Improvisation

Improv can totally be fun and amazing--if you do it with the right people.

I edited the dance improv of Anna and I did last Tuesday(taped by Tam). It almost looks like we rehearsed it. The most interesting part for me is actually the reactions of the people who passed by.

The music imrpov happened in class on Tuesday was fun too. Collaborative improv seems possible to me now.

Shooting - just for fun

So last Tuesday we went around the campus and shot random stuff. It was very free and fun to work as groups. Anna and I danced and Tam the flute girl played her flute. We also shared stories. Surprisingly it created plenty of interesting images.

The Moon Fest 2008

September 14 was the Moon Festival for the year of 2008. It's August 15 of the Chinese calendar and thus falls on a different date of the solar calendar every year.

Jordan had only one day to visit me, but he came down anyway. "I don't want you to be alone for the Moon Fest," he said. He knew how important it was to me. We had mooncakes, of course. My favorite flavor is still jujube paste with salty yolks or pine nuts. For four years, it was the first and the only mooncake I had had.

The bus was at 6:30 pm. I went to the Port Authority with Jordan so he could spend another 3.5 hours to take the bus home, and then went down to the East Village for Ken's song night. I had no clue what it was going to be until I got there. It turned out that it was an event where people got together and sang folk songs, and the theme of the night was animals and plants. I know zero folk songs and therefore couldn't sing with them, yet it was interesting to watch/listen. I did sing a song that I knew that had animals in it--Little Lamb from Gypsy.

It was 10 pm when the song night ended and I stepped out of the bar. I lifted my head and looked at the sky, and there the moon was, full and bright, smiling at me. I started to tear up. I missed my family.

It is probably hard for a lot of people to understand, but there is a very strong connection between the image of the full moon and family reunion. Being one of the three biggest Chinese holidays (the other two are the Lantern Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival), the Moon Fest is a holiday that families get together--probably the equivalent of Thanksgiving. There are also many many myths and folk tales about the moon. For example, the "Jade Rabbit" who makes medicine on the moon, the fairy "Chong-Ug" who flew to the moon, the lumberman "Wu Gung" who tries to fell the cinnamon tree but never succeeds, etc.

So I decided to make something about the moon to remember this holiday. :)