A Weekend at the New Haven Green
By: Alejandro Rojas
On Saturday morning I arrived at the New Haven Green. I took a seat on the bleachers close to College Street and saw myself surrounded by a whole city of early birds. Right on College, breakdancers and grafitti artists had been popping their creativity since earlier in the day. Dancers and rappers from all over Connecticut had been practicing their routines since nine a.m., hoping to win the big prize. Grafitti began being made at 10am and by noon, these amazing pieces of art could be seen from across the Green.
Girls in hula-hoops danced all over the Green, little dogs were being walked, making frineds, and a guitar player sang his tunes to a crowd of minds that rather spaced out. It wasn't until later in the day that concerts were what finally brought the whole picture together. In the middle of this fun weekend day, I visited the Iseman Theatre and encountered an amazing treasure called "The Cripple of Inishmaan". This play brought so much life to my day, for its comedic aesthetics were based on drunken characters and the conflict of platonic love for the protagonist. This was definitely a comedy that the whole family would enjoy for its slapstick, humoristic devices and the amount of laughter I got out of it.
At night the amazing Nova Scotian artist Natalie MacMaster gave an amazing show that put people on their feet, tap dancing like never before. Even the little ones jammed to the fiddler musician, who without a doubt, was the perfect ending of a weekend spent on the New Haven Green.
Natalie MacMaster
By: Lesley Logan
Natalie MacMaster on the New Haven Green -- let me start off by saying how down-to-earth and enjoyable her performance was. I loved the fact that she spoke to the public, and related to some by asking if anyone there was from her hometown. She was very funny, kept it upbeat -- my type of music, whether it’s hip-hop to jazz to country, I love upbeat music. She had my attention the whole time and by the looks of it, everyone else’s, too. She tried to get everyone up on their feet, which is a plus because that means she didn't want it to be just a boring old concert at the Green. She really made it enjoyable for me personally and I honestly can’t say anything negative about the performance.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Adamantine/Frame Dances
By: Cassandra Thomas
Adamantine and the Frame Dances by Susan Marshall's Dance Company brought me way out of my comfort zone. I've enjoyed and performed contemporary dance before, but never in my life have I seen work like this.
The pre-show with Susan Marshall should have prepared me for what I was going to see. As a choreographer, she was not used to talking about her pieces and not that accustomed to talking about what her dances are about. However, during her attempt to explain her choreography, I felt as if she didn't even know herself what her work was about.
After the pre-show was the Frame Dances exhibition. That was both eerie and amazing at the same time. The way more than one person fit inside these 4'x4' frames and were able to move their bodies was beautiful. On the other hand, some of the images and themes they portrayed were just plain weird.
Lastly, there was Adamantine. I left this performance not knowing what to think and felt disappointed at the same time. It really left me with no feeling and there was no set theme or reason behind it. Don't get me wrong, the dancers were highly talented and moved their bodies in such a strong, graceful way. Things such as song changes, the use of props, and being able to see what was going on behind scenes, took away from the performance for me. I also didn't like that when I was getting into a certain part, the dance would drastically change.
Adamantine is definitely not for everyone. It's a one-of-a-kind piece you would have to witness for yourself.
June 16, 2011
Emeline Michel
By: Diamond Davis
Emeline Michel is a blessed Haitian singer/vocalist/dancer. As I walked inside the University Theater, I noticed that there were a lot of people in the audience. It was shocking how many people filled the seats. There were two songs that I liked and could relate to. She explained how her father left herand how we need to love and take care of our fathers. I enjoyed every minute of her show. She had people getting out of their seats and dance on stage. The band was fantastic as well.
By: Camille Zapata
Emeline Michel is beautiful. Her show was fantastic -- better than all the other shows I've watched so far. I love the way she sings; her voice is magic to my ears. She knew how to keep a crowd interested. When she talked, everything she said was true. Her music was wonderful and it was interesting to hear her sing in a different language. The band was great; I loved their rhythms. Some songs were a different style than I’m used to, but I adjusted to them. When she was dancing, it looked like she was in midair. She kept me entertained while she was dancing; all her moves were amazing. I loved it when she brought other dancers on stage. It was comical to me as well, like when the male dancer was dancing, using a whip.
I liked when Eveline called people on stage to try her dance moves; that was funny. I did get bored a couple of times, but when the dancers came on stage, when she called people on stage, and when she started dancing again, she caught my attention. The dancers were great, the musicians as well, especially Emeline Michel, she knew how to keep the crowd going. I would love to go to her other shows. I had a ball.
June 16, 2011
IDEAS PANEL: The Black Panthers And Young Lords Panel
By: Cassandra Thomas
Miguel Melendez, once a Young Lord, and Billy X Jennings, a Black Panther, showed a New Haven audience what life was like growing up during the Civil Rights Movement. They also shared what brought them to become involved in the Young Lords and Black Panthers and what roles they played. In doing so they revealed themselves as individuals and not just part of two big, often misunderstood, groups. Both men are highly educated and sacrificed their lives for the freedom of African American and Hispanic people. After the night I didn't see them as members of the Young Lords and Black Panthers but as REVOLUTIONARIES!
