We followed up a week of volunteering with a week of going out on the town. Rhythm in Bronze's performance was mesmerizing. (The video is from a rehearsal complete with a drum line.) Listening to the gamelans brought back memories of temple festivals in Bali. We imagined RIB playing in a field accompanied by the smell of clove cigarettes. We weren't listening to museum pieces, as supported by a quote from the program: "Besides collaborating with composers, Maya Gong Illusion [name of program] also sees us jamming together with our musician friends to create a whole new realm of diverse music." Still the instruments retained their mysticism. Consider this quote by a musician, "I seriously thought it was a joke that the first time I heard someone saying that the Gong wasn't producing the perfect sound and tone because it . . . 'was not happy' and that we should offer some flowers or water to please them. But soon enough I learned that the gamelan is indeed a sensitive and 'mysterious.'. . . Every hit on the gong is never the same . . ."
This is the month of Short and Sweet - one week of musicals, two weeks of dance, and two weeks of theater. Each performance is 10 minutes or less - so if you don't like one piece, it will be over quickly. At least that is what they say, but sometimes 10 minutes can be interminable. We started with the second week of dance. ( I heart MJ won the audience choice award and the best female dancer.) The first week of theater was promising. In one a "Pillsbury doughboy" shaped actor played a donut undergoing rebranding to be a healthy eating choice. Then there was the unicorn trying to elbow his way on to Noah's arc because he was a rare, magical and mystical creature. No luck he wasn't on the list. The dragons were allowed on because they can fly and dragon flies were on the list. My favorite was Solitude. A man gets locked into his apartment when his key broke in the lock. Through a series of all too familiar turn downs, e.g., we won't come if you don't pay ahead, he is condemned to stay in his apartment until he "metamorphises." Not as grim as it sounds.
This is the month of Short and Sweet - one week of musicals, two weeks of dance, and two weeks of theater. Each performance is 10 minutes or less - so if you don't like one piece, it will be over quickly. At least that is what they say, but sometimes 10 minutes can be interminable. We started with the second week of dance. ( I heart MJ won the audience choice award and the best female dancer.) The first week of theater was promising. In one a "Pillsbury doughboy" shaped actor played a donut undergoing rebranding to be a healthy eating choice. Then there was the unicorn trying to elbow his way on to Noah's arc because he was a rare, magical and mystical creature. No luck he wasn't on the list. The dragons were allowed on because they can fly and dragon flies were on the list. My favorite was Solitude. A man gets locked into his apartment when his key broke in the lock. Through a series of all too familiar turn downs, e.g., we won't come if you don't pay ahead, he is condemned to stay in his apartment until he "metamorphises." Not as grim as it sounds.
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