20th/21st Century Music, Theatre & Dance

Theatre - Expressionism

Expressionism is an art movement that began in Germany in the 20th Century. Expressionism is the desire to express emotion. Artists distort reality for an emotional effect. It has spread to many art forms such as painting, literature, film, architecture, and music. Expressionist plays often dramatize the spiritual awakening and sufferings of their protagonists, which are referred to as Stationendramen (station plays). They depict the struggle against bourgeois values and established authority. Expressionism reflects a revolt against some of the dehumanizing aspects of modern culture. The expressed angst is from the inability of modern society to meet real human needs.
(Source: www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/expressionism) (Image Source: http://www.newstatesman.com/sites/default/files/styles/fullnode_image/public/articles_2013/frommorningtomidnight_poster_notitle22.jpg?itok=jr-FLA9u)

Music

 

Dance

Hamburg Ballet School (Video) http://vimeo.com/85748078

Tanztheater Wuppertal

In 1973 Tanztheater began. Pina Bausch was the dance director for Wuppertal theatres. She created performances where the players didn't only dance, they sang, spoke, cried, and laughed.
(Source: www.pina-bausch.de/en/dancetheatre/)

18th/19th Century Poets & Writers

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

Night Thoughts 

Oh, unhappy stars! Your fate I mourn, 
Ye be whom the sea-toss'd sailors lighted,
Who with radiant beams the heav'ns adorn,
By by gods and men unrequited:
For ye love not, -ne'er have learnt to love!
Ceaselessly in endless dance ye move,
In the spacious sky your charms displaying,
Since, within my loved one's arms delaying,
I've forgotten you and midnight too!

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt in 1749. He studied law in Leibzig and Strasbourg, because his father requested it, from 1765-1771. He earned recognition with his poems and lyrics while studying law. He returned to Frankfurt to practice law while working on his career as a poet and writer. Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisenen Hand was published in 1773. He took over many political offices, but still concentrated on writing. He was very interested in science; he traveled through Italy from 1786-1790 where he undertook scientific researches. He developed a new style of writing called the Weimarer Klassik in 1794 with his friend Friedenrich Schiller.

(Source: www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/johann_wolfgang_von_goethe) (Image Source: http://www.imagenpolitica.com/elblog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/28-AGOSTO-1749-NACE-JOHANN-WOLFGANG-VON-GOETHE-ESCRITOR-ALEMAN.jpg)

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff 

Mondnacht (Night of the Moon)

Es war, als hätt der Himmel
Die Erde still geküsst
Dass sie im Blütenschimmer
Von ihm nun träumen müsst

Die Luft ging durch die Felder
Die Ähren wogten sacht
Es rauschten leis die Wälder
So sternklar war die Nacht

Und meine Seele spannte
Weit ihre Flügel aus
Flog durch die stillen Lande
Als flöge sie nach Haus

It was as though the sky
had silently kissed the earth,
so that it now had to dream of sky
in shimmers of flowers.

The air went through the fields,
the corn-ears leaned heavy down
the woods swished softly—
so clear with stars was the night

And my soul stretched
its wings out wide,
flew through the silent lands
as though it were flying home.

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff was considered one of the great writers of the German Romantic movement. He studied law at Heidelberg, and continued his studies in Berlin. He enlisted in the military and fought against Napolean in the Prussian War in 1813. The Napoleanic Wars are the source of nostalgia in his poetry. He wrote a romantic novel, Ahnung und Gegenwart (Premonition and Present) in 1819, and a fairy tale, Novellen des Marmorbilds (Novellas of a Marble Statue) in 1819. His most important prose work, Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts (Memoirs of a Good-For-Nothing) was published in 1826, it is considered a highpoint of Romantic fiction. He was born in Prussia in 1788 and died in Neisse in 1857.
(Source: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/joseph_freiherr_von_eichendorff) (Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Eichendorff.jpg)

Friedenrich Willhelm Nietzsche

Friedenrich Willhelm Nietzsche lived from 1844-1900. He was a German philologist, philosopher, cultured critic, poet and composer. His key ideas include perspectivism, the Will to Power (the driving force in humans such as achievement), ambition, striving to reach the highest possible position in life, the Übermensch (superhuman, higher person or being), eternal recurrence (the concept that the universe has been recurring and will continue to recur, in a self similar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space, and the "death of God": "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that world has yet owned bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?" Nietzsche, The Gay Science 
(Sources: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_to_Power, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/eternal_recurrence, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Übermensch, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_God) (Image Source: http://cdn1.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/images/friedrich-nietzsche-1.jpg)
 

 

Berlin Calling: Second Half

Drugs are Ickarus' way of coping with life and having schizophrenic episodes.
His fans take drugs like MDMA, ketamine, and cocaine. They take drugs when they want to be high or party.
The subculture focuses on drugs maybe as a way to rebel, to have fun, or a reason to be with other people.
In the United States families tend to stay together in times of need. Germany likes to portray real life rather than dramatized and glamorous lives like American shows.
The movie shows what really goes on, so I don't think that can change how Germany is considered.

