Yesterday I participated in FESTIBA with my creative non-fiction class. Our theme was “we the weird”. I didn’t know what to expect from this event, since I never been to one or even contributed in one. As we were getting our class ready, some students who weren’t in our class arrived. I was shocked that there were people who were actually attending to this event. I don’t mean to be rude, but I thought it was going to be boring. Oh boy, was I wrong. The students who read in my class had so much soul in them. I was moved by the way they read. My classmate Sergo, was so passionate when he read his story. All my classmates who read did a wonder job at it. I didn’t think that I would actually like it. All the passages that were read were made by my class mates. They had a talent at writing. I enjoyed it. What I thought was going to be a drag, was actually something fun and interesting.
I attended the first Undergraduate Creative Writing Showcase on Wednesday and it was a really fun experience. One by one students walked up to the front of the crowded class room and read exerts from their poems, fiction and non-fiction pieces. The theme of this years Festiba celebration is "Nuestras Raices" of getting back to our roots and I felt that a lot of what the students read really coincided with the theme. Many of the students read short stories about their childhood or their grandmothers who all pretty much sounded exactly like my cute little abuelita. Through these readings I really got a sense of what our culture is down here. As valley folk we thrive on the love from our families and the tortillas from our grandmas house. My favorite piece was by a student (and I totally forgot to write down his name) who dresses as a Mariachi to read his poem titled "Chicano exiled." His heartfelt poem was read half though a narrator and half through a mariachi and it was perfect. He told the story about his time in the hospital when he was receiving a bone marrow transplant and how much he missed the valley. He read his poem with such passion and you could here it through is "grito." I was able to talk to Robert Moreria after about his thoughts on the importance of the Arts in our culture here in the valley. Overall is was a great experience, I was really happy to hear about other students who had childhoods almost exactly like mine.
As the title above says, I went to the creative writing showcase on Wednesday (and I also went to the second showcase on Thursday). Overall, it was a good experience where I got to hear (and sometimes see) the writing style of my peers and the voices that they wanted to share. For the most part, everyone who presented was eloquent in their writing and poignantly used figurative language to express their ideas in creative ways. There was one piece about the experience of standing atop a building watching the world go by, contemplating various things (including jumping off) that ended comically with the narrator being afraid of heights. There was also someone who dressed up as a Mariachi and began to convey in both narration and song his experience away from the valley. Another person wrote about her relationship to writing by incorporating and explaining the styles of famous writers in relation to her narrative. If I had to say I was disappointed at anything then it would be with two things: the first that each person ONLY had five minutes to read their material; and the second being that there was a lack of fiction pieces that were not based on a real-life experience. It would have been nice to see a bit of high fantasy there too. Other than that, it was a great experience and I think I learned a bit from it to use in my own writing and voice.
On Saturday I saw a play titled "Miracle Worker" which I found to be very entertaining and just very good. I really joyed the acting and how each actor interpenetrated their characters. I do know that here is a 198 film by the same title and plot as the play that was premiered on Saturday. I must say that the play stayed more original to the actual story. The actors who played Kate Keller, Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller did a fantastic job and brought the production to life.
I learned that (theatrical) plays are more powerful than when you see a movie or a TV show. When you are seeing a play, you are feeling the actors/character energy and vibes. You get a sense and put yourself in their shoes. There are so many dimension when seeing a play. As oppose to seeing a movie, it feels flat and only one dimension. A movie is all about special effects and whatnot, while a play is all about the acting.
For so long I have always preferred movies as oppose to plays. But after seeing this first play, I will start to look more into watching a play than a movie.
The FESTIBA event that I attended was the viewing of the play "The Miracle Worker" with my World Drama class this past Tuesday. Overall, I loved it and I am more than glad I got to watch this. The two best actors in the play were the ones who played Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. I was touched by how dedicated Anne was to teaching Helen Keller and took it upon herself to exceed her parent's expectations. The acting was so good that I actually felt as if I was watching a real flashback of the true events that had taken place. Not going to lie, I could feel the tears almost jerking from my eyes at the scene where Ms. Sullivan was crying. The sound and lighting was on point in order to make the audience feel as if they were actually there. I had seen quite a few plays back when I was in high school, but I would have to say this would have to be the best play that I have ever seen. 10/10. I would definitely recommend it.
