To act or not?

In Drama class this week we had looked at how we can improve our acting. I mentioned some common mistakes that actors and actresses make  on stage.

We have concentrated on voice, breathing, projection (speaking so that the member of the audience in the last row can still hear us) and have done some exercises to improve our projection and posture. Please remember to do the exersises at home.

Film Project – MS 1 to 3

TASK – You are a film producer that has decided to make a film. 

YOUR AUDIENCE – People, of all ages, living in Neustadt (Weinstrasse.) 

BROADCASTING DATE -  January/February 2008 – The Open Channel (Neustadt-Weinstrasse) 

LENGTH OF FILM – Minimum 10 minutes 

CONTENTS - Your group will decide the genre and theme of your film. Please keep in mind that your film should be suitable to air to a wide ranging audience.

PROJECT BRIEF (Steps you have to follow to make a film) – Film making sounds like a lot of fun………. It is!  But it is also very hard work!

Individual Music and Art Presentations about the Donau Project

These are the presentation deadlines for our  Donau projects. Please make sure that you are ready to present your information on the day specified. Presentations are assessed using the Donau Project Assessment Rubric

Group 1

7 Nov – Gabriel (Festivals in Germany) and Nora (Mozart/Austria)

14 Nov – Sarah (Famous cities and buildings/Austria) and Laetitia (Franz Liszt/Hungary)

21 Nov – Tazzio (Bela Bartok/ Hungary) and Lukas (landscape/ Croatia) and Anna-Lena (Eisernes Tor/ Serbia)

28 Nov – Sebastian (Castelul Bran, Törzbutg/Romania)and Philipp SB. (music /Romania)  and Anna (Churches in Bulgaria)

5 Dec – Ben (Kraftwerke gefährden die Landschaft entlang der Donau/UA) and Amandine ( Donau-Delta/Romania)

 Group 2

9 Nov – Hannes (music/ Germany) and Dan W(Buildings/ Germany) and Daniel H ( famous buildings in Austria)

16 Nov – Jonas (Johannn Strauß/Austria) and Delia (old buildings in Slovakia)

23 Nov – Amon (baroque buildings /Hungary) and Kristina (trad. and modern music/ Croatia) and Philipp O. (old, famous buildings in Serbia)

30 Nov – Lisa (old, famous buildings in Romanis) and Patrik (monasteries in Romania)

7 Dec – Philipp S. (Welche Rolle spielt die Donau als Motiv in der Musikwelt/Bulgaria) and Lilli (churches, port/Moldavia)

Regards,

Doris

Gumboot dance

This traditional dance is called the gumboot dance. It started in South Africa amongst the african miners as a way to communicate feelings and ideas with each other.

ASSESSMENT DEADLINES

September 2007

26 September - MS 1 to 3 – Group 2 – Cultural Mishaps Mime – Drama (mentor assessment)

26 September – MS 1 to 3 -  Group 1 – Cultural Mishaps Mime – Drama (mentor assessment)

Learning partners were given their assessment rubrics.

Mime skills to practise

I found these video clips on youtube demonstrating some mime skills. We will practise them in drama class this week.

Mime artist behind a wall

Click continue reading to see the other video clips

Drama homework

In lessons this week we looked at Mime as a theatre art form. Learning partners explored abstract mime in groups and individually. I would like to remind you that Drama homework is due next week during your Drama lesson.

Homework:

1) Prepare an individual performance of about 2 minutes with an imaginary object. Remember to use exaggerated facial expressions and body movement to “describe” your object to the audience. You may improvise during the performance.

2) Interview a learning partner or mentor that come from another country to find out

• if there are cultural taboos (things we just do not do or say) in their culture.
• if they have done or said something innocently or without knowing, to another person from a different culture that have put them in a compromising or difficult position. 

Mime – cultural differences in communication

In drama lessons this week were are going to explore mime as a theatre genre, looking at how we communicate non-verbally with people from different cultural backgrounds.

When we communicate with different people in an international setting we sometimes forget that people come from different cultural backgrounds. There are multiple cultural influences on the interaction and communication between people.  

Cultural background, religious beliefs and expectations affect how we understand each other when we communicate verbally and non verbally. To communicate effectively, it is necessary to avoid stereotyping by responding to other people as individuals within their own cultural context. We must also remember the influence of our own cultural backgrounds and attitudes when communicating with other people. What may be acceptable in our own cultural community, may be upsetting and even extremely rude to someone else that comes from a different cultural background.. Communication is sometimes more challenging with those who are different from us. To communicate successfully, we may need to be willing to accept the discomfort of unfamiliarity and uncertainty. Rising to these challenges requires:

• sensitivity to cultural diversity,

• stereotyping and prejudice,

• general skills of good communication, 

• and specific skills to negotiate communication barriers.

Goals of our drama lesson:

• To find out what mime is,
• To look at the history of mime,
• Use mimimg skills to show what can happen when people from different cultural background misunderstand each other when communicating.

Key words: mime, communication skills; cross-cultural communication; culture; stereotyping; interpreters

Cultures and Traditions

 Our new Unit of Inquiry for the term August to December 2007 is “Cultures and Traditions.” I would like learning partners to think about possible inquiries they would like to investigate in this unit in the Creative Arts.

The famous Dutch expressionist painter Vincent van Gogh said: “It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures.”

What do you think?