Dance Critique Essay Example for Free

Dance Critique Essay Ballet â€Å"Cry† simply showed to us real life of all African women. Every single American people know what kind of life they went through. Therefore it touched their heard. Alvin Ailey’s â€Å"Cry† presented wonderfully combined movements, technique and emotion. Ms. Donna Wood uses tragic face, a mask of sorrow. It is a face born to cry, but when she smiles it is with an innocent radiance, joyfulness that simple and lovely. She never tries consciously to please an audience. He was not only concentrating in movements and physical performance, but also using flowing white gown with a long white scarf for the dancer. A long sleeve white blouse is slim, to show the dancers body. Especially her movement and technique. It made dance more interesting to audience. This beautiful piece of modern dance consists of three sections. Ms. Donna Wood performed solo dance for 16 minutes from section to section. Her ways through the dance are different in movement quality that she gives to each passage. In this tribute to black women, the free sprit or the African women comes through in the energy of her dancing. In the first section started on dark stage, only dancer has a spotlight. Music was soft and smooth. We could hear only piano while dancer was walking forward in straight posture with graceful movement. Started with smooth then mixed up with sharp and pedestrian movements. She uses long white scarf on the floor by showing to us hard work. In dance we say †low† level. For example, she scrubs the floor, uses as a headband representing to carry something. Emotionally sad ness, she worked hard, she contracts in pain, she flutters her hands like captive birds and she tried to get out of struggling life, but she never gives up. There is pain here as well as power, and the music, so oddly modern to me. In the end of the first section she starts picking up her dress, shows her leg and fills the stage. Basically first part of work showed their slaver life and unhappy living. In the second section background lightening became blue and the stage color gets brighter. Still we can see and feel some dark sides of lightening. Music tempo was faster and stronger and Ms. Donna Wood has stronger movements. The most interesting in this section was singing human voice. She starts to sing and has a little smile on her face. Most of her movement shape was very sharp, edgy and angled especially her arms at first. She represents them to be united and get free. By jumping and crossing arms, she sinks to earth and then she rises. Strong steps and ecstatically raised arms, dances freely off the stage, toward freedom. In short, in this part of work the young women life get better and better, but still it wasn’t completed. In the third section Ms. Donna Wood looks like an African goddess and her body has an unexpected gracefulness. Even stage color was bright reddish, warm atmosphere around the dancer, like a sunrise in the morning. Stage would fill with colors. Music and performer are singing together. A sound of music tempo gets faster. She has the happiest face ever, no pain and no slavery. She jumps, she swings her leg and arms, and even she pulls her dress up and shows her leg an entire dance. Sound and lightening create the environment and good mood. She uses high level of dance than in previous two sections. She moves in between melody. I liked how she uses the stage in this section. She has the high energy to cover so much space by dancing alone. Finally, Ms. Donna Wood gives us her version of black power and black pride in â€Å"be free†. In conclusion, the solo dance â€Å"Cry† performed by Ms. Donna Wood has 3 sections for 16 minutes work. An African women’s journey through the agonies of slavery to an ecstatic stage of grace. She dances with an articulated beauty, serene, together and womanly. She holds herself a little aloof from the audience, but she is reserved rather than shy. She is wonderfully proud, from the poise of her head set perfectly on a long, strong neck. The simplicity of the staging was exemplary, and the lighting made most telling contribution in varying the effect of each section and matching work. Ms. Donna Wood’s angular, cleanly shaped gestures slashed through the air for an exciting finale. Alvin Ailey made it for her and as a birthday present for his mother.