WAKE UP Reflection Going into this FESTIBA event I was expecting some energetic interaction, hence the event name. Maybe some new poems or short stories that have been recently published were expected but instead I got something way different. I was soon up to find out that WAKE UP was an acronym for an all women’s performance group. The group started off by reading an excerpt from a book written by Gloria Anzaldúa. By doing this they were also allowing anyone who participated in this event to give remembrance to their deceased loved ones. While the group was reading th excerpt it gave off a feeling as if we were in a memorial mourning the dead but also had a feel of The Craft wichy chanting too. It creeped me out a tad bit. However after the “memorial ceremony” things got better. Some of the members from the WAKE UP group read us some of their writings. Although their writings had a consistency of writing about memories within their Hispanic culture they all had different themes. Some of those themes being happy & funny, sad & resentful, or learning survival skills. The one that I found most interesting was titled “Con Las Manos en La Masa” written by Gladys Ornelas. Her story started off as a basic vision of what you would think a Mexican household would consist of, the mom as the housewife & the father as the breadwinner. But her story took an interesting turn, instead of growing fond of her culture or grasping a vision that she would be a housewife just as her mother was she rebelled against her culture instead. In her story she explains that she grew these rebellious feelings towards her culture because of actions that she witnessed from her father and seeing how it affected her mother. She allowed the audience to know that she would not tolerate nor allow herself to be subject to a future like. I can’t say I relate to her story because my household is not run in a “traditional” Hispanic way but I will say that her story did touch me. I can appreciate that even at a young age that she was at when she experienced all of this she realized that she wanted better for herself and wouldn’t settle for anything less. Her little 10 minutes of spotlight were my favorite throughout the whole event.
The FESTIBA event I attended was a a viewing of a film that showcased how the Mexican cinema changed after the Mexican Revolution. It was a start of a new generation of film. This film is compilation of many movies and pieces of music along with interviews and commentary from actors and directors, and producers that changed Mexican cinema. It commemorates over 80 years of cinema. I really enjoyed this film, I expected a long documentary on how Mexican cinema chafed over the years, but it wasn't that. It was these very short clips of different movies and actors, not one was repeated, it was very entertaining. Many of the clips were from films I had seen with my grandmother and it was a sweet reminder of my time with her. These clips included appearances from Cantinflas, Carmen Salinas, Javier Solis, Vicente Fernandez, Tin Tin, and the very famous Roberto Gomez Bolaños also known as Chespirito. Mexico de Mis Amores reminded me of how proud I am of my culture and heritage.
Attending both of the undergraduate creative writing showcases, it was amazing to know what a person is thinking. When people write we write about our own experiences or what is on our mind, what we think. It is almost vulnerable to put yourself out there in front of people and read exactly what you wrote and in these showcases that's what I got off of it. I want to go ahead and mention the showcase that we attended as a class because the very first girl who went up did amazing. All of the people who went up gave their own dosage of whatever pain, experience to those around them. I find that very powerful and endearing to say, those two days were very enjoyable.
A wonderfully performed production of the story of Hellen Keller and Annie Sullivan. I was familiar with the story beforehand, but impressed with the additional details I learned during the course of the play such as the fact that Annie's younger brother, Jamie, and the childhood she spent with him in an asylum continue to haunt her. The way this was explained to the audience (with spinets of audio allowing us to hear Jamie's voice and glimpse Annie's past while observing how these flashbacks torment her) was both creative an entertaining.
