Over and out

Oh dear. It's all over. I've rediscovered sleeping in which is nice. I missed it quite a lot. Said our last official goodbye to the elderly women today. It was nice seeing them all again and also nice to discover that our meetings with them no longer involved an element of awkwardness but instead flowed freely with much laughing and smiles. But there were also tears because as Jasmine has previously said: all good things come to an end. Goodbye Museum of Wellington City and Sea, goodbye Village at the Park and goodbye "Memory- an Intangible Map".
Amy

Freeze Frames!

Melissa and Liz in the 'Education Room' on the Upper Floor.

'Mothers'

Melissa

All things come to an end

They do indeed. It is now Monday arvo and just yesterday we did our last performance of 'Memory- An intangible map.' I can't believe it. WE FINALLY FINISHED! It's a relief and sad at the same time, because it's the last performance our 7th form will do as one big group :( This morning, I was looking at the pamphlet and I was going to cry - HAHA. I'm such a wimp! What a lovely closure though at Wagamama and all of us together ,reminicing about all the experiences we've shared these last few months. Now it's over, I feel like there has been a life lesson learnt and this experience is definitely one to carry with me throughout my lifetime. Cheers to Heather, Nicola, Caitlin, Sasha, MRS MILLER and all the MOWCAS staff that helped the project be a success. Last but not least, to the beautifully talented EAST EIGHT who made it real :) WE ALL ROCK!

Jasmine

Ham and Eggs

Final refections are done!
To celebrate we jumped around making animal noises and learnt how to head bob correctly.
Very intellectual I know!

I sung this song-

Chick chick chick chick chicken
lay a little egg for me
hold the yolk!
lay a little egg for me!


Best song ever.

Final reflection

I hate them. I always end up writing pages and pages of things i've most likely kept a record of. even though Mrs Miller says to keep it to a minimum, I can't.

Jasmine

FINALLY

Wow! Finally I learnt how to use the blog, and it really was a mission. I never thought that I was so technically challenged until now! I must say I REALLY loved reading everyone's comments, as they were all so honest and thoughtful, if only I could keep up the high standards! I have really fallen in love with our project and now that it's almost over I feel so empty. I have to say that this is a complete change, considering a few weeks ago I was probably the most negative in our class about it. I think that what makes it even better is that now we are actually doing it and not just being told where to stand over and over. There is definitely a really strong bond between each of us students and Mrs Miller. I have a feeling that there are going to be a few tears shed on Sunday 10th rather than celebrations (or am i just speaking for myself?)

Flippn' LOVE you guys!

(I thought I would use a red font - with the green background it looks like christmas...and christmas= summer)

Emma

Break

I'm not sure what's going to happen when I try to perform on Saturday. A week is a long time for my memory. I've been going over my lines so I don't forget them.
I'm not sure what will happen.
I like that the memories from the audience are there to make each performance different, ias it's something to look forward to once the show is over.
Good luck with portfolios guys.

Rosie.

Hay hay, this is Janet.

Ok, so far we have performed three out of the seven times ... hurrah!
I did not expect it to go this fast. With every performance I am getting more confident... Now that we've all had a break though , the pressure is on for our next performance on Saturday.

Peace out!

they laughed!!

First performance: Friday night 7.30pm = error! After weeks of just performing to an empty audience I kind of expected the buzz of people being there would lift my energy and enthusiasm for my piece, except on Friday it did not. My piece has underlying themes of comedy, but on Friday night I recieved approximately two laughs and they were from Mrs Miller. This completely threw me, not because I assumed I would get more, but I just felt like the audience were very selfish and to be honest I felt like a fool doing my piece. After much discussion and support from the others, I have now reached my own conclusion that perhaps they didn't understand my piece. Perhaps they did and I was just an error, but nevertheless it was all made up for by the elderly women and family on the Saturday and Sunday who seemed to enjoy my piece - woo! I especially loved having Judy in the crowd who when doing my piece about my "hair up, hair down" made comment about what she thought looked best in aid of my cause to look nice at the ball. I am looking forward to these next performances and I hope the audience give us all some loving and enjoy it!

P.S: My dad didn't find it hilarious, he just has a rather loud laugh- he actually got a tad emotional over it which was suprising.

Flo

Tuesday

Well, it's a normal week of Drama now. It feels really weird now that we don't have Heather and Nicola there, and no more half days/weekend rehearsals/food for long night rehearsals. It makes me sad really. It isn't over yet though. Costume should be in the wash right about now. I've decided to donate my fan to Mary at the end of the performance, because Jenny (The R.N in the home) said Mary's fan is slowly losing its feathers. I really don't know what to write.