Columbus: A Great Discoverer or Villain Essay -- Christopher Columbus

Columbus: A Great Discoverer or Villain A national holiday celebrating achievements of an individual reflects a nation’s appreciation for that person’s deeds. Christopher Columbus’s Day is an official national holiday in the United States of America. However, a careful examination of Columbus’ expeditions and his methods of settlement in the so-called New World should change the nation’s opinion about the necessity of the holiday. In my way of thinking, Columbus’ arrival to the Indies has brought destruction and death. His motives, such as prosperity by means of exploiting the native population, were immoral, and therefore I cannot accept the idea of celebrating Columbus’ Day as a National Holiday.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Columbus is credited with finding the new world, but did he really discover it? In my opinion, it is not possible to discover land that was already there, occupied by native people. When Columbus claimed to be a founder of the new land, he did not take in consideration a very important aspect about the existing civilization, its customs and traditions that were practiced in that area for thousands of years. Blinded by the idea of prosperity, he ignored the moral beliefs and introduced slavery as a compensation of promised numerous amounts of gold to the Spanish sovereigns. Irving Rouse, the author of the book Tainos, states: â€Å"When the crown complained about the lack of income from the colony, Columbus sent a shipload of captives to Spain to be sold as slaves in a desperate attempt to satisfy that complaint† (Rouse p.151). This serves as a perfect example of how low he thought of natives, not taking in consideration their right to live. Having established goldmines throughout the colony, Columbus found it necessary to take advantage of a local population, Tainos, as means of a cheap labor that was needed for work in goldmines. Rouse states: â€Å"When Christopher Columbus returned to Hispaniola in the summer of 1498, he placated Roldan by authorizing him to seize Indians in the chiefdom of Xaragua and divide them among his followers to use as forced laborers at the goldfields.† (p.153) In his point of view, Taino people deserved to be treated in such a manner, because they constantly rebelled against his rule, not realizing the fact that he was the one that intruded their way of life and caused so many innocent people to suffer. The re... ... point where we stand now. My opponents have tendency to glorify our nation despite the fact that it was build on suffering and extinction of almost entire civilization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, I would like to point out the misinterpretation of Columbus’ actions during the settlement in North America. His arrival to the â€Å"New World† brought along destruction and death. Columbus, after failing to comply with his promise to the King and Queen about increasing their revenues by bringing enormous amounts of gold, introduced the idea of slavery. He also became responsible for extinction of Taino population by forcing them to work in goldmines. Refusing to give up after several attempts to prosper from the â€Å"discovered land† and obvious lack of administrative ability causes even more devastating results described as genocide. After what I have said, the question, whether or not Columbus Day should be a National Holiday in the United States, should not be an issue, since honoring the man who is responsible for elimination of the whole race would be a sin. Such an example of misleading National Holiday left me with a d oubtful feeling about the origin of the rest! Columbus: A Great Discoverer or Villain Essay -- Christopher Columbus Columbus: A Great Discoverer or Villain A national holiday celebrating achievements of an individual reflects a nation’s appreciation for that person’s deeds. Christopher Columbus’s Day is an official national holiday in the United States of America. However, a careful examination of Columbus’ expeditions and his methods of settlement in the so-called New World should change the nation’s opinion about the necessity of the holiday. In my way of thinking, Columbus’ arrival to the Indies has brought destruction and death. His motives, such as prosperity by means of exploiting the native population, were immoral, and therefore I cannot accept the idea of celebrating Columbus’ Day as a National Holiday.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Columbus is credited with finding the new world, but did he really discover it? In my opinion, it is not possible to discover land that was already there, occupied by native people. When Columbus claimed to be a founder of the new land, he did not take in consideration a very important aspect about the existing civilization, its customs and traditions that were practiced in that area for thousands of years. Blinded by the idea of prosperity, he ignored the moral beliefs and introduced slavery as a compensation of promised numerous amounts of gold to the Spanish sovereigns. Irving Rouse, the author of the book Tainos, states: â€Å"When the crown complained about the lack of income from the colony, Columbus sent a shipload of captives to Spain to be sold as slaves in a desperate attempt to satisfy that complaint† (Rouse p.151). This serves as a perfect example of how low he thought of natives, not taking in consideration their right to live. Having established goldmines throughout the colony, Columbus found it necessary to take advantage of a local population, Tainos, as means of a cheap labor that was needed for work in goldmines. Rouse states: â€Å"When Christopher Columbus returned to Hispaniola in the summer of 1498, he placated Roldan by authorizing him to seize Indians in the chiefdom of Xaragua and divide them among his followers to use as forced laborers at the goldfields.† (p.153) In his point of view, Taino people deserved to be treated in such a manner, because they constantly rebelled against his rule, not realizing the fact that he was the one that intruded their way of life and caused so many innocent people to suffer. The re... ... point where we stand now. My opponents have tendency to glorify our nation despite the fact that it was build on suffering and extinction of almost entire civilization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, I would like to point out the misinterpretation of Columbus’ actions during the settlement in North America. His arrival to the â€Å"New World† brought along destruction and death. Columbus, after failing to comply with his promise to the King and Queen about increasing their revenues by bringing enormous amounts of gold, introduced the idea of slavery. He also became responsible for extinction of Taino population by forcing them to work in goldmines. Refusing to give up after several attempts to prosper from the â€Å"discovered land† and obvious lack of administrative ability causes even more devastating results described as genocide. After what I have said, the question, whether or not Columbus Day should be a National Holiday in the United States, should not be an issue, since honoring the man who is responsible for elimination of the whole race would be a sin. Such an example of misleading National Holiday left me with a d oubtful feeling about the origin of the rest!

