The Challenges of Rock Climbing

Hands slapping holds, fingernails scraping against rough, textured walls. Shouts as someone drops 15 feet, and is lowered to the ground. This is what my afternoons are like, surrounded by stinky feet and sweaty backs. I started rock climbing over two years ago, during fifth grade. Rock climbing challenges me both physically and mentally, and I love it.

When I walked into Portland Rock Gym in November 2011, I didn’t expect anything but a basic belaying class. Although I was too young to do the actual belaying, my mom would learn, and I would climb. The class was taught by someone who, at the time, also coached the junior team. As I was scrambling ungracefully up the walls, she informed me about the team. I was intrigued. Just three days later, I was at a practice, and I was fully hooked.

Physically, rock climbing is very challenging. It always challenges me to push a little harder on the route I've been working on. At the end of a good practice, my arms and abs are super sore. The workouts I do at practice are really hard for me, and they require a lot of physical strength. Getting this strength has always been and will always be a challenge for me, whether I end up at a national competition or just climbing for fun.

 

The mental part of rock climbing is one I didn't expect. I really have to believe that I can do something if I'm ever going to achieve it. I've learned to trust my belayer and spotter, and because of this I've made great friends that I trust more than almost anyone else. Committing to moves was another mental aspect, and accepting that sometimes you fail. Sometimes you have to really prepare yourself to jump to another hold and risk falling 10 or 15 feet. For example, I once was on a climb of a difficulty I had never done before, and at the last move, I committed myself to the move, and I didn't make it, and I fell almost 20 feet. This was a disappointing learning experience, it taught me that I really had to believe in what I was doing, although sometimes I might fail. All of these things, trusting my belayer, believing in myself, and commiting are all things that have mentally challenged me

Overall, rock climbing has helped me grow and and become stronger. After I started rock climbing in fifth grade, I discovered lots of physical challenges with my strength. I also found lots of mental challenges in the sport. I think rock climbing has helped me step out of my comfort zone in many ways. I really love the sport, and I love facing the challenges that it brings.

Here is a YouTube video of me climbing 

Jordans, Kobes, Lebrons, Are They Worth It?

JORDAN'S, KOBES, LEBRONS, ARE THEY WORTH IT?

    “But see I look inside the mirror and think Phil Knight tricked us all”- Macklemore Wings. Nike, they have consumed us, they have tapped into the human brain of what looks right, feels comfortable, and what supposedly works well. Nike has risen as the years have gone on. Before Nike had signed Michael Jordan in 1984 Nike made $269,775 in 1980 and then made twice as much after Jordan. That is far below what they have now. But really are all those shoes worth it? Yeezys are going for $2,000-$3,000 on Ebay. The infamous “Mags” as seen in Back To The Future Two have been going on Ebay now for $10,000. What I am really trying to tell you is that there should be a difference in quality of a $20 nike shoe and a $300 shoe. But is there?

    What is the meaning of consumerism? How does Nike make us feel that it’s shoes are a pursuit of identity? Personally, I love Nike. And, yes, I do buy their shoes. But why do I want to? I want to because it’s the power of purchase. A regular Joe can be overcome by the power of purchase. But what is the power of purchase? The power of purchase is how Nike tricks you into buying it’s higher end shoe products. The way they do it is almost entirely by display. They take a shoe that has a very clean look and put labels on it like: Helps to make better cuts in basketball, stylish off court, great feel on court, very comfortable. The very comfortable part intrigues me, the Nike Zoom Rookie were said to be comfortable, but as I played in them they made my feet hurt. What I’m trying to tell you is Nike is all about looks. The shoes look won’t make you play better, you could wear a less expensive pair of shoes and perform the same or better.

    What has Nike’s revenue been over the past years? Well, before they signed Michael Jordan they made only $269,775 and after Jordan signed to Nike they made twice as much more money. The Michael Jordan shoe line was then released and that has become the most bought shoe line ever. The line was soon banned because it didn’t meet the NBA’s specifications. They would fine Jordan $5,000 dollars everytime he wore them on the court and Nike would pay the fine everytime he wore them. This made the Jordan shoe line very very popular at that time. Still, today 12 year olds get shoes that first came out before they were even born.