Gotta go, as mum's waiting at the front gates right about now to give me some food. I'm at school until about half 6 tonight. Ugh.

Jasmine

"piklets with gran"

So, we have done 3 out of the 7 performances and I have found that the performance with an audience is much more rewarding than without one. People laugh and "awww" which just makes performing a whole lot more enjoyable. My favourite part is the audience's memories, because it's the only thing that changes every time and its all "fresh" in comparison to our well rehearsed pieces. So far there have been tears from audience members for all 3 shows. Let's make it all 7. Is it wrong that I enjoy the fact we are making people cry?

Amy

Sunday

What? I thought folios were due on Wednesday? Today was definantly the most nerving for me. Partly because I knew we were getting assessed and that it was the most emotional performance so far. Mum cried, I cried, by the end of it, it was one big tear fest. Good ol' Danny lifted the spirits after the performance though. It was interesting reading the memories today because I knew most of the people in the audience. My mum decided to write about her attempt at running away as a 5 year old. She had her tricycle that had neatly folded clothing on the back. She said to my grandmother that she was running away, and she let her. However, my grandad was coming up the street and asked what was she doing. "I'm running away!" she said. "Stupid girl, get in the car." My grandad said. It was quite hilarious, as if you knew my grandad, you would laugh. It was all good feedback from the whanau and friends. MUAHAHA I am wearing my dress from the play- my ultimate goal in life. It will be in the wash tomoz.

Jazz

4 to go

People cried today. Except Flo's Dad who found the whole thing hilarious. Yesterday I think was the most intense performance so far. I think every performance gets better each time. It's nice that I'm in the first scene and then i'm off for ages, then back on and then off. I have this great new exercise routine that I do and if that fails, then there is always Mulheron to massage me.

Hmmm.
Short blog. Maybe its because portfolios are due tomorrow.

I've had ready salted chips. I'm a very bad girl.

Love Melissa

2 down, 5 to go.

Boy is the rush wearing off fast. I like doing it now. I'm no longer nervous but I'm having fun. Thats what counts right? I'm getting tired. I'm also getting sick but hopefully it will just go away. It's being filmed today...Golly.

Rosie.

Tonight

I have one problem. My photo in the space is real cute when the lights are off, as all you see is a black shadow. Fortunate enough, when the lights are on you can see my teeth. I stand out like a sore thumb. HAHA. I really like the new beginning we have with the whole standing static thingymajig and just standing motionless until our cues. It gives a different flavour instead of back stage and then get on stage where the audience first sees you.

MY iPOD WILL BE HERE TODAY!

Our rehersal yesterday was so much better! It felt faster for me. I guess because my piece has condensed a lot from a real CUTE 8.5 minutes. I can't believe it's tonight. It scares me that I don't believe it's tonight.

Late, Jazz

Hi Opening night.

I question myself every late night at 12.00am before Portfolios are due: Why do I like Drama? Why do I continuously put myself through this. Constantly.
And then I remember right before a performance. I'm so excited, not nervous. Adrenelin Rush. This is the reason number 1 for putting myself through portfolios, not to mention Exam stress. And then, there's after the performance when we all circle each other and embrace each other like we haven't seen each other in 10 years. The feeling of it's finally over, 3 months of prep for THIS. However, will I get this continued joy with all 7 performances? Or is it simply one down, six to go! Either or, the thrilling buzz of the after effects, and before effects in a performance is the reason why I did Drama this year.

Plus the mint gals, and the slightly lush teacher. Drama's the subject that you don't dread going to, except with the odd bad egg.
( yes, small pun with chook chook, but i'm actually really excited for it, i just wanted to be punned. Is that a pun or am I thick?)

So, with a good luck to my fellow drama darlings, I say bring on opening night and only 6 to go after this, and may they be as awesome as each other.

P.S: I had Pork for dinner with steamed vege's and mash potato.

P.S.S: Who is Kim Young?


Melissa.

Production week

It is now production week and performance = Friday! To be honest i'm rather glad we are going to start performing, as doing my piece to no audience all the time is a bit of a downer and I always find when I am being watched, due to the pressure I put so much more energy into it. It's going to be really interesting what the women from Village At the Park think of our performance, seeing their own faces up on the wall and on the ground. I hope we do them proud though.

Bring on wednesday- tech run through.
Flo

Tomorrow

Got a text from our teacher today saying we are practicing at the museum from 10 onwards. I get to sleep in... YUS!

