Week 11

During today’s lesson we performed our finalized Puppet Theatre show. The feedback we received was that the storyline improved a lot including the music. Our group felt that our performance went well this time. Personally I think that the performance was way better than last time's. 

What Went Well:

1) The music was great especially the music the battle scene was great

2) The music didn't interrupt the narrator

3) The narrator used emotion and expressions to change the mood of the story

4) The narrator said the story loud and clear

Even Better If:

1) Had more puppets for each character.

2) Improve positioning and moving the puppets
3) Have a sound check before the performance( Josephine's piano not loud enough)

Week 10

Documenting your action plan & reflecting on your progress so far.

During this week we summarized our own & our peers evaluations of our Puppet Theatre performance & website. As a result of our evaluations we have decided to work on the following points:

1) Improve our narrating skills: we will work on this by using more dramatic expressions to improve narration. We have chosen this because narrating plays a big role in the performance.

2) Improve the battle scene music: we will work on this by making the music more faster and louder. we have chosen this because then the music wont suit the performance.

3) Adapt it to the 21st Century: we will work on this by rewriting the story. We have chosen this because the most important component of the performance is the storyline and it also has to be entertaining for all ages.

We decided to leave most of the music and music instruments, because we wanted to keep the instruments the same because that will change the perspective of the story.

So far we have achieved most of the areas of our action plan… We still have to work on the puppeteering and choreography with the narrator and music. 

Week 9

Week 9 Reflection

During today’s lesson we peer evaluated each others Puppet Theatre performances. The feedback we received was that the story was interpreted well and was detailed. Also, the puppets represented the story well.  Our group felt that our website was informative, factual and communicative. Personally I think that the website is good but we could improve in some areas. The website provided a lot of information. The website wad presented and structured well and the website also has research. The website could have been better if we could use more sources for information other than the internet and prior knowledge. We could also put more videos and audio clips. Finally, we could make the website better by sourcing our websites.

Week 8

Week 8

During today’s lesson we performed our Puppet Theatre show to year 6 & 7. After the performance the whole class watched a video of every group's  first and second performance. Our group felt that our performance went all right.  Personally I think I didn't go that well. The way the puppets were presented or positioned well. The music was performed well and was loud and clear. The narrator said the story with dramatically and expressed the story well. The performance would be better if The the performance was longer. Also better if, the puppets were accurately times with the narrator and the music. Finally, would be better if the music wasn't interrupting the narrator.

week 7

 Week 7

During today’s lesson we performed our music to the rest of our Theatre Company. We reflected on our work so far and discussed how we could improve our product/show so far. This was what we have decided to do to change the music by adding more notes to the performance. make the music performance more longer. To be more specific we wanted to improve on the battle scene part by adding more volume, pace and repetition. We decided to make the battle scene music more longer and also the middle section. We decided to play the peking notes but we replaced it by using the piano. This makes the music more suitable for the 21st century. We also used the piano because you can change the pitch and range of the notes. The structure of the performance is put together well , the main thing is that the instruments are layered to give a steady flow. 

week 5 and 6

How is a Gamelan performance constructed?

The gamelan performance is constructed in a particular way. The volume changes. The pace changes. Many parts or notes are repeated which adds and effect to the performance and changes the perspective of the audience.

How do they use the musical elements to make the music relate to the Shadow Puppet Storyline?

I depends on which part of the story. If its the happy part then the pitch of the music will be high and and if it is the battle scene you would play fast, dramatic and loud music. Basically it all depends on the part of the story.

During today’s lesson we split into our Shadow Puppet Theatre Company groups. We decided on who was responsible for which part. I decided i will play the kenong. Aashna decided to play the sarong. Josephine decided to play the peking and Evita decided to play the kethuk. We explored the different musical elements to try & get the best features for our version of the Ramayana story. we explored many things like changing the tone and pace of the sung. we also explored by using different notes and making up our own for the battle scene. We got rid of some of the notes and kept most of the notes and used the same instrument except the piano.

week 4

What is the relationship between arts and audiences?

1)What is the tradition behind Gamelan from Indonesia?
The gamelan predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records and instead represents a native art form. The instruments developed into their current form during the Majapahit Empire. In contrast to the heavy Indian influence in other art forms, the only obvious Indian influence in gamelan music is in the Javanese style of singing, and in the themes of the Wayang kulit (shadow puppet plays).