    What I am really asking is are these $200 nike shoes really worth more or less than the $20 Nike shoes. I would say in some cases the more expensive is better and in other cases it isn’t. Take Free Runs for example, they range from $90-$100 and never over that. On the other hand take some Lebron 10 MVPs. The MVPs are $2,000, but are they going to make me run better? No in this case it is all in the looks. Lebron 10 MVPs are expensive but really do no better in running than free runs. Now take some free runs again as before ranging from $90-$100, now take some Hyperdunks. Hyperdunks range from $100-$150 these will work better for running, they have overall more quality and much more support if I were to play basketball. So in the end it turns out that in some cases the expensive shoes will be better but in other cases they won’t.

URL LINKS:

MAGS: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef015391a89c46970b-pi

YEEZY: http://uncrate.com/p/2012/05/nike-air-yeezy-2-xl.jpg

   

Why Should I Care About Manga?

Those short, Japanese graphic novels? Why're you telling a person like me to read it? Well, there's an emotion you have when you have nothing to do, and it's boredom. And it's a terrible feeling. So how can a graphic novel cure that? Manga's very fast pace, so every book, no matter how short it may seem, it's always holds a thrilling adventure worth re-reading, and many have cliffhangers at the end, encouraging readers to leap into the next book. They're like a tornado, they suck you in and only spit you out after the very last book. And then you want to dive right back into it again, re-reading and re-reading again! I love manga because I can check out 3-4 books in a series from the library, and even though I can read them in a single night, they can last me a whole week, just from re-reading. It's always good to re-read manga, because there's always details that you've missed. Although they may not last you as long as some cool fiction book, I think they're much more entertaining because, as I stated before, they're very action packed, and an adventure awaits you under every cover.

Image:

http://www.freefever.com/stock/2013-hd-one-piece-wallpaper.jpg

Brother

 

Brothers

I have 3 brothers on is older and is named Gus the two younger ones are named Keola, and Liko. Gus is really annoying. He is in the high school and always get to stay up later then me. Keola and Liko are my favorite they are really nice and look up to me. They like to play what I like and are really good at football. One of my favorite sports. I am now going to tell you a small story that happened only a few days ago. I was sick and in bed. I had been reading in my bed for the past few days and was getting really bored. Keola being the best brother in the world really wanted me to get better and he went all out in trying. First, he drew me a picture of a alien thingy that and it was really good. The picture had the word get better soon. That night he brought up diner a hamburger that they got from my favorite restaurant the hub.Then the next day, he brought up breakfast mt favorite, cinnamon crunch. I was getting the best treatment of my life. That is why my two little brothers are the best in the world.

Being a Traceur (Person who does Parkour/Freerunning)

Lots of people ask me how I got into Parkour. I started doing it not too often as an after school activity in fourth grade. I wouldn’t consider it a sport that I did back then because I wasn’t very serious about it and it was just a fun thing I did on Fridays. Later in fifth grade, my Mom found out about a place called Revolution Parkour, where they taught classes and also had equipment. She asked me if I wanted to try it and I said yes. I don’t recall what the focus of my first class was, but I enjoyed it and wanted to go there again. After spending lots of time at RVPK, I got a membership so I could go more often. Eventually I started doing Parkour almost everyday. I don’t get as much practice in outdoor urban environments than I’d like, but good places to practice are hard to find because lots of things are trivial and the things that aren’t are too hard.

I love Parkour for many reasons. One that’s very simple is, it’s fun! I also love the feeling of moving with a purpose, trying to get somewhere. There is a big creativity aspect in Parkour. Sometimes you have a choice, which is where things get very creative. You could simply tack (push against after jumping at to change momentum direction) up a wall, or you could lache (swing) from a nearby bar into a cat (hanging position).  Parkour is also a great workout. It doesn’t only provide a cardio workout, but also uses most of the muscles in your body, depending on what you are doing.

Right now what I have been training in Parkour is to get farther when doing a kong vault, and also to be able to dive for it from farther. I am also trying to get my front flip landing standing up instead of squatted down.

In most secret agent action movies, at least one chase scene involves “Parkour” as many people know it as. This tunnel vision of the sport makes people think that it contains lots of flips, and also it is always practiced on top of 50 foot high buildings. This version of the sport is only partially correct.

