Γεια σου! (Ya su)
So I finally figured out how to get the Greek keyboard working after fiddling with my iPad for a while. “Γεια σου” is what many of us have been using at the start of the post. It means hello or goodbye.
We had acting class today when we continued to perform scenes from various Greek plays that we have been studying. Since yesterday, the class moved into a bigger room at the CYA building. While it was nice to have the extra space, today we had a few additional people joining our class..the construction workers. CYA is currently having some renovation work, so the workers were moving things in and out during the class. It was somewhat distracting, but as Michael mentioned in class, it could definitely add to the comic element of some of the plays. Incidentally, we did some fruitful work in class today. Tim led the warm up today. He did some breathing exercise with us, where we had to breath with our diaphragm and hum out sounds. Through the exercise, we found out the most natural sound that our body make. Few of us, like Kanoa speak with a higher voice, while others, like Lily, speak with a lower voice.
After the warm up, we went straight to performance of scenes. I performed the scene that I prepared for, which was the opening scene in Eumenides. It had been a while since I last performed. Though I was somewhat nervous, the great works I saw from the rest of us, as well as the enthusiasm for theatre inur group, made me feel almost excited. I managed to memorize the whole speech and said every word of it in my first performance, so I was fairly happy. But I was even more happy to get the feedback from everyone. The feedback gave me ideas and suggestions for improvements for the second draft. By the end of today’s class, everyone has presented the first draft the scene they want to work on. Starting from Thursday, we have to bring in new scenes as our second piece. Many of us chose to work with tragic plays as our first piece. However, we had two comic scenes from tragic plays today from the group: Rachel, Sean and Mary Lou performing Agamemnon and Mary Lou herself performing Libation Bearers. So maybe, we will have more comic scenes performances later this week?
Later on in the evening, a handful of us went up to Λυκαβιπός -the hill near our hotel with a beautiful white chapel at the very top. Though the hike up was definitely not an easy one, the view we saw on the hill was definitely worth the effort. We could see the Panathinaiko stadium, Acropolis, Peloponnese, Likavipos theatre… For those who brought their camera, there is no doubt that half of their camera’s memory card is now full of photos taken there. We watched the sun set behind the hills, as we talked over various movies we saw. Not having seen most of the American movies -since I grew up in Hong Kong, I was pretty lost for most part of the conversation. For me, this seminar is not only an experience to learn about the Greek culture, but also a time to learn about the American pop culture. Although I have just spent a full year in America, there are still surprising many things that I have not come across with. I guess it is indeed true to say that we have only been in the Princeton bubble. It is therefore, wonderful that we have Global seminars at Princeton that take us abroad and give us the opportunity to really explore the world!
Happy Tuesday,
Po