World Theatre Workshop #1 Class Response
B) During the workshop about Wayang Topeng, there were many interesting things that stood out to me, the ones that stood out to me the most were;
Social; that Wayang Topeng lasted from 3 hours up to several days which stood out to me because that is much longer than regular theatre or dance performances today which are typically only one-and-a-half to three hours in duration.
Political; that even in this masked dance there is a clear differentiation between upper class and lower class. This stood out to me because It shows that even back then (when Wayang Topeng was created in 16th century Bali), there was such a difference between classes, also, because they liked to really make it clear who was prettier and who had more power with the colors they used and the facial structure of the masks. (eg. nobles had hard and tight masks with delicate chins and pointed noses, which are all very delicate details on a face, looking prettier and showing that more time is spent on noble class)
Culture; What I found interesting is that it was found in so many different countries; Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and that it developed the traditional puppet theatre. I found this interesting because it shows how this theatre style changed the culture and developed another theatre form (puppetry).
Overall, the workshop was very good and I learned a lot from it. I liked how they had us learn the dance at the end and how they incorporated a video in their presentation, which really helped the audience understand what Wayang Topeng is. What they could improve on for next time is to make sure to speak slowly and articulate well at all times as well as giving the audience enough time to catch the main points. Also, their actual workshop was not very organized because they were not very sure about what to do once they presented their powerpoint (it was a bit messy). However, I do think that they were very smart and quick to have a plan to fill up the rest of the class with Wayang Topeng related activities, which was good.
C) In general I just found all of the information very interesting and it gave me a wider view about the different types of theatres there are. However, I was shocked about the duration of the Wayang Topeng performances just because I wonder how somebody could create a dance for days to entertain people. I think I found this shocking because I just cannot imagine doing a masked dance for such a long time.
E) The biggest link I had to my previous knowledge of drama is theatre almost always has movement in it, which linked to this workshop because there is a lot of movement in it since it is a dance. Other experiences I have is that of dance shows which really linked to the Wayang Topeng workshop because it was still dancing, but just a different type, expanding my knowledge about different types of dance.
G) I found the whole world theatre in general very interesting, however, I feel like there is not that much more to go in depth about, and therefore I do not really have anything that I would like to further learn besides one thing. This is the idea of using masks to shows differentiation amongst people (or groups of people) as well as creating a mask to show this. I would like to create a mask because then we would also be going in depth of how masks are used to express emotions and certain themes, as well as actually learning about it through practical work so that it shows whether we really understand it. Therefore, the only thing I would really like to focus on would be the masks because the way the group presented it as well was very interesting as well as being interested in masks in general because they can express a lot you normally are unable to express so easily.
B) During the workshop about Wayang Topeng, there were many interesting things that stood out to me, the ones that stood out to me the most were;
Social; that Wayang Topeng lasted from 3 hours up to several days which stood out to me because that is much longer than regular theatre or dance performances today which are typically only one-and-a-half to three hours in duration.
Political; that even in this masked dance there is a clear differentiation between upper class and lower class. This stood out to me because It shows that even back then (when Wayang Topeng was created in 16th century Bali), there was such a difference between classes, also, because they liked to really make it clear who was prettier and who had more power with the colors they used and the facial structure of the masks. (eg. nobles had hard and tight masks with delicate chins and pointed noses, which are all very delicate details on a face, looking prettier and showing that more time is spent on noble class)
Culture; What I found interesting is that it was found in so many different countries; Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and that it developed the traditional puppet theatre. I found this interesting because it shows how this theatre style changed the culture and developed another theatre form (puppetry).
Overall, the workshop was very good and I learned a lot from it. I liked how they had us learn the dance at the end and how they incorporated a video in their presentation, which really helped the audience understand what Wayang Topeng is. What they could improve on for next time is to make sure to speak slowly and articulate well at all times as well as giving the audience enough time to catch the main points. Also, their actual workshop was not very organized because they were not very sure about what to do once they presented their powerpoint (it was a bit messy). However, I do think that they were very smart and quick to have a plan to fill up the rest of the class with Wayang Topeng related activities, which was good.
C) In general I just found all of the information very interesting and it gave me a wider view about the different types of theatres there are. However, I was shocked about the duration of the Wayang Topeng performances just because I wonder how somebody could create a dance for days to entertain people. I think I found this shocking because I just cannot imagine doing a masked dance for such a long time.
E) The biggest link I had to my previous knowledge of drama is theatre almost always has movement in it, which linked to this workshop because there is a lot of movement in it since it is a dance. Other experiences I have is that of dance shows which really linked to the Wayang Topeng workshop because it was still dancing, but just a different type, expanding my knowledge about different types of dance.
G) I found the whole world theatre in general very interesting, however, I feel like there is not that much more to go in depth about, and therefore I do not really have anything that I would like to further learn besides one thing. This is the idea of using masks to shows differentiation amongst people (or groups of people) as well as creating a mask to show this. I would like to create a mask because then we would also be going in depth of how masks are used to express emotions and certain themes, as well as actually learning about it through practical work so that it shows whether we really understand it. Therefore, the only thing I would really like to focus on would be the masks because the way the group presented it as well was very interesting as well as being interested in masks in general because they can express a lot you normally are unable to express so easily.
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