After saying I do Parkour, lots of people respond by saying something along the lines of “Whoa! so do you like jump off giant buildings and stuff like that?” The answer is no. Although these people are aggravating, I don’t blame them. Their idea of Parkour is just what they’ve heard, and they have no reason to think that these descriptions are false. A lot of the movements that people do when high up on buildings has been practiced by them numerous times on soft ground. As an anonymous man/woman once said “An amateur practices something until he gets it right. A professional practices until he can't get it wrong!”

Most people have heard of Parkour, but not so many people have heard of Freerunning. Wikipedia Gives a good distinction between the two.

Parkour:

Parkour (French pronunciation: ​[paʁˈkuʁ]) is a holistic training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training.[4][5][6] Practitioners aim to get from A to B in the most efficient way possible.They do this using only their bodies and their surroundings to propel themselves; furthermore, they try to maintain as much momentum as is possible in a safe manner.

Freerunning:

Freerunning (or free running) is the art of expressing oneself in his or her environment without limitation of movement. It is a martial discipline founded by Sebastien Foucan, who wrote a book on the subject. Foucan started what he termed "freerunning" in 2003, which he developed as a more inclusive form of parkour, but having more acrobatic-like movements added.

If you didn’t understand the definitions, then basically Parkour is about getting from from point A to point B as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Freerunning adds in non efficient movements that generally look cool like flips and spins, and also sometimes isn’t about going in a specific direction, but just moving around in a small area. Most people think flips and other acrobatic movements are included in Parkour, but they are incorrect. Again, I don’t blame them, I blame the media. I have mixed feeling over these definitions and I think that Parkour can contain some creative inefficient movements and still be considered Parkour, but it can’t be focused on doing them.

Throwing on the Wheel

Throwing on a pottery wheel: this is an activity that I partake in most friday nights at the Multnomah Arts Center. When I first heard that you threw on a pottery wheel., I was really confused, but I have since learned that “throwing” actually just means using the pottery wheel to shape clay.

Using the pottery wheel is a super fun activity that is artistic, but no so randomly abstract that you could be confused. Unlike other art forms, when I use the pottery wheel the things I make don’t have some hidden meaning or artistic secrets that only other throwers could recognize.

There are really only four basic things to do when using the pottery wheel, and one of them is optionable. Centering, shaping, trimming, glazing. Trimming is something that some people do, and others don’t.

The first step to throwing on the pottery wheel is centering. Centering is by far the most important part of using the wheel, because if you mess this up, the entire pot is messed up and will look bad. Centering is really nice because it requires you to be forceful, and push on the clay really hard. If ever there is something bugging at me, or I am annoyed by something, I use centering the clay as a perfect form of stress relief. To center the clay, what I do is I put my right hand flush up against the side of the clay and push on it. With my left hand I make a fist, then put it on the top of the clay, and push down. By pushing the clay both sideways and down at the same time, the clay is forced into the center of the wheel. If at any time during the throwing process I push the clay off-center, I have to push in on the entire pot and recenter it.

The next thing to do once the clay is centered is to shape it. To shape the clay you have to put the wheel at half speed, which means slow it down so it is not spinning as quickly. To shape the clay I first cup both my hands around it, then push my thumbs down into the center of it. I continue to push down with my thumbs until it is as deep as I want to go. Once I have the hole of my pot I put one hand inside of it, and the other on the outside. I put my hands in the same space on the clay, so that if there was no clay, they would be touching. To widen and heighten the pot, I push out with the inside hand, and move the outside hand upward. This forces the clay away from my inside hand, and then up with my outside hand. If I am trying to make a bowl or plate, I push more with my inside hand, but if I am trying to make a cup or vase, I push more with my outside hand.

After shaping the clay, I have to wait until the next friday to trim it. I have to wait until the next week to trim because the clay needs time to dry and harden before it can be trimmed. The clay need to harden, because when I trim pots, I stick them back on the wheel, but upside down, so they have to be able to hold themselves up. The reason that I turn the pots upside down is that the whole point of trimming is to make the bottom of the pot nicer, and maybe even give it a foot to sit on. When I trim, I make sure that the pot is in the center of the wheel, then I attach it to the wheel by sticking it with four small lumps of clay to the wheel head. Then I put my wheel at full speed to make sure that whatever trimming I do is even all the way around the pot. To trim the pot I use sharp metal trimming tools that are like ovals and rectangles of metal, but just the perimeter, and no inside. This is a good tool because then I can push them against the pot and they scrape excess clay off of it.