I was most impressed with Valerie Prince, the actor playing Hellen Keller, and the way she made me genuinely believe that she was blind and def- closed off from the world around her. As Annie would speak to Hellen during their lessons saying "No!" and other things out loud I found myself thinking things like, "Oh she can't hear you!" Especially in the scene where Annie sings a lullaby in the cabin when she's first left alone with Annie. I wondered if her character were misguidedly attempting to sooth Hellen, despite knowing she would not be heard, or was simply singing to sooth herself?
The two (or three?) hours of the play sped by quickly and I was always startled by the intermissions, especially the second time. I panicked for a moment, worried that the playwright had decided to allow us to infer the ending based on what we already knew about Hellen Keller, but then read the pamphlet and saw that there was a second intermission.
The frustration of every character in the play (from Hellen's parents who wanted to pity and coddle the girl, to Annie who wanted to discipline Hellen in order to effectively communicate with her, to Hellen herself, who had no way of making herself understood) all had a strong impact on me, and I found myself constantly conflicted over which side I should take. I never choose a side in the end, but empathized and cared for each of them.
This play was the story of Helen Keller and Anne, Helen's speech teacher (you could say it like that). The flow throughout the whole play was kept constant, which I believe is what made the story a lot more understanding and helped audience not to lose focus on what the story was all about. I believed it had great use (Act) of human senses, because throughout the whole play one could feel the annoyance Anne felt on having to deal with how Helens parents had her parents foolishness towards her on always giving her what she wanted.
I just feel like the ending of the play when Helen all of a sudden remembers all the words that Anne taught her was a bit to rushed. Yes, throughout the whole play Anne mentions that Helen just needs to learn one word in order to trigger the rest, I still felt like it was to sudden. I think that maybe after she triggered the word, they should have elaborated a bit longer on the rest of the words.
Over all this play was amazingly acted out and very entertaining. would definitely watch it again.
Brenda Salinas
ReplyDeleteCreative Non-Fiction FESTIBA
Yesterday I participated in FESTIBA with my creative non-fiction class. Our theme was “we the weird”. I didn’t know what to expect from this event, since I never been to one or even contributed in one. As we were getting our class ready, some students who weren’t in our class arrived. I was shocked that there were people who were actually attending to this event. I don’t mean to be rude, but I thought it was going to be boring. Oh boy, was I wrong. The students who read in my class had so much soul in them. I was moved by the way they read. My classmate Sergo, was so passionate when he read his story. All my classmates who read did a wonder job at it. I didn’t think that I would actually like it. All the passages that were read were made by my class mates. They had a talent at writing. I enjoyed it. What I thought was going to be a drag, was actually something fun and interesting.
I attended the first Undergraduate Creative Writing Showcase on Wednesday and it was a really fun experience. One by one students walked up to the front of the crowded class room and read exerts from their poems, fiction and non-fiction pieces. The theme of this years Festiba celebration is "Nuestras Raices" of getting back to our roots and I felt that a lot of what the students read really coincided with the theme. Many of the students read short stories about their childhood or their grandmothers who all pretty much sounded exactly like my cute little abuelita. Through these readings I really got a sense of what our culture is down here. As valley folk we thrive on the love from our families and the tortillas from our grandmas house. My favorite piece was by a student (and I totally forgot to write down his name) who dresses as a Mariachi to read his poem titled "Chicano exiled." His heartfelt poem was read half though a narrator and half through a mariachi and it was perfect. He told the story about his time in the hospital when he was receiving a bone marrow transplant and how much he missed the valley. He read his poem with such passion and you could here it through is "grito." I was able to talk to Robert Moreria after about his thoughts on the importance of the Arts in our culture here in the valley. Overall is was a great experience, I was really happy to hear about other students who had childhoods almost exactly like mine.
