This short excerpt is the beginning an interview (about the first 7 minutes of a 25 minute interview) I had with "Angie" a member of the a cappella community at Brown. I hope that soon I will be able to post the entire interview.
Brady: So Angie, what group are you in
Angie: Ursa Minors
B: And could describe them for me? Like the style, the make up…
A: Um, we describe ourselves as the sassiest all-girls group on campus and we sing, like, pop and bouncy songs.
[laughing]
A: I think that’s the best way to describe us
B: Let’s see, I’m just going to ask you a little bit about the community hear at Brown. So you’re a transfer, correct?
A: Mmm hmm
B: And you transferred from Columbia?
A: No, NYU.
B: Oh! I thought you went to Columbia…
A: I went to high school, Columbia prep.
B: Ohhhh…Okay
So did you do any a cappella at NYU?
A: Ummm…. No
B: No?
A: No. But in high school I did.
B: You did?
A: Mmm hmm
B: Was it, like, co-ed or all-girl…?
A: Um, I did all girl a cappella and also was in the chorus
B: Do you think Brown a cappella is special or different?
A: Yeah!
B: How so?
A: It’s , like, really intense. And it’s just really important to the Brown community, like, moreso than other schools. And hyperactive, I would say - a hyper active community.
B: So there are A LOT of groups on campus, 15 I think…
A: Really?
B: Yeah, right?
A: Not in the… galactic….
B: Intergalactic? [to be explained later]
How often do you interact with the other groups?
A: Whenever we sing concerts because we sometimes group up with someone, another group, I mean
B: Okay. So it’s only during concerts… usually?
A: Yeah, we don’t, like, rehearse together.
B: Do you ever hang out?
A: With another group?
B: Yeah.
A: Not really. There’s kind of… tension sometimes.
B: Why?
A: Well at least between other girl groups. Um, I guess it’s very competitive and so it’s kind of catty. But we’ve been trying to eliminate that.
B: How’s that been going?
A: Well…….. not bad
[laughing]
A: Very superficially
B: The other girl groups, how would you describe them?
A: Um… the Chattertocks are, like, these really chill hipster who sing, like, slow songs; my group’s obviously the best; and the Brownstones are a bunch of belters who sing a lot of pop, I guess. Yeah, the Tocks are really hipster-y, and my group is really cool.
[laughter]
B: Is there a difference between all-girl, all-guy, and co-ed?
A: Yeah, I would have to say so.
B: Like what?
A: You’re like, “elaborate on that.” Well, I think guys are, like, physically made for a cappella; their voices are more resonant and girls don’t sound as good. The guys are obviously able to put… they have a more mature setting already for, like, singing and so they sing a lot more on campus and are less prone to competition. It’s like more legit. And co-ed groups… I don’t really know much about co-ed groups. But, they seem nice.
[laughter]
A: Except for Harmo [Harmonic Motion]. Harmo’s weird. HARMO’S WEIRD.
[laughter]
B: So you were talking about how men’s voices are better suited for a cappella… Are there any gender limitations on what you can arrange?
A: Yeah, definitely. We, like, have to arrange songs that aren’t too low, obviously, like, we can’t do a bass part. Um… so the harmony isn’t as rounded, it’s not as full-sounding. And then like, I’d say with girls, it’s definitely more limited. The repertoire that’s going to sound good with girls a cappella is not as wide as in male a cappella.
B: So, you said you sing pop… that your group is more “poppy”
A: yeah, oldies too. It’s definitely pretty eclectic, I’d say. It’s, like, fun-lovin’ music. That’s how I would describe it. FUN-LOVIN’ MUSIC WOO HOO!
[Laughter]
B: Did you choose the Ursas based on their repertoire?
A: Well yeah, kind of… I mean…I thought that they just had the best CD. Like, after auditions I got called back for the Tocks and the Ursas and Harmo, but Harmo was never an option for me. I wanted all-girls. I listened to both CDs, and the Ursas’ CD was just, I thought, a lot cooler. It was just like I “vibed” with it more than the Chattertocks’. And um… it was partially group dynamics. I really got along well with the Ursas, not so much Tocks.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
B-Boys
The article by Schloss, entitled Like Old Folk Songs Handed Down From Generation to Generation: History, Canon, and Community in B-Boy Culture, in my opinion is mostly about the details of b-boy culture. It describes the technical aspects of the dance, terminology, development, and other aspects. One of the most interesting arguments I found is how modern hip hop culture is straying away from the complete four elements: MC, DJ, b-boy, and graffiti. Modern rap/hip hop songs are too slow for break dancing and the rapper is becoming the most esteemed element, with the DJ a distant second. Schloss argues that the emphasis on the MC leads to a superficial hip hop. He maintains that only with the dance element can it be called true hip hop.