After trimming, I wait another week, then I glaze the pot. When I glaze pots, it is super important to paint the bottom of the clay with wax first, on every surface that will touch the kiln shelf. This is important because the glaze is actually liquid glass, and when it hardens it will stick to the pot, but if it is touching the kiln shelf it will stick to that too. It has not actually happened to me, but I have heard that if your pot sticks to the kiln shelf, they hit it with a hammer to break it off, because kiln shelves are a lot more expensive than that amount of clay and effort. After the wax on the bottom of the pot is dry, I dip the pot in the glaze. I like to dip my pots in two different colors, because I think it has a really cool looking effect.

I really love doing pottery, and ever since I discovered it this fall, I have loved it, and tried to go every friday.

These are most of the things that I have made on the pottery wheel, some other ones are around my house, but I wasn’t able to find them all.


This is my favorite vase that I have made because it is shaped really nicely.


This is the biggest thing I have made on the pottery wheel and it is just like a big tub.

This is the best bowl I have made on the pottery wheel, and it is big enough to hold a fruit or a small bowl of cereal.

The start of something great

All I knew before I started playing guitar was that electric guitar had that rock tune and acoustic guitar was played mostly in country music. I had already played the WII game, Guitar Hero, and I loved it so much. Guitar Hero
was based off of electric guitar. At first, I thought of electric guitar players as "already part of a band."

But my thinking soon changed when my mom started taking drums lessons and performed on stage with others taking instrument lessons, such as for electric guitar. I convinced by mom to sign me up for electric guitar lessons at the beginning of the summer prior to 6th grade. I learned so much that summer and performed in front of a grocery store, Whole Foods, in November with the song: "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream.

"Practice makes perfection" is a common saying that reflects well on learning electric guitar. Soccer, gymnastics or practicing the words for a Spanish quiz are some examples that need practice to get good at. Electric guitar takes persistence and patience, like if you can't remember a chord on the guitar and you've tried so many times, you have to keep calm.

When you're performing with other people, you have to pay attention not only to your own sheet music but also pay lots of attention to the other music parts. Like if the drums go off beat, then I would have to play my guitar a little faster or slower depending on the beat. Even though we have one rehearsal to prepare. This is all cooperation which can also be used when you're working with a group of people at school to create a presentation, a poster, or a speech.

I've had so much fun playing electric guitar both practicing and performing. I love the feel of playing in a band. I'm thankful that my mom was willing to sign me up for lessons. I continue to perform electric guitar and I have done songs like "21 Guns" by Green Day with my mom playing drums and my older sister playing acoustic guitar, or "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers. My favorite part of playing electric guitar is to find out the guitar chords online for songs from Portland's pop music stations like Z100 or 107.5. So my advice to you is that if you're committed to any activity, you can do it!

Image Sources: Second picture is taken by me
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/aberration/aberration0912/aberration091200015/6066122-blue-electric-guitar-isolated-on-white.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SqQTSFKCL.jpg

New vs Old

I just came to a new school. In my opinion, it is better than my old one. At my new school,  I feel more engaged and challenged. Where as at my old school, I felt bored and usually ended up reading a book, or drawing random things on scratch paper.

I never really felt satisfied at my old school. I NEVER came home with homework.  When I came home from the first day of school this year I was so happy to do homework. I got home and said to my mom "Can't talk, have homework!"