I'm kind of stressing out about tomorrow and I feel as if I should have been practicing during this holiday. I'm getting closer to finishing a rough replica of Mary's fan and am now going to watch my film with Mary and write dialogue. I may possibly change to just me sitting there and watching, instead of actually saying my dialogue in real time. That means less memorising.
Jamsine

Costume Cave

Today I went to Costume Cave with Caitlin and tried on many many many 40s style dresses, some of them I tried on twice. I am happy to announce that I have a costume! The dress is quite puffy in the skirt area and fun to wear.
I have been practicing walking up stairs in high heels. It's all about confidence.

Amy

Saturday with Caitlin and Amy

Got a dress from Farmers for $20 (Red dot sale) for the play. It's a perfect dress for the 'Pear' or 'apple' shape. It's light grey and the best part is the collar, but Caitlin wants to cut it off. I don't mind though. So I think i'm set for costume.
Jasmine

Shopping

We went shopping today for dresses for our costumes. And by we, I mean Janet, Melissa, Caitlin, Miss Miller and Myself (Rosie). By the end of it I wasn't really sure what had been tried on and what we actually got. There was just so much. All of it a kind of beigey colour. I think. I can't really remember. They are all just one giant dress to me now. Janet and I are going to be wearing the same kind of dress which, looking back on it, doesn't seem like the smartest idea because we are in a piece together. I fell in love with a dress from Supre that we didn't end up getting. Oh well.

Rosie

Day FIVE

Now we can all have a break! However, I must say, we've all worked SO HARD these last 5 days and it's all pulling through and will pay off eventually. It has been a long and stressful 5 days, but in that, I felt really reassured that we knew EXACTLY what was to happen. Today was all about going through the pieces with our all. It was hard since the drama room felt like Antartica this morning, but the nice and toasty museum made it all the better to work in. We were shown and given our edited films of our elderly women today and it made me realise something... that however we may be tired and hard-worked, this is all in dedication to the individual women's lives that were lived and this opportunity doesn't come along all the time. I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE THE NET! I just can't imagine how we'd sit on it? Wouldn't it hurt our butts? I've been making the replica of Mary's fan at the mo. It's all a work in process :) I NEED COFFEE!!!!
Anyways, I'm off to have dinner. It's Chow Mein.
Jasmine

Janet

Hay, just at the end of the five day intensive ( 10 days without a weekend! ). Yus!

Well it's kind of amazing how much we got done. I'm not saying that five days wasn't a long time but, well, I have a script, I have my cues, we have performed in the space a number of times and we have finally seen the footage of our partners from Village at the Park. It's coming together finally.

So i'm feeling really nervous. It's only two and a bit weeks away!

Peace Out!

Nervous

I'm very nervous about the end.
Everytime we decide on something new N and H seem to rethink it and decide that it's not very good.
I have a feeling it's going to change tomorrow.

R

additional blah

I have to agree with the blog below. The great thing about these intensives is the food that the Drama dept provides. I have bought wool and super glue for the replica of Mary's fan. I'm going to do that while listening to some music. We learnt 'Down in the river to pray' today. It's going to be an amazing song :) I was interested with the energy this morning with the whole 1-12 thingy. Everyone showed their extremes which was new.

Jasmine

3 down, 2 to GO!!

I keep forgetting we have a blog! Today we had our first rehearsal at school and it made me realise how at this point in our devising we really need the space that we will be performing in to do our piece. Everything changes when you are in the space and so tomorrow it will be so good that we are there. Today we did a full run through of all of the pieces and I honestly think it will be an incredible piece of work, although I am curious as to how this whole weaving memories into the net thing will work and how are objects not going to get stood on? Also, looking through my drawers, I have NOTHING to wear for this performance, so I shall have to try and figure something out. I think at the moment the high point of these 5 intensive rehearsals so far have been the bread, crackers and dip the Drama department has paid for! WOO! 9.30 am tomorrow ladies...see you then.

Flo

2 down, 3 to go

Had day two of our five days of rehearsals today. It went well. I'm surprised at the amount of stuff we have actually done already... it's mostly just touch ups and line learning now and I guess there's the blocking part as well. Also, how we are going to deliver our lines... and costumes... and working out the set/ props... See? We are practically done!

Just three rehearsals left and then I can do my Art History and THEN I can have a holiday.

DAY ONE

We managed to get through the first day of our 5 day intensive at the museum. I think it helped that the museum supplied coffee or else I would have fallen asleep. Seriously. Getting up at 8:30 in the WEEKEND to rehearse. I don't think any of us want to do that, but 'tough pants' as Mrs Miller says. Life goes on. Shall I tell you what I had for lunch? Well i'm going to tell you anyway
1- Tuna sandwhiches with tomato basil
2- Orange
3- Apple
4- Banana
5- Cookie
I was happy with myself. I caught the early bus today. The thing with my buses is that you will either be really early or REALLY late, so I wanted to avoid Mrs. Miller's wrath and decided to bus early.


