The Lo Gbe Exhibition

It was created in 1981, and was influenced by the political oppression in Chile. The style was contemporary ballet blended with South American folk dance. The setting of Ghost Dances is a rocky Andean location suggesting the mouth of a cave. The colours (blue's, greens and greys) of the backdrop were very effective and complimented the costumes and movement by adding to the eerie atmosphere. The whole stage was lit by a dim white light. The 'dead' wear everyday clothes, which are beginning to disintegrate. The Ghost Dancers appear as skeletal figures in striking skull masks. The piece is accompanied by Andiean folk music, with panpipes, guitars, and flutes. The tune is infectious, rhythmic and tuneful. The style of the choreography is sinuous and graceful, incorporating

Given that this “visit” was more like a virtual experience, I was still able to access a couple of my senses, just as if I was at the actual exhibition. Through the use of anecdotes and detailed images, I am able to see all of the personal experiences an individual had while practicing a particular dance and what it meant to them. In this exhibition, there are ten different dances displayed, including the: Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance, Yakama Girl’s Fancy Shawl Dance, Cubeo Óyne Dance, Yoreme Pajko’ora Dance, Mapuche Mütrüm Purun, Tlingit Ku.éex ' Entrance Dance, Lakota Men’s Northern Traditional Dance, Seminole Stomp Dance, Hopi Butterfly Dance, and finally, Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance). All parts of the exhibit were insightful, but the two that sparked my interest the most were the Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance and the Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance).

Throughout the entire performance the dancers’ are surrounded by a line of haunting tree branches which provide physical as well as visual boundaries

While the speaker has succeeded in providing an enhanced image of the performer, the act of assigning meaning to the performance and the representation used holds the capacity to limit the experience. As the speaker continues to reconfigure her strip tease into a “[graceful] and calm” artistic dance, he makes a simultaneous attempt to distance himself from the crowd, making no mention of his gender or race directly (5). However, the speaker’s attempt to portray the dancer from objective eyes falters as his

Once we arrived, we looked up possible exhibitions that we could attend. A museum employee recommended African textiles. After hearing the title, I immediately expected this exhibition to have complicated and precise components to the tiles. African textiles are, in fact, made of wool or fine animal hair in a weave patterns. Although the exhibit was interesting, it wasn’t what peaked my interest.

When I visited the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), I was mesmerized by the beautiful sculptures, paintings, and many other works of art. This museum introduces many different exhibitions at different times and dates. The exhibition that I chose to visit is called the “Sandow Birk: American Qur’an”. The reason why I was very interested in this type of exhibition was because it displayed Middle Eastern artwork. Another reason was because I am Middle Eastern and that I can relate to it. Although I was so focused on this exhibition only, I did not realize the other works of art. However, as I walked deeper into the museum, another exhibition caught my attention. That exhibition is called the “Olga Lah: Amass and Swell”. If anyone decides to visit the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), I would recommend to look online about any appealing exhibitions that are being displayed as well as calling their office to plan a visit. Furthermore, in my opinion, there were some types of art that I did not fully analyze because they were not relatively fascinating as the rest. Moreover, the artworks that I examined displayed unique qualities and their messages were demonstrated in a significant, yet informative way.

The most influential artist to me in this exemplary in this pursuit for the appropriated traditions is Kehinde Wiley. In his opening speech for the New Republic gallery show he expressed that things such as his work was evolved around the working of chance . In his case, he manipulates the chance of the representation of the black demographic in traditional work. Modifying the figurative works to create the chance for relating a body that is familiar. I see contemporary painter, Kehinde Wiley as a comparable to my work in regards to the topic as well as the manipulation of the human figure. The admirable features I see in Kehinde Wiley’s work in addition to these is the fantasy elements that are incorporated. These features are best exhibited in his piece, “Bound”. The work is a bronze sculpture that stands approximately four feet tall and two-and half feet wide. The composition is inviting as it includes busts of three identical women that have African descent features that are placed on a rounded triangle base. The expressions on all of the faces are of a staring and wondering nature that have a nature of regality as their faces are turned to the right at an approximate forty five degree angle as their all have their back facing each other to form a guard of the leaves the a laid on their base. The bodies are cut organically as it rounds off from shoulder to shoulder, just enough to form the upper torso to see the corset like dress that encompass the figure. Expanding

In the ceremony, the dancers line up in two lines dancing while portraying goats. The dancers wear outfits made of white silk thread with normal tennis shoes and socks. The mask, of course, is the most important aspect of the attire. Mask makers typically decorate the masks with horns, a head-dress, or both. They also usually paint them in bright colors, such as the one found on masksoftheworld.com. In some areas, the masks also have colored ribbon at the tips of the horns and hair made of sisal or raffia thread. The dancers are primarily male, though there are some areas that have female dancers, as well. This is the case in Quechultenango, Guerrero, Mexico. Groups of both male and female dancers complete the dance. In the same area, they dance in normal, everyday attire and only wear masks they decorated to resemble the goat.