Discussion:
Is break dancing as necessary a part of hip hop culture as it used to be? Can hip hop truly be called so without it?
Discussion:
Is break dancing as necessary a part of hip hop culture as it used to be? Can hip hop truly be called so without it?
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Filling the Void
PW scares me. Production Workshop (PW) is a non-profit student theater group at Brown University. It puts on four shows per year, and so far all of the plays have been extremely avant-garde... to put it nicely. One particularly interesting show had a naked man rolling around in a bed of nails screaming for over ten minutes. Being more into musical theater and its wonderful cheesiness, I stayed well away from PW. However, I was soon put on the spot by a friend to go see Metamorphoses, an adaptation of Ovid’s poem of the same name, which was being put on by PW. I begrudgingly agreed, even though I was a bit skeptical.
I walked into the performance space, a black box theater with risers of seating on each wall, and was intrigued by the simplicity of the set. In one corner sat a small staircase, and in the opposite corner a low platform. As I sat reading the program, I was surprised by the director’s note stating that the play was not supposed to change how theater is performed or to delve deep into philosophical arguments; it was supposed to entertain. I thought that perhaps, I was going to enjoy the night after all.
The Music
The play started off slowly, with a frame story gradually moving from tale to tale all the while weaving music into the storyline. Music played many different characters within the show, in some instances it was used to instill a sense of levity, like when all of the women danced together with mirrors to Beyonce Knowles’ Diva. There was one specific case where it played both the comic and the harbinger of what was to come. In the story of King Midas, the man who wishes that everything he touched turned to solid gold, Mo Money, Mo Problems by Biggie Smalls, Mase, and Puff Daddy is played. Hilarity ensues as a white kid comes out dressed in a gold track suit, a slanted baseball cap and a large gold dollar sign chain. Nonetheless, it also foreshadows the problems that arise with Midas’ wish: when his daughter tries to hug him, she turns to solid gold.
Music plays yet another, more critical role within the frame of the play. During the times of great passion (lust, love, reverence, anger, etc.) parts of the soundtrack to The Hours, composed by Philip Glass, could be heard as the actors portrayed their emotions through dance and movement instead of words. The music from this movie is very “heavy”, charged with sentiment and feeling. This gravity that the music depicted in these instances was in stark contrast to the humor it carried in other aspects of the work. In my opinion, the dichotomy was set up to illustrate the different facets of the show: at some points contemporary, with a modern soundtrack, and at others traditional, with a classical soundtrack.
The Audience
As I looked around after the performance was over, I saw a relatively homogeneous group of audience members. It was mainly, if not completely made up of, Brown students (I know this as I knew most of the audience or had at least seen them around campus), and so therefore relatively young; their ages ranging from 18 to approximately 23, most likely. Also, I knew much of the audience to be active members within the theater community at Brown. After the show, I was able to sit and discuss it with some of the audience and I was surprised by how many people were pleased with how watchable it was. I sensed an overwhelming backlash within the theater community and even within the PW community against the more experimental theater that had been put on throughout the year by PW. Though there were some comments about how the play didn’t make them think as much as other shows, the people I talked to quickly followed with another along the lines of, “But I enjoyed just being entertained; it was a nice change.” There was an obvious void within the dramatic arts community that this particular production filled.
The Director
The show was directed by a senior at Brown University by the name of Mark Brown II. In his note in the program, he talks about the many different influences that he has/had throughout his life that have played a part in shaping who he is and consequently what the show is. He mentions how he is part of both the African-American and gay communities and also his Southern upbringing. His ethnicity had a minor part in influencing his choice of music, as he discusses in his program notes, selecting Hip Hop and R&B songs, which are generally considered to be black genres, to enhance the presentation. Though race plays a small part, I believe that his being raised in the South had a larger, more crucial role in his direction. I can definitely understand how a Southern upbringing would influence a less radical realization of a piece. I see the Northeast as more of a hot bed for theoretical theater, as compared to the South which, to me, would favor a more traditional interpretation. Perhaps it is a part of the “Southern Hospitality” mentality manifesting itself in the wanting to put on a good show for people to enjoy and be entertained. The Southern gentlemen character within Mark Brown was definitely present in his agreeable production.
Conclusion
This particular program turned out the way that it did because of two main features present which influenced, albeit indirectly, how the production was shaped. The first was the niche that was created within the theater community by the rash of radical productions put on by PW. Mark Brown stepped in to fill the void with his more traditional outlook on theater. Within the vehicle of this show, Brown used music as a vehicle for the emotions present in the dialogue. He carefully wields this tool to highlight what is being said by the actors and intertwines it with dance to craft a program satisfying to an audience that is hungry for an agreeable performance. There were many forces at work on the show which utilized the universal nature of music to convey universal themes.
