Dada Play Quarter 2

Assignment/Activity Title— Dada Play                                     Year— Freshman

Skill—Writing, creative, public performance                  Portfolio Category— Social Awareness

           

For drama this year, we had to use our creative minds to write a script for our own Dada performance. Dada is a type of art form, popular in the early 20^th century. With Dada, artists have the ability to make whatever kind of art they want to, using different images to create a scene that is not “normal”. Dada is a very creative art, and requires students to think outside of the box. We had to choose groups to work with, and I worked with Elizabeth Cove. We knew that we could work well together, and we both had great ideas to contribute. Our first goal was to research a topic that was controversial, or needed changing. Elizabeth and I looked at variety of problems, for example, bullying, gun violence, and problems with the environment. We researched these issues and brainstormed how we could incorporate our acting skills to

portray these issues. We wrote many ideas down, but we still didn’t have a solid idea. In order to move on to the next step of acting out our play, we first had to write a short script.

After help from Ms. Jeral, we were finally able to choose a topic, which was deforestation; and how people need to care more about the environment. This topic was not very important to me when we started, but I began to care about trees and plants more as we researched the effects of deforestation and how many trees are cut down every year. In the future, I hope to help out the environment in any way I can, and donate money, while encouraging others to do the same.

For our first presentation, Elizabeth played a tree, and I played an “evil” tree cutter who tried to harm her. This was our first time performing in front of the class, and although it was not bad, I definitely think it could’ve been much better. The class suggested many things for my group to work on, such as not making the tree cutter as “evil”. Elizabeth and I really learned from what they said and tried very hard to improve our performance for the next time. I really learned from our mistakes, and I was happy to get feedback. Doing our play twice was very helpful in the long run; because I could see the mistakes we made and really try to improve them.

This assignment has had impact on me, because now when I have to perform and I only get one chance, I try much harder to have a successful performance than I did before, because I won’t get another chance. I am really proud of Elizabeth’s and my final presentation. We improved tremendously and anyone could see the enhancements. We worked had to incorporate more facts about tree deforestation and how the environment is affected by everything we do, and we encouraged others to help out with nature, and be more aware of their surrounding.

Although we had many obstacles, such as not finding a topic to research immediately, and not having a successful first presentation, we managed to come through at the end and give it our all. The struggle of not being able to have a solid topic immediately really changed my view on other projects. I realized that its ok not to be sure of everything you are going to do, on the very first day. In a lot of projects, it takes time to think of a really good idea to present, and that is fine. I want my ideas to be original and thought out, so taking extra time to think of them is ok sometimes. When you don’t have a lot of time for a project, it may be necessary to have a topic very quickly, but I never try to rush this process, because I learned that it is the most important part of the project. This project was a success to me, and I really learned from it. I discovered facts about the environment, which still change today my role as a student living in a delicate world of nature.