Masking Surprise...

Oh! You surprised me...

Well, this past week on tuesday we were able to barely touch the surface on the bottomless ocean of MASKED DANCE. I was already so excited for this unit, and afterwards could not wait to do more research. Having lived in Africa twice already, our house has become a safe haven for mulitple kinds of masks. However, we could only take around ten with us to Seoul (even though we have acquired 3 more Talchem masks for the collection!).

Intrigued by these ever present memorials in my home, I found out about some other cool kinds of African masks I haven't even seen, either because they are from countries far away from where i was located, or they are just different from the other ones we place on our walls.

HELMET MASKS

 

BACKGROUND RESEARCH: "This type of mask is the only type of African mask reserved exclusively for women. It is used by female members of the Gola peoples (in Sierra Leone) during ceremonies as young girls are initiated into a women's secret society called Sande, an organization that is responsible for the education and socialization of young Gola girls. In the course of the initiation process, they learn an entire body of knowledge: rules of moral conduct, legends, dance steps, songs, and secret recipes for medicines." (http://uima.uiowa.edu/sande-mask/)

PERSONAL REACTION:  I really like the intense "look of concentration" on the face of this mask. Also, by the eyes being merely slits, it makes even the eyes not an identifier, allowing for this new identity to completely overtake the person. This mask makes me think of "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, when the village practices their secret ceremonies, and the men of the village who obviously wear masks to portray spirits are so enveloped in a mystical aura that they are actually believed to be that sacred by the village. It would be interesting to see how movement is executed in these masks.

BODY MASKS

BACKGROUND RESEARCH: "The celebrations that accompany the coming-out ceremonies [ in Southern Tanzania] involve feasting, dance and the masquerades of the midimu (sing. ndimu) spirit makers. The female body mask was part of the costume of a special ndimu masker called amwalindembo that was intended to represent a young pregnant woman. It was usually carved with a swollen abdomen decorated with the typical Makonde raised tattoos applied with beeswax (in this case carved in relief) and was always worn by a male masquerader together with a matching female facemask. The amwalindembo performed a sedate dance usually accompanied by a male ndimu masker, which dramatized the agonies of childbirth." (http://www.artfromafrica.com/bodymask.html)

PERSONAL REACTION: I really liked that by not only masking you face but your body as well, the actor is really becoming an entirely new person (in this case a man vs. a pregnant woman-- huge difference!) and embracing it completely.  I think that even though you are limiting the use of you own body, it in many ways opens up new possibilities for your body to "shed its skin" and adapt itself in different ways.

COON "CAPE MINSTREL" MASKS

 BACKGROUND RESEARCH: Origin South Africa. This type of mask is hand painted and serves as a disguise and comical face from way back when emancipation of slaves was proclaimed. The comical smiling disguise allowed slaves to dance right in the face of colonial masters singing at the top of his voice almost in a way as to vent all the pent up frustrations without being identified, hence no punishment. For three hundred years and more against all the odds this vibrant and  unique tradition still lives on in the heart of Cape Town as an annual carnival. (http://www.rebirth.co.za/african_mask_basic%20forms.htm)

PERSONAL RESPONSE: I have personally been to Cape Town twice and I love the vibrant feel of the city. I love that this is a more modern tradition of masked dance and celebration (since the 1840's). This is also a face painted mask, which unlike the helmet mask actually allows everything in the face to be seen, but with a different emotion and appearance. Every muscle still moves the same way, and is interesting how this prevents a "static face" which is often a limiting factor of masked dance.

<3

And the Winner is......

ME.

With every production, you can look back and see that you have obtained SOMETHING useful. Something that you can take away from it. Considering how generally well SGD went, I have quite a few I'd like to share:

COMPLIMENTS COUNT

- From the beginning there were naysayers about this production. In addition to that, there were people who just don't like me as a person. I have this philosophy where I don't need to people to love me, or even to like me, but i crave that they respect me for what i do well. And after this show, I really got that. Those who choose not to talk to me in a social setting went out of their ways to tell me how the play moved them. It makes me feel that much more powerful that I could still evoke a positive emotion from a person who doesn't prefer me as a friend.

DIFFERENTLY IS... DIFFERENT.

We as an IBTA Y1 class chose some things that weren't typically done, like doing the first year play as a whole group, and picking a highly dramatic and controversial play such as the one we did. SGD pushed us in new ways, and while they weren't necessarily easy problems, they weren't nearly as bad as we were anticipating. The worst of our problems were problems that any production could have faced, such as losing our building materials. Admittedly, there were some specific problems that we dealt with only because of our play, like getting into a serious mindset all the time and making sure our costumes were religiously acceptable. But I think that we made an even bigger splash on the scene by doing something bold and different. It clearly showed, because so many more people came the second night that we had anticipated on coming.

THE REAL DEAL

This show was unique for me in the sense that for the first time, I played a character that was my age, went to school like I did, had a family, had dreams. I was playing someone "real", and by playing this girl who ends her own life like that-- it made me realize that playing someone closer to you in real life can be ten times harder than playing something so far out of your realm of normalcy that it's humorous. This play was so real to me: the characters, the setting, even the intimacy of the audience, it took everything I knew about theatre and put it under a microscope. It was hard, and not what I was used to by any means, but it was a turning point in thinking as far as acting goes. Granted, I probably won't use this intimate acting as much as the grandstand musical theatre style, but it's so rewarding to know that this asset is now another thing i can work on and perfect. 

So to conclude, this production has taught me lots, only the tip of the iceberg has been mentioned here. I cannt wait to see what the future brings, and how this play will impact my life and theatrical work as a whole...

Till next time, Benji <3