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.

Learning Journal #22

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT: CORRINE CHANGES HER PROJECT!! EXTRA! EXTRA!

After talking with Margaret (who I'm sure talked with Ashley about my proposal), it was suggested that I choose either nationalism OR dance. I chose DANCE!!!!! So my new focus will just be on how dance is a form of expression. I will be studying the culture in Wiamoase, and through participant observation and interviews, I will be able to explore their world of dance and see what it is that they love about it.

The background for my project is pretty clear: Dance is used to express the inner workings of one's soul. I've gotten some really good information out of my textbook for Dance 260 entitledHistory of the Dance in Art and Education. The book opens with this quote:

"Dance is a nearly universal behavior with a history probably as old as humanity itself... Dance is embedded in our being.... The dynamics of dance, culture and society are inseparable" (11)"

All I know is that dance is truly embedded in my being and I know that it is in Ghanaian's blood too. I wanted to show you some pictures to illustrate the different emotions or ideas that can be expressed through dance:

1. The first picture represents EMOTION: We had a modern dance song during my apartment's "10 minutes of dancing in honor of 10/10/10". You can tell by the way we are positioned, even the looks on our faces that we had a particular emotion in mind (some good, some bad).

2. The second picture represents HISTORY: This is one of my companions from my mission. Dancing with her allowed us to revisit our friendship, and all the good times we had on the mission. Sometimes dance can be used to revisit the past, and reembody those same feelings.

3. The last picture represents COMMUNICATION: This was one of the first outings with my roommates and it was a blast! We were able to communicate with each other-- our happiness that we were roommates, our enjoyment with each others company-- simply through our dancing together. It was incredible!

So see.... dance is used to express so many things and I'm really excited to go to Ghana and ask the people of Wiamoase what they express when dancing!