I was supposed to blog about the dance part of Art in Motion but I was to lazy to so I'll tackle two subjects in one post.

Last Wednesday was the dance workshop. It's sad to say this but I think that the dance part was way better than the music (and I'm more interested in music). I'm going to be honest. I think I fell asleep for 5-10 minutes during the lecture about the different dances. However, I was completely awake after that. I was able to catch every performance.

Sometimes, my own taste surprises me. I was really happy to see the Indian dance. I've never seen one of the more traditional dances aside from the snake dance. It amazes me that every single muscle in the body is used. Think about it. Even the eyes, eyebrows and the smile is part of the performance. It's like even the face dances. It takes some amount of mastery to be able to do that. The movement is very different too compared to western dances. It (Indian dances)shows another perspective or interpretation of what is being portrayed.

Here are two dances from one of my favorite movies. Madhuri Dixit who plays Chandramukhi had to return to dance school just to be able to perform those moves:







Classes this previous week was spent talking about what makes film film. It's acutally very insteresting because I've been getting different views on what I've been watching. I never thought that the yarn in Cinema Paradiso was an allusion to Penelope in the Odyssey. It really makes you think. There's actually more to film than we imagine. It's like there's this other dimension to it that we don't know. This makes me wonder about Philippine Cinema. I haven't watched a film on the big screen for a long time now and a Filipino movie even more so. How is the film industry? I kinda lost faith a couple of years back because of what they've been showing during the Film Fest. I don't know. I don't see quality. Where has the likes of Oro Plata Mata gone? Maybe they're low on budget or something.

Anyway, I must remind myself to comment on Bollywood films and the token Filipino comedy when I get some free time.

During the program, I wanted to blog and react to things that I heard and saw so that I wouldn't forget what I wanted to write.

The main one that I wanted to react to was the performance of the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata. I don't really want to be mean but the playing seemed so constrained. I was constantly waiting for that other note that never came. I don't know how to explain it. It was as if I was always looking forward to a note that should have been there but it was never pressed. The whole performance made me feel as if I were chained or that my heart was in a box smaller than itself. Always that missing note. I didn't even feel relaxed. I was on edge. There was no feeling. It was as if it was being played for the sake of playing it for people who paid 80 pesos. I guess you can say that I am highly disappointed. I may not be as good a piano player as whoever was up that stage but at least when I play I try to make sure that I make the notes come alive under my fingers even though I make a lot of mistakes. Playing a song on the piano isn't just entail pressing on the keys, it needs the player to breathe life in to the piece. It's just really sad because it's the Moonlight Sonata and it's very powerful if played properly and it wasn't given justice to. For me, it has a story and it can only relay it's story of the fingers that play it let it speak.

Then again, I shouldn't expect much. I guess I was looking for the performance level of a prodigy.

Here's a video of what I consider as proper playing:


Wilhelm Kempff


On to the other songs/performance itself.

I hardly recognized the Magic Flute. Don't ask me why because I don't know. I can only hypothesize that some of them were a little off. Oh yeah, another thing that irked me. The violin. The sound wasn't fluid. It was shrill. Now I know that it's supposed to have high notes but I'm not quite sure whether it was the microphone or the technique that made the sound quite like running your nails on the chalkboard. Maybe it was out of tune, I don't know. Listening to it, the music felt jagged. I guess I can commend them on their performance of Ryan Cayabyab's Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika. It was the best, for me. It's like they almost hit it right on the spot.

P.S.
See how the woman judge is crying? That's how it should be when you encounter powerful music. You-- I shouldn't feel strained.





P.P.S.
I find that closing your eyes while listening to music let's you feel it more. Just remember not to fall asleep. I think that by closing your eyes, you let yourself go. You break your connection from the physical world and you enable yourself to be lead by the song (and you, yourself to leads it too).

The week was devoted to watching Cinema Paradiso. I tried to look at it from the usual perspective. It was a bit hard but I think I noticed some bits that would be relevant to what I learned about movies.

Near the end, in the scene where in Toto's mother was knitting, the camera focused on her hands and what she was making. When Toto arrived, the camera had stayed there and we saw a minute long scene of whatever was knitted untangling on the arm chair. I've been wondering what this could mean and what the director was trying to convey. Could the unraveling of the yarn signify the return of Toto not only to where he grew up but to the memories he left there and the young man he used to be? Or could it be the emotional barrier his mother had put up when Toto had left so that she wouldn't miss him so much. I don't know. That last speculation is a little unfounded though. Aside from that, when Toto had returned from Rome after his military service, the plaza was almost empty and no one was there to greet him but a dog. I think this set the tone for the changes that had happened. Alfredo had been avoiding contact with other people, his car had been made in to a chicken house and Elena was missing. The town was completely barren and changed. It wasn't the town that he had left.

I don't really remember the other scenes that I was supposed to write about but if I do remember them then I will.

Oh yeah, the scene where in a young Toto was sitting on the spiral staircase of Cinema Paradiso with an unconscious Alfredo somehow reminded me of Gone With The Wind.

Last Friday the discussion about film started. I'm not really sure whether I would be interested or not. I'm pretty picky when it comes to films. Sure I watch a lot but not many make it to my list of good ones. I'm the type who waits/looks for that "oomph". I am passive when it comes to movies. If I like the story then I like it, one scene moves me, I like it, the characters are genius, I like it. Not much deep reflection or critical eyeing when it comes to accepting things as good. I guess you can say that I am more critical when it comes to music. I will try though to do my best in appreciating film. You may say that the enhancement of my assessment of it has already started. I never really thought that camera shots could portray or amplify certain things in a scene. It hasn't crossed my mind that the type of shot gave meaning. This makes me think that I may have to re-watch some movies to see whether I missed something the first time I saw it. I feel as if there are undertones that I wasn't able to explore.

Anyway, this acquisition of partial insight into the machinations of film has swayed my notion that movies are not art. I say this because about a few days ago I never saw certain elements in film. I thought it was for those who refused to think and that there are only few outstanding ones that transcended the rut. So basically, what I'm trying to say is that the lesson from last Friday has been a good one for me. I learned new things and it gave me a new perspective.

P.S.
I'm sorry but I really can't write and I'm doing my best. :|