What is a Brit's first impression of the US?

When British people think of the US, they think superficial and fat. The opinion and common perception of the US is that it is this big consumer that is over materialized and as a result is very fake. 


A lot of the US consists of advertisements and shopping and money. Whereas in somewhere like England that is a bit smaller and a bit more quaint, those aspects are not the top priority. A big thing that Brit's have trouble understanding is the concept of fake christmas trees. Fake christmas trees that can be reused every year are becoming more and more popular in the US. Real christmas trees aren't actually that common anymore. My family obviously still buys real trees because we are English and it is what we have always done. However, I actually can't think of any American's off of the top of my head that has a real christmas tree.


Another common perception that the UK has of the US is obesity. Due to the large amount of fast food, processed food, factory farms etc., there is a very high rate of diabetes and obesity. However, Brit's take this data and do what the American's do with the teeth stereotype. We generalize it and assume that everyone in America is extremely overweight.


There are also a lot of cultural stereotypes that the UK consider. For example, there are the ditsy blondes, the rednecks, the gangsters and then the cowboys. Because America is so large and is divided into different states, we don't assume that everyone is culturally the same. However, we do over stereotype people and it can often come across as insulting. For example, we may assume that everyone in the south has a gun, or that every African American woman was pregnant at 15 etc.

What is an American's first impression of the UK?

When American's first visit the UK they basically think that there is all this hype about a country that actually sucks. They think that it is too small and depressing and they feel claustrophobic and stuck when they visit. 


Another common perception of the UK is it's cold and rainy weather and short days. It takes a lot of searching for someone who isn't British to find the beauty of the UK. Although the fashion and the food and the people are always talked about, when American's get there, they have trouble getting past the weather to find what everyone talks about being so great. Unless they are in the center of London, American's feel that visiting England is a waste of time.


Another common stereotype that American's consider when visiting England is teeth. Stereotypically, British people have terribly crooked and horrible teeth. I am obviously not in that situation because I got braces when I moved to the states. However, a lot of people in England don't get braces, and as a result, they end up with bad teeth. Although this is a stereotype that is partially, it is too generalized. I, as a Brit, know many people in England that don't have terrible teeth. Obviously I know a lot of people who do, but that stereotype, doesn't relate to everyone in England. 

Monologue: Who do I want to be in the future based off of my Stereotype?

So I was the popular cheerleader in high school and I always said that I wanted to go to my state school (UGA), get a job in communications and then get married and become one of the real housewives. I mean..I had to go to college, if I didn't go to college I would become a hobo and no guy would ever want to marry me. SO! I decided I wanted to go to college, get a degree and then not have to use it and just get married. 


Having children was just not an option. I just couldn't risk losing my figure..I mean this baby has to be maintained. I can't just eat chips everyday and expect to stay super thin with a nice butt. I mean we have to be realistic here. I have to exercise and cheerlead and eat healthy!!..this includes lots of fruit smoothies! So yeah. No babies for me. And whoever I marry has to accept that. But obviously he will because if it means he gets to keep my figure he can't exactly complain.


I wanted to be a real housewife who could cook and clean and be the "ideal" wife. However, that wasn't exactly how my life turned out. I didn't end up getting into UGA..or any good university for that matter. Apparently they don't accept you if you don't get good grades..I mean how was I supposed to know that?! I just thought that if I kept my figure and my cheerleading..i'd be good to go. But I guess now. So I had to take a gap year and apply for Georgia State the following year. I mean it's not the best school but it's still college. I got my communications degree but I wasn't married by the time I graduated. So I actually had to look for a job. I never even considered that I would have to actually use my degree. The job hunt wasn't a big success. The only job I could get was at hooters..but they said my boobs were too small so I had to get a boob job and then come back and fill out an application. So I went from a B to a large C/small D. Apparently it was an acceptable size so I got the job.


So now..i'm working at hooters with these unnecessarily large boobs that hurt my back! I still have my figure but i'm not dating anyone..at least not seriously.. Life just isn't what I expected it to be.

Who do I want to be in the future?

In the future I hope to be a very successful person. After graduating from a good university in the States (Wake Forest, College of Charleston, Elon) I hope to have enough dance experience to be accepted in a dance company. Preferably a contemporary ballet company. Obviously a dancer can't dance professionally forever. There will come a time when - similar to athletes - they become to old to perform as well as the younger dancers. At this time, some dancers choose to settle down and start a family and some become dance teachers at a dance studio. I however, want to use the communications degree that I earn in University to get a job in either Public Relations or Events Management. Preferably I would have a job at a strictly PR or Events company. However, being the head of PR or Events in another more general company (e.g. a news company etc.) wouldn't be too bad either.


After my dancing career has finished and my Communications degree has become, this will be the time when I would start to think about family. Not necessarily finding a husband because I will never stop being in relationships and finding that person I want to be with for the rest of my life, even during university and my career as a dancer. I may already be married by the time my dancing career is over. However, once I am in a more stable job (my job in communications), I will be at the place to think about starting a family. I am not sure whether I will want kids in the future. A husband and someone I love and want to share the rest of my life with is enough for me. However, depending on our situation and his feelings, if we decide together that we may want children then we can try. If I had children I would want one or two. However, more than two would probably be too much to handle. I am not necessarily bothered about whether we adopt or conceive. It would be nice to conceive at least one of my children. However, there are fears and risks that come with that. Maybe when the time comes I won't be as nervous. I'm sure that if I got pregnant while married and in a stable environment I would be perfectly happy and excited.


