LIFE Reflection #1

My first experience working with Barbara Oliver for L.I.F.E. was helping her film and edit clips. We started by interviewing a woman who lives in the LIFE apartments, a recently married handicapped woman, about her garden. Barbara knew how to use the camera better, so she did most of the filming and had me work as a guide to the woman, to lead her in the direction she was supposed to go, and to prompt her with questions. I used the camera several times, something that I have never attempted to do before. We also went into her house and interviewed/filmed about her home, what she did, her hobbies, etc. Afterwards, we went to Barbara's office and uploaded the clips onto the computer. The biggest part of making the movie, I found, was not the filming (although that was time consuming, as we went to about 3 different locations and had to do re-takes, but deciding what clips to use. We ended up with about 15 clips for what would ultimately be about a minute-long video. Barbara and I debated for a while about which ones to use; I found that I had to really think about what would be most effective in a short video to help the cause of LIFE, and which clips were most informative, and then the ways in which they should be put together. We decided on some of the clips, but we weren't able to start editing the video and putting it together because the software she normally uses was not working. However, next time we plan to continue with editing and even more filming. I found that this was a really good experience. I honestly was not expecting to enjoy myself, but I genuinely liked learning to use the camera and looking for the right lighting and composition for video clips (as I like art, it plays to my interests and strengths), and I liked trying to pick which clips were the best to put together for a really effective video. I also found that I was very impressed with the woman that we were interviewing. I've never really spent a long amount of time with a handicapped person outside of middle school, and I was really amazed by how she handled herself. She was definitely struggling, but I really liked talking to her and seeing the way she lived. It was really quite inspiring to see how she works to live, not limited by any kind of handicap. I will hopefully be seeing Barbara soon, and we will continue this work.

Ballet Reflection #5

This Monday was my first class in two weeks, and none of the other students showed up, so I had a pricate class. It was very nice, because the teacher was able to focus on fine-tuning some smaller things that might need work; for example, she helped me with my plies in fifth position and my arabesques. She taught me some new steps (the names of which I cannot remember), and I notice that they are getting significantly harder. The steps she taught me were reminiscent of figure skating, which I took for several years when I was younger. I noticed that I have improved a lot on my shenae turns, staying in a straight line as I twirl and not getting too dizzy. I also have become much more flexible; I can go down further in a split than I have ever been able to before, and I started doing my barre stretches with my foot on the taller barre. It was an exhausting class, because I was working consistently and the teacher was focusing on me getting things exactly right. I am still seeing a lot of progress in my ballet.

Ballet Reflection #4

As the weeks go by, the difficulty of what I learn in ballet goes up and up. I am amazed that this is only my fourth lesson, because every week we seem to progress into more and more complex steps. This class I noticed that my shenae turns are getting much better; I don't end up so dizzy, and I move across the floor in a far more straight line. I also notice that I am much more flexible when we do our stretches against the bar, and my leg will move much further up. Today we started to make the basic things more complicated; for example, adding plies into some of the moves, and speeding up our frappes. We also learned some new and more complex footwork. It was hard to keep up with, but I almost take that as a god thing because it shows that I am attaining a level of greater difficulty. My legs have been sore ever since the lesson, and my arms as well; I have been much better at holding my arms the right way, which is an exhausting thing to do. All in all, I am excited that we are doing so many new, complicated things, and I am definitely getting stronger and more flexible.