My classes were almost always the same, I had two different days, blue days and yellow days. On both days my first four classes (five, if you count lunch) were always the same. Humanities, math, advisory, lunch, and then science. At the beginning of the year,  the humanities teacher who was supposed to be there had a baby and was at home taking care of it, so we had a sub named Mr. *****. He was a great teacher, the only problem was that he was an art teacher, not a humanities teacher. He was really fun,  but he wasn't prepared to teach that class. Math is where I created all of my drawings. I was in the advanced math, but it was still very easy. I aced almost all my tests and lots of the time it was just a review for the kids who didn't get the concepts from the prior day. Advisory was the class from which we chose our locker partner. I had no friends in that class. It was usually just a study hall, but because I didn't really have any homework, I basically just sat there. Lunch was always the same. I ate, then went outside. It was my only time to see some of my "friends". Science was my favorite class. I learned things and did experiments. The teacher was very nice,  but because there were so many people, she had no time for the students like me. On blue days, I had art after science. Art was ok, but the teacher was really grumpy and rude. She insisted that people do things a certain way and judged us on how good of art we created, not on how hard we tried. After art was PE. In PE I was the only one who really tried and could run a mile in under ten minutes. On yellow days I would have Spanish. Spanish SUCKED. I never really connected with the teacher and he never made any efforts to connect with any of the students. He was the French teacher up until the budget cuts happened. My last class was called Enrichment. Enrichment was a complete waste of time! It was supposed to be technology, but because of budget cuts I couldn't do that. So, we learned about things like Australia and airplanes (when we wern't watching Eyewitness movies and taking notes).

I never really had "good friends" at my old school. I had people who I hung out with and talked to, but only a few I really knew I could trust. During the transition to middle school from elementary school, most of my good friends went to option schools leaving me and a few others going to the community public school. About half way through the year I knew I couldn't take it any longer and wanted to go to a different school.

My friend heard that I wanted to switch schools and she suggested that I come to Catlin Gabel. I filled out an application, which took a long time. It consisted of many essay questions and I had to take a test called the SAT. I came to the school on a shadow day to see how a normal day went. It was wonderful, better than any other day at my old school.  Everyone was so nice to me, always stoping to say 'hi'. I went to classes I didn't have at my school, like drama and photography.

I waited a long time to see if I had been accepted or not. Then, one day I came home from school and found lots of signs around the house saying "YOU GOT IN!!!" I didn't know what to think.  My friends didn't want me to leave, and I kept telling them that I probably wouldn't. At that point I wasn't quite sure what I would do, mostly because I didn't think I would get in. My parents asked me every day what I would do and I kept giving them the same answer of "I'm not sure".  I didn't want to  leave my little group of friends at my old school, but I couldn't take the boredom any longer. I kept thinking, What would be better in the long run? Could I make new friends?  I finally made the decision to switch schools. My friends were not happy, and still beg me everyday to come back.

When I woke up the morning of the first day of school,  I was super nervous. I started school knowing that I knew only three people. I got there and people of all ages were saying hello to me. My first day of school at my new school was the best day at school I have had in years.

If you are going to a new school, don't be scared.  People will reach out to you. I was nervous but now I have 64 new friends.

Sources: 

http://xdimax.deviantart.com/art/DOODLES-OF-DOOM-60939652
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catlin_Gabel_School
http://theworldyousee-lx.blogspot.com/2011/09/freeedommmmmmm.html

Basketball - The Game About Buckets

Swish!!!!

Basketball - The Game About Buckets

I have always loved many sports such as soccer, tennis, and free swimming. But as I have grown older, and taller, I have come to like one sport more than most; this sport is basketball. I have always liked playing the game, even if I just started on a team last year. My dad installed a basketball hoop at the the top of our steep driveway when our house was built in 2004. Since I then, I have practiced for hours with my dad. I remember when I was little my grandma came to Portland and I spent lots of my time outside with her learning how to dribble. At first I could only keep the ball bouncing for short periods of time, maybe only twenty dribbles, and slowly I began to get better. Since then I have become a much better dribbler.

Basketball is a great a great way to take my mind off of homework for a while. This is helpful when I have a lot of homework. The only problem with playing basketball when I still have homework to do is that I might never come back in to finish it. Sometimes I play computer games too much on the weekends, and basketball offers a fun way to stop and go outside to practice. I also like going to the gym to practice with friends; this is a good pastime for me.

I believe I can fly

Lately I have been watching more NBA games and keeping up with the scores. These games show me new ways to play my game. There are many players that I admire, some of them include: Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, LaMarcus Aldridge, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. All of these players devote themselves to practicing and getting better every day. I do this too. I have been able to do many new moves every week this season. With my height, I can become a very good player and a force on the court. I continue to practice because I can always improve. Every game, whether my team wins or loses, I feel proud to to be playing my sport: basketball.