I thought the movie was decent, I'd possibly watch it again in the future. I thought the story was easy to follow, so the movie was more easy to watch even though I had to read subtitles. I liked that the acting seemed realistic, and Ickarus' reactions seemed to fit what was going on; some movies aren't like that.

Berlin Calling - First Half

I think Ickarus takes drugs to help him with his music.

I’ve seen Requiem for a Dream which is about a guy, his friend, his girlfriend, and his mom who are all on drugs. The mom has a different reason than the other 3 though. It shows what they’re going through while high, while they’re withdrawing, and what they need to do to get their drugs.

So far, I think this film is average. I prefer watching movies without subtitles because I feel like I’m missing out on parts of the movie while I have to suffer through and read – I wish I could know every language fluently. So far everything I’ve seen is pretty much expected. A girl loves a guy who happens to be addicted to drugs and she cares enough to try and help him. The guy wants to be successful with his music and he feels as though taking drugs will help him get closer to his fans who are most likely on drugs due to the kind of boring music. I think if the music wasn’t so bland and repetitive he would be more successful.

Topic 3: Freikörperkultur

 
Image Source (http://www.dw.de/a-ban-on-nudist-beaches/a-1297329)

Freikörperkultur 
In English it translates to "Free Body Culture"
It means to enjoy being nude without any ties to sexuality.
In the 18th Century, people bathed naked in rivers and lakes in central Europe.
The first Freikörperkultur club was founded in Essen, Germany in 1898.
Conservatives seen nudists as a corruption of morality.
1st nude beach in Germany was on the Island of Sylt in 1920.
1st naturist Olympic Games took place in Thielle, Switzerland in August of 1939.
The first documented nude wedding was in Elysian Fields, California in 1942.
The first nudist holiday resorts opened in France in 1950.
Later decades of the 20th Century, naturism became popular outside Germany.
Nacktwanderung, which translates to "Naked Rambling" in English, is when nudists hike through the open countryside.
Information Source for the above (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freikörperkultur) 



Image Source (http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/05/28/the-fascinating-past-and-origins-of-the-olympic-games/)

Nudism in History
393 AD: Students in Ancient Greece exercised and received instruction nude, and athletes competed nude.
1st Century AD: Refusal to wear clothes could be a sign of insanity. Nakedness was used as a symbol of poverty or vulnerability.
201-1500 AD: Complete nudity for baptism.
1874: Surfing was a nude activity in Polynesia until the 19th century when missionaries forced the natives to cover themselves.
1891: Earliest known nature club - Thana, India
1900: German nude bathing seen as starting the nudist movement, along with The Cult of the Nude by Henry Rudor, a sociologist.
1903-1932: Nude protests throughout Canadian history. 900 people were imprisoned for 3 years because of their nude protests.
1932: 1st permanent nudist community in the United States, Sky Farm, was established in Liberty Corner, New Jersey.
1933: Nazi's banned many nudist organizations in Germany, but nudists re-formed as "sports" groups and were re-legalized.
1936: Male bare-chestedness was made legal in the United States.
1969: 300 people participated in a massive naked "wade-in" at a Danish beach. As a result, the vast majority of Danish beaches became clothing optional.
August 7th, 1976: National Nude Beach Day was designated.
1989: 14 women went bare-chested outside the Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York to protest the inequality of dress between genders.
Information Source for the above (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_non-sexual_social_nudity)



Image Source (http://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/entry/Vintage-covers-of-American-Sunbather-nudist-magazine.html)

Nudism in the United States
13 states tried to put skinny dipping on the list of sex offenses where you have to register with the state.
In Montana, your 1st skinny dipping offense leads to 6 months in jail. The 2nd offense is 1 year in jail, and the 3rd is 100 years in jail.
Information for the above (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0721_040721_tvnude_2.html)

Paul Bäumer

My name is Paul. I think of home often, and feel as though it’s not something I will know how to go back to. I feel like the world around me is a desolate place. My comrades are dying while we continue killing others who are just like us.

Chapter 11

Detering: Comes across cherry blossoms and picks some branches. He becomes homesick and heads toward Germany, but got caught by the field gendarmes.
Berger: Gets a case of front-line madness and leaves cover to find a wounded messenger-dog.
Others: Go so mad that they rave, run away, or dig themselves into the ground with hands, feet & teeth.
Müller: Was shot point blank in the stomach.
Everyone: is emaciated and starved. There's little to no artillery. Not enough horses. Fresh troops merely know how to die. A1 needs soldiers so the surgeons send injured soldiers up there when they shouldn't. Hopelessness.
Bertinck: Receives a chest wound, and his shin is smashed away by fragments. Leer's hip is torn open by the same fragment and he bleeds out quickly.
Kat: His shin is smashed to the bone and bleeds fast. Paul binds it and carries him to a dressing station. Kat gets shot in the back of the head right before they arrive at the dressing station. Paul thinks he saved Kat until the orderly points out that he's dead. Paul was unaware that Kat got shot.
Paul: He's losing all his friends, and is living a life of death. He reminisces the good times he's had with his friends, like finding the 2 geese with Kat, but it doesn't compare to everything else the war has made him and the others face. He feels as though the soldiers are transformed into "unthinking animals in order to give [them] the weapon of instinct" (page 274).

Group Members:
Jessica L, Slade S