As the Kimball performance draws closer I realize that I am getting nervous. I really don't like to stand in front of large groups of people, especially when performing something. Hopefully it will be ok, an it helps that I will not be the only person on the stage at any time. I hope we get the whole presentation choreographed today so the last class before the performance can be used purely for practice. I think we need it.

Besides thinking about our upcoming performance I hope class today will be relaxing because I have a lot going on this week, and next week and need a stress relief. It feels so strange that the semester is almost over, there are pretty much two more weeks of classes, Thanksgiving, another week of classes and then Christmas break! I am very excited for Thanksgiving because I will be going home and will get to see my family and hopefully some friends, although they do not have Thanksgiving breaks in Norway.

The semester has gone by so quickly and it will be strange to start a whole new set of classes with new professors as well. I always feel like I am just getting fully into my classes when registration comes around and I have to find new classes. This is true also in ICAP. It is hard to really understand this class and get used to the idea of something so different, so it will be strange to no longer have a class like this next semester.

My room gets very beautiful morning light. When I wake up early I see the sunrise from the window. Sunrises and sunsets have always fascinated me. I though I would share one my my many pictures of the horizon that I took from my window at home in Norway a few years ago.

In the most recent classes it has been exciting and interesting to see how we have been able to apply what we have learned to create short performances of the scenes of the Ramayana. I really did not think we knew enough about classical Asian performance to create some of the scenes we have made. The most surprising thing about it, I think, is that it has been seemingly easy as well. There has not been much thinking or planning of how to do the scene, who should be the characters etc. We decide on a scene, people step up as the characters and everything else seems to work it self out. The first scene we made was the when Ravana was trying to rape Sita, and currently we are working on the scene when Sita sees the golden deer and asks Rama to get it for her. Through creating these scenes I have also finally understood the importance of the chack (?) circle. Before I thought they were just there for the sake of making "music", but now I understand that their purpose is much greater than that. The circle holds the rasa (spelling?) of what is going on in the performance, and what they chant is reflected in the actors. In essence, the chack circle determines what happens in the performance.

I was a little hesitant about the performance at Kimball. I didn't know if I wanted to do it or if I would be brave enough to do it. Now that we started working on it, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. I just hope I don't get too nervous before the performance.

I think it was fun how we worked on expressions last class! I did not know there were so many specific actions that would be made to express an emotion. It was also fun to see how it actually worked! You could really see the emotion of your partner. Sometimes it was hard to keep a straight face and not say anything because some of the movements and expressions we made seemed strange and funny, but also because we are not used to showing silent emotions. We are so used to using vocal sounds to accompany our emotional expressions that it was hard not to.

I would also like to comment on the class before last class when we got to try on the costumes and told the Ramayana in our sub banjars. It seemed more authentic when we wore the costumes. It was a different feeling and I felt like there was a different atmosphere in the classroom all together. The storytelling went fairly well. There was quite a big jumping back and forth in the story because some people would break in and continue the story and others would have more information that should fit in between when the two others were talking about. This made it a little confusing, but after a while we figured it out and the story a had a pretty good flow in the end.

After telling the story we had extra time so ended up taking about Hindu gods and traditions. It was interesting to hear some of the background information and understand more of the full complexity of the religion. I think it is neat how there are so many gods in one religion that people pray to for different reasons.

Lately, I feel like the class has changed a lot or maybe I have just gained a different understanding of what we have been doing all along. It is not just a class about classical Asian performance. It is a class about togetherness, unity, community, communication and many other things. I think I have realized this through all the conversations we have had about the banjar and in the banjar itself. That everyone contributes a part of themselves and that the others in the banjar actually take an interest and care about the troubles or thoughts of the others is a unique experience. This type of society organization is so different from the western way of governing a society. From a practical perspective I think it would be very difficult, if not impossible to apply this technique of governance and common rule to western countries. The communities are just too big and disconnected. We all have fish to fry, and the banjar gives each person the opportunity to share and to be helped by the others in the community. The individual, as well as the whole is important. If one person has an issue, like we saw in class, it many help that person and also benefit the banjar if the issue is spoken out loud. The things that affect an individual will also impact the banjar.

It was my birthday this weekend, and in class this came to attention. I do not like to be in the center of attention, and this was literally what happened. I felt uncomfortable at first, but when the circle closed in on me and chanted for me I felt good. It was relaxing to have so many voices around me. It almost felt like I was inside an enclosed space, like a bubble of some kind. It was an interesting experience!

Wednesday's class was very interesting and I felt like I learned a lot. It was hard to get all the small details of the dancing right, and I know I messed up a lot in transitions between different steps etc. but it was still a fun class and gave a sense of accomplishment (in the end). I know I will probably have forgotten most of the steps by the time we next practice them, but hopefully the review will be helpful in remembering. I also enjoyed the singing/chanting we did on Wednesday. It was different from the dancing, but more relaxing. The only bad thing about the singing and chanting (and I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing) was that the words/sounds kept going through my head the rest of the day.

Thoughts on movie of the Ramayana

I know the movie of the Ramayana play we watched in class was meant as an inspiration. For me it seemed to have more of the opposite effect. It was a good performance, and I was very impressed by the details and skills of the actors and actresses. I did, however, find it a little confusing since I do not yet know the whole story. Also, I did not understand why some of the few lines spoken in the play were in different languages. I guess my expectations were different than the experience. I expected there to be more dialog or a narrative to explain what was going on on stage. It took me a while to understand who was who, but once I understood who the basic characters were it was easier to follow the story. It also scared me a little that the students in the performance were so good. Somehow I can't imagine learning nearly as much as they demonstrated in the performance in one semester. What I probably enjoyed the most of the performance was the costumes they wore. I especially liked that they were so colorful.