Cirque du Soleil

Recently I attended a festival called Cirque du Soleil that was very new to me. Over Spring Break, my brother and I flew out to Seattle and then to Portland in order to visit my aunt whom we rarely get a chance to see. Upon arriving in Seattle, she told the both of us that she had bought us all tickets to go see this event. Prior to this trip, I had no experience with Cirque du Soleil and had relatively no idea what it was all about. If you are in the same boat as I was, I will try to do this magnificent event justice as I explain it to the best of my abilities. Cirque du Soleil means “Circus of the Sun” in French and was originally sprung out of Quebec. There are several different shows that tour all around the world and each one is different. Basically, Cirque du Soleil consists of world-class athletes performing unbelievable fetes for an hour and a half. To say it quite boldly…it was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed in my life.

The show I saw was called Corteo. It was the story of a clown that was envisioning his own funeral. The show was filled with clowns, midgets, giants, and other figures related to the circus. The performers used props ranging from see-saws to trampolines, and from big brass rings and chandeliers to tight rope walkers. Each act was as amazing as the next and I could not turn my eyes away. Some of the performances were so breathtaking and dangerous that I honestly felt like I was about to witness somebody die…fortunately that was not the case. There was a live band playing throughout the program that would truly orchestrate that feeling that the show was portraying at the time. Leading the band were two phenomenal singers that sang in Italian, though most of the dialogue was in English. Corteo also did a great job of getting the crowd involved. Many times, there would be a few of the actors run into the audience and dump popcorn on a crowd member’s head, or something along those lines to get everyone laughing. At one point in the show, one of the two midgets, or small people, was tied to several huge balloons and then cast into the audience where people could literally pass her around like a volleyball. Cirque du Soleil is absolutely brilliant, and I am determined on seeing at least one more of their several shows. They are guaranteed to make you laugh, cringe, and applaud as you witness one of the greatest spectacles on Earth. This has been my response for the forth Encounter Project for my Folklore F-121 class.

Details on Performance

Upon completing the reading of Chapter 5 in our book Living Folklore by Sims and Stephens, I have a very different idea of what a performance is. I used to see a performance as a very rigid and constructed event that mainly deals with the person who is performing. For example, when I go to concerts I only picture the artist as the only person involved in the performance. Chapter 5 of Living Folklore shows that the audience is just as important as the performer. How the audience interacts and gets involved in a performance is a vital part of the performance. The main way that my idea of what a performance entails is the definition of what a performance can be. I always picture a performance as being a large social gathering in which everything is based around the performer. The book shows that a performance can be anywhere from a world-renowned concert to a person using a proverb in a small conversation in everyday life. Performances can be planned far in advance and be prepared for and anticipated over for several months, or just pop up out of nowhere. On page 128 of Living Folklore it states that most often performances of folklore happen naturally within daily conversations and situations. There are many aspects of performance that help to frame the act of performing. For instance, there is usually a saying of some sort that acknowledges the beginning or ending of a performance. The book also discusses the “texture” of performance that deals with the literary, linguistic, or physical characteristics of performance. Examples of texture in performance can be anything from metaphors and alliteration to the very way someone physically performs the events. Context of a performance deals with where and in what social situation a performance arrives. The geography as well as social context have a large effect on how a performance goes. All of these aspects have greatly changed my perspective of what a performance is. No longer will I be ignorant as to think that a performance can be classified into such a small class.

Chapter 4 Response

Rituals are a very important part of everybody’s life. Whether it is being sworn in as president of the United States of America, or being paddled in order to join a frat, I never did quite understand that, everyone has undoubtedly been part of a ritual. On page 94 of Living Folklore the definition of ritual is given. Rituals are ceremonies or performances that enact deeply held traditions or values. Rituals are very organized events, and page 95 discusses how each ritual may reflect values in many other types of folklore. One event in my life that I would consider a ritual would be when my high school soccer team won the State Championship and the ritual that was performed at the end of the game to show that we were the best in the state. Pages 98 and 99 talk about certain aspects used to classify rituals. Winning the State Championship would be an example of a high-context, invented ritual. It his high-context because the attire is always the same at the end of the game the leaders of the IHSAA (Indiana High School Athletic Association) congratulate the victors. The leaders always have suits and ties on and the players always have their sweaty uniforms on. It is invented because it is used to classify us as the best in the state as well as symbolize a passing of the torch. What happens in the ritual is the leaders of the association walk out to the center of the field where all the players are lined up horizontally in front of all the fans. The leaders then walk down the line and individual shake every player’s hand and then place the State Championship medal around the players’ necks. The State Championship trophy is then handed to the tournament’s MVP and everyone celebrates. On page 119 of our book it is stated that an initiation ritual is one that expresses a person’s entrance into membership in a group. In order to win the State Championship every single member had to give their all and work everyday at practice in order to be good enough to win the tournament. I know this is not the same as being initiated into a fraternity or some cleanly-outlined club, but we all became a part of a group containing all the former teams that were good enough to be crowned champion. This is a response to the Chapter 4 Reflection Question for my F-121 World Arts and Cultures class.

Encountering Jokes

Everybody likes a good joke. Jokes are a form of verbal art that allow anyone to have an opportunity to express themselves. You don’t have to possess a unique talent to tell a joke and yet if your joke is good, you can feel like you’re on top of the world if only for a moment. The other day I heard a joke that got me thinking about jokes in general. The joke goes like this. “Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.” Now if you are not familiar with this new breed of Chuck Norris jokes, you will be completely lost right now. Chuck Norris is an actor who is famous for his martial arts ability as well as just being a rugged tough guy. Somewhere along the line, somebody decided to make up a couple satirical jokes poking fun at this. The jokes are meant to make Chuck Norris seem like a god among men and are mostly so unbelievable that they are funny. These jokes really got famous when Conan O’Brien would make fun of the show Walker Texas Ranger on his late night show. I heard this joke the other day from one of my friends. Me and a couple of my friends were hanging out and listening to music when somebody told a joke. It was funny, so somebody else had their go at it. From then on, we just rotated telling jokes for a while and it was a lot of fun. What I find interesting about jokes is their ability to spread so fast. The word of mouth is a powerful tool, and can turn some joke you just made up in your head into a plethora of similar jokes worldwide. The Chuck Norris fad is only a couple of years old and has spread to any place that knows of the amazing “talent” possessed by Chuck Norris. Once people heard these jokes about one celebrity, many jokes on other celebrities have risen as well. Now people tell jokes about anyone from Mr. T to Bob Saget that all have the same structure as the Chuck Norris jokes. This just proves my point that jokes have this type of “multiplying” ability that allows them to spread. This is my post for our 3rd Encounter Project.