Cooking and Baking

When I began to think about what to write in this post, I was sitting with my friends who were working on their homework when one of them suddenly said, “Hey, guess what? Today is international chocolate cake day!”

I looked up and said, “Really?”

“Yeah,” she’d told me. "And then tomorrow is going to be national blueberry pancake day!"

This is the conversation that inspired me to write my post about my love and passion of cooking and baking.

I have loved to cook and bake since I was little. Whenever I could, I would beg my mom to let me make dessert for everyone after dinner. I would make cookies, cupcakes, or sometimes even raspberry and blackberry crumbles with the help of my older sister. I know now why my parents said that they’d hold off on dessert. The things I made probably tasted horrible, unless my older sister was doing most of the work for me. But I loved it. Every second of it. The kitchen was a place where I was always 100% comfortable and I loved having the ability to put a smile on my family and friend’s faces. 
As I grew older, around the age of seven or eight, I started making more complex foods by myself like, my favorite, chocolate chip pancakes. Practicing the flipping part and perfecting the ratio of chocolate chips to batter over the years has turned me into a full time professional. My sister and I have also had a wide imagination for experimenting with foods in the kitchen. We especially like to experiment with Nutella. We love trying to find things we think could go well with it and add it in!

Now a days, I don't just make food for my friends and family, but for people in need. Every once and a while, I ask my family to let us go to a homeless shelter on Sunday nights to help make dinner. My sister and I always make chocolate cupcakes to bring with us that are covered in frosting and some VERY colorful sprinkles. We take them to the shelter and help out with the rest of the dinner, too. Then we get to help serve it to the homeless people. This is always my favorite section of the night. Because even though some of them haven’t been taught or aren’t able to say thank you, the ones that do are always so appreciative. It makes me realize how much of a difference you can make for so many people by taking one night out of my schedule. That part of the experience is what makes me want to go back every time.

Sources: 

https://www.etsy.com/market/keep_calm_and_eat

http://www.nutella.com/en/
http://gracessweetlife.com/2011/02/raspberry-and-blueberry-pistachio-almond-crumble/
http://www.pinterest.com/explore/homemade-chocolate-cupcakes/
http://www.bubblews.com/news/1814381-fresh-homemade-cookies-to-the-rescue
http://www.commentskart.com/tag/chocolate-cake/
My memories

The Theater 'n Me

I am standing behind the double doors, the loudspeakers blurting out the lines I know so well. Romeo, then Tybalt, then Mercutio. Now me. It is my turn. My chance to step onto the stage and perform. My lines are going through my head. My queues appear to be laid out in front of me. I have done this show so many times. Sure I’m the youngest kid in the cast, but that doesn’t matter. It is all for squat if I blow it out there-all the work, all the practice, all for nothing. Theater is all the mind. You can conquer all the fears in the world if you have what it takes up hear. Right here….right in the brain.

Like I said above, I have done this show ten times-but for some reason, I am no less nervous then I was nine nights ago. My hand is still twitching. My palms are still sweaty. My face is still fire hot.

There it is. There is my que. Benvolio enters with knife drawn. I have my props. I have my lines. I have my ques. I have everything I need. I push through the double doors. I’m on.

Wait. Stop. Go back four hundred years.

Have you ever wondered about the history of theater? Have you been sitting in a seat watching a show, being blown away by the performance and wonder how this all happened? I know I have. In fact, when I looked at the history I noticed that the 1600s was the most influential century in terms of changing the way we view theater today. So many things that we see when we experience theater were invented in the 1600s. The language. The actors. The theater itself. So many things that today we take for granted when we see a play were invented 400 years ago.The 1600s was a critical century for theater. One of the most famous playwrights of all time wrote many of his plays in the early 1600. The first proscenium theater was built in 1618. The first example of woman being incorporated into theater occurred in 1660. Read on to learn how the 1600s shaped today’s theater.

