#Studio 180 Theatre

[frontmezzjunkies]

Studio 180's "Four Minutes Twelve Seconds" Ignites Tarragon Theatre's Extra Space

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: @stu180theatre's #FourMinutesTwelveSeconds by #JamesFritz d: #MarkMcGrinder w/ #MeganFollows #SergioDiZio #TavareeDanielSimms #JadynNasato #Studio180Theatre #TarragonTheatre @tarragontheatre's #ExtraSpace #TheaTO

Megan Follows and Sergio Di Zio in Studio 180 Theatre’s Four Minutes Twelve Seconds. Photo by Dahlia Katz. The Toronto Theatre Review: Studio 180’s Four Minutes Twelve Seconds By Ross The sharpness and pointedness of this new play, Four Minutes Twelve Seconds is signaled quickly within the first few minutes and unknown seconds when the first of many lies are told from one partner to another.…

[sailfish-serum]

Actually losing it

[liminalflares]

Un costume pour deux, au bal des invertis du “Magic-City”

Brassaï - Paris, 1931

Magic City became the hub for the city’s brightest drag balls (“Bal Travesti” or “Transvestite Balls”) to unfurl. “The cream of gay Paris was to meet there,” wrote historian David Higgs, “without distinction as to class, race or age.

Le bal des invertis au "Magic-City", rue Cognacq-Jay

Brassaï - Paris, 1932

And every type came, cruisers, chickens, old queens, famous antique dealers and young butcher boys, hairdressers and elevator boys, well-known dress designers and drag queens.” Thankfully, Brassaï and his camera flocked to the eye of that creative storm, capturing the most intimate and ephemeral scenes of those Magic City nights…

La duchesse de Zoë au bal des invertis du “Magic-City”

Brassaï - Paris, 1932

Otherwise known as the bal des invertis (inverti = outdated term for gay), Brassaï called the gatherings “an “immense, warm, impulsive fraternity.”

Le bal des invertis au "Magic-City", rue Cognacq-Jay

Brassaï - Paris, 1932

Sadly, the party came to an end not long after the closing of the adjacent attractions in winter of 1934. The massive ballroom continued to host events, but the city made them explicitly outlaw “transvestites” from their dances. As time went on, the memory of the OG Magic City was quite literally paved over with the creation of Cognacq-Jay street. Under German occupation, its home at 180 rue de l’université was totally transformed into production studios and a theatre for Nazi use.

Un couple au bal de "Magic-City", rue Cognacq-Jay

Brassaï - Paris, 1932

Photos from the Réunion des Musées Nationaux

Text source

[skz-june]

[ facts about june ]

[ abilities and skills ]

[ songwriting ]

her songwriting talent went relatively unknown for a long time. she’s written poetry here and there for most of her life but has kept it to herself as she didn’t really think of it as anything special. it was just her way of working through her emotions. 

changbin was the first person she went to when she wanted to make her own song and he was ecstatic. he could not stop gushing over her lyrics and is her number one hype man every time. 

[ acting ]

has been acting ever since she was little and she used to dream of being on broadway someday. 

always tries to come up with a ‘character’ for each comeback/song to embody. some of her most distinctive ones fans have even given names to. 

june has mentioned before she would love to be in a show or drama someday but she also doesn’t know how that would work because stray kids schedule is so busy and “stray kids and stay will always come first”

(fans are still waiting for her acting debut)

[ singing ]

june has musical theatre singing training. aka she can belt like nobody’s business. 

stay often joke saying she doesn’t even need a mic because she can be heard without it. and they’re correct. 

[ instruments ]

june is most known for being able to play the trumpet, guitar, and piano.

but she constantly is learning a new instrument. most recently the drums, clarinet, and has also said she wants to work on playing the bass 

[ interests and hobbies ]

[ musical theater ]

the most notable productions she has been in were “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” (she played Lucy), “Annie” (she was in the ensemble but has a number of notable solos), and “The Addams Family” (she played Wednesday, obviously). 

June has said she’s always dreamed of being in “Les Mis,” her dream role is Eponine. 

Her all time favorite musical is “Hadestown” and Eva Noblezada is her role model. 

[ anime ]

it is impossible to not watch anime in this household. the first anime she ever watched was my hero (someone please help her get better taste) but is now watching chainsaw man with the boys and loves it. talks often about how she wants to dress up as power or makima for halloween some year.

han and june always watch studio ghibli together. han’s favorite is “howl’s moving castle” while june’s favorite is “princess mononoke”.

[ misc ]

[ famous moments ]

a fancam went viral during their back door era where she was goofing around with the members and all smiley and interacting with fans and then it cuts to the performance where she was in character, her smile and stage presence a complete 180 from before. 

after rumors started up (again) of lip syncing, in a performance june moved her mic away and stopped singing for a moment before her killer part of the song where she sang even higher than she usually does, still without using her mic. the entire hall heard her easily without the mic

[ her titles ]

“Kingdom’s Princess” from when they were on Kingdom: Legendary War. all of the boy groups were doting on her, especially BTOB. And of course she was part of the vocal mayfly unit and killed it. During the sports day she was given a little plastic tiara that she wore for the whole day, making ‘decrees’ with her royal status (ordered for Changbin to be thrown in the dungeons at one point)

“Real Visual” was given this name for how incredible her bare face is. Most lives and vlogs she does are without make-up and she always gets complimented for how good her skin looks. 

[ what she’s known for ]

many people assume that based on her appearance and how polite she is that she’s a very quiet and shy person, but oh boy these first impressions are deceiving. people are always surprised by how loud she can be and hyper, bouncing off the walls. and when she sings too. many expect her to have a soft voice so then when she’s belting like her life depends on it they are blown away.

seen as one of (if not the) best 4th gen performers and for her insane stage presence. known to wreck many people’s biases once they see stray kids perform in person. 

[cletusthurstonbeauregard]

Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ opens to record-breaking $12.8 million

“The Boy and the Heron,” a fantastical coming-of-age story from animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki, earned $12.8 million in its opening weekend, becoming the first original anime production to top the domestic box office. The GKids release is showing in Imax and other premium large format auditoriums, which bolstered its record-breaking revenues and helped secure its first place finish. It also benefitted from a lack of big-screen offerings, with holiday blockbusters such as “Wonka” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” still waiting to make their debuts in the coming weeks.

“The Boy and the Heron” marks Miyazaki’s unexpected return to screens after being absent for more than a decade — the filmmaker behind classics like “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke” announced he was retiring in 2013 when his previous film, “The Wind Rises,” was released. “The Boy and the Heron” has slowly been rolling out internationally, earning $84 million, with $56 million of that coming from Miyazaki’s native Japan.

Last weekend’s champ, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” tumbled in its second weekend, earning $5 million for a fifth place finish. That’s a precipitous 77% drop, signaling that the music icon’s concert film may not have the staying power of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” which has grossed nearly $180 million. “Renaissance” has earned roughly $28 million domestically. Like Swift, Queen Bey has bypassed a traditional studio in order to release her film, enlisting AMC Theatres to oversee its distribution. That allows her to keep a larger share of the ticket sales.

As “Renaissance” faltered, Lionsgate’s “Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” took second place, picking up $9.4 million to push its domestic haul to $135.6 million. That’s a solid number, particularly considering that the “Hunger Games” prequel carries a $100 million production budget, a modest figure for a film of that size and scope.

Toho International’s “Godzilla Minus One” continued its hot streak, stomping to $8.3 million in its second weekend. The monster movie’s domestic haul stands at $25.3 million, making it the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film to be released in North America.

Universal and DreamsWorks Animation’s “Trolls Band Together” will take fourth place, earning $6.2 million. That brings the family film’s total to $83.1 million. One of the weekend’s other new offerings, Bleecker Street’s “Waitress: The Musical,” earned $3.2 million.

In limited release, Searchlight’s “Poor Things” earned a sterling $644,000 from just nine theaters. Its per-theater average of $72,000 is also the best of the fall awards season — it falls slightly behind the per-theater bows of “Beau Is Afraid” ($80,000) and “Asteroid City” ($142,000), which came out in the spring and summer. The off-beat comedy from Yorgos Lanthimos, the director of “The Favourite,” stars Emma Stone and has been generating plenty of Oscar buzz since it debuted at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Golden Lion.

“Origin,” another critical favorite, opened in limited release with $117,063 from two theaters. That’s a per-screen average of $58,532. The Neon release is written and directed by Ava DuVernay and adapts Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” a historical examination of hatred and racism.

