Success

There were observers in class today but I think it brought was actually beneficial to the class. Usually it is so difficult to get the juniors to speak that we end up staring at each other in silence for half the period. But today, people were just volunteering all over the place with opinions and suggestions. The first portion of the class was spent watching a scene titled "My Quiet Neighbor." Two students performed this in anticipation for the Cal Poly Pomona Scenefest. As a class, I felt that we were able to put forth a lot of productive critiques. People were moving beyond the obvious and were trying to stretch themselves. For the first time, people defended their opinions and made it known to the actors. The second portion of the class was spent presenting our make-up renderings for various characters in the Kabuki piece we read. My design was for Hanaka, the mistress of Taro, a servant in the piece. Since females tend to be colorless, save the bit of red on their lips, I chose to make a different interpretation. Using pink to highlight the eyes, I created an abstract heart framing Hanaka's eyes in a magenta color. It might have looked a bit Commedia-like but I think that was just because I could not mimic make-up with color pencils. Even though my group will not be writing Hanaka into our script, this was a great opportunity to apply our knowledge to a practical task.