To be or not to be. This is one of the most famous phrases in the English language. And who is more fit to have coined but the 17th century poet William Shakespeare? Shakespeare taught us so much about the art that we now call “theater.” Shakespeare taught us that language is everything. The play Hamlet first hit the theaters in the year 1601. This play is filled with many beautiful, almost musical lines cloaked in several different depths of meaning. For example, let us take the line that we talked about above. The whole passage reads: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” On the surface, this line can be read as a witty, even whimsical image of a boy prince spewing nothingness about the basic meaning of “being”. It appears to be a great example of the kind of nonsense that people today call “teenagers”. However, if you read the same passage again, on a deeper level you will find Hamlet (a teenaged prince) is contemplating whether he should live or die. “To be” is to live. In this one passage you can see how powerful language can be. Shakespeare showed us that having levels of meaning in your language can intrigue the listener. These “double entendres” are common place in theater-and so are so many other language techniques that Shakespeare taught us. Along with language, Shakespeare is known for having great characters. Each play that William Shakespeare wrote was filled with many complex characters. Let’s take the play “The Tempest.” The Tempest, first performed in the year 1611 and thought to be Shakespeare’s last play, has three kinds of characters: The evil, the good, the funny. Today, every major show have these three types of characters. Although Shakespeare wasn’t the first person to come up with the “Good, Bad, and the Funny” character technique he is one of the first to incorporate it into everyone of his shows and he is one of the people who made it famous. So, as you can see in the two examples above, Shakespeare influenced us with his language and his character styles. This is what today’s theater has learned from Shakespeare  and this is one of the many things that theater has learned from the 1600s.

One of the most beautiful things in theater can be the theater itself. Many of the theaters that are being used to this day are built off of the Teatro Farnese. Teatro Farnese was built in the year 1618 by a man by the name of  Giovanni Battista Aleotti. His goal was to build a baroque style theater. And that is exactly what he did. This is one of the first examples of the kind of theater that we see shows in today. The curved stage. The surrounding boxes. The ornate ceiling. All of this is part of what is today called a “proscenium” theater. To quote the website history of theater “ Teatro Farnese was an Italian baroque theater...cited as a prototype for the modern playhouse.”As was written in the above paragraph, the 1600s not only the kind of plays that are seen today, but also the kind of theaters that people would view them in. The Teatro Farnese changed the way people viewed theater. Theater (after the Teatro Farnese) became a much wealthier man’s game. It was a place where the rich would go to hang out on a Saturday weekend. The baroque style made the theater more ornate-even to the point of being fancier. This changed the entire dynamic of theater. It turned into a place where the upper class spent their time. With that said, at this point it should be clear to you that Teatro Farnese changed the entire environment of theater. Today, when you go to see “Love’s Labour’s Lost” in the local playhouse, ask the manager who built the theater. He probably won’t know that it was inspired by Giovanni Battista Aleotti, but you will.

The 1600s was a critical time for the development of theater. It changed the way we write plays, the way we direct plays, even the way we see plays. From William Shakespeare to Giovanni Battista Aleotti, the 17th century was critical for theater no matter how you look at it. All the world’s a stage, and the 1600s built it.

“Nice job man.”

“Yeah. Well done Hank. Another great show.”

“Thanks guys. Well done to all of you. Am I gonna see yall tomorrow to?” I ask.

“You know it.”

“Yeaserie!”

“All right. I’m outta here,” I say as I pack up my stuff and exit the theater.

The theater has always been a special place for me. It has always been a place where I feel pure comfort. Every fear, every problem, every crisis comes to a halt when I am up on the stage. And that’s why I love it. The stage is where I do nothing but be me.

As I look back at the 50 year old play house, I can’t help but flash back to the past. The era of Shakespeare. The decade of Aletto. The time theater was being created: The 1600s. Boy what an era! What a time to be alive.

As an actor, I am not only fascinated by what happened to theater itself in the 1600s but also immensely fortunate to be taking part in an art that was invented by some of the most humane people in the earth.

They had what it takes up here. Do I? Only time will tell.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Aleotti

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_Farnese

http://www.glencoe.com/theatre/Timeline/timeline_content.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Proscenium

http://dailyglean.salebooks.com/2013/06/bardolatry-or-brouhaha-shakespeares.html

http://www.paesionline.it/parma/foto_dettaglio.asp?filename=2356_parma_interno_del_teatro_farnese