen within Christianity. The second lowest relationship outlined on the continuum is where humans begin to see nature as a beautiful and natural place. This view point of nature can primarily be connected to people viewing national parks as valuable storehouses and museums (Martin, 1996). From this stage of Martin’s (1996) continuum, it becomes identifiable that from this point onward, humans gain more respect, appreciation

The Aztecs were very serious about their religion and it affected every Aztec’s daily life. Their religion revolved heavily around human sacrifices in order to please the gods. Sacrifices to the sun were essential to them because they did not want the sun to burn out on them. They do this because in their religion there was believed to be four other suns which had burned out before the sun we have now. Other than that it united its people and was what shaped the magnificent Aztec empire to what it was.

One very interesting aspect of the human experience is the manner in which certain themes appear again and again over time, in literature, religion, mythology, and culture regardless of the geographic location, the economic status, and the time period. Perhaps it is the innate human need to explain and explore the known and unknown, but to have disparate cultures in time and location find ways of explaining certain principles in such similar manner leads one to believe that there is perhaps more to myth and ritual than simple repetition of archetypal themes. In a sense, then, to acculturate the future, we must re-craft the past, and the way that seems to happen is in the synergism of myth and ritual as expressed in a variety of forms (Bittarello)

She argues that human culture’s universal devaluation of nature and the association within all cultures of women with nature is the clue to the problem. Culture is the tool through which humans are able to ‘transcend the givens of natural existence, bend them to its purposes, control them in its interests’ and it is this ‘human ability to act upon and regulate, rather than passively move with and be moved by’ nature which Ortner considers evidence that humankind regards itself as inherently superior to our natural surroundings. She admits that this opposition is not equally clear in all societies but maintains that the universal presence of ritual practices is evidence of human awareness of our ability to manipulate the natural world. Further, woman is in all cultures viewed as closer to nature than man, Ortner postulates, due to her physiology, the social roles she is confined to as a result of her physiology and the psyche she develops through living her social role.

and cultural life. The process by which it has earned a place in the folk

The society in which one lives provides a set number of interpretations of events, people, and items based on provided cultural models. We act in the ways we are expected and taught to act. We interpret alien events within our own cultural repertoire. Patterns and structures throughout time are re-applied and re-invented as signals, often removed from their original meaning. Every action, every event in the past is thus seen as a performance in “cultural theater”--a phrase introduced by Brian Levack in his historical analysis of possession.

* Does the ritual seek to have practical outcomes (health, safety, prosperity)? Social outcomes (a change in status)? Emotional outcomes (feelings)?

In life we are all confronted with the idea of nature along with society. Although both have their pros and cons they work together to give us freedom and order among individuals.

In the reading “Performance Studies” by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. She talks about the idea of performance studies as a broad interdisciplinary, intercultural study. She looks at performance studies from a different scope, which allows so much more to become a performance, rather than just having art and theatre as a performance. She backs up her arguments with the three paradigms, which are, the broad spectrum approach, aesthetic communication approach and ethnoscenology. Barbara shows how performance studies has evolved over the years and how the definition of performance studies has become broader in the sense that it no longer just talks about theatre and art but more so the idea that everything is a performance and we present it using embodiment, agency and event (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 43). The argument about embodiment, agency and event really caught my attention and helped me look at things with a different perspective. It also showed me the world in a new light. I’ve always looked at the world with a humanitarian perspective with the “why” but when looking at performances with the semantics perspective you tend to look at the “what” and then the “how”. For example what are they doing this for and what is the motive behind it and how is this a performance.

This paper will explore a range of perspectives on the relationship between the live event and the document within performance practice, specifically focus on in relation to body, time and space. Performance art is commonly known as a performance presented to a viewer within a fine art context. Through performance artists emphasize the body’s role in artistic production. Historically, performance archive has been characterized as an unfaithful representation of the momentary art experience. Yet, in contemporary art the relationship between live performance practices and documentation has progressed towards reconciliation. Whether, the performance is scripted or unscripted, the performer’s body is present or absent. Performance art can happen in any type of venue and for any length of time. Documentation of performance practice documents the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time.