(1034)
I walked into the performance space, a black box theater with risers of seating on each wall, and was intrigued by the simplicity of the set. In one corner sat a small staircase, and in the opposite corner a low platform. As I sat reading the program, I was surprised by the director’s note stating that the play was not supposed to change how theater is performed or to delve deep into philosophical arguments; it was supposed to entertain. I thought that perhaps, I was going to enjoy the night after all.
The Music
The play started off slowly, with a frame story gradually moving from tale to tale all the while weaving music into the storyline. Music played many different characters within the show, in some instances it was used to instill a sense of levity, like when all of the women danced together with mirrors to Beyonce Knowles’ Diva. There was one specific case where it played both the comic and the harbinger of what was to come. In the story of King Midas, the man who wishes that everything he touched turned to solid gold, Mo Money, Mo Problems by Biggie Smalls, Mase, and Puff Daddy is played. Hilarity ensues as a white kid comes out dressed in a gold track suit, a slanted baseball cap and a large gold dollar sign chain. Nonetheless, it also foreshadows the problems that arise with Midas’ wish: when his daughter tries to hug him, she turns to solid gold.
Music plays yet another, more critical role within the frame of the play. During the times of great passion (lust, love, reverence, anger, etc.) parts of the soundtrack to The Hours, composed by Philip Glass, could be heard as the actors portrayed their emotions through dance and movement instead of words. The music from this movie is very “heavy”, charged with sentiment and feeling. This gravity that the music depicted in these instances was in stark contrast to the humor it carried in other aspects of the work. In my opinion, the dichotomy was set up to illustrate the different facets of the show: at some points contemporary, with a modern soundtrack, and at others traditional, with a classical soundtrack.
The Audience
As I looked around after the performance was over, I saw a relatively homogeneous group of audience members. It was mainly, if not completely made up of, Brown students (I know this as I knew most of the audience or had at least seen them around campus), and so therefore relatively young; their ages ranging from 18 to approximately 23, most likely. Also, I knew much of the audience to be active members within the theater community at Brown. After the show, I was able to sit and discuss it with some of the audience and I was surprised by how many people were pleased with how watchable it was. I sensed an overwhelming backlash within the theater community and even within the PW community against the more experimental theater that had been put on throughout the year by PW. Though there were some comments about how the play didn’t make them think as much as other shows, the people I talked to quickly followed with another along the lines of, “But I enjoyed just being entertained; it was a nice change.” There was an obvious void within the dramatic arts community that this particular production filled.
The Director
The show was directed by a senior at Brown University by the name of Mark Brown II. In his note in the program, he talks about the many different influences that he has/had throughout his life that have played a part in shaping who he is and consequently what the show is. He mentions how he is part of both the African-American and gay communities and also his Southern upbringing. His ethnicity had a minor part in influencing his choice of music, as he discusses in his program notes, selecting Hip Hop and R&B songs, which are generally considered to be black genres, to enhance the presentation. Though race plays a small part, I believe that his being raised in the South had a larger, more crucial role in his direction. I can definitely understand how a Southern upbringing would influence a less radical realization of a piece. I see the Northeast as more of a hot bed for theoretical theater, as compared to the South which, to me, would favor a more traditional interpretation. Perhaps it is a part of the “Southern Hospitality” mentality manifesting itself in the wanting to put on a good show for people to enjoy and be entertained. The Southern gentlemen character within Mark Brown was definitely present in his agreeable production.
Conclusion
This particular program turned out the way that it did because of two main features present which influenced, albeit indirectly, how the production was shaped. The first was the niche that was created within the theater community by the rash of radical productions put on by PW. Mark Brown stepped in to fill the void with his more traditional outlook on theater. Within the vehicle of this show, Brown used music as a vehicle for the emotions present in the dialogue. He carefully wields this tool to highlight what is being said by the actors and intertwines it with dance to craft a program satisfying to an audience that is hungry for an agreeable performance. There were many forces at work on the show which utilized the universal nature of music to convey universal themes.
(1034)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Whiggers
The article by David Hayes entitled Fear of (And Fascination With) a Black Planet: The Relocation of Rap by White Non-Urban Youth was basically about whiggers, i.e. white kids who dress and act in a hip hop fashion. Hayes uses a Canadian suburb for his study. He brings up the issue of these kids having no connection with the black community. They therefore get all of their information from rap songs, which is rarely true to the actual circumstances present in reality; it is more of a caricature. Overall, I think that the article is very critical of white hip hop fans in general. This raises the question of what it means to be able to identify as hip hop. Can a white person identify as hip hop? Does one have to be urban? What is the subcultural capital for this scene? If it IS race and urbanity, why is the subcultural capital so stringent? Does being white go against the basic ideals of hip hop?
For Discussion:
Do you have to be black to be hip hop?
For Discussion:
Do you have to be black to be hip hop?
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