The Internal Thoughts Of A Visionary
When stepping into this class I thought it would be just like any ordinary English class, the teacher assigns us something to read, we analyze, and then we write about the hidden meaning behind the readings. But, this is the second English course I've taken at Salt Lake Community College that has been able to really improve on my writing, thought process, act creatively, and just explore through so many different options in terms of writing. English 2010 has been a great outlet for me this semester as it has made me grow and really feel powerful within my words, I struggle with finding the right words to say in person but being able to write them out has been so amazing to me. In this course we were tasked in researching a local issue within our state that seemed personal to us, I decided to talk about something I love that has it's issues within it: Dance. I wanted to research ways on how to write a grant so that way I was able to provide safe spaces for artist of color, LGBTQ+, and disabled artist. Within my issue I talked about how dance was a racist, queerphobic, ableist, authrotivin, classicalism, and classist subject. Since I am a dance artist I already had an inside view on what these issues look like, I found it easy to discuss, research, and observe within my own community. My perspective over the issue didn't change at all, if we want change within the arts we need to talk about these issues so that we are able to conquer over the hold that western culture has on dance.
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Information EffectThis is an example of some of the issues I talked about within the dance community, I looked at demographics of race and wage, studio pricing, and companies looking for "male" "female" members when it shouldn't even matter what their gender is. In this short read you will find it very informational of how ridiculous dance is.
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I was tasked in writing three major papers that would later combine with one another in way that was able to grasp the readers attention of my issue and for them to understand where I am coming from. One of those papers being the Information Effect (which is above), there was also the Memoir paper and the Persuasion effect paper. In the persuasion effect assignment, I didn't want to write out ways to make the reader understand where I was coming from, but Instead I wanted them to see for themselves how vulnerable an artist can get, I wanted them to see that these spaces where someone who is like me: A POC and queer, is able to present their art without feeling the normative pressures of white art. In the process of creating my multimodal website/magazine, I was very pleased in the work I made on it. It was easy to navigate, I presented efficient work, and provided multimedia imagery. The goals I had entering into this class have shifted into something else, I originally came in with the idea of growing through writing, but now my goals have shifted into becoming a better person within this world and being the a part of the change it so desperately needs.
"Language and writing are resources people use to do things, be things, and make things in the world."
The idea above is important to think about, it really hints at this idea of how powerful we can become through writing and expressing ourselves through other mediums. I defiantly can see one of these resources being dance as a projection of words, dance is a universal language, it has been around for centuries, animals and insects even incorporate dance into their rituals. Since dance is so universal I think it becomes easier to read when someone is being able to present their body in a vulnerable state, I performed a work titled "F@@GT!" which in itself was able to read clearly through the audience. I spoke about dealing with insecurities as a POC and how I overcame those ideas within myself, it was a blast and It felt like I never knew love like that before. As I performed this piece I also added in my own personal dialogue as it made it easier to read what was happening through the loud sounds of music, to the big idea mentioned above, and since dance is a universal language I feel like I if I make my dream of providing safe spaces to other artist who are just like me, they too can shine and become something big in this world. I want to make art feel real again, feel like it's well deserved and appreciated.
Masio, F@@GT! from Dominica Greene on Vimeo.
"Rhetoric provides a method for studying the work that language and writing do."
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This is another big idea that was presented to me, I found this one hard to answer but I feel like I am able to relate this in terms of a memoir I did this semester for this course. In my memoir I talked about the video above in a flashback sequence, how that moment felt like to me and it's important to study the language and writing you do because how do I study my dance language and turn it into something as simple as writing? I gave it so much thought and was able to present a revised memoir that felt genuine and authentic in my work, you could feel the passion and heartfulness of it all
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My Final Thoughts And Gratitude
This was one of the best courses I've taken at SLCC, I am so glad that I was able to have Professor Bailey as a professor, she really gave great feedback and was so engaged with the class. She truly is an amazing teacher and gives her students a great challenge to dive in deeper into underlining issues and peel back the onion layers of the said issue. I recommend her to all future students as they will grow and become bright stars just as I have from this course.
https://safespacesforartist.weebly.com/