The premiere of Witnesse, choreograph by Rebecca Lemme bring the audience to a gloomy opening and extraordinary set of stage. From the dimmed light to the dark green costumes wore by dancers, there is a particular set of spotlights that were slowly drawn on top of each dancer as they were laying on the floor. From the moment that the spotlight was hitting on each of performers’ faces, I came into the thought of life. Moreover, spotlights are the representation of the sun and the color of green associated with

They produced the perfect glair, from the lighting above. My favorite art work was, Moth by Sea”, by Jeni Stallings, an oil canvas. In the art work the woman is a moth who is standing on the moon. Her dress is brown and black with the shapes of triangles, and diamonds. Quite like the pattern of the moth’s body. Her antennas are feathers that stick out of the top of her head, her wings are bright, they glow from the reflection of the moon. There is a horizontal line, that separates the night from the light, but this woman is in the middle of both, as she’s standing on night. The gallery I visited represents artists of contemporary

Cloths cover sculptures and masks are stored in a bag hanging in rafters, only to be handled during a performance (Vogel 64). The Baule never display or examine their art. In fact, the Baule do not view such pieces to be art (Bolin 49) and would not think of them as a separate category; they are just things people live with. "Art cannot be described from a Baule point of view at all, simply because their view does include art in the Western sense of the word," (Vogel 64). A Western viewer would be likely to scrutinize such works of art, yet the Baule would only glance at it indirectly (Bolin 49). In fact, it is believed by the Baule if a woman accidently looks on a scared men's mask she will die unless extreme measures are taken to save her life (Wilkin 32). The Baule focus on the divine presence associated with the object while a Westerner may only be slightly concerned with the material form of the object. Although art is rarely seen by Baule villagers, it is present in their minds, imaginations, and dreams. Each person's recollection or experience with a sculpture or mask will be different (Vogel 64). A Westerner may question how well a memory can account for details of a mask or sculpture, yet the Baule feel the memories hold a significance within the artwork itself. The existence of artwork in Baule life is powerful, lasting, and visual, specifically because the works

“Ghost Dances has a tremendous impact and audiences in many countries have delighted in its distinctive rhythmic movement performed to haunting South American tunes. However, it is the representation of the oppression of ordinary people, symbolised by sinister ghost figures, which give the work much of its resonance.” (NSW Department of Education and Training) The Ballet dance, which also incorporates movements of contemporary and South American folk dance, entitled “Ghost Dancers” sends a message to the viewer that the oppression of everyday people (based on the Chilean Coup) is well represented throughout the dance, mostly due to the movement, costumes, sets, lighting, music and overall mood of the dance. Choreographed by Christopher Bruce

The female dancer re-enters the stage sans the blue shirt/shorts and repeats the gestures with a bit more feeling, and the male does the same thing after the female exits. The next time the female enters the stage, she is only in the colorful bra and black briefs. The male enters the stage in a black bra and colorful underwear. The color in the costumes sends a message of the differences between males and females, but the black undergarments lean towards blurring the lines of gender. The lights get brighter as clothing is shed. The two performers fully embody the gestures now, and seem to have more of an intimate connection with one another. The music constantly seems to be an underscore of the dance, but does not add much to it. The dancers share weigh and partner with more sensuality, and eventually are silhouetted with blue light as they return to gesture and awkward ballroom partnering. The lights fade as they continue to move.

Sally Banes is an American writer and dance historian and critic. She is also a professor of theater history and dance studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Banes has written multiple books and contributed to many documentaries and films. The book Moving History / Dancing Cultures, which Banes contributed to, includes the article “Choreographic Methods of the Judson Dance Theater”. This book was published in 2001.

The couple positioned in the front appears very large to make the painting 3-D. The relative size of the dancers drastically shifts to create a window into the painting. The viewer can imagine being a part of the event and watching the poverty-stricken dancers. The angle that the painting is at appears to be almost a bird’s eye view. This adds to the effect of feeling as part of the audience. Spatial features are also added with overlap making figures look even more distant. Almost everything can be seen all the way to the back of the painting as the lighting in Dance Marathon spreads equally throughout the painting. Many lamps hang from the ceiling to give it a sense of many sources of light and to distribute the light evenly.