2) How is the music used for Shadow Puppet plays?
The music s used for the Wayang performance. The music is played in the background of the performance and it changes over time by volume and repetition etc. This changes the audience's mood and emotions.

3) How does it involve the whole community?

It involves the whole community since everyone gets to play an instrument and have different notes for their own part. it enables everyone to be involves as well.

During today’s lesson we learned how to play a piece of Gamelan. Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia, made up mostly of percussive instruments. first, we were split into random groups for each instrument.  I was in the kenong group. We learned to play Lancaran Cobowo as a class and played it together as well. Then we split into our music groups and decided who is going to play each instrument. We noticed that the parts had varying levels of difficulty because there is a specific beat to play and it was hard to identify it at the start and play it on the correct beat as well. 

Week 2 and 3

What is the relationship between arts and audiences? 

1) We share stories to express our knowledge ad experiences and this has been going on for centuries. The storyteller usually tells story to entertain people because there were not may things to do back then.

2) A lot of stories have morals and morals help us in real life situations. It will give you advice for what and what not to do. 

3) Artists can create layers of narrative by adding dramatic effect and add expressions and emotions. This will change the mood.

During today’s lesson we split into groups to create our own stories based on the Ramayana story. We decided not to adapt our story but did adapt it to a family audience. The narrator added some drama and emotions to change the audience's mood. We also decided that the music will change over time. We wanted to change our story but not everyone agreed but the story was set in a tropical island. Ravana was supposed replaced with an evil octopus and the  golden deer was supposed replaced with a golden dolphin.

Week 1

What is the relationship between arts and audiences? 

1) We share stories to express our knowledge ad experiences and this has been going on for centuries. The storyteller usually tells story to entertain people because there were not may things to do back then.

2) A lot of stories have morals and morals help us in real life situations. It will give you advice for what and what not to do. 

3) We can create musical and audio stories by playing instruments in the background. This will change the mood of the audience

The art and music class were together and were learnt about shadow puppet theatre performances. We watched some You tube videos that showed performances based on the Ramayana story. The Ramayana is about an Indian Story related to the festival called Diwali. The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic which follows Prince Rama's expedition to rescue his beloved wife Sita from the clutches of Ravana with the help of an army of monkeys. Then we had to watched a video of Indonesian Gamelan music to guide the story of Ramayana.

Here are Some links:
1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3BvsWpvyAc
2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA2BYSivPXA
3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HogVmTkhgcI

Introduction to my blog

My name is Kalyani Nambiar and I am in year 8BB. This is my MYP Arts Process Journal. On this blog you will find documented evidence of my learning through The Arts: Art|Drama|Music. This term I am starting my learning journey in Music. My strongest Arts subject is visual artI want to develop my skills in Music and Drama.

Reflection of first 2 weeks

Our music and art group includes Yashvi, Avantika and Adil, Evita, Aashna and Josephine. On the first day we rewrote our story with our whole group together. We didn't have any major changes in our story because we wanted it to be the original story. While discussing our story, when we were all together it was hard to share ideas so we had to collaborate and be more cooperative. We had to give everyone a chance to express and share their ideas and also use them. When discussing the story we had to break down the story since it is a very detailed story. The main aim while writing the story was to make it simple, clear and straightforward for all ages to understand and also include all the important bits and pieces of the story and combine them together. The story had to also be very entertaining.We split into groups, in this case I was in music. The first thing we did in music, was leaning a piece of music called Lancaran Cobowo. It is an Indonesian piece of music. We were introduced to the instruments that were used. There was Peking, Kenong, Kethuk and Sarong. After the introduction, the teacher gave use a sheet with the notes for each instrument and we had to get into our groups and decide who was playing one of each instruments. I decided to play the Kenong. The Next lesson we watched a video of professionals playing the pice of music. The we analyzed it to see how they have details the music had changed over time. Then we had to do the same thing with the Lancaran Cobowo and change it. We made some bits faster, we added repetition, dynamic and volume. We Practiced this for 3 to 5 lessons and we had to come in lunch to do extra practice. Finally we had to perform it to the other music groups.

Outline of unit - context

MYP The Art of Storytelling 

Key Concept: Communication 

Related Concept: Narrative

Global Context: Orientation in Space & Time

Statement of Inquiry: Symbols and conventions used to convey meaning to audiences are influenced by time and space

Inquiry Question: What is the relationship between arts and audiences? 

Objective: to create our own musical performance using the Indonesian tradition of Gamelan as a starting point