☆Semester 2☆

Arts TRYathlon #1: Choose Your Own Adventure

02162024, GGWB Planet

#visualart, #music, #dance, #presentation, #competition

For Arts TRYathlon #1, I attended GGWB Planet. GGWB is an Asian pop dance cover group here on campus and every semester (that I've been here) they’ve held this event. GGWB Planet places you in a group where you must learn and perform an assigned K-pop group choreography in about an hour. Learning choreography is always super fun and challenges me to replicate movements, working in a team was also a great experience as you get to share techniques and pointers. Because of the limited time we have to put together the dance, it challenges you on teamwork, time management, and working under pressure which I can use in the future. Dancing in front of all the other groups and judges was super validating you do a lot of hard work and get to see it all come together, not to mention you get to watch the other groups perform (I’m always blown away by everyone's artistry). My group got super good critiques from the judges they said our facial expressions were really on point and we understood the vibe of the song which is one of the highest praises a dancer can get. Having good stage presence makes people engage with your performance more. Clearly we stuck in their minds because we got 2nd place out of 7 groups; not bad! 

Arts TRYathlon #2: Choose Your Own Adventure

03082024, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

#improv, #comedy, #musicperformancce, #stageproduction

For Arts TRYathalon #2, I went to “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”. Colbert was amazing he’s an extremely entertaining and magnetic performer. His artistry is so impressive knowing he memorizes scripts and jokes so quickly and can read the room with immense accuracy. Watching his segments really epitomizes it takes a village. Watching all the stagehands run around and the efficiency of the cameramen is breathtaking. I even found myself staring at the lighting design and how it accentuated certain parts of the performance, something I never really noticed before. Unfortunately the Musical Guest “De La Soul” was prerecorded, their performance nonetheless was interesting conceptually. They “cooked” up the different elements of the song, Comparing mixing beats to cooking food is a really interesting concept as a recipe has ingredients music has different elements. Without elements like rhythm, melody, or tone music can’t exist. The Highlight of the night was definitely the late show's band “Stay Human”. They performed during every commercial break and wow did they perform. The percussion was perfect and both brass players exhibited amazing breath control/capacity during their respective solos. I found as a fellow bassist I was enamored by their bassist's alternating plucking string (requires intense coordination within your hand). They added so much to the show, keeping up the atmosphere must be prioritized so the audience doesn’t go too dead, and they kept it up!

<<<<<De La Souls performance!  

Arts TRYathlon #3: Art Scholars Event

03292024, Pottery Class Craft and Chat

#3D, #ceramics, #sculpting, #visualart

For Arts TRYathalon #3, I went to the pottery craft and chat class. I’ve taken many 3D art classes so I was already familiar with the medium of clay. We were tasked with making pinch pots since there wouldn’t be enough time to throw. Throwing is when you use a pottery wheel to pull the clay into usually round dishware. I decided I wanted to add a handle to my pinch pot so I could have a mug. The instructor for the class taught us how to pull the clay into the shape of a pot, how to smooth out cracks in the clay, and how to attach other clay with the score and slip method. I wanted to add a little extra to my mug so I decided to use the score and slip to attach a nose to my mug. I then used a detailing tool to etch a face into the surface of the mug. Clay is a very flexible (literally) medium I find it inspires the most creativity in me because I’m usually making something that will serve me a purpose in the future, like a mug or dish set. This craft and chat was a very relaxing and immersive artistic experience.