ReplyDeleteAndres Sanchez 20229480
ReplyDeleteUndergraduate Creative Writing Showcase I
As the title above says, I went to the creative writing showcase on Wednesday (and I also went to the second showcase on Thursday). Overall, it was a good experience where I got to hear (and sometimes see) the writing style of my peers and the voices that they wanted to share. For the most part, everyone who presented was eloquent in their writing and poignantly used figurative language to express their ideas in creative ways. There was one piece about the experience of standing atop a building watching the world go by, contemplating various things (including jumping off) that ended comically with the narrator being afraid of heights. There was also someone who dressed up as a Mariachi and began to convey in both narration and song his experience away from the valley. Another person wrote about her relationship to writing by incorporating and explaining the styles of famous writers in relation to her narrative. If I had to say I was disappointed at anything then it would be with two things: the first that each person ONLY had five minutes to read their material; and the second being that there was a lack of fiction pieces that were not based on a real-life experience. It would have been nice to see a bit of high fantasy there too. Other than that, it was a great experience and I think I learned a bit from it to use in my own writing and voice.
On Saturday I saw a play titled "Miracle Worker" which I found to be very entertaining and just very good. I really joyed the acting and how each actor interpenetrated their characters. I do know that here is a 198 film by the same title and plot as the play that was premiered on Saturday. I must say that the play stayed more original to the actual story. The actors who played Kate Keller, Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller did a fantastic job and brought the production to life.
ReplyDeleteI learned that (theatrical) plays are more powerful than when you see a movie or a TV show. When you are seeing a play, you are feeling the actors/character energy and vibes. You get a sense and put yourself in their shoes. There are so many dimension when seeing a play. As oppose to seeing a movie, it feels flat and only one dimension. A movie is all about special effects and whatnot, while a play is all about the acting.
For so long I have always preferred movies as oppose to plays. But after seeing this first play, I will start to look more into watching a play than a movie.
Adam Rivas
ReplyDelete"The Miracle Worker"
The FESTIBA event that I attended was the viewing of the play "The Miracle Worker" with my World Drama class this past Tuesday. Overall, I loved it and I am more than glad I got to watch this. The two best actors in the play were the ones who played Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. I was touched by how dedicated Anne was to teaching Helen Keller and took it upon herself to exceed her parent's expectations. The acting was so good that I actually felt as if I was watching a real flashback of the true events that had taken place. Not going to lie, I could feel the tears almost jerking from my eyes at the scene where Ms. Sullivan was crying. The sound and lighting was on point in order to make the audience feel as if they were actually there. I had seen quite a few plays back when I was in high school, but I would have to say this would have to be the best play that I have ever seen. 10/10. I would definitely recommend it.
WAKE UP Reflection
ReplyDeleteGoing into this FESTIBA event I was expecting some energetic interaction, hence the event name. Maybe some new poems or short stories that have been recently published were expected but instead I got something way different. I was soon up to find out that WAKE UP was an acronym for an all women’s performance group.
The group started off by reading an excerpt from a book written by Gloria Anzaldúa. By doing this they were also allowing anyone who participated in this event to give remembrance to their deceased loved ones. While the group was reading th excerpt it gave off a feeling as if we were in a memorial mourning the dead but also had a feel of The Craft wichy chanting too. It creeped me out a tad bit.
However after the “memorial ceremony” things got better. Some of the members from the WAKE UP group read us some of their writings. Although their writings had a consistency of writing about memories within their Hispanic culture they all had different themes. Some of those themes being happy & funny, sad & resentful, or learning survival skills.
The one that I found most interesting was titled “Con Las Manos en La Masa” written by Gladys Ornelas. Her story started off as a basic vision of what you would think a Mexican household would consist of, the mom as the housewife & the father as the breadwinner. But her story took an interesting turn, instead of growing fond of her culture or grasping a vision that she would be a housewife just as her mother was she rebelled against her culture instead.
In her story she explains that she grew these rebellious feelings towards her culture because of actions that she witnessed from her father and seeing how it affected her mother. She allowed the audience to know that she would not tolerate nor allow herself to be subject to a future like. I can’t say I relate to her story because my household is not run in a “traditional” Hispanic way but I will say that her story did touch me. I can appreciate that even at a young age that she was at when she experienced all of this she realized that she wanted better for herself and wouldn’t settle for anything less. Her little 10 minutes of spotlight were my favorite throughout the whole event.