June 14, 2011
Bang on a Can All-Stars
By: Alejandro Rojas
Who would have known that a bang on a can could sound simply so harmonious and spontaneously spectacular? Well the group of New England musicians, some of which are Yale graduates performed at the Yale Repertoire and blew the minds of an entire filled up theater. Leaving hands clapping, feet standing and many amused faces before them, these talented musicians lead a sympho-psychedelic journey. With the help of a cello, a piano, and the power of an electric guitar among other instruments to create the most modern organic, yet crisp and perfectly synchronized harmonies. Known for the sound of their modern orchestra style, these young artists come together to create the most spontaneous of all harmonies and set mood, tone and attitude to any environment, almost like the most striking soundtrack for Lord of The Rings. After an hour and a half of hard playing, the performers stood on stage and listened to the range of ages applauding to their music and the perfection of hard work.
June 12, 2011
Jose Condé and Cosmic Jibaros
By: Charles Estrella
Jose Condé, a Hispanic musical genius who mixes the two genres of Latin and Funk, performed on June 12. His music was good, but I just think he could have done better. His lyrics were decent, and easily addicting, but the beat didn't keep up with him -- it just stayed on the same level rather than showing some variation. Two of his songs woke me up; the rest made me unfocused. But if you like the soft Latin Funk style, than I recommend you listen to him.
When I first heard about Cosmic Jibaros, I thought the music would be jazzing me up and make me feel more pride about being Ecuadorian, even though this Latino band is Puerto Rican. Three of their songs were good and I felt as if I were in my country. But then I noticed that it didn't motivate me to do anything. I felt that they were just playing the same song over again and it did not please me. I don’t mean to offend -- it's just my opinion -- but I felt disappointed about this. It hurts me to say it, but I did. I didn't want to do anything afterward; I just wanted to go home.
By: Camille Zapata
Jose Condé was an excellent band; the music was loud enough, the singing as well. It couldn't help but catch my attention. The music was wonderful and so was his voice when he was singing. On a certain song I couldn't help myself, the beat was fantastic -- I think it was a mix of salsa and reggae -- I started dancing and singing along. The man’s voice was amazing and I especially liked when he was talking to the crowd. After a while, I started to feel bored; the performance was excellent, but I don't know if the band can keep a crowd for longer than what they did that day.
The Cosmic Jibaros were a little interesting at first because they were playing in Spanish, but after that, it wasn't so good. The music was sometimes louder than their voices. I noticed that they were not playing at the same pace at certain times. I wasn't interested at all. They didn't catch my attention, not once.
June 11, 2011
Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Project
By: Camille Zapata
The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma was interesting. It was my first time watching a concert at the Green other than my uncle's. The crowd amazed me. As soon as I heard the band play, it sounded fantastic; it made me become very focusesd on listening. The rhythm kept changing, and that's what made me interested. The music relaxed me. I admit, I did get bored a few times -- for example, when the music got kind of slow -- but they always caught my attention back. I loved it when they played the drums and when one of the musicians made a beat with his voice. I liked the comments the musicians made, they were funny. Other than me getting a little bored, the show was awesome.
By: Cassandra Thomas
Yo-Yo Ma is not only a world known cellist but he is also the Artistic Director of the Silk Road Project. Yesterday at Sprague Memorial Hall in Hew Haven, I was able to hear Yo-Yo Ma's purpose and dreams for this project.
His goal is to educate and show people how we are all connected, no matter where we are from, through the beauty of art and music. His music captivated me, and the audience. I think I was most impressed with his project with 6th grade students in New York City. They went into the schools and showed kids the world by bringing them music, dance, and history. (My favorite in particular was the history of indigo.) It was touching in the end to witness the outcome of Yo-Yo Ma and his team's work, while watching them perform for the students and seeing the smiles on their faces.
By: Desiree Riddick
I listened to Yo-Yo Ma talk about his music and watched him perform at Sprague Memorial Hall yesterday. When he started to play the cello, it sounded so lovely that I felt I could have fallen asleep to it -- that’s how soothing his music was.
Yo-Yo Ma showed the audience many different places and experiences that he went through. The one that amazed me the most was when he performed the instrumental to Empire State of Mind for some sixth graders; he and his group really topped it off when they all started singing it. The students began singing and dancing to it as well.
Another thing that I found interesting is when he showed us the clip of the children when they did some indigo designs. The kids made designs on cloth and wrapped them up; then they dipped the wrapped cloth in the indigo dye. They unwrapped their cloths after they dried and they had an indigo design on the cloth. I thought that was pretty neat and I actually want to try it myself some day.