ANYHOW... Got in, warmed up, had tea and biscuits, discussed what objects we bought for the net, worked on chorus work for Melissa's poetic piece which turned out well. We looked at the space and it's a lot smaller than I imagined, but it's a nice space that can be really intimate within the performance and audience. We practiced blocking in the space and ran through entrances, exits and cues. We discussed what song should be sung after Francis' film and audio, figured out cues for the ending with all of us weaving in memories etc etc. We actually got so much done in the time which was really good!


1 down...... 4 to go.....

Adios! :)

Oh Gosh

I'm nervous.
I'm excited to see the set etc.
But I'm so nervous.

Rosie

Melissa and Francis

Liz and Judy

Much ado about NOTHING

Pretty much my brain right now = nothing. I feel so uninspired and unoriginal.
I have finished my script but am still retouching. I'm trying to figure out whether to sit or stand.
Sit or stand?
Thats not a very hard decision you're thinking...

Well NUP
It is.
I have to make it not you.

So yea.
Life.
So much for holidays.
Drama all day.. Art History all night.
GOSH

Pamphlets

I saw my face on the MOWCAS pamphlet today. It was kinda weird seeing my face on it. It hasn't really hit me yet that i'm on the front cover of it. Rad pic though. Yesterday and today was the whole 'Get into it, explore your scripts' session. Yesterday went really well, I got a lot of tips and new ideas as I kept playing around with the script. I've started to over-exaggerate EEVVVVEEEEERRRYYYY GEEESSSSTTTTUUUURRREE so that I can bring it down from this point on. Feeling quite confident at the mo... REALLY EXCITED FOR THE 5 DAY INTENSIVE............................................................................................................................................




Anyway today I learnt a Cook Island song that I am singing before the film of Mary called 'Imene Takeke.' The exciting thing about it is that i'm going to use my grandaddies hand-made ukelele from Rarotonga which gives the more tropical, vibrant sound, but until then, I am stuck with my cheap, but very much loved, Milo. The song is about farewell and also links in to the idea of a new voyage; a journey. The link between the film and my memory. I'm excited to explore my roots and sing a cultural piece :)


CONGRATS STAGE CHALLENGE 08!!!!

Just had a coffee, so i'm a bit hypo. As I was doing my piece, the memory became more and more distinctive and I could really feel each character. I wrote a quote on my script that I made up.

"Journey is a traffic jam. You go smoothly for a fraction of the ride, at a speed of 50k, then you pick up the pace as traffic clears at 100k then all of a sudden, you are forced to slow down to 20k... 10k... Until eventually, you stop. You wait patiently, fustrated, angry until you find a way to weave in and out of the traffic until you enjoy a smooth ride again."

GOD I'M GOOD.
Night :)

i hate Mondays

SORRY SORRY SORRY. I made another blog spot thingamajig. Comes to show I have 0% knowledge with this. I'm in a pastel orangey peachy mood today. Right. So, we had Drama first and we were showing Heather and Nicola (Project directors) our devised pieces. I was late (No suprise) but, I have a valid excuse. I got up perfectly early and made it in time for the school bus, however, don't you hate it when you've left your bus fare at home? In this case, it was my busking. So I missed my school bus, therefore, I was late anyhow and was having a very crappy morning. I recieved a text from Mrs Miller and I made a mad dash up to school in time for my scene. I cried and BOY it felt sooOoOOoooooOOOOoo good! When you put your heart and soul into something, it truly makes for an amazing moment. Writing script AS WE SPEAK..
What made me sad today was the bus driver reminded me A LOT of my grandfather. And then I realised I just wanted to be with the people who truly mean the world to me. Geez, I miss him.

Drama

Drama is both the love of my life and the bane of my existence.

Rosie

blog?

I have never had a blog page before. I feel like my parents do when they are introduced to new technology that is commonly used amongst teenagers but that they can't get their head around. Strange feeling! This unit has been completely unlike what I first imagined it as, it's odd to think how fast a piece whilst devising can change and also the direction it takes you in - aka I NEVER imagined I would be doing a piece about getting ready for the ball and waxing my legs!

Visiting Village at the Park was very familiar as my grandad was in there two years ago, so it was strange to go back and not be visiting him. I don't really like Village at the Park, as itis like a massive maze, just long identical hallways- to be honest it's just as confusing with or without dementia! It made me heartily think about what I would do if either of my parents got dementia.