Religion in the workplace Essay

Religion is protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing people who work for an employer to be able to ask or take time off in order to observe a religious holiday or attend services. It also forbids employers to discharge, discriminate, limit or segregate any employee based off of their religious preferences. According to what is stated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 employees are allowed to take that time off of work for religious reasons as long as the employer does not experience any kind of hardship due to the absence of the employee. If a business does not comply with what the law states they can receive up to $1,000.00 fine, one year in jail or possibly both. Some examples of religious accommodations qualified employers must take are: 1. Providing tuition reimbursement even if it is a specific religion course. 2. Allowing employees not to participate in training sessions due to their religion. 3. Employees are allowed to engage in any religious expression. 4. Allowing flexible scheduling around someone’s religious preferences. 5. Providing time and or place to pray. It is important for employers to understand how religion is protected by Title VII because if they fail to comply they can receive hefty fines and possibly jail time. An employer can also be sued by someone if they fail to allow them to express their religious preferences. As for employees it is definitely necessary for them to know about Title VI when it comes to religion. Knowing this information will allow an individual to express their religious rights inside the workplace and not feel threatened because they might believe differently than others. COMING TO AMERICA The group that I choose to talk about is Muslims. This group faces religious discrimination in this country today and has seen an increase of discrimination after September 11th. People assume that because some radical terrorists created 9/11 that all people from that religion is against everyone in the United States. It is sad to hear this because it has been shown that most Muslims do not agree with the radical terrorists. There is even a word that describes the mass hysteria of people who are prejudicial towards Muslims called Islamaphobia. Several articles that I have read stated that people are extremely judgmental towards this group as well as hostile towards any Muslim people they come across. It seems that workplace discrimination towards this group is on the rise as well with several lawsuits pending towards different companies. Most of the lawsuits have to do with the ethnic attire and praying that Muslims do. Do I believe that they can overcome this type of discrimination? No I think they have a long hard road to go. Unfortunately there are a lot of uneducated people in the US and people tend to blame a whole group not just the individual in a terrorist situation. What needs to happen is more education on that religion and harsher judgments towards people who do hate crimes towards a Muslim.

The Accurate Depiction of Adolescent Depression in It’s...

ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION IN IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY BY NED VIZZINI Almost everyone will experience sadness in their life. The death of a loved one, a lost friendship, or even a broken heart. Most people know that feeling of a heavy heart and mind. Now imagine feeling these sadness anchors drag you down every day. Adolescent depression is a serious mood disorder that can suck happiness out of a person’s life. It can be normal for a teen to experience unhappiness every once in a while, but depression is a more intense case of this. With all the pressure put on today’s adolescence, more and more teens have been suffering from this mind disease. It’s Kind Of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini is a clever fictional story from the perspective of a†¦show more content†¦Craig has a hard time overcoming his sadness and it gets to the point where even his tentacles have tentacles. Many people do not realize that depression isn’t something one can simply conquer with determination (â€Å"Diseases and Conditions: Teen Depressi on†). It should be treated as a disease that cannot be stopped only helped. I believe that everyone has their own anchors and tentacles in their lives. One large part of depression is recognizing the signs and symptoms such as negative moods, stress vomiting, low energy, lack of hunger, and more. When depressed, your emotional, physical, and behavioral well being is jumbled around (â€Å"Diseases and Conditions: Teen Depression†). Let’s face it, high school is an emotional roller coaster by itself, but many of the warning signs of depression can go unseen (â€Å"Diseases and Conditions: Teen Depression†). When one is experiencing depression they might intentionally remove themselves from social interactions, stop eating, experience stress vomiting, experience lack of enthusiasm, have extreme mood shifts, or even have thoughts of suicide (â€Å"Depression† 2). A single adolescent affected by depression may have one or all of these symptoms for they vary from person to person (â€Å"Depression† 2). For example, in It’s Kind Of a Funny Story, Craig suffers many symptoms of depression such as stress vomiting, lack of appetite, extreme sadness, and low energy (Vizzini 15). Craig even contemplates jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge