Learning Journal #23

Overall, I'm starting to finally get the concept that I'm supposed to be digging deeper in these learning journals-- truly expressing my inner thoughts about my project and how it is developing.
Andrew asked me how my course contracts will contribute to my experience. Well, there is really only one thing: for the dance class I'll be taking, I have to record (whether video or written) 10 dances... that is ideal and yes, it can be lessened if time doesn't permit. BUT I must do more than just record them, I must discover what they mean, where they are from and then..... drumroll... I, Corrine Christison, must LEARN them!!! YES! I MUST LEARN 10 GHANAIAN DANCES!!! How will that affect my experience, heck... that will be my cultural experience!

I'm so excited for this opportunity because that is a large part as to why I wanted to go to Ghana and study dance. Dance is such a HUGE part of my life-- when I dance, it is one of the few times I feel truly free; and I know for Africans, it means largely the same thing! Already I feel a kinship with these people on so many levels-- dance just being one of them.

Apart from that, further research must be done so I can get more sources regarding dance, African dance, and expressionism. (Now, for those of you who are sad about my not doing nationalism anymore... don't worry! That will still be something I am looking for in what Ghanaians are expressing while they dance.... all is not lost!)

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This past week in class we talked about how we label/ categorize things. I have always been very aware of how I categorize my life.... because I'm actually insanely particular about it. Because of my need to label things, I've been able to see the good AND bad of it. It's good because it helps us group things in our lives, see what things have in common; yet at the same time, it's bad because it limits the potential. For example, if I label someone as a friend, that limits their potential of ever becoming more than that; if I label something as weird, it'll forever be weird.

I must be conscious of how I label things in Ghana... I must make sure to label my host family in a proper way so I don't ignore them like my roommates... a different country calls for different categories.