Flo

Melissa's View

I'm not sure when I'm going to find the time to write the rest of my script, as my week's been rather hectic. I've got two jobs on today and my third job tomorrow. Very hectic, but I know that SCHOOL COMES FIRST! haha ;) Therefore, I'll continue to do this blog and work on my script.

Mine's not actually a script by the way. It's sort of a poetic piece relating to the importance of memory and the nature of memory, with a bit about dementia. It's quite similar to Amy's. Except she wrote hers and I wrote mine. I'm still not quite satisfied with it and continue to add bits to it, and take things out. It's weird to think we are performing soon!
Anyway. I wanted to put a mention about this, as I'm currently looking at universities to attend, therefore am in quite a thoughtful mode. Similar to my last blog thought.

Life and memory goes hand in hand. Life is the experiment, goals are the hypothesis and memory is the conclusion. All are crucial for moving forward in life. And memory is what we remember, without it - what do we have to show our existance on earth? A headstone doesn't count, and memory which is written down is possibly the best thing to show remembrance.

From doing this drama project, it's shown me to not take memory for granted, as youth don't have much memory to look back on compared to those older than us. It makes me so upset knowing that Frances, my 95 year old partner, has lived this amazing life - full of travel, inspiration and doing what she loved. She's done so much more than me, yet she cannot remember a large section of her life - due to Dementia and she's 5 times older than I am ( I think ).

On the other hand, I remember most of my 17 years. Frances told me she kept a diary when she was younger, but she doesn't know where it is. Therefore I think I'm gonna start writing in a diary, and tell those I love where it is! Even if no one ever reads my memories but me, it doesn't matter as my memories aren't necessarily special for anyone else. Memories are personal special exciting things that each individual on this earth possess. We are all united with our different books on the shelf, each filled with a different story. That's what the exciting thing about life is about :D

reworking

I am rewriting some of my script and I'm feeling much better about it. :)

Jazzie's ranting

Yes, Moccha is great after visiting our partners in VATP. Today is a lovely day. Just got tonsilitis. Great timing. Finished the devising process in terms of structure and SOME dialogue, so I decided to do a 'disjointed' type of piece. So far, so good.



HAHAHAHA and sorry for stealing the claim to fame on the blog by overlayers of pages. I had no idea, and thanks for altering it and making my life abit easier ladies :D



I found that this quote from my partner, Mary, has really stuck with me during this whole experience. She is saying this to her half pakeha/ half Cook island grandaughter:

"Don't say you're a breed. You're not an animal. You are a Cook Islander and you should be proud of it."

Long term memory; short term memory

When we first entered Village At The Park, the first thing I can immediately remember is the surrealness of the place as I walked in. My first reaction was excitment and the concept of not knowing what to expect. That's the whole beauty of this project for me. The smell reminds me of the occasional maori boil-up (which is quite bizzare seeing as everyone else said it smells like urine.)

The first day or two, we visited the whole Dimentia unit to get ourselves less tense for the people we were going to be 'buddied' with. I remember talking to a lovely lady called Betty, who would constantly ask who I was every 5 minutes and kept complementing my 'beautiful, white teeth.' She wouldn't have remembered me 5 minutes after that, but this memory will stay with me. The thing that interests me is she wouldn't have remembered me 5 minutes after that and as time goes by, you start to notice She wouldn't have remembered me 5 minutes after that your memory is lost and you keep repeating the same ideas...over... and over again.

Word vomit

I love when miss buys us mochas after our visits to Village at the Park.

I love our weekend practices *cough cough*

One of my biggest challanges is using this blog:
-omg-

love life
live life

Life's hard. Wear a helmet!

Rosie

Devising. It's my new enemy. We will always be fatal foes. One of us must die. It is unfortunate but it is the truth.

Amy thinks

Have basically finished my script. It's all very deep stuff.

Janet's thoughts...

The mind is like a whiteboard, a blank canvas. The more cluttered and full the less able it is to function. The mind selects and records memories in different places i.e. short term, long term etc. Memories move through these places as time goes on and experiences and feelings replace them.

I do not think that you lose the memories that are replaced but you have to be in the right frame of mind to recall them.

PS. I have not finished my script.

Amy thinks

Just finished writing the first half of my script. I am quite unsure how it is all going to look like - it's quite complex...

LIZLES BLOGGG

I've just started writing my script for my piece in the performance and it's slowly coming together :)Woohoo for me. Stress much - worried that it sounds corny but we will just have to wait and see won't we!

love

"Youth live in our memories, in the experience being made. Elderly are the result of memories made and memories re-visited."

xx

"People are books...all of us...I'm 95 and it's just so important...these times....when we can talk with young people...and they can talk to us...we have so much to learn from each other..."
Oinah Mary MacPherson.