Expressions

You are currently browsing articles tagged Expressions.

There are so many cool events and activities on campus. The best time to get a taste of these awesome things is senior spring, right? Therefore, I’ve been trying a whole bunch of stuff that I’ve never done before!

Holi, a traditional Hindu ceremony that celebrates renewing relationships and the triumph of good over bad, was a few weeks ago. We have an annual event here on campus, much like ceremonies around the world, where people get together and throw colored powder at each other to celebrate. I think a fully authentic ceremony would also consist of a bonfire, but open flames aren’t allowed on campus, so unfortunately we aren’t able to replicate it exactly. Regardless, it was such a fun thing to do. There were so many seniors there (I imagine they had the same “senior spring” attitude to participate in things that they haven’t before graduating), and the pictures from the event are really awesome!

Me and my blockmate, Lina, at Holi!

Me and my blockmate, Lina, at Holi!

Another event that I just participated in is the Identities Fashion Show. It’s kind of hilarious because I’ve never done anything like it before, but my friend Sifon dragged me to the audition. Well, maybe “dragged” isn’t exactly accurate–I had secretly wanted to try something like this for a while, but I would have never tried it without her encouragement. Participating in the show was pretty simple. The scene directors basically fit you in expensive designer clothing, and you just practice walking. The day of the show, you get your hair and makeup done, and just walk down a runway. It was surprisingly a lot more fun than I imagined it was going to be, and I’m so glad I did it…definitely something I probably won’t ever do again, so it was a pretty neat, out of body experience!

Me and my friend, Nina, at Identities!

Me and my friend, Nina, at Identities!

Participating in all of these events has made me realize that there are so many amazing things at Harvard that I haven’t taken advantage of, even though I’ve been incredibly involved. There’s just so much to do here!

This weekend was my last show for Expressions Dance Company, a hip hop troupe that I joined the fall of my junior year. It was an incredibly fun and fulfilling experience because we’ve been working really hard all semester with weekly rehearsals, which ramped up to about 4 hours of rehearsal everyday this week. I choreographed two different segments, one of which is part of the annual Senior Dance! Senior Dance is open to any senior who wants to join, regardless of skill level. We had about 75 seniors in the dance, and it’s been a lot of fun to meet so many new people from different social circles, which is what Senior Dance is all about–bringing members of the class of 2013 together to have a good time.

Choreographers!

Choreographers at Dress Rehearsal!

Some senior girls at Dress Rehearsal in my friend Julie’s segment!

Aside from Senior Dance, I’m also a member of EXP, the traveling sub-group of Expressions. Here’s a video of an EXP segment, choreographed by two incredible freshmen named Kristen and Rebecca. So much talent!

Are those of you who are coming for pre-frosh weekend (or “Visitas” as they are now calling it) excited to visit campus?!

Tags: , , , ,

This weekend I was lucky enough to go see friends perform in two great shows: “Execution,” put on by the Expressions Dance Company; and “Othello,” performed by Harvard’s Hyperion Shakespeare Company. Now is the time of year that student groups put on their fall semester exhibitions and performances, having had some time to practice for the past two months. I was excited to get a chance to support my friends and the groups they’re a part of!

First up on Saturday was the Expressions show: “Execution” is the title of their fall dance performance. Expressions is a student-run company that focuses on hip-hop, though they sometimes bring in tastes of other styles. Being someone who is TERRIBLE at dancing, I’m always so impressed by Expressions dancers – they all look so sassy (in the best way possible)! This performance was also great because it incorporated a piece by City Step, a group on campus that volunteers with middle schoolers in Cambridge and teaches them how to dance. Their oldest class, made up of 7th graders, got a chance to partake in the Expressions show and I know they kids were all ridiculously excited about it.

Photo Credit: Gordon Bae

 

Saturday night I went to see another friend as Iago in a rendition of Shakespeare’s “Othello” done by the Harvard Hyperion Shakespeare Company. Personally, I was completely unfamiliar with the storyline until seeing the play this weekend, and it was kind of nice to be able to watch without comparing their performance to any established opinions or biases. The blurbs advertising “Othello” described it as highly stylized, and it definitely was – all of the characters, aside from Othello himself, were wearing white to symbolize the racial divide defining the character relations. Their rendition was mind-blowing! It’s so exciting to see successful student performances on campus.

Othello Poster

I was particularly glad to have an excuse to stay inside on Saturday night because Boston experienced a surprise October snowstorm! While it’s not terribly unusual to get snow this time of year, it definitely caught everyone off guard. I, for one, don’t have any of my winter jackets on campus and spent the weekend exercising some serious layering strategy. Below is a picture of the lone snowman I found in Harvard Yard the next day – as is very characteristic of New England weather, we went from having near blizzard conditions on Saturday night to a sunny 50 degree day on Sunday. Sometimes I can’t keep up!

The Lonely Snowman

Tags: , , , ,