There are things apart from my career and family that I want to accomplish in my life. I want to have pets. Not necessarily hamsters and fish and other small pets. I love dogs. I know that I would definitely want a dalmatians. I think dalmatians are cute and adorable. I have wanted dalmatians ever since I saw 101 dalmatians when I was a little girl. So I would want at least one dalmatian. However, I also want my dalmatian to have puppies. Therefore, I may end up getting her a "companion". Honestly, the whole concept of the two dalmatians and their two owners falling in love in 101 Dalmatians is adorable and obviously an ideal situation. However, I think that is a bit to out there. I just love dalmatians and it doesn't matter if my husband has a dalmatian or not.


I want to adopt and sponsor a Dolphin. There are a lot of dolphins that are endangered and I have loved Dolphins since I was a little girl. I went to Discovery Cove in Orlando when I was 8 and I got to swim with Dolphins. The Dolphin I swam with was called Rose which was extremely coincidental because my middle name is Rose. She was covered in scars. Therefore, I assume she was rescued or had experienced something prior to coming to Discovery Cove. I don't think any Dolphins should be put in a situation where there are endangered or at risk of getting hurt. Therefore, I would want to adopt a Dolphin and protect it from harm. There are these Dolphins that are found only in Zealand called Hector's Dolphins that I did a project on when I was in Primary School. They are extremely endangered and if it was possible, I would like to adopt one of them as well. They are unique due to their colour and the shape of their dorsal fin. Unlike most Dolphins with a pointed dorsal fin, Hector's Dolphins have a rounded dorsal fin. 


Finally, I hope to maintain a healthy and active life. My family has a history of eating disorders and diabetes and heart problems. Therefore, the reality of that has been solidified into my brain over time. It is important to me that my family and I remain healthy and active to avoid any diseases that could occur from obesity or lack of physical exercise. 

TPPP: Commedia dell'Arte

Just incase the original file I sent you doesn't work, or if you haven't gotten around to grading it yet and don't want to dig through all of your emails to find it, I uploaded my TPPP to youtube and you can access it through this link. I tried to upload it straight to my blog but after waiting four hours for it to upload, it never did. Luckily I have a youtube account that I use for school projects that I was able to upload it to (after doing some research and managing to unblock the time constraints on uploads. I can now upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes.). So incase you want an easier way to view my TPPP, here it is:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXI8kHc04fk&context=C457e69bADvjVQa1PpcFMMIc4mOy5nJD7kpJamuSdQinToyobJnSs= 

Notes for my TPPP: Commedia dell'Arte

HL and SL:

• Realizing a performance, the devising and rehearsal techniques and the technical elements of the production.

The use of stock characters as a basis for the performance. They gave us something to work with as apposed to starting from scratch. Even if we didn't yet have a script, we knew which stock characters we were using and could base our script around those characters and their specific traits. Similarly, a lot of the technical elements we used were based off of the stock characters as well (e.g. their walks, lazzi's etc.)

• Technical skills developed throughout the course and the abilities and aptitude they have gained.

I now have the ability to recognize Stock Characters in other situations, mostly fairy tales (e.g. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White). I have always loved fairy tales and I am now able to critique and analyze them in a different way in comparison to just watching them and loving the innocence of them. 

• Critical response to their own work and the work of others.

If I am watching another Commedia piece, I am able to identify stock characters and take mental notes on certain aspects of the characters they are using or if there is something they could improve on. 

• Effect of the performance on the spectators and the context in which it was received.

The spectators of our performance had the same knowledge of Commedia as we did. Therefore, it wasn't  a case of being critiqued by an audience that was superior to us. One of our main goals in the performance was to highlight specific Lazzi's that we used. As I was backstage when a lot of them were being performed, I couldn't necessarily tell if they were being recognized. However, due to the laugher, I assume they were.

HL only:

• Research and planning processed involved in realizing the performance.

As a group we decided to go with a more traditional story. Therefore, we focussed on the story of 'forbidden love' (e.g. Romeo and Juliet) and filled it with Lazzi's (e.g. Pantalone losing his money). This gave us the opportunity to focus more on the character traits and humor of the performance, as apposed to spending all of our time writing a completely original idea.

• Making and justifying aesthetic and practical choices.

Practical choices like Brighella's many jobs, and Capitano's role as detective were always justified in our process. In typical Commedia plays, Brighella always plays the role of a working class employee. However, for our specific performance, we decided to give her many jobs. This worked due to the fact that she is always a working class employee, and because at the same time, she was stealing Pantalone's money. Another choice such as Capitano's role as detective, was justified by his superior character traits. 

• How effectively concepts were realized on stage.

The main aspects of our play that we wanted to be noticed with the Lazzi's. For example, at the beginning of the play we had Brighella's stick her butt in Pantalone's face while she was shining his shoes/reaching for the money in his money sack, between her legs.

• Theories, research and practical exploration.

When devising our piece we had to take into account the stock characters and their traditional character traits. It is as if we had freedom, but at the same time we had certain rules that we had to follow. For example, there was Pantalone and his walk and money sack, Capitano and his walk, Brighella and Arlecchino and their high voices, the lovers and their drama etc.

• Source Materials.

A lot of what we incorporated in the play were concepts that we had either learned from ISTA or discussed in class. However, a lot of it came from Vince who not only gave most of us (myself included) a commedia workshop at the ISTA conference, but also came to Atlanta to perform for us, his commedia piece. 

SHOWCASE!

As one of the costume designers for the 11th Grade showcase I am determined to make everyone look fabulous!! Our showcase is on language and cultural identity so I think we should have everyone dressed to represent their cultures. 


England
America
Mexico
Jamaica
African American
Philippines
Colombia 
Germany
Asia