Alexis Madrigal
ReplyDeleteTexas Studies Project
Mexico de Mis Amores
The FESTIBA event I attended was a a viewing of a film that showcased how the Mexican cinema changed after the Mexican Revolution. It was a start of a new generation of film. This film is compilation of many movies and pieces of music along with interviews and commentary from actors and directors, and producers that changed Mexican cinema. It commemorates over 80 years of cinema. I really enjoyed this film, I expected a long documentary on how Mexican cinema chafed over the years, but it wasn't that. It was these very short clips of different movies and actors, not one was repeated, it was very entertaining. Many of the clips were from films I had seen with my grandmother and it was a sweet reminder of my time with her. These clips included appearances from Cantinflas, Carmen Salinas, Javier Solis, Vicente Fernandez, Tin Tin, and the very famous Roberto Gomez Bolaños also known as Chespirito. Mexico de Mis Amores reminded me of how proud I am of my culture and heritage.
Selena Garza
ReplyDeleteAttending both of the undergraduate creative writing showcases, it was amazing to know what a person is thinking. When people write we write about our own experiences or what is on our mind, what we think. It is almost vulnerable to put yourself out there in front of people and read exactly what you wrote and in these showcases that's what I got off of it. I want to go ahead and mention the showcase that we attended as a class because the very first girl who went up did amazing. All of the people who went up gave their own dosage of whatever pain, experience to those around them. I find that very powerful and endearing to say, those two days were very enjoyable.
Andrea De Llano
ReplyDelete"The Miracle Worker"
A wonderfully performed production of the story of Hellen Keller and Annie Sullivan. I was familiar with the story beforehand, but impressed with the additional details I learned during the course of the play such as the fact that Annie's younger brother, Jamie, and the childhood she spent with him in an asylum continue to haunt her. The way this was explained to the audience (with spinets of audio allowing us to hear Jamie's voice and glimpse Annie's past while observing how these flashbacks torment her) was both creative an entertaining.
I was most impressed with Valerie Prince, the actor playing Hellen Keller, and the way she made me genuinely believe that she was blind and def- closed off from the world around her. As Annie would speak to Hellen during their lessons saying "No!" and other things out loud I found myself thinking things like, "Oh she can't hear you!" Especially in the scene where Annie sings a lullaby in the cabin when she's first left alone with Annie. I wondered if her character were misguidedly attempting to sooth Hellen, despite knowing she would not be heard, or was simply singing to sooth herself?
The two (or three?) hours of the play sped by quickly and I was always startled by the intermissions, especially the second time. I panicked for a moment, worried that the playwright had decided to allow us to infer the ending based on what we already knew about Hellen Keller, but then read the pamphlet and saw that there was a second intermission.
The frustration of every character in the play (from Hellen's parents who wanted to pity and coddle the girl, to Annie who wanted to discipline Hellen in order to effectively communicate with her, to Hellen herself, who had no way of making herself understood) all had a strong impact on me, and I found myself constantly conflicted over which side I should take. I never choose a side in the end, but empathized and cared for each of them.
It was a wonderful performance.
Linda Ponce
ReplyDeleteThe Miracle Worker
This play was the story of Helen Keller and Anne, Helen's speech teacher (you could say it like that). The flow throughout the whole play was kept constant, which I believe is what made the story a lot more understanding and helped audience not to lose focus on what the story was all about. I believed it had great use (Act) of human senses, because throughout the whole play one could feel the annoyance Anne felt on having to deal with how Helens parents had her parents foolishness towards her on always giving her what she wanted.
I just feel like the ending of the play when Helen all of a sudden remembers all the words that Anne taught her was a bit to rushed. Yes, throughout the whole play Anne mentions that Helen just needs to learn one word in order to trigger the rest, I still felt like it was to sudden. I think that maybe after she triggered the word, they should have elaborated a bit longer on the rest of the words.
Over all this play was amazingly acted out and very entertaining. would definitely watch it again.