Next weekend brings the release of “Wonka,” a look at the early days of the candy maker that stars Timothée Chalamet. That should sweeten the box office, but theater owners and analysts believe this holiday season will be more muted than the prior two years, when the mega-grossing “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” debuted

[pedropascalunofficial]

Hmmmmm, it says anything....what kind of things do you like to do for fun???

Thanks for the ask. I don't usually do this so here goes. It's long but fuck it no one's asked before and maybe it'd be good bed time reading for insomniacs.

If I'm not managing my pinterest or taking care of my two kids then I'm usually working so I try to make the best of any free time I have. If it's just me and the kids, we usually visit parks, historical sites or the zoo. At home my eldest likes to watch My Froggy Stuff on Youtube. The presenter shows how to make doll furniture and accessories so we make our own pieces and watch Pedro's SNL on repeat. Her choice, not mine. It was funny the first 100 times, not so much anymore. She now does "the hospital voice". He has ruined my life😄

My husband travels for work a lot and studies so when we do have time together as a family we make the most of it. I live close to Dublin city and we're spoiled here for activities. It's full of museums, galleries, historical sites, parks and busy streets with live music. It sounds like I'm working for the tourism board but it's honestly an amazing place to live. If it's the 4 of us we can hit a restaurant, check out the buskers of Grafton Street, visit the Disney store, go to a museum and get lost in some woodlands all in a 4 hour trip door to door and for less than €100 so we do that regularly. Our last family day out was to the Game of Thrones studio tour which is in Northern Ireland. That's just 90 minutes away. (It's great but Pedro's costumes are in storage since the last tour with only accessories and weapon on show and Bella only showed for a few seconds in a VT so my kid was annoyed that neither Marcus Moreno or The Worst Witch got the appreciation they deserve). Again we're spoiled, my husband is from the North so we're regularly at GOT sites because his family live near by (Mourne Mountains, Tullymore Forest, Linen Mill Studios). I used to drink in Belfast when Pedro was there but I wasn't a fan of "Tits, Ass and Dragons" then or the tiny pub they used to hang out in. Or the dirty one with kegs for seats😆. I made bad decisions and yes, I hate myself for it now.

On the rare occasion we have time off together and we have babysitters, we'll go to a live gig followed by some booze in The Porterhouse and some Iranian food in Zaytoon. I'm not picky. We'll go to music, comedy, theatre, musicals, sport, a festival or trade shows. I'm spoiled for choice. Artists like to start their European tours here and the main venues are 30 mins away. The last gigs I was at were Counting Crows, Chris Rock, The Book of Mormon, Ireland v USA, Taste of Dublin and I collect whiskey, there are a few trade shows a year. (Sounds wanker-y but they're good investments. An annual release of a €180 bottle over 5 years can be sold as a collection for thousands should you need quick cash.)

If I need alone time, it's tough to find here. I can't stress that enough. Dubliners and visitors are generally super friendly and open so strangers will talk to you constantly and there's nowhere to hide. If I need to clear my head then it's headphones on, grab a smoke at the highest point I can reach in the city so I can take in the view. Walk the city looking for new graffiti by my favourite artists/collectives while listening to local bands (Fontaines DC, Thumper, Damien Dempsey, Dermot Kennedy, Tebi Rex, Denise Chaila, Wyvern Lingo), get some thai street food, watch some buskars (check out Allie Sherlock) on Grafton Street, get a pint in Keoghs, go to a few galleries before heading home to hide in my cabin to watch 70s and 80s movies.

My cabin is my other baby. I bought my house with the cabin in mind and finally had it installed it in 2020. It's a self contained apartment, is sound proof, has a 7.1 surround sound cinema and doubles as a gym. Sounds super wanker-y but it was another investment which is paying off when I rent it out sometimes. Eventually it will be an apartment for one of the kids when they're older and can't move out because of the chronic housing shortage we have in the city. We aren't indulgent in other ways so being able to watch old movies in 4k while cranking out a weeks worth of laundry and getting in some steps makes other sacrifices worth it.

[charlotteswebbbbb]

What's the vibe? #61

News:

Kendrick vs Drake was so dominant in the news this weekend. We're still going to see the aftershocks of this culturally because what do you do when one of the biggest male posters becomes embroiled in controversies...But aside from that weather's warming up in the UK.

The election results were...interesting to say the least. I think as a guess and with poll research backing me up, we'll probably see a Labour government at the end of the year or beginning of next year.

-from the Guardian

I think this economic downturn has got me thinking? What is a luxury today? It's not exactly new luxury but this is more of a reassessment of priorities for many people, something money could buy but also could be how you live your life.

(IMO) Luxuries: time, own autonomy over housing, food, human connection....

The Met Gala which happens every first Monday in May, was yesterday. The theme "Garden of Time" based on the book by JG Ballard, compliments the exhibition theme of "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion".

Nature and time being two themes which feel relevant at the moment. As we after a 20 year experiment seek to organise how we spend our time, the internet may be used in more 1.0 ways (info pages with no comments, ringing for more info) Time is something currently relevant to all generations. We’re living through war, unstable times...we seek to look into the past to help us at this current moment...

Fashions interest in food and furniture is also related to this. Food - where people meet each other and something that facilitates have communal spaces. Fashion moments are fleeting. Human connection is forever.

People power and collectivism being big themes for a long time but this year, it feels unmistakably poignant. People realising that if they gather together they can change society or even just their local park for something.

(Could also be a new national energy - see the gains from the Greens in the local elections. What does a Britain of the future look like if the Greens are the third biggest party? Does green stuff no longer be seen as and more about how can we push to be more equitable?)

See also: collective gardening, nature walks, hiking within traditionally excluded communities

**

Still latched onto the idea in my head but collectives within art coming back? Probably not to the scale as there was before. Maybe…or more couples collaborating...see Saatchi and her husband, the food stylist and supper club Soft Studies...

We'll digress another time.

**

In non alcoholic trends...

DELLI doing a sober curious box - capitalising on excellent independent non alcoholic options...

They've also changed their links so you can view on desktop, less app focused.

In age doesn't exist...

Things to see:

[queensknight87]

elisasboy72 The North American premiere of James Fritz' FOUR MINUTES TWELVE SECONDS starring Megan Follows, Tavaree Daniel-Simms, Jadyn Nasato and yours truly. Directed by Mark McGrinder. Presented by Studio 180 at Tarragon Theatre. April 20 to May 12. Tickets in my bio. Rehearsals • Week 2 (We are sincerely having a better time than it looks like we are. Acting.) 📸 by Sam Moffatt

[enmusasblog]

 The Kinks, en av de största brittiska rockgrupperna någonsin, släpper idag en speciell ny Ray Davies-mix av bandets studiolåt 'Money Talks' från 1974. Den släpps som en ny digital singel och video och är hämtad från den andra delen av deras karriärdefinierande antologi, The Journey Part 2 som släpps 17 november på BMG.   Den nya 2023-mixen av den klassiska låten är hämtad från The Kinks studiokonceptalbum Preservation Act 2, från 1974 och har mixats av Ray Davies och Matt Jaggar i Konk Studios i London. “Moral decline” säger Ray Davies om låten “Always amused me when we did it live. An exceptional song I think”. kommenterar Dave Davies  Trummisen Mick Avory minns: “I have memories of playing this song on the US tours in the 70s. It’s a good old stomper for the stage.” Efter släppet av The Journey – Del 1 i mars i år (med hits som ’You Really Got Me’, ’Waterloo Sunset’, ’All Day And All Of The Night’, ‘Supersonic Rocket Ship’ och ‘Dead End Street’) kommer nu del 2, sammanställd av bandet och tillgänglig i formaten 2CD, 2LP, Digital & HD Digital. De fysiska formaten innehåller ett häfte med bandfoton och spår-för-spår-anteckningar skrivna av originalmedlemmarna Ray Davies, Dave Davies och Mick Avory, som delar med sig av sina minnen från tiden och väver in dem i The Kinks otroliga berättelse. The Journey - Del 2 innehåller singlar, B-sidor, albumspår och framför allt sex nya Ray Davies-mixar, varav tre är tidigare outgivna liveframträdanden från New Victoria Theatre i London 1975. 'Everybody's a Star (Starmaker) (Live, 2023 Mix) finns at lyssna på redan och släpptes 27 september. Videon kan ses här. Släppet inkluderar hits som 'Lola', 'Sunny Afternoon', '20th Century Man', 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion', 'Till The End Of The Day', 'A Well Respected Man', 'See My Friends' och 'Everybody's A Star (Starmaker)'.  Låtarna på The Journey - del 1 och 2 är handplockade av Ray, Dave och Mick. Det är första gången bandet själva kurerat en samling och temat är de prövningar och motgångar de stött på under sin gemensamma resa sedan starten 1963.  Spåren är hämtade från klassiska original-The Kinks-album som Face To Face, The Kink Kontroversy, Something Else, The Village Green Preservation Society, Lola Versus Powerman och The Moneygoround, Muswell Hillbillies, Everybody's In Show-Biz, Preservation Acts 1 & 2 och A Soap Opera. Alla låtar har vördnadsfullt remastrats av Kevin Gray i Cohearent Studios i LA, övervakat av Andrew Sandoval.  Alla låtar har noggrant remastrats av Kevin Gray i Cohearent Studios i LA, övervakad av Andrew Sandoval. The Kinks bildades år 1963 i Muswell Hill, norra London, av bröderna och Ray och Dave Davies ihop med deras vän Pete Quaife. De fick sällskap av Mick Avory i början av 1964 och bandet etablerade sig snabbt som en av 60-talets epokdefinierande grupper. Deras musikaliska påverkan märks fortfarande världen över.  Statistiken talar för sig själv: The Kinks har sålt över 50 miljoner skivor globalt och har streamats över en miljard gånger. De har haft fem US Top 10-singlar, nio US Top 40-album, 22 UK Top 20-singlar/EPs och sex UK Top 10-album, med fyra album certifierade som guld. Bland många utmärkelser har de fått Ivor Novello Award för "Outstanding Service To British Music" och har blivit invalda i "Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame" och "UK Music Hall of Fame". Flerfaldigt prisbelönte, legendariske frontmannen Sir Ray Davies är allmänt erkänd som en av de största brittiska låtskrivarna.   The Journey – Part 2 släpps den 17 november som uppföljare till den första delen som släpptes i våras. En mängd globala evenemang och aktiviteter kommer att lanseras under 2023 och 2024 för att markera bandets 60-årsjubileum. För intervjuer kontakta: Anette Ståhl / Enmusa Music tel: 0707-180 120 anette@enmusa.se För mer information: Ulrika Hammar / BMG, tel 0705–295 312 ulrika.hammar@bmg.com

[seandillingham]

Next In-Person Classes are March 5th at my Acting Studio in Scottsdale.  Classes offered in-person are: IMPROV, SCENE STUDY & COMMERCIAL ACTING   Weekly online classes are offered in: Improv, Coaching, Consultations, Self-Tape Reader and more! These classes get full, so register sooner than later! All the information and to register, can be found HERE: https://www.seandillingham.com/classes Why Study with me?  Here’s why: That can be summarized in just 2 words: ​ EXPERIENCE MATTERS In addition to being a WORKING ACTOR, I am a member of the Screen Actors Guild and work professionally in film, network and cable television, as well as theatre. As an Instructor, I’ve successfully coached actors into all levels and aspects of film (Features, Short, Student), Commercials, UGC, Stage, Voice and more.  I'm also an award winning Actor, Instructor and Producer. As an actor, I've appeared in over 180+ commercials and 80+ films and 25 national television series.  I've had network television appearances on Operation REPO, Discovery ID, Buried in the Backyard, The NightShift, Longmire, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, This is Us, There’s Johnny, Yellowstone, MacGruber & Better call Saul! I've acted alongside Kevin Costner, Tony Danza, Jane Seymour, Patrick Duffy, Roger Bart, Don Ameche, Stacey Keache, John O’Hurley, Andre Braugher, Andy Samberg, Milo Ventimiglia, Bob Odenkirk, BJ Novak, Ashton Kutcher, Sam Elliot, Mickey Rourke, Will Forte, Laurence Fishburne, Kristen Wiig, Alec Baldwin and more. I've trained with several of the top Improv Troupes in the country including The Second City, The Groundlings, I.O. West and Upright Citizens Brigade. I have, and continue to study with the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre and Stella Adler Theatre. I was featured as a finalist and winner on the television show, America’s Funniest People, where ABC television producer Stephanie Keane sited me as, ”another Robin Williams”. I was also a finalist on the Star Search spin-off, Ed McMahon’s Next Big Star and have been featured on XM Radio and Spotify.  I've shared the stage with Louie Anderson, Gilbert Gottfried, Patty Loveless, Belinda Carlisle, Loretta Lynn, The Doobie Brothers, Rick Springfield, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Victoria Jackson and more. Here’s a brief video to watch: https://youtu.be/z8TUM_2TE5s

[jiarongyu]

Application of Merleau-Punty’s Phenomenology of Perception to Emboided Interaction 

Video 1.I interact with screen(by 180 studio).

Farming Statement

  Emboided Interaction——when performers loop back real-time data to the digital system through embodied practice and obtain integrated information (such as through displays or some special physical entities), connecting the gap between interdisciplinary interactive media (such as dance and architectural design, dance and digital entity, architecture and digital entity), the perception and relationship between performers, digital media and audiences can be perceived from multiple directions rather than in a single direction (such as traditional dance performance and audience). Embodied interaction design triggers the spontaneity of live performing arts because it combines performing arts with real-time digital rendering models, provides the possibility of connection and sharing for interdisciplinary artistic creation, and provides a potential underlying structural support for continuously stimulating innovative design across different disciplines. The emergence of interaction design shows that its use can transcend the limitations of traditional performance and artistic creation functions, and serve as a catalyst for perceptual phenomena to adapt to the cross-integration and change between the diverse disciplines of human beings that will continue to evolve in modern times and in the future.

   Based on Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception, this article discusses the origin of embodied interaction and the possibility of interdisciplinary creation in the context of today's world progress led by science and technology, combined with the author's own interdisciplinary practice background of architecture and dance.

Can you distinguish the truth and falsity of interaction well?

Figure 1. Australian Dance Theatre's Multiverse. Photo credit: Chris Herzfeld - Camlight Productions.

Video 2.Multiverse

The Australian Dance Theatre staged a contemporary dance production Multiverse（Video 2), in which two dancers participated in a seemingly interactive collaborative dance accompanied by a mass of red swirling particles (Figure 1). Through the audience's 3D glasses, it can be observed that digital entities are interacting with the dancers on the large screen behind the performers' stage, and this 'entanglement scene' seems to have a certain connection and causal relationship (the dancers' body movements lead the red particles to move). The space places digital entities in a shared space with the performer and audience through stereoscopic image representation through 3D glasses, and attempts to demonstrate the existence of interaction by emphasizing the overlap of movement relationships. However, the Multiverse is just a fake interactive display, the running state of the particles is a video that has already been rendered, and the dancers do not really experience any real-time interaction, but have already choreographed the dance according to the particle trajectory in advance. So the whole performance has no real function, and even though the audience may think that they are creating the perception of interaction, the dancers are actually creating ‘false interactive demonstrations’.

Although Multiverse violates the phenomenological example of interaction, we can see that it borrows from Birringer's (2003a) definition of interaction as ‘the spatial and architectural concept of performance’, and from an ontological point of view, interaction can still exist with or without interactivity.

Origin of Interactive Dance

Paxton's 1966 Physical things

The integration of modern technology in modern dance originated from post-modern dance movement. At that time, choreographers used media such as video and film to arrange and promote existing dances. perspective for embodied practice. From this, the collaborative nature of dance and multiple disciplines developed, such as choreographers working with film directors, graphic designers and video editors. One of the first concert dance technical collaborations took place when choreographer Steve Paxton collaborated with engineer Dick Wulf. The 1996 work Physical things by choreographer Paxton demonstrated the use of the audience as an important part of the performance. Judson Dance Theater's idea of ​​pushing the boundaries between dancers and non-dancers takes a radical form here. The audience received the soundtrack composed by Robert Ashley through the small radios distributed, and the audience could roam freely in the environment created by the choreographer, while the audio equipment they carried could receive different sounds according to the different movements of the audience. . The soundtrack provided by the audience provides the duration and inspiration clues for the dancers' dance performances.

The merging of live recording along with embodied practice brings out an important element of digital dance: motion capture. This interactive system can come from dancers and spectators and interact with each other, from motion capture to event space and telematics. Remote spaces are designed to allow participants of various disciplines to engage in movement through interactive physical spaces, interacting with visual images, sounds, and embodied practices. All in all, cooperation and interdisciplinary interactive practice have become an important way and means to cultivate dance skills.

Embodied Interaction and Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception——Deriving Meaning from Interaction.

In 2001, Paul Dourish proposed the term embodied interaction, combined with Merleau-Ponty's perceptual phenomenological theory of the interaction of perceived body essence, to describe a new interaction design idea and norm used to describe the interaction of embodiment (technology, i.e. people and physical and social environments) with digital media. It analyzes two themes: 1. Embodied perception: the initiative and embodiment of perception, including the body's ability to expand its sensory devices through digital technology. 2. Kinesthetic creativity: The ability of our bodies to intervene in the "perceptual" dimension of interactive products in a direct and creative way.

Figure 2. ‘Touch Me’

An example from the ‘touch me’ exhibition: abstract interactive is part of the imaginative art exhibition, and the works have built-in sensors. When people see the canvas for the first time it appears white, but when the viewer walks up and touches the sensor the canvas turns black, and when people touch it a second time the canvas turns back to the original color white. How to explain this simple embodied interaction design with Merleau-Ponty's philosophy?

First point: Perception is perception shaped by the physical scene. All the user's world experience comes from the current place where the interaction occurs. The phenomenon field is updated and transformed by the audience's touch and click, which is also derived from our daily life status of constantly interacting with modern technology products.

The second point: perception is directional. For those of us who are used to and familiar with modern technological products, the title of the exhibition 'touch me' has already made this interactive art work directional, because people can predict that the next work will give a certain degree of feedback through their behavior. The audience's intentionality occurs ahead of the objective subject, so that the work itself exists not only in a form to be watched, but as a form of active perception that expects to be touched. The audience needs to provide self-actions to perceive the artwork, and the sum of the user's vision and behavior creates a superposition of the experience of the artwork. The exploration process of users gaining more experience and perception by touching artworks is an important part of embodied interaction design.

The third point: Perception involves the whole body.The interactive experience with works of art should not only test the imagination of the mind, but also match the perception of the body, such as the coordination of vision and touch, the coordination of glasses and the lifting of the arm to touch the screen, and the coordination of hands and feet The coordination of touching and walking all lead to the process of physical behavior and brain perception of artworks. Compared with the traditional way of viewing works of art, this form of embodied interaction is more experiential and impressive to users. therefore. The embodied interactive experience is created by the body and by the body's ability to regulate.

My interactive experience.(Media art exhibition: Universal Everying - Everything by 180 studio)

By capturing the user's body joints, the person interacts with the different materials and styles of the structure on the screen.

The user moves the eye to watch the human posture change on the same canvas.

By interacting with the machine to learn human dance movements, the machine-human duo opened up futurism and expressionism in dance choreography and performance. Dance allows people's embodied perception to be practiced from abstraction.

My attempt at interdisciplinary embodied interactive experimentation—the Translation between Dancing and Architecture.

By capturing the hands of three users, the algorithm is used to edit the different distances represented by different colors.

By capturing the user's hand interacting with a computer program, a trajectory of hand movement with visual art effects is obtained.

Capture the movement of three users to derive a space model, and then use architectural modeling software such as (Rhinoceros) to process the space into an architectural model with architectural design significance. It provides a path and technical support for translating dance space into architectural space.

Director：Jiarong Yu

Designer:Bowen Miao

Software used : Kinect,grasshopper,touchdesigner,rhino.

Conclusion

The reason why embodied interaction is more sensitive than human-computer interaction is that it not only regards human as a mechanical individual, but as a sentient body endowed with meaning. Embodied Interaction Design discusses how to create experiential value for a body with kinesthetic creativity and life from a first-person perspective. Designing the body for the body allows the designer to directly affect the feeling of the product to the user instead of just staying in the imagination. Apply the two aspects of Merleau-Ponty's cognitive phenomenology, namely embodied active perception and kinesthetic creativity, to interaction design, laying the foundation for cross-art and multi-platform communication and cooperation. Embodied interaction eliminates unnecessary layers in general mechanical interaction, making the connection between users, designers and the world more direct. The best way to design for embodied interaction and perception is to do it empathetically, that is, with a living body.

Bibliography

Birringer, J. 2003a. “Dance and Interactivity.” Dance Research Journal 35/36 (2/1): 89–90.

DAG, S.2013.Interaction Design for and with theLivedBody: Some Implications of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology. ACMTransactions on Computer-Human InteractionVolume 20Issue 1.Article No.: 8pp 1–30.

Dou, R.,and,Janon,A.2008.Digital Dance Literacy: an integrated dance technology curriculum pilot project .Research in Dance Education, 9:2, 113-128, DOI: 10.1080/14647890802087787

Jordan, V.,Caitli, V. Kim,V.,and John,M.2016.Navigating control and illusion: functional interactivity versus ‘faux-interactivity’ in transmedia dance performance.International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 12:1, 44-60, DOI: 10.1080/14794713.2016.1161955.

Sita, P.(2001.Interactive dance-making: online creative collaborations.Digital Creativity, 12:4, 205-214, DOI: 10.1076/digc.12.4.205.3218.

[frontmezzjunkies]

Studio 180 Toronto Announces Their New Season

#frontmezzjunkies reports: #Studio180Theatre in Toronto announces their 2023/24 Season including a #Canadian premiere of #FourMinutesTwelveSeconds by #JamesFritz & the #InDevelopmentReadingSeries plays: #DiscountDaveAndTheFix #DeathToThePrometheans

Studio 180 Theatre Announces 2023/24 SEASON Studio 180 Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, announced today its 2023/24 Season, which includes the Canadian premiere of the Olivier Award-nominated play Four Minutes Twelve Seconds by James Fritz (Parliament Square; The Flea) as its Mainstage production running at Tarragon Theatre from April 20 to May 12, 2024. The company’s popular Studio Series continues…

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at New London Theatre in London, UK - October 6, 1977

After doing the video shoot for We Are The Champions with members of the fan club in the audience, the band played an unexpected set afterward. The event was MC'd by Bob Harris, who announces to the fans before the video shoot that the band will play a special set just for them after a few takes of Champions. The fans are excited beyond belief by this proclamation, as it is a complete surprise to them. Between takes, Bob says there are extra cameras present to film a Queen documentary to be seen around Christmas or in the new year, but the documentary would never make it past the final editing stage. 1977 was a year of transition for Queen, and this unique live set gives a very telling glimpse of where the band are heading. Sitting at the piano before Somebody To Love, Freddie says, "I must say, this is more interesting than doing Earls Court, I think," much to the delight of the few hundred on hand (most of whom probably attended the Earls Court shows!). Brian messes up the queue back into the song after Freddie's vocal solo and remarks afterwards that it was "A little rusty there, I think." Freddie then says, "It's right into the microphone," perhaps indicating that shouldn't have been said out loud. He quickly changes the subject and asks what the audience would like to hear next. Amongst the shouts are Liar, Great King Rat, Stone Cold Crazy, even the non-album track Hangman - and Freddie saying with a chuckle, "We've done We Are The Champions!" The loose and experimental version of White Man / The Prophet's Song sounds much more like the middle section of (the not-yet-released) Get Down Make Love, because it's Brian's guitar that has the harmonization effects rather than Freddie's voice. This is the first time Brian would use the EBow on stage. After a superb version of Liar, the band play the first half of Bohemian Rhapsody. After May's guitar solo, he launches right into Now I'm Here since backing tapes aren't being used at this show. This is notably the first time the high guitar parts aren't heard after "I'm just a" on playback (until now the sample from the album was triggered by the front of house sound engineer). Overall the band are in fine form, and they are clearly happy to give the fan club members a great set. Also worth noting is that this is undoubtedly the greatest live version of See What A Fool I've Been. Freddie sings it passionately and aggressively, a complete 180 from the campy delivery of the studio version. His voice is much more accomplished, having blossomed greatly in the year and a half since they had last played the song. This would turn out to be the final performance of the Seven Seas Of Rhye B-side. In a radio interview done in Argentina in 1981, Roger Taylor reflected that Freddie had "improved by leaps and bounds," calling the early years of Queen "an incredible transition." This show reveals that transformation taking place in real time. The first pic is the official invitation for fan club members to attend the event. Pics 1 through 5 were taken by Paul Holmes, who also scanned the Winter '77 fan club magazine pic. Pics 6 through 12 were taken by David King, and pic 13 was taken by Gillian Parry. For years it has been rumoured that video footage of the live set exists, but it almost certainly wasn't filmed. The black and white footage of Jailhouse Rock in the American Dream documentary in the News Of The World box set is from Houston.

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Movie Review: Wonder Woman 1984 (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I haven’t been able to see this movie when it came out here in the U.K, so had to wait until a couple of days after Christmas to both watch and review it. If you haven’t seen this movie by the last week of the year and want to avoid spoilers go and watch it before reading on.

General Reaction:

I have finally seen Wonder Woman 1984, the first new superhero movie I have seen in 2020 outside of The New Mutants and my god it has been a trial to be able to watch this.

Being from the U.K, which was surprisingly a factor with one minor part of this movie, we over here usually get the big blockbusters particularly of the comic-book variety before or on the same day as the U.S. However, thanks to this fakakta pandemic and the new world order that movie studios and theatres find themselves in during 2020, I have been reduced to watching a blockbuster movie for the first time initially on my laptop rather than on the big screen as movies like this should be brought out first as.

I am fully aware that this is a global pandemic and that watching movies in the cinema pales in significance to what needs to be done to combat and eventually defeat this crisis, but being from an area where all cinemas are closed I’m out on a limb basically.

I won’t turn this part of the review into a COVID rant because frankly I am sick of talking about it but I do feel COVID will be a factor with the performance of these upcoming movies.

That being said, the second real world rant factor I have for this is WW1984 I feel has suffered due to constant schedule shifting and I feel a fairly uneven advertising campaign.

I went into this movie not thinking I was going to see the villains the way they are in the trailers or the comics and honestly it does seem that Cheetah and Max Lord, who are both credited Wonder Woman villains, have their roles reversed and the one who you think is going to be the biggest threat pretty much becomes a henchman and the one mainstream fans may not know a lot about is surprisingly the big threat but you’re also meant to feel sympathetic for both of them to a degree.

It seems a complete 180 spin from the first Wonder Woman movie which was a very grounded and gritty WW1 story to now be in the zany 80s...which as a decade has aspects of being zany yes but the way in which this movie plays out genuinely made me think of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies...but the best of them rather than Emo Peter.

There are so many plot points in this movie that more or less spawn from the main McGuffin of the movie which is the Dream Stone allowing people to make wishes but grants them with a sacrifice. The movie has several sub-plots that are the repercussions of the wishes that everyone makes and individually all of these sub-plots are very interesting...it’s when you then try to tie them all together for the big climactic battle that is when you get a bit of a mess,

Also, there is hardly any action in this movie and as both a Wonder Woman movie and a superhero movie in general, I am longing for some action sequences this year and the fact there are almost no good v evil fights would be disappointing, if not for the fact I understand where Patty Jenkins and the writers are trying to accomplish with this movie in comparison to the first movie.

I am not a massive Wonder Woman fan, I know the basics of Diana, the two Wonder Girls, Cheetah and Max Lord enough to understand what is going on. But the one thing that has always drawn me to her is that she is a hero with two distinct sides.

Firstly there’s the warrior that most mainstream fans would be aware of which is more played up in the first movie, but then there’s also the diplomat and the ambassador who attempts to always get across her message of peace which is more played up here.

If I think about it from that perspective, I can forgive the lack of action.

That being said, there is still a jumble of plot points that once you do untangle them all lead to the same conclusion, but there are too many ideas in 2h30 to make the movie coherent.

That’s the main negatives out of the way, the positives somewhat outweigh the negatives, let it be known I did enjoy this movie and there are some brilliant moments and sequences, but a lot of scenes aren’t developed enough or some aspects seem to be kept on the backburner maybe for a sequel.

Characters:

Diana:

We have to start with Wonder Woman herself, but as I mentioned before I am calling her Diana rather than Wonder Woman in my subheading because there wasn’t a lot of Wonder Woman action in this movie. If you’ve seen the trailers you’ve seen pretty much everything.

Going back to that first action piece when we are reintroduced to Wonder Woman at the shopping mall, I do understand why she’s doing what she’s doing by acting as a vigilante rather than a public superhero and not using violence does keep in step with where we first met her in Batman v. Superman during present day where she claims not to be about fighting or saving mankind anymore and to be honest here she does keep with that. She’s given up her Godkiller sword and shield but still makes full use of her lasso of truth along with her bracelets of submission and Aunt Antiope’s Tiara in a defensive manner but never to outwardly cause harm.

But yes, this entire sequence could easily substitute Wonder Woman with Spider-Man and her lasso and tiara with his web-shooters and feel like the good parts of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. It’s just borderline corny and somewhat cartoonish particularly when she’s saving the two young girls by either dropping them on a rocking horse or spinning them into giant teddy bears.

Also there’s that Cairo highway chase scene which sees Steve and Diana chasing after Max Lord who has just achieved his goal of claiming an army. I both like and dislike this scene. I like the scene for showing the starting effects of Diana’s power loss which is later explained to be the cause of Barbara’s wish to be like her which means she is syphoning Diana’s power.

On the flip-side, I really don’t like the overall action in this scene. Firstly, she seemingly has her armour on underneath her clothes because as she’s getting out the car she has her clothes on one minute and her armour in the next shot with no spinning involved.

Secondly, she gets out the car and starts running almost instantly while the car is still moving...I get she’s a demigoddess and therefore normal laws of motion may not apply to her but there’s no dodgy transition or stumbling or anything, she just starts running...Baywatch style to a remix of her theme which is brilliant but because of her losing her powers she is somewhat weakened and therefore you see her bleed. The whole scene just seems rather sloppy.

Regardless of the somewhat lacklustre action of the movie, Wonder Woman 1984 excels in presenting a different form of battling with words rather than weapons. Diana’s message of hope and love at the end of the movie may be a complete switch around from how she was all for being the god-killer in the first movie where Ares was involved, but it’s definitely a good message and, particularly in these times, a needed message.

Sometimes love and hope is enough, Diana does try and see the best in everyone and cannot understand or comprehend evil unless there is no other option. Ares was the God of War and as such a personification of hate and therefore evil. Max was simply corrupted and misguided and Diana could see that, just as Barbara was.

All of this is sold in Gal Gadot’s performance. You can tell from the start Diana is doing what she’s doing because she feels it is what’s right, but particularly when Steve comes back and the ultimatum is either saving the world or keeping him she is definitely torn at one point. Steve is the only thing she has ever wished for herself other than becoming a warrior and protector so why shouldn’t she be rewarded for her decades of servitude?

Also, much like every movie she appears in, Gal Gadot looks stunning throughout this movie. Not just in her Wonder Woman and Golden Armor but also in her Diana persona, she wears what appears to be a boiler suit at one point in this movie and still looks like it could be modelled on a runway. I know Gal is/was a model but she is never defined by that. When she’s acting she’s an actress first and a model second and the clothes never wear her.

My favourite look of hers which I now have in Funko form is her gala dress because not only does it honour her Amazon roots but it just looks stunning.

Her Wonder Woman armour here is made somewhat more cheesecaky than her other versions and it does make Diana look somewhat like Wonder Woman barbie but because of the vibrant 80s setting this movie is in and particularly with who else shows up in the movie offering a great parallel to it, it actually won me over. If this is how Wonder Woman looks as a diplomat I’ll allow it.

I really do enjoy the parallels between the DCEU’s Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne in terms of the detective/vigilante combination. Because there was little fighting here, Diana was allowed to be the detective more, travelling to different places tracking down Max Lord and figuring out that the Dream Stone is the cause of Steve returning from the dead.

However, while they may be pushing Diana and Bruce together in the present day, Diana’s true love is Steve Trevor and the two do have a fantastic blend of a working and romantic partnership on par, for me, with Ant-Man and the Wasp from the comics.

Outside of Steve though, Diana definitely has no love-loss for other men until the end of this movie. She sees right through Max Lord’s childish bravado at the start of the movie, she’s quick to repel any letchy guy throughout this movie, and it isn’t until Steve effectively gives her permission to move on at the end that she does...albeit seemingly with the man whose body Steve took over which seems a little backwards to me but I’ll allow it.

Wonder Woman also gets some fancy new upgrades in this movie. Not only do we have more functions of the Lasso of Truth with showing memories and broadcasting a voice, but also Diana gets her invisible jet through the means of a new power being able to make things invisible which she says is inherited from her father (Zeus) who used the power to hide Themyscira from the world.

The jet is a great precursor to what comes later because while flying in the jet, Diana talks about her longing to be able to fly which we all know as fans that she can do in pretty much every other incarnation yet all we’ve seen her do in the DCEU is leap long distances.

So the payoff when she actually flies after letting go of Steve finally was fantastic, honestly a fist-pumped the air and startled my dog because I got that excited. I do love how she still uses her lasso to propel herself and swing from lightning because it’s kind of like training wheels but seeing her fly at the very end unaided was everything.

I can’t decide how I feel about the ending, I do love how Diana saved the day in terms of using words over weapons, but it’s the fact she is pretty much looking directly at the camera while giving this big hope and love speech implying that she is talking to us as an audience as well as the world within the movie. It just seems very much a #BeKind movement which, again, is an important message particularly in today’s climate. But why does this need to be in a superhero movie?

Gal Gadot continues to be rather funny in the role as well. As with the first movie though, her humour is never really in jokes or in her actions but rather in serious dry whit. This kind of humour is right up my street. From her rejection of Max’s offer to buy her a TV to teaching Steve about the advancements in the 1980s from his time it was all rather well handled.

Diana simply continues to be a very warm and welcoming hero and Gal Gadot radiates these traits effortlessly. You feel bad whenever she feels bad, you want to cry whenever she cries, you get angry whenever she gets angry and you smile whenever she smiles. Gal Gadot continues to be as perfect in the role of Wonder Woman as Johnny Depp is for Jack Sparrow and Rosario Dawson is Ahsoka Tano.

Max Lord:

Okay so this is where things get complex because, to the best of my knowledge, this version of Max Lord is not the same as the one from the comics or any other media I’ve seen...I genuinely actually think they say Lord isn’t even his actual surname in this movie.

Alright, so this is where I’m slightly conflicted on this character. Maxwell Lord from the comics and Smallville where I first became aware of the character is a meta with the ability to control minds.

Becoming the Dream Stone doesn’t really give him the same power as effectively it makes him a genie but the power of the dream stone being equivalent to that of the Monkey’s Paw which grants wishes with consequences I guess is of similar elk.

Also, it’s not stated but shown that Max has some sort of degenerative condition before obtaining the stone but using the power of the stone seemingly sped up the condition because by the third act of the movie he looked like a shell of a man.

Obviously he knew of this which is why he wanted to utilize the stone’s power to a mass audience in order to grant their wishes and in return syphon their health and wealth but this is why I say that neither he nor Barbara were true villains because they were corrupted by the power the stone gave them.

I have a very weird stance of sympathetic villains, Cheetah is supposed to be a sympathetic villain to a degree but I’ve never really seen Max as such. In Smallville he is pretty much a henchman or underling whereas in Supergirl he was somewhat an anti-hero towards the end but mainly a villain.

I get the movie’s message of “Nothing good comes from hate” is in reference to the stone which was made by a trickster god and as such is inherently corrupt which makes its users also corrupt but not evil. But considering I originally didn’t think Max would be the main antagonist of the movie, when it was revealed he was I wanted to see some evil for evil’s sake behaviour rather than power corrupts twice over.

Also, in relation to his wishing power, the scene in which he tries to go through numerous clients to regain his health does play off a lot like Lucifer luring out people’s greatest desires. 

Speaking of the wishes, two aspects of this I want to highlight. Firstly, when he reaches out to the world and grants everyone’s wishes, that one wish the diner lady utters about wanting the Irish to go back to where they come from...as someone of Irish heritage this is that wish I mentioned being from the U.K. was a surprising factor in for me...despite my Irish heritage being of Republic blood rather than Northern.

Secondly, I have now seen this movie twice and I do not know the reason for the weird satellite light that Max was in during the climax. I mean everything was basically going to hell and Max receiving the energy of the wishes and granting the wishes was basically giving him this protective funnel which Wonder Woman couldn’t penetrate, but was the light from the satellites and why did he need the satellites other to broadcast himself which he’s clearly already doing so what’s going on? I may not be making much sense but I genuinely don’t know what was going on at that point.

Pedro Pascal was still very good in this role, he comes across a lot better in the actual movie than he does in the trailers because the shots we see of him in the trailers I genuinely thought he was wearing a hairpiece, and he still might be but it looks more natural throughout the movie.

I know Pascal to be a rather funny individual in interviews and behind the scenes of other projects, but I’ve never seen him actually be funny in character...again I’m not sure how I feel about a comedic villain, but between this role and his role as Agent Whisky in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, he has the makings of a great villain actor.

There were times when Pascal played the character like Steve Carrell voice’s Gru in Despicable Me which again plays into the comedic villain angle but overall I felt his motives were clear and the way in which he went about achieving his goals was bold, ballsy and well executed.

I get why they added a son for Max in this movie and I am glad they stuck with the fact Pedro Pascal is Latino despite I don’t believe the character originally is but it added some diversity to the movie along with Gal Gadot’s Israeli accent. But yeah the point of the son was to personify what Max sacrificed in exchange for his wish because all he wants deep down is to be a success in his son’s eyes and feels this is how to go about it, but when it’s the choice between his son’s safety over the completion of his dynastic plan, similarly to Diana choosing to give up what she wants (Steve) for the greater good, he chooses his son.

Also I will say this. When Alastair tells Max that he already loves him because he’s his dad and strokes his face...Had I actually seen this movie when it came out in the U.K. it would have been two days before the finalé of The Mandalorian Season 2. But because I saw that finalé first and the very emotional scene between Din and Grogu...to see that pretty much replicated here felt slightly lacklustre.

Max doesn’t die at the end, no one dies in this entire movie (technically) so there is room for him to return unless they do another time jump. I’m not sure why he would return unless he goes full villain for villainy sake rather than corruption but I am actually happy he survived.

Having said that, one of Wonder Woman’s most famous moments from the comics is snapping the neck of Maxwell Lord. This could have easily been the climax of the movie but I feel thanks to Man of Steel giving this plot point to Superman when he snapped Zod’s neck, despite chronologically this coming first it would lose it’s momentum,

Cheetah:

I will admit I was not as disappointed with Barbara as I thought I would be going into this movie.

Having said that, I’m going to start with the negatives before talking about the positives of the character.

Firstly, both Barbara and later Cheetah are redheads, Kristen Wiig is naturally not but for the role of the character she could have easily worn a wig or died her hair for the role because not only is Barbara being portrayed as the ditzy blonde at the start of the movie a little redundant at this point, when she became Cheetah it did not look right with her as a blonde.

Now let’s talk about the actual Cheetah look. We’ve seen that one shot of her in the DC Fandome trailer but it was so dark and so quick that there was practically nothing to analyse, seeing her appear in the final 30 minutes of this movie...which is how long she actually appears as Cheetah...it’s both a lot to take in but also a lot to be disappointed in.

So Barbara’s turning point to villainy I feel isn’t when she beats up that man who attempted to assault her, but instead when she fears Diana and Steve are talking about killing Max to save the world because he absorbed the stone and the stone needs to be destroyed to save the world from carnage.

At this point she appears at the White House just as Diana has Max captive, dressed in this admittedly trendy Cheetah-print attire, incapacitates or possibly kills the White House security team and gives both Wonder Woman and Steve a whooping.

Firstly, the very fact there was no mention of the fact Barbara could tell Diana Prince and Wonder Woman were the same person just shows how daft the secret identities of some of these DC Heroes is.

But secondly, when Max retreats, Barbara hitches a ride with him and gets another wish for saving his life. Rather than wishing to be like Diana this time, she wishes to become an Apex Predator and is therefore granted the anger and vengeance of all the people Max grants wishes to via satellite.

This combination somehow turns her into a Cheetah as when we next see her she is Cheetah...a very badly CG’d undeveloped version of Cheetah but this is our Cheetah.

My version of Cheetah is from Injustice 2 and I know a bit of her backstory in the comics enough to know she was an archaeologist who was cursed to become the Cheetah and how in the DC Rebirth Wonder Woman, Barbara and Diana were friends but then when she became Cheetah, she felt betrayed by Diana and became her enemy that way.

That’s kind of similar here but it’s not a Cheetah curse that made her Cheetah, it’s a wish and a very literal interpretation of the wish “I want to become an Apex predator”...what’s an apex predator? A cheetah, get it?

Also as Cheetah, she just looks like Barbara styled her hair different and bought a Cheetah onesie. I wish she had gone full cheetah with the face, instead we get some very weird make-up which seems to wash off when they land in the water and some weird contouring or something to give Kristen Wiig a different nose...they could have continued the Cheetah fur on the face, given her cat-eyes, bigger fangs, something!

Again, Barbara’s villainy stems from power corruption, Barbara’s first wish was wanting to be like Diana and because of this got her powers so went a little bit power mad when she discovered she had super strength and speed.

Interestingly though, despite being electrocuted, Barbara does survive and when all the wishes are renounced she reverts back to a human...or does she?

Keep in mind that we never see Barbara take back her wish, in fact she is quite adamant in not doing that which leads Diana to making the hard call. The fact is it was by Max’s hand that Barbara finally became Cheetah so when he took back the wish of becoming the Dream Stone, that wish was rescinded…but Barbara’s original wish of becoming like Diana and thus gaining the powers of an Amazon demigoddess actually might still be in tact.

It’s implied that she is still pissed at Diana even after reverting back to human, so I do see her returning more than I do Max Lord but in her return I hope there’s a Cheetah redemption.

Steve Trevor:

I am really starting to be won around by Chris Pine as an actor. Originally in my list of “Hollywood Chris’” he was at the bottom because he isn’t Marvel, but now I think I actually would put him ahead of Pratt. Not only do I love him in this role here but also Rise of the Guardians which I’ve re-watched over the holidays.

So when it was announced that Pine would return as Steve Trevor in a movie set decades after the first movie which he died in, I like a lot of fans were curious as to how they were going to accomplish this. I mean we’re dealing with the DC variation of Greek Mythology and so I thought maybe Hades could be a factor, but then when the MacGuffin known officially I think as a Dream Stone became a factor with the trailers, the idea of him being resurrected as a wish by Diana was speculated which was kind of true but there was a catch in that he only came back to Diana but taking over another man’s body.

The movie I think beautifully brings Diana’s childhood lesson taught to her by Aunt Antiope about cheating full circle with the wish she makes to see Steve again. In her defence, Diana did not know what she was doing or that she was actually wishing on a wishing stone, but when she realises the impact that this seemingly innocent wish is having on the world, ultimately she has to wake up to the fact that this is a cheat because Steve is dead but Diana has brought him back in another man’s body...without his consent. Again, NOT DIANA’S FAULT, but she is pseudo-responsible and so can’t win because she cheated. This is a plot point I wish they had developed further or highlighted more because, having seen it twice now in the past 24 hours, that is probably my favourite message of the movie. Cheaters never prosper, not even Wonder Woman or Cheetah.

Steve being introduced to the 1980s was a great chance to reverse the fish out of water story Diana had in the first movie but while hers was one of both wonder and humour, Steve’s was mostly wonder and it was so endearing to see.

I loved how we didn’t take too long on Steve exploring the 80s, I liked how organically it was woven into the ongoing story. We did get that great small touring scene of Diana showing Steve the art and the breakdancing, but that he discovered pop tarts and his wonder in wanting to fly that jet rather than simply get on a plane to travel to Cairo, it was all very well done and that’s mostly on Chris Pine.

I did find the body-snatching a little bit creepy at first and at the very end. We didn’t meet the guy that Steve inhabited (for want of a better word) so I don’t feel strongly positively or negatively about him because we don’t know him, but when we meet him at the end when we somehow flashforward from July to Christmas, I did feel weird that not only did it seem that he and Diana were interested in each other but also the fact it wasn’t even mentioned that he couldn’t remember the time that Steve was in his body.

As I said before when talking about Diana, the blend of the romantic/working relationship between Diana and Steve is (sorry) #relationshipgoals for superhero couplings. I am aware that Steve Trevor isn’t a superhero but neither is Lois Lane but both civilian halves of these superhero couples are very potent in the comics and I have never understood this particular relationship until now.

Steve is as strong a part of the duo as Wonder Woman is because while he doesn’t have her Amazon physiology, he has that core inner strength that he had in the last movie which is why he sacrificed himself originally...now yes he pretty much did the exact same thing here but this was after he was pretty much carrying Diana through that D.C. street and seeing all the chaos that these wishes were causing...genuine anarchy....that Steve knew the only way Diana could regain her strength and save the world was for her to let go of him.

It was the most emotional scene of the movie for me and the only scene to almost make me cry. after crying at the Mandalorian finalé I am not crying at another show or film for a while but still, because not only could you tell both of them didn’t want this to happen but also as Diana pulls herself away from Steve not looking at her as the camera pans away from him you just hear his voice saying “I will always love you Diana, no matter where I am”. There’s never been a more potent portrayal of a superhero couple in my opinion in the movies. Tony and Pepper came close in Avengers: Endgame but this tops it for me.

Do I see Steve returning again? Yes, because I feel when you’re dealing with a property about gods and magic there is always potentiality for anything. I mean this movie is the definition of potentiality for anything because I think if it does succeed then they get away with a lot that other properties wouldn’t, but anyway yes I want Chris Pine to return to this role because I love him in it.

Amazons:

This is another scenario where the advertising lets the audience make up what is in store for us with announcements because announcing that Robin Wright is returning as Antiope after dying at the start of the last movie does raise suspicion.

The obvious solutions were resurrection, vision or flashback and for the majority of Amazon scenes save for one it was all flashbacks which I’m not going to grumble at because I enjoyed that opening scene.

I like how Themyscira basically has their own version of Ninja Warrior and that this scene was most likely set chronologically after Antiope agreed to train her. Which begs the question why her mother was so okay with it considering even as an adult Hippolyta has issues with Diana becoming a warrior but her contribution was so short I let that slide.

I’ve already mentioned how Antiope’s lesson of cheater’s never prosper was utilized so well in this movie but, similarly to Chris Pine, I just love any reason to bring back Robin Wright.

Aside from Hippolyta and Antiope though there was a third minor Amazon focused on in a couple of scenes in this movie, that is the ancient Amazon warrior Asteria.

Asteria was mentioned a couple of times, firstly by Hippolyta in reference to her statue as someone to strive to become and then by Diana to Steve when discussing the origins of her Golden Armor. During this discussion we see a flashback of Asteria in a crouched position being whaled on by Neanderthals protecting the Amazons as they retreated to Themyscira. We only see her eyes and at this point in the movie I thought Asteria was a throwaway character and so Connie Nielson was doing double-time as Hippolyta and Asteria.

However, this proves to be untrue as in the only post-credits scene we get we see Asteria walking down seemingly the same street we left Diana on in Washington, though they never clarify where it is. Furthermore we originally only see the back of her and she is dressed a lot like Diana with the same hair and clothing style. She even effortlessly stops a pillar or lamppost from crashing down.

But it isn’t Diana, at least not the one Gal Gadot is portraying...as it is revealed to be Asteria portrayed by Lynda Carter in a fabulous short, sweet and somewhat cheeky sequence where she states “I’ve been doing this for a long time” with a cheeky wink directly to the camera. I mean she basically echoes lines Diana says in the movie, but the fact it’s OG Wonder Woman and knowing we’re also getting Michael Keaton returning as Batman in the upcoming Flashpoint movie, it’s all just brilliant.

Obviously for fans of the Supergirl series, Lynda Carter had a recurring role on that as Earth-38′s President of the United States who was an alien and I have also seen her in Sky High, but looking at her here she just looks flawless.

Does this mean we’re going to see Asteria in Wonder Woman 3? I can’t wait to find out.

DCEU:

Speaking of the larger DCEU, this movie does absolutely nothing to connect itself to any other DC movie or property. We’re in 1984...Bruce Wayne is 12 so at this point has lost his parents, the original Black Canary is potentially crime-fighting, it’s the year Lex Luthor is born, Clark Kent is living in Smallville, Amanda Waller would just be starting out in the career that would see her become director of ARGUS. There are so many possibilities particularly as we haven’t had a movie set in the 80s within the DCEU before.

This is where DC continues to flounder where Marvel succeeds. They do not grab the opportunities for a cinematic universe expansion and instead keep everything contained. I don’t even think the events of Wonder Woman were mentioned outside of Steve’s death.

Particularly as we now have to wait until August for The Suicide Squad as the next DC movie (outside of the Snyder Cut), it would have been nice either if there would have been a tease to lead into that or even if something in this movie links to the Snyder Cut of Justice League.

Overall I rate this movie a 7/10, it’s a very enjoyable movie if you manage to follow all the threads the plot weaves into this movie, because they’re not seamless.

I’ve actually paid attention to the box office, reviews and CinemaScore for these movies since Birds of Prey and I have to say for being a focussed Wonder Woman movie it is underperforming from the first one with a B+ here as opposed to an A there, but considering Diana’s first outing was in Batman v Superman with a B score, I think the fact both Justice League and this have a B+ bodes well as it averages out with middle of the pack superhero movies, and that’s a good way to describe this movie.

It’s not better than the original, and there are many tangles within it, but it’s not a terrible movie. Again I’ve seen it twice in the last 24 hours and neither time got old for me.

So that’s my review of Wonder Woman 1984, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.

[architectnews]

Expo 2020 Dubai Sustainability Pavilion Building

Expo 2020 Dubai Sustainability Pavilion Building, Architect, UAE Design Project Photos

Expo 2020 Dubai Sustainability Pavilion Design

6 October 2021

Design: Grimshaw Architects

Photos by Phil Handforth

Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion at EXPO 2020 Dubai

Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion, opened to the public in 2021 as one of the top three attractions of the Dubai Expo 2020, and aims to illuminate the ingenuity and possibility of architecture as society looks to intelligent strategies for future sustainable living.

photograph : Dany Eid / Expo 2020

Drawing inspiration from complex natural processes like photosynthesis, the dynamic form of the Pavilion is in service to its function, capturing energy from sunlight and fresh water from humid air. The relationship of building to site, and to its physical and cultural contexts is critical, as the facility’s strength lies in its capacity to demonstrate a new way of living sustainably in a challenging desert environment.

Sited in a prominent location, the Pavilion structure works in tandem with the considered landscape of demonstration gardens, winding pathways and shaded enclaves to create an aura of magic punctuated by the sights, smells and tactile opportunities of nature. The gardens are both experiential and functional, setting the stage for the exhibition contents within and creating shaded gathering areas that will manage and distribute crowds while providing retail, food and beverage opportunities.

When creating a building with a goal of generating its own energy and water in a harsh climate, the solution cannot be driven by a single aspect of the design. To achieve net-zero, the design required a series of technologies, building systems and design solutions to act in unison. This self-contained, micro-ecosystem resulted from a combination of strategies: optimizing the natural conditions inherent in its location; working with and within them to maximize efficiency; and supplementing them with pioneering sustainable technologies to create innovative solutions

The design is driven by maximizing efficiency which it does by seeking shade in the one place available: below the ground. The Pavilion uses the insulating properties of the earth to shield it from the harsh ambient temperatures which can soar to 50 degrees in the warmer months.

photo : Dany Eid / Expo 2020

Most of the accommodation is below grade and cased with an earth roof system, creating a substantial barrier to help reduce its cooling loads and conserve energy. The above ground surfaces are clad with a gabion rainscreen wall – sourced with local stone from the Hajar Mountains – which provides enough thermal mass to absorb the heat while the stone’s natural color reflects the sun.

Flora and fauna sourced from the surrounding deserts – including some species that have been never been cultivated by humans – are arranged on the planted roofs and throughout the gardens, creating a water efficient landscape that functions through a series of closed loop systems designed to filter, supply and recycle water. The framing of these local topographical and floral features, combined with the technologies of water recycling and reuse, provide visitors a newfound appreciation of the unique region and its biodiversity. The site also includes areas for productive agricultural landscape featuring halophytic agriculture and other testing beds.

The culmination of the building’s systems can be found in the heart of the Pavilion, its large exterior courtyard. Borrowing from the vernacular of the region, the courtyard provides a large, passively cooled space for visitors. During the design, thermodynamic studies charting the prevailing breezes were used to shape the courtyard to allow desirable cool south-westerly breezes to enter while blocking warmer winds.

Soaring over the courtyard, the Pavilion’s canopy accommodates more than 6,000 sqm of ultra-efficient monocrystalline photovoltaic cells embedded in glass panels. The combination of the cell and the glass casing allow the building to harness solar energy while providing shade and daylighting to the visitors below. The experience in the courtyard is of being beneath a large shade tree with dappled light projecting onto the surfaces below. The form of the canopy works with the courtyard to direct cool air in, while simultaneously exhausting low-lying hot air through a chimney effect at the centre.

The canopy also serves as a large collection area for stormwater and dew that replenishes the building’s water system. The result is a structure that combines the most advanced technology in solar capture and a clear understanding of the natural conditions of the site to actively generate energy while passively cooling and enhancing the experience of the visitor. With over 6,000 sqm of exhibition space, the Sustainability Pavilion will enjoy a long life after Expo is over, transforming into a science museum and expanding on its mission of exploring sustainable practices and the critical stewardship of our fragile planet.

ENERGY E TREES The Sustainability Pavilion is complemented by an installation of Energy Trees which contribute toward its goal of producing its own energy. Nineteen E-trees ranging from 15-18m in diameter are dispersed throughout the site and provide 28% of the energy required to power the building. Inspired by the Dragon’s Blood, a tree found only on Socotra, an island 200 miles off the coast of Yemen, the E-Tree is designed to be a deployable freestanding shade structure that harvests the sun’s energy. The structure is constructed from steel and complex composites and has been optimized to support an 18m photovoltaic array.

Taking further cues from nature, the array follows the sun in the same manner as a sunflower, rotating 180 degrees throughout the course of the day to maximize the energy yield and increase the efficiency of the solar cells, before returning to its original position at night. Bespoke trapezoidal panels composed of highly efficient monocrystalline solar cells, embedded within three layers of glass, provide shade below without casting severe shadows or blocking views to the sky.

Supporting the array is an engineered carbon fibre structure inspired by the design of the steering wheel of a yacht. The structural design maximizes strength in its shape, with radial branches encircled by a compression ring while decreasing the load of the structure itself. Carbon fibre was chosen for its light weight which allows the form to extend unsupported for up to nine meters in all directions.

The E-Trees have become an integral part of both the exhibition and the Pavilion site – showcasing and educating visitors on the research on solar harnessing and panel technology – while at the same time, serving as an integral part of the systems that contributes to a net zero energy goal of the building.

photo : Dany Eid / Expo 2020

Terra Expo 2020 Dubai Sustainability Pavilion Design – Building Information

Project Data:

Client: Emaar Properties & Expo 2020 Dubai

Location: Expo Road Dubai South, Jebel Ali P.O. Box 2020 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Website: https://ift.tt/3FmYDo0 Completion date: January 2021 Gross square footage: 17,000 sqm Project cost: confidential

Project Team:

Grimshaw: architect Buro Happold: engineering Desert Ink: landscape architecture

photo : Dany Eid / Expo 2020

Other Consultants:

Rice Perry Ellis: local architect Sherwood Design Engineers: civil engineering, water management Cerami: AV, IT, acoustics, security Tricon: food service Orca : crowd flow RWDI: climate analysis Thinc Design: exhibition design Eden Project: exhibition content TAW Weiss: maintenance Arch4Blind: accessibility Charcoal Blue: theatre design Lord Cultural: operations Friday Group: specifications

photo : Dany Eid / Expo 2020

Grimshaw Design Team:

Andrew Whalley – Chairman – Partner in Charge Matthew Utley – Principal – Director of Middle East Operations Mark Rhoads – Associate Principal – Project Director Casimir Zdanius – Associate Principal – Industrial Design Lead

Associate Principals: Iouyu Chen, Robert Young, George Hauner, Croz Crozling, Andrew Anderson

Associates: Jorge Salgado, Aimee Duquette, Aaron Vaden Youmans, Ross Goldsworthy, Woojae Sung, Andrea Debilio

Design Team: Zach Fine, Augustine Savage, Kyle Day, Renua Itsueli, Fernando Fisbein, Hannah Park, Anthony Mopty, Joana Torres, Justin Brammer, Mehnaj Tabassum, Diba Dayani, Mason Nabors, Albert Hsu, Kurt Hanzlik, Patricia McKee, Fan Cao, Kyle Spence, Vincent Velasquez, Max Dowd, Wooyoung Choi, Leland Jobson, David Mans, Greg Smith, Konrad Sobon, Raphael Ogoe, Alexandra Danciulescu

Photos: Phil Handforth

Sustainability Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai Design: Grimshaw Architects image courtesy of architects Sustainability Pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai

Grimshaw

Expo 2020 Pavilion Abu Dhabi Sustainability

Expo 2020 Dubai Sustainability Pavilion building design images / information received 061021 from CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati Architects

Location: Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE

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Dubai 2020 Expo Pavilions Design: Santiago Calatrava, Foster + Partners, BIG and Grimshaw Architects image courtesy of architects Dubai 2020 Expo Pavilions

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[beatdisc]

Four exciting new re-issues we've been keen to get our hands on! @officialspzd - Pure Phase 1995 sophomore album from the UK space-rock pioneers. Fat Possum Records 2xLP 180-gram re-issue on limited edition "Glow-in-the-dark" coloured vinyl with revised artwork, $45 @ramones - Triple J Live At The Wireless *RSD RESTOCK* We were lucky to get a 2nd batch of this limited RSD release, featuring the first ever vinyl issue of the 1980 live recording at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, 1980. 180-gram RSD Exclusive press limited to 13,000 copies, $55 @thechurch_band - Gold Afternoon Fix MOV Gold & Black marbled colour vinyl 180-gram re-issue of the 1990 studio album & follow-up to the iconic '88 album Starfish. Limited to 2,000 individually numbered copies, $60 @aesoprockwins - Appleseed First ever vinyl issue of the rare 1999 EP, previously only available as a handmade CD-R and until now impossible to find! Limited press on Marble & Smoke colour vinyl, $42. #spiritualized #purephase #ramones #triplejliveatthewireless #thechurch #goldafternoonfix #aesoprock #appleseed (at Beatdisc Records) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRqRmR4tMI